A bad photo of a B-A-D lifer: Vermilion Flycatcher on February 15
Today is the 100th day of the year. This is the third year in a row I have made it at least this far in the Bird-a-Day Challenge. My goal in the past was simply to improve upon the previous year’s total. This year my goal is a bit less ambitious, because soon I will be traveling somewhere where there are no birds! I will be out of the game before the end of April, probably by the 27th (17 days!).
This exact bird’s second B-A-D appearance: Lesser Black-backed Gull on January 25
Knowing I don’t have a chance to beat last year’s record has made my strategy this year much simpler. I’ve certainly fretted less about using up easy birds early in the challenge. It helped that I got some pretty good birds in our yard: Painted Bunting on January 14; Ovenbird on January 29; House Finch on March 20.
A B-A-D staple: Florida Scrub-Jay on March 23
Even so, picking out a bird each day still makes me think about things like the timing of migration and species abundance on a regular basis. Doing this for the last few years has been a great exercise in learning local birds in my new home state.
Best B-A-D of the year so far: Hooded Warbler on March 31
And again it’s been a lot of fun! I am already looking forward to playing in 2015, with a target date to beat. 🙂
