BY9: (No) Pride September 25, 2012
Posted by indigobunting in Uncategorized.trackback
After my last BY post, which documented my slow progress in this combined big-year process, new-species sightings (not unlike my writing) came to a screeching halt. Eventually I saw my own little green heron—often, in fact—probably the same one over and over again on the rail trail. In July I added broad-winged hawk and American redstart, which brought my personal total to 104.
Alas, I was banking on my trip to Colorado to provide me with some great sightings, like last year’s trip to northern California. But it was not to be. There were times when I wondered if Denver and Boulder were bird-free zones. It was as if the winged ones had all picked up and migrated south just before our arrival. I see far more birds in eastern cities on a regular basis.
We missed a lot of large birds simply because we’d spot them while driving and have no place to pull over and verify—we missed some big raptors, possibly even a golden eagle (was it or wasn’t it?). I added a mere five species on the trip: black-billed magpie, Wilson’s warbler, Blackburnian warbler, Stellar’s jay, and American dipper (and I didn’t even get to watch the dipper dip). I’m at 109. At the end of September. What a sad, sad showing.
Maybe I need to work in a quick trip to see Sewa Yoleme before the end of the year.
Route 153 
How marvelous! Your guestroom—and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and various other excellent birding sites—await. Of course, everyone seems to flock to the Space Coast Birding and Wildlife Festival in January.
The BY ends at midnight December 31. I need a supercheap direct flight from Albany!
You can get a round trip ticket on Southwest for as low as $178.
Not direct, though. Change planes in Baltimore.
You – and some of the people on our safari three years ago (and to be fair our resident tui*) – have made me think about birds very differently. I love that.
I guess suggesting New Zealand is pointless?!
* that’s a plural (we don’t add an “s” to Maori words).
I would love to go to New Zealand. I just wish I didn’t have to get on a plane for 24 hours to do it! (Also, in this case, a “big year” is US-specific!)
You could stop off in LA or San Francisco for a few days. Then it means you only have to jump on a plane for about 11 hours! (Sigh … it doesn’t help, does it? When are we going to get teleports?)