Big Year 2012
In 2012, I birded a Big Year in Washington and Oregon states. A Big Year is a personal challenge to see as many separate species of birds as you can identify. I limited myself to my two local states (I live on the border of the two).
The year had opened with excitement and tentative expectations. I saw 43 easy pickings in the first two days and nabbed a Lifer on January 2nd. It was the Snow Bunting, a little arctic bird who’d been nibbling at stones (and I presume seeds) at the PDX firehouse off Marine Drive in Portland. I sat in my warm car watching the little white dot bob around on a cold January day, totally delighted that I had just twitched and got a Lifer.
I work a full time job and have many hobbies, so I didn’t jump out of the starting blocks like a Thoroughbred biting at the bit. It took me until late March to get up to 100 birds. And those were easy. Most of them. I did gather up two more Lifers, a Tufted Duck and a Harris’s Sparrow. I discovered new places to bird, including Whitaker Ponds Nature Park and realized the wonderland that is Ocean Shores, WA.
On March 8th I made the Trek of my year… the trip to see the Snowy Owl at Damon Point (Ocean Shores). I still remember that day fondly, though I’d been frozen and soaked to the bone. The rain was dumping in bucket-loads and had turned to little daggars of ice. My pants were soaked through and my binos were useless in the thick rain. Having given up, eyes downcast to avoid the icy shards from their continued abrasion, I stumbled, literally, on a Snowy Owl, hunkered down in his own way to avoid the terrible weather.
I was delighted. Soaked, but delighted. I had to drive home pantless that day.
On my birthday I gathered up two more Lifers (Red-throated and Yellow-billed Loons) and had a three loon day.
I went to the coast more than any other year and joined bird walks and other groups to see more and more birds. In mid-April I twitched for a Clay-colored Sparrow, which I did not find, but I met T, my new guy. We bumped into each other on Mt. Tabor in early May, then we were both randomly at Malheur NWR on the next weekend. Now, we bird all the time together.
May was the month of glory: 84 year birds for the month and 12 Lifers. I went to Spokane, Malheur NWR, southern Oregon, and Westport, WA. T took me under his wing and helped me find birds in the local area. We ran around WA/OR together to collect more and more birds.
I learned new bird songs, including the Black Phoebe’s, which was my nemesis bird. I’d chased after this bird more than any other, and once I finally found it in November, I couldn’t stop finding it! It was like the Guild of Phoebe’s gave up hiding once I’d finally spotted one.
All in all, in WA/OR I got 279 birds with 46 Lifers.
I don’t plan on another Big Year this year, though I do have a new goal to see as many birds in my home county.
I also want to know my local birds better. Instinctively know it’s a certain bird, know where they like to hang out, what foods they like, their songs, their actions. I think that will make me a better birder than to have a large number of birds I’ve seen and ticked off on a list.
1
Black-capped chickadee
2
Golden-crowned kinglet
3
Dark-eyed junco
4
downy woodpecker
5
European starling
6
Ruby-crowned kinglet
7
cackling goose
8
Red-winged blackbird
9
song sparrow
10
western scrub jay
11
house sparrow
12
gadwall
13
Anna's hummingbird
14
bufflehead
15
mallard
16
spotted towhee
17
American crow
18
house finch
19
fox sparrow
20
bewick's wren
21
coopers hawk
22
northern flicker
23
American robin
24
rock pigeon
25
northern shoveler
26
wood duck
27
belted kingfisher
28
Canada goose
29
Red-tailed hawk
30
bald eagle
31
ruddy duck
32
American coot
33
Pied-billed grebe
34
pileated woodpecker
35
canvasback
36
Double-crested cormorant
37
brown creeper
38
orange crowned warbler
39
bushtit
40
Ring-necked duck
41
American widgeon
42
American kestrel
43
great blue heron
44
snow bunting
45
American goldfinch
46
Gold-crowned sparrow
47
Steller's Jay
48
Brewer's blackbird
49
Glaucous winged gull
50
Great Egret
51
Varied thrush
52
Killdeer
53
Hooded merganser
54
Mute swan
55
northern harrier
56
common goldeneye
57
northern pintail
58
common merganser
59
barn owl
60
herring gull
61
California gull
62
common raven
63
pacific wren
64
mourning dove
65
cinnamon teal
66
greater scaup
67
yellow-rumped warbler
68
green-winged teal
69
wilson's snipe
70
American bittern
71
tundra swan
72
marsh wren
73
sandhill crane
74
white-breasted nuthatch
75
peregrine falcon
76
savanna sparrow
77
Lincoln's sparrow
78
Tufted duck
79
townsend's warbler
80
acorn woodpecker
81
lesser goldfinch
82
Red-breasted nuthatch
83
hairy woodpecker
84
western grebe
85
horned grebe
86
White-crowned sparrow
87
pine siskin
88
common loon
89
White-winged scoter
90
sanderling
91
western gull
92
Black turnstone
93
snowy owl
94
Harris' sparrow
95
White-throated sparrow
96
tree swallow
97
Eurasian collared dove
98
turkey vulture
99
Violet-green swallow
100
cedar waxwing
101
lesser scaup
102
Great horned owl
103
osprey
104
red-throated loon
105
surf scoter
106
yellow-billed loon
107
Loggerheaded shrike
108
Brown-headed cowbird
109
Common yellowthroat
110
red-necked grebe
111
chestnut-backed chickadee
112
vaux's swift
113
rufous hummingbird
114
barn swallow
115
Yellow-headed blackbird
116
redhead
117
greater yellowlegs
118
American white pelican
119
Caspian tern
120
brown pelican
121
whimbrel
122
eared grebe
123
mew gull
124
black oystercatcher
125
purple finch
126
Band-tailed pigeon
127
Black-throated gray warbler
128
Wilson's warbler
129
Pacific-slope flycatcher
130
Evening grosbeak
131
Red-breasted sapsucker
132
Northern rough-winged swallow
133
Greater white-fronted goose
134
Cliff swallow
135
American dipper
136
Black-headed grosbeak
137
western tanager
138
western bluebird
139
prairie falcon
140
sage sparrow
141
horned lark
142
western meadowlark
143
Long-billed curlew
144
Black-billed magpie
145
California quail
146
Ring-necked pheasant
147
house wren
148
Cassin's finch
149
White-headed woodpecker
150
Vesper sparrow
151
American pipit
152
Semipalmated plover
153
Wilson's phalarope
154
Black-necked stilt
155
Swainson's hawk
156
White-throated swift
157
Ring-billed gull
158
Warbling vireo
159
Olive-sided flycatcher
160
Mountain bluebird
161
Grey flycatcher
162
Chipping sparrow
163
western kingbird
164
Ferruginous hawk
165
American avocet
166
Willett
167
white-faced ibis
168
black tern
169
snow goose
170
Clark's grebe
171
Franklin's gull
172
yellow warbler
173
Canyon wren
174
Bullock's Oriole
175
Yellow-breasted chat
176
Virginia rail
177
red-naped sapsucker
178
Forster's tern
179
Trumpeter swan
180
Lewis' woodpecker
181
black-chinned hummingbird
182
Bonaparte's gull
183
Lazuli bunting
184
Sage thrasher
185
Golden eagle
186
Spotted sandpiper
187
Long-billed dowitcher
188
burrowing owl
189
Sora
190
Black-crowned night heron
191
Blue-winged teal
192
least sandpiper
193
rough-legged hawk
194
short-eared owl
195
Green-tailed towhee
196
rock wren
197
Cape May Warbler
198
Bank swallow
199
Cassin's vireo
200
Nashville warbler
201
Greater sage grouse
202
Brewer's sparrow
203
Mountain chickadee
204
Pigeon guillemot
205
Pelagic cormorant
206
Swainson's thrush
207
Red crossbill
208
Western wood-pewee
209
Willow flycatcher
210
Western sandpiper
211
Wandering tattler
212
Brandt's cormorant
213
Black-bellied plover
214
Short-billed dowitcher
215
Dunlin
216
Wrentit
217
Eastern phoebe
218
Chukar
219
Black-throated sparrow
220
Eastern kingbird
221
Say's phoebe
222
Lark Sparrow
223
Wild turkey
224
Pygmy nuthatch
225
Gray catbird
226
Purple martin
227
Hutton's vireo
228
Chestnut-sided warbler
229
Townsend's solitaire
230
Common nighthawk
231
Indigo Bunting
232
Tricolored blackbird
233
Grasshopper sparrow
234
Black-backed woodpecker
235
Clark's nutcracker
236
Hermit thrush
237
Heermann's gull
238
Common murre
239
Harlequin duck
240
Marbled godwit
241
Western Screech Owl
242
Hermit warbler
243
Macgillivray's warbler
244
Green Heron
245
Arctic Tern
246
Northern Goshawk
247
Barred Owl
248
Gray Jay
249
Red-necked phalarope
250
Lesser Yellowlegs
251
Pectoral Sandpiper
252
Sooty Shearwater
253
European Wigeon
254
Stilt Sandpiper
255
Red-shouldered Hawk
256
Hudsonian Godwit
257
Snowy Plover
258
Wilson's Plover
259
Common Eider
260
Lapland Larkspur
261
Merlin
262
Northern Shrike
263
Long-tailed Duck
264
Rhinoceros Auklet
265
Pacific Loon
266
Northwestern Crow
267
Red-breasted Merganser
268
Snowy Egret
269
Black phoebe
270
Palm Warbler
271
Glaucous Gull
272
Surf bird
273
Barrow's Goldeneye
274
Common Redpoll
275
American Tree Sparrow
276
Black Scoter
277
Sharp-shinned hawk
278
Bohemian waxwing
279
Thayer's gull
The year had opened with excitement and tentative expectations. I saw 43 easy pickings in the first two days and nabbed a Lifer on January 2nd. It was the Snow Bunting, a little arctic bird who’d been nibbling at stones (and I presume seeds) at the PDX firehouse off Marine Drive in Portland. I sat in my warm car watching the little white dot bob around on a cold January day, totally delighted that I had just twitched and got a Lifer.
I work a full time job and have many hobbies, so I didn’t jump out of the starting blocks like a Thoroughbred biting at the bit. It took me until late March to get up to 100 birds. And those were easy. Most of them. I did gather up two more Lifers, a Tufted Duck and a Harris’s Sparrow. I discovered new places to bird, including Whitaker Ponds Nature Park and realized the wonderland that is Ocean Shores, WA.
On March 8th I made the Trek of my year… the trip to see the Snowy Owl at Damon Point (Ocean Shores). I still remember that day fondly, though I’d been frozen and soaked to the bone. The rain was dumping in bucket-loads and had turned to little daggars of ice. My pants were soaked through and my binos were useless in the thick rain. Having given up, eyes downcast to avoid the icy shards from their continued abrasion, I stumbled, literally, on a Snowy Owl, hunkered down in his own way to avoid the terrible weather.
I was delighted. Soaked, but delighted. I had to drive home pantless that day.
On my birthday I gathered up two more Lifers (Red-throated and Yellow-billed Loons) and had a three loon day.
I went to the coast more than any other year and joined bird walks and other groups to see more and more birds. In mid-April I twitched for a Clay-colored Sparrow, which I did not find, but I met T, my new guy. We bumped into each other on Mt. Tabor in early May, then we were both randomly at Malheur NWR on the next weekend. Now, we bird all the time together.
May was the month of glory: 84 year birds for the month and 12 Lifers. I went to Spokane, Malheur NWR, southern Oregon, and Westport, WA. T took me under his wing and helped me find birds in the local area. We ran around WA/OR together to collect more and more birds.
I learned new bird songs, including the Black Phoebe’s, which was my nemesis bird. I’d chased after this bird more than any other, and once I finally found it in November, I couldn’t stop finding it! It was like the Guild of Phoebe’s gave up hiding once I’d finally spotted one.
All in all, in WA/OR I got 279 birds with 46 Lifers.
I don’t plan on another Big Year this year, though I do have a new goal to see as many birds in my home county.
I also want to know my local birds better. Instinctively know it’s a certain bird, know where they like to hang out, what foods they like, their songs, their actions. I think that will make me a better birder than to have a large number of birds I’ve seen and ticked off on a list.
1
Black-capped chickadee
2
Golden-crowned kinglet
3
Dark-eyed junco
4
downy woodpecker
5
European starling
6
Ruby-crowned kinglet
7
cackling goose
8
Red-winged blackbird
9
song sparrow
10
western scrub jay
11
house sparrow
12
gadwall
13
Anna's hummingbird
14
bufflehead
15
mallard
16
spotted towhee
17
American crow
18
house finch
19
fox sparrow
20
bewick's wren
21
coopers hawk
22
northern flicker
23
American robin
24
rock pigeon
25
northern shoveler
26
wood duck
27
belted kingfisher
28
Canada goose
29
Red-tailed hawk
30
bald eagle
31
ruddy duck
32
American coot
33
Pied-billed grebe
34
pileated woodpecker
35
canvasback
36
Double-crested cormorant
37
brown creeper
38
orange crowned warbler
39
bushtit
40
Ring-necked duck
41
American widgeon
42
American kestrel
43
great blue heron
44
snow bunting
45
American goldfinch
46
Gold-crowned sparrow
47
Steller's Jay
48
Brewer's blackbird
49
Glaucous winged gull
50
Great Egret
51
Varied thrush
52
Killdeer
53
Hooded merganser
54
Mute swan
55
northern harrier
56
common goldeneye
57
northern pintail
58
common merganser
59
barn owl
60
herring gull
61
California gull
62
common raven
63
pacific wren
64
mourning dove
65
cinnamon teal
66
greater scaup
67
yellow-rumped warbler
68
green-winged teal
69
wilson's snipe
70
American bittern
71
tundra swan
72
marsh wren
73
sandhill crane
74
white-breasted nuthatch
75
peregrine falcon
76
savanna sparrow
77
Lincoln's sparrow
78
Tufted duck
79
townsend's warbler
80
acorn woodpecker
81
lesser goldfinch
82
Red-breasted nuthatch
83
hairy woodpecker
84
western grebe
85
horned grebe
86
White-crowned sparrow
87
pine siskin
88
common loon
89
White-winged scoter
90
sanderling
91
western gull
92
Black turnstone
93
snowy owl
94
Harris' sparrow
95
White-throated sparrow
96
tree swallow
97
Eurasian collared dove
98
turkey vulture
99
Violet-green swallow
100
cedar waxwing
101
lesser scaup
102
Great horned owl
103
osprey
104
red-throated loon
105
surf scoter
106
yellow-billed loon
107
Loggerheaded shrike
108
Brown-headed cowbird
109
Common yellowthroat
110
red-necked grebe
111
chestnut-backed chickadee
112
vaux's swift
113
rufous hummingbird
114
barn swallow
115
Yellow-headed blackbird
116
redhead
117
greater yellowlegs
118
American white pelican
119
Caspian tern
120
brown pelican
121
whimbrel
122
eared grebe
123
mew gull
124
black oystercatcher
125
purple finch
126
Band-tailed pigeon
127
Black-throated gray warbler
128
Wilson's warbler
129
Pacific-slope flycatcher
130
Evening grosbeak
131
Red-breasted sapsucker
132
Northern rough-winged swallow
133
Greater white-fronted goose
134
Cliff swallow
135
American dipper
136
Black-headed grosbeak
137
western tanager
138
western bluebird
139
prairie falcon
140
sage sparrow
141
horned lark
142
western meadowlark
143
Long-billed curlew
144
Black-billed magpie
145
California quail
146
Ring-necked pheasant
147
house wren
148
Cassin's finch
149
White-headed woodpecker
150
Vesper sparrow
151
American pipit
152
Semipalmated plover
153
Wilson's phalarope
154
Black-necked stilt
155
Swainson's hawk
156
White-throated swift
157
Ring-billed gull
158
Warbling vireo
159
Olive-sided flycatcher
160
Mountain bluebird
161
Grey flycatcher
162
Chipping sparrow
163
western kingbird
164
Ferruginous hawk
165
American avocet
166
Willett
167
white-faced ibis
168
black tern
169
snow goose
170
Clark's grebe
171
Franklin's gull
172
yellow warbler
173
Canyon wren
174
Bullock's Oriole
175
Yellow-breasted chat
176
Virginia rail
177
red-naped sapsucker
178
Forster's tern
179
Trumpeter swan
180
Lewis' woodpecker
181
black-chinned hummingbird
182
Bonaparte's gull
183
Lazuli bunting
184
Sage thrasher
185
Golden eagle
186
Spotted sandpiper
187
Long-billed dowitcher
188
burrowing owl
189
Sora
190
Black-crowned night heron
191
Blue-winged teal
192
least sandpiper
193
rough-legged hawk
194
short-eared owl
195
Green-tailed towhee
196
rock wren
197
Cape May Warbler
198
Bank swallow
199
Cassin's vireo
200
Nashville warbler
201
Greater sage grouse
202
Brewer's sparrow
203
Mountain chickadee
204
Pigeon guillemot
205
Pelagic cormorant
206
Swainson's thrush
207
Red crossbill
208
Western wood-pewee
209
Willow flycatcher
210
Western sandpiper
211
Wandering tattler
212
Brandt's cormorant
213
Black-bellied plover
214
Short-billed dowitcher
215
Dunlin
216
Wrentit
217
Eastern phoebe
218
Chukar
219
Black-throated sparrow
220
Eastern kingbird
221
Say's phoebe
222
Lark Sparrow
223
Wild turkey
224
Pygmy nuthatch
225
Gray catbird
226
Purple martin
227
Hutton's vireo
228
Chestnut-sided warbler
229
Townsend's solitaire
230
Common nighthawk
231
Indigo Bunting
232
Tricolored blackbird
233
Grasshopper sparrow
234
Black-backed woodpecker
235
Clark's nutcracker
236
Hermit thrush
237
Heermann's gull
238
Common murre
239
Harlequin duck
240
Marbled godwit
241
Western Screech Owl
242
Hermit warbler
243
Macgillivray's warbler
244
Green Heron
245
Arctic Tern
246
Northern Goshawk
247
Barred Owl
248
Gray Jay
249
Red-necked phalarope
250
Lesser Yellowlegs
251
Pectoral Sandpiper
252
Sooty Shearwater
253
European Wigeon
254
Stilt Sandpiper
255
Red-shouldered Hawk
256
Hudsonian Godwit
257
Snowy Plover
258
Wilson's Plover
259
Common Eider
260
Lapland Larkspur
261
Merlin
262
Northern Shrike
263
Long-tailed Duck
264
Rhinoceros Auklet
265
Pacific Loon
266
Northwestern Crow
267
Red-breasted Merganser
268
Snowy Egret
269
Black phoebe
270
Palm Warbler
271
Glaucous Gull
272
Surf bird
273
Barrow's Goldeneye
274
Common Redpoll
275
American Tree Sparrow
276
Black Scoter
277
Sharp-shinned hawk
278
Bohemian waxwing
279
Thayer's gull