Somehow I got out of New Mexico, my Land of Disenchantment, yesterday after spending 10 hours at the airport while flights got scheduled and rescheduled. I didn’t get home until after midnight, an ignominious ending to the year. So I end with 570 species. Remember, the original goal was 500 but as these projects are prone to do, it took on a life of its own and got a little out of hand. There are 3 more I need present in Arizona now, Tundra Swan, Cackling Goose, and Pacific Loon. If I leave now maybe I could catch up with them. After all the hyperbole I am naturally disappointed I didn’t reach 573 to top the Peterson record of 1953. If you add in the 3 introduced species I didn’t count – pigeon, starling, and House Sparrow – I win. But I say it’s hard to lose a Big Year, too much fun and excitement. Kenn Kaufman only “lost” by about 3 species in 1973, but it propelled him to a life of fame and fortune. I doubt I’ll be propelled to anything but you can’t help but be enriched by it. If I hit this number last year, I would have had the 3rd highest of all Big Year totals submitted to the ABA for 2018. (See the listing section at ABA.org) I highly recommend all birders do a Big Year, at any scale, and you will experience the thrill of the chase like never before, and learn identification and status and distribution, a worthwhile goal in itself.
When I compare my total to Peterson’s, I’m struck by all the advantages I enjoyed. More species, jet air travel (when they can get the engine started), interstate highways, bird-finding guides, pelagic trips, and most importantly, the internet, bringing me rare bird alerts, listserves, and Ebird. His total is all the more impressive when put it in this light. And to those who can get 600 and even upper 700’s, I stand in awe.
Highlights: The very first day, the thrill of seeing all birds in a new light, the most common bird takes on a new importance, including the Great Horned Owl heard at 6:32 am from my living room for bird 1/ the rush of the White-throated Thrush in Madera Canyon on Jan 10 for the year’s first rarity/ the Power Trip to Miami in March to break out of a slump and score Thick-billed Vireo and Western Spindalis/ 2 weeks in Texas (by train!) and Florida in April to add Crimson-collared Grosbeak, Groove-billed Ani, Masked Booby, and White-crowned Pigeon for a total of 130 new species/ summer in New England with Spruce Grouse, Little Egret, and Atlantic Puffin/ White-tailed Ptarmigan and Black Swift in Colorado in August/ a final pelagic trip on Monterey Bay with Debi Shearwater in Sept, adding Wrentit for #500 on 14 Sep/ Sooty Grouse in Washington followed by the best day of the year, and maybe ever for me, on the Westport pelagic with 10 new species for the day, 6 of which were world life birds, including the rare Short-tailed Albatross/ a special trip to California in Oct to get Island Scrub-Jay/ a fun festival in Texas in Nov where I got Morelet’s Seedeater, Aplomado Falcon, and Ringed Kingfisher/ the Big Finish in Dec, where I endured 7 flights, stayed in 4 hotels, and drove 3 different rentals, a final coast-to-coast sweep, giving it my best and last. I ended the year with 29 new species for my ABA area list, 20 of which are world lifers.
How much did it cost? Hard to say, some of these trips I would have taken anyways. But thousands, not tens of thousands. A record-setting Big Year costs tens of thousands and I could do lots of other things with that kind of dough.
The Blog worked out really well, it was fun keeping it up and I hope you had a good time following it. What a great way to tell the world about where you went and what you saw. I’ll miss Fan Mail and all those stacks and stacks of canvas bags marked “U.S. Mail” and all the “surprises” inside. How will you keep sharp without the Puzzler?
And now I’ve reached the end. As I write this, I am listening to a Great Horned Owl hooting just outside my front door. Maybe it’s the same one I heard for my first bird of the year on January 1, one unbelievably short year ago. The circle closes and the year ends. Now that it’s all over and I’ve come down from the mountain,what do I do with myself? Technically I still have until the clock strikes 12 tomorrow night, when all of this turns to pumpkins and mice. Then I go back to my kind of birding, where I do 90% of it within 20 miles from my front door. Back to the systematic study of local birds, forever searching for trends, patterns, and changes. I’ll still chase rarities and build my life list, here and abroad. But I satisfied a long-time dream of running a North American Big Year, a once in a life time event. It was all I thought it would be and more. I’m full. I especially thank all of you who pitched in, I couldn’t have done it without you. Maybe on New Years day I’ll go back to Denny’s where it all began for me this year, one exhilarating year ago, January 1, 2019. I’ll look around to see if there is a Big Year birder eating breakfast, looking out the window, starting his new year.
Here’s the mammal list:
And butterflies: