A Break too Long

So I've taken a long, long, LONG break.  Well the good news is that I've done some awesome birding in the meantime.  All summer I was making trips and saw some stellar birds throughout my trip.  I'll run through some of the highlights and then the list with some pictures!

Summer 2012 Highlights:

Georgia in June 2012

While I was hunting down a Summer Tanager, I saw my first Ruby-Throated Hummingbird of the Year!  I also found a Dickcissel in a farm in Rutledge, GA.  I never found the Summer Tanager but I did find a Prothontary Warbler!  I was a great time!  I also got married and found a Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher at the reception, a life bird for my new wife!

Shenandoah National Park, Early July

The only new bird we got here was a Chestnut-sided Warbler.   However, the birding here was incredible!  Indigo Buntings and Eastern Towhees were ubiquitous!  Ravens and Vultures as well.  While I missed out on finding a Canada Warbler, we did manage to find a flock of Cedar Waxwings, rare for the area, another Dickcissel!  The Find of the Trip though was a Barn Owl, right outside the dining restaurant!  We also found deer, black bears and founda  timber rattlesnake.  A great trip and a great park!

British Columbia and Western Washington, Late July to Early August

A quick list of the birds we saw: Anna's Hummingbird, Rufous Hummingbird, Chestnut-Backed Chickadee, Bewick's Wren, Black-Throated-Gray Warbler, Bushtits, California Gull, California Quail, Common Murre, Oregon-Backed Junco, Glaucous-Winged Gull, Heermann's Gull, Marbled Murrelet, Northwestern Crow, Pacific-Slope Flycatcher, Pigeon Guillemot, Rhinoceros Auklet, Sharp-Shinned Hawk, Spotted Towhee, Western Gull, Western Tanager, Western Wood-Pewee and a Wilson's Warbler!  A lot of birds but I am still thinking about the birds we chased but couldn't find!  I was really hoping to find a Varied Thrush and Black Oyster Catcher, but alas, I missed out on both of them.  I did enjoy this amazing environment.  We didn't see any bears, but we did see a Salmon fish Ladder, Harbor Seals (pic below) and a wild Mink1  I definitely want to go back to the Pacific Northwest and bird some more!

Great Blue Heron

 Harbor Seals

Life List Total:
214!  (14 past my goal!)

Owling or Howling

So, to celebrate Winter Solstice, I decided to go owling.  I felt it was an appropriate celebration of the day.  Well, needles to say, if you are going to go owling, then make sure to go with someone who knows what they are doing or at least make sure that you are familiar with the area... or at least bring a flashlight.  I did none of the three and I have the scars to prove it.  I feel down... face first... into a pricker bush.  while it was wasn't the most fun I had birding.  One point I want to bring up.  During my falling, slipping and being attacked by the wood, I did hear a Great Horned Owl.  Now, I know that hearing a bird counts as seeing the bird and being witness to it.  However, I do feel a certain obligation to see the bird.  Birding by ear is definitely a skill, but I do feel as though, for your first viewing of the bird, you ought to be able to see it instead of just hear it.  Otherwise, how sure can you be?  Not to say that sight isn't perfect, in fact, I am currently mulling over a view pictures of warblers that I need to sort out.  Back to the owl and my ear, while I am not ready to count the owl on my list.  What do you think a true birder should do?