Break Over, Time for 2015

So I haven't posted in a while and I have an excuse.  My wife had a baby!  So birding time has gone way down!  I've managed to do two CBCs here in Georgia and add a couple of birds to my life list and I've thought decided to tone down my goals and focus on a few specific goals.  Here are a couple of the pictures from my end of the year.  

American Kestrel

Canada Goose and 2 Ross's Geese

Brown Thrasher, My new State's Bird!

Juvenile Rufous Himmingbird

So that's the end of the 2014.  I got some great times and some great events.  I am not going to set any real ambitious goals or specific goal birds.  At least not publicly.  I am still getting to know my new state and would like to get my Georgia list.  Currently, my Georgia list is at 180 species and I'd like to at least 230, maybe 240 if I get lucky.  With my little one by my side, I am hoping to get some new birds on my Georgia list and pass on her love of birding.  Here's how 2014 ended for me:

Acadian Flycatcher

Alder Flycatcher - Lifer

American Avocet

American Bittern - Lifer

American Black Duck

American Coot

American Crow

American Goldfinch

American Kestrel

American Oystercatcher

American Pipit

American Redstart

American Robin

American Tree Sparrow

American Wigeon

American Woodcock

Baird's Sandpiper

Bald Eagle

Baltimore Oriole

Bank Swallow

Barn Swallow

Barnacle Goose

Barred Owl

Barrow's Goldeneye

Bay-breasted Warbler

Belted Kingfisher

Bewick's Wren

Black Skimmer

Black Tern - Lifer

Black Vulture

Black-and-white Warbler

Black-bellied Plover

Black-billed Cuckoo - Lifer

Black-capped Chickadee

Black-chinned Hummingbird

Black-crested Titmouse - Lifer

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Black-headed Gull

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Blue Grosbeak

Blue Jay

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Blue-headed Vireo

Blue-winged Teal

Blue-winged Warbler

Boat-tailed Grackle

Bobolink

Bonaparte's Gull

Brant

Broad-winged Hawk - Lifer

Brown Creeper

Brown Thrasher

Brown-headed Cowbird

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Bufflehead

Cackling Goose

Canada Goose

Canada Warbler

Canvasback

Cape May Warbler - Lifer

Carolina Chickadee

Carolina Wren

Cedar Waxwing

Cerulean Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Chimney Swift

Chipping Sparrow

Clapper Rail

Cliff Swallow

Common Eider

Common Goldeneye

Common Grackle

Common Loon

Common Merganser

Common Nighthawk

Common Raven

Common Tern

Common Yellowthroat

Cooper's Hawk

Crested Caracara - Lifer

Dark-eyed Junco

Double-crested Cormorant

Downy Woodpecker

Dunlin

Eared Grebe

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Kingbird

Eastern Meadowlark

Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Screech-Owl

Eastern Towhee

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Eurasian Collared-Dove - Lifer

Eurasian Wigeon

European Starling

Field Sparrow

Fish Crow

Fox Sparrow

Gadwall

Glaucous Gull - Lifer

Glossy Ibis

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Grasshopper Sparrow

Gray Catbird

Gray-cheeked Thrush - Lifer

Great Black-backed Gull

Great Blue Heron

Great Cormorant

Great Crested Flycatcher

Great Egret

Great Horned Owl

Great-tailed Grackle

Greater Scaup

Greater White-fronted Goose

Greater Yellowlegs

Green Heron

Green-winged Teal

Hairy Woodpecker

Harlequin Duck

Hermit Thrush

Herring Gull

Hooded Merganser

Hooded Warbler

Horned Grebe

Horned Lark

House Finch

House Sparrow

House Wren

Iceland Gull

Indigo Bunting

Killdeer

King Eider

Lapland Longspur

Laughing Gull

Least Bittern - Lifer

Least Flycatcher

Least Sandpiper

Least Tern

Lesser Black-backed Gull

Lesser Goldfinch

Lesser Scaup

Lesser Yellowlegs

Lincoln's Sparrow

Little Blue Heron

Little Gull - Lifer

Loggerhead Shrike

Long-eared Owl - Lifer

Long-tailed Duck

Louisiana Waterthrush

Magnolia Warbler

Mallard

Marsh Wren

Merlin

Monk Parakeet

Mourning Dove

Mute Swan

Nashville Warbler

Neotropic Cormorant

Northern Cardinal

Northern Flicker

Northern Gannet

Northern Goshawk - Lifer

Northern Harrier

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Parula

Northern Pintail

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

Northern Shoveler

Northern Shrike

Northern Waterthrush

Olive-sided Flycatcher

Orange-crowned Warbler

Orchard Oriole

Osprey

Ovenbird

Palm Warbler

Pectoral Sandpiper

Peregrine Falcon

Philadelphia Vireo - Lifer

Pied-billed Grebe

Pileated Woodpecker

Pine Siskin

Pine Warbler

Piping Plover

Prairie Warbler

Purple Finch

Purple Martin

Purple Sandpiper

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-breasted Merganser

Red-eyed Vireo

Red-headed Woodpecker

Red-necked Grebe

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-throated Loon

Red-winged Blackbird

Redhead

Ring-billed Gull

Ring-necked Duck

Rock Pigeon

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Ross's Goose - Lifer

Rough-legged Hawk - Lifer

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Ruddy Duck

Ruddy Turnstone

Ruffed Grouse - Lifer

Rufous Hummingbird

Rusty Blackbird

Saltmarsh Sparrow

Sanderling

Savannah Sparrow

Scarlet Tanager

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Seaside Sparrow

Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Short-billed Dowitcher

Snow Bunting

Snow Goose

Snowy Egret

Snowy Owl

Solitary Sandpiper

Song Sparrow

Sora - Lifer

Spotted Sandpiper

Spotted Towhee

Stilt Sandpiper

Summer Tanager

Surf Scoter

Swainson's Thrush

Swainson's Warbler - Lifer

Swamp Sparrow

Tennessee Warbler - Lifer

Tree Swallow

Trumpeter Swan

Tufted Titmouse

Tundra Swan

Turkey Vulture

Upland Sandpiper - Lifer

Veery

Vesper Sparrow

Virginia Rail - Lifer

Warbling Vireo

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-crowned Sparrow

White-eyed Vireo

White-faced Ibis - Lifer

White-rumped Sandpiper - Lifer

White-throated Sparrow

White-winged Dove

White-winged Scoter

Wild Turkey

Willet

Willow Flycatcher

Wilson's Snipe

Wilson's Warbler

Winter Wren

Wood Duck

Wood Thrush

Worm-eating Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - Lifer

Yellow-breasted Chat - Lifer

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Yellow-throated Vireo

Yellow-throated Warbler

I hope you all have a lovely start to 2015.  Now that its the new year, I will make posting on my blog a more regular occurrence as I had been for most of 2014!  Enjoy and go outside!

2013 Year in Review

So 2013 is coming to a close.  And I need some reflection and goal setting to make sure that 2014 is a successful year.  2013 was a pretty good year for birding for me.  Neil Hayward has a bit of a better one (LINK HERE and ANOTHER LINK) but I didn't do to shabby.  Here's a run down of 2013 by the numbers.

Birds Seen This Year: 277
In Connecticut: 209
New Birds: 74
States Visited: 12 (ME, NH, CT, MA, NY, NJ, PA, DE, VA, GA, FL, TX)
Best Birds of the Year: Barnacle Goose, Fork Tailed Flycatcher, Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher, and Northern Lapwing, American Golden-Plover

Goals.  I meet almost all of my goals.  The only goal bird that I missed was the Parasitic Jaeger so that will go back on the docket.  Otherwise, I am feeling pretty good about my goals.  Without any set birding trips, I was a bit conservative about my goals and goal birds.  I'd love to hear any feed back and any tips on places to go to and see some great birds.

Life List Goal: Reach 400 (71 to go!)
Year Goal: Reach 250
CT Year List: 225
Goal Birds:
Parasitic Jaeger
Yellow-Breasted Chat
Golden Eagle
White-Rumped Sandpiper
Long-Eared Owl
*Get Beaver Ponds Park in New Haven up to 150 Birds*

In the meantime, as you reflect on 2013, enjoy some great shots of birds!

Black Skimmers in Milford

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak in Maine

Piping Plover in Milford

Black-Bellied Whistling Duck in Texas

Flickers Courting Each Other in Madison

Please feel to comment on my goals and tell me yours.  What do you want birding to look 

2013!! and more Owls...

I've done a lot of thinking about my goals for 2013.  Last year, I set a goal of adding a 100 birds to my life list and having a year list of 200 long.  Well, I beat both since I got 254 for the year and about 251 for the year.  A nice padding for the crossing the bar.  I was thinking that for 2013 I would set a couple of different goals, which I will outline below:

Life List Goal at 300
I recognize that this may be the easiest goal to meet but given that I can't go chase every new rarity, I think it is good to be modest while still setting a high goal.

Year List Goal at 200
This is a repeat of my goal last year.

I am also going to set some very specific goals:

I want to do at least 2 pelagic trips.  Note that I am and will be counting Whale Watching trips (which my wife loves) as such trips.

I am also targeting a few specific birds: Parastic Jaeger, Barnacle Goose, Canada Warbler, Scissor-Tailed Flycatcher and a Bobolink.  While a interesting mix to be sure, these are just birds that I would like to see!

Some of you will notice that Northern Saw-Whet isn't on the list.  That's because I got it early this year!  What a Great pick up!  Some Birders helped me out and I am so excited to be able to see this sweet, yet vicious bird of prey.  Click the Photo below for a bigger shot!

2013 Birds: 24 (176 to go!)
Life List: 255 (45 to go!