A Relaxing Day of Birding

It seems like making a birding goal sometimes takes the relaxation out of the hobby - it is even a little stressful to think about the birds that I missed or might be missing each time I go birding. But, now that I've reached 200 and I'm still far from 236, today I was able to enjoy a very relaxing day of birding. First, I did the LBCA point count again, this time with Craig Fosdick (above left) and Keith Archibald (above right). We saw a total of 47 species, including my first Hairy Woodpecker of the year. We also saw a Golden Eagle nest with a chick, a Vesper Sparrow nest with eggs, and a Grasshopper Sparrow. Grasshopper sparrows are pretty rare in the county, but probably occur in some numbers every year. I think the highlight for me was actually a mammal, though: I saw my first live Badger!

After an afternoon barbecue with Stephanie and her housemates and housemate's family, we went canoeing on the Bear River. I only picked up one new species, a Common Nighthawk, and missed American Bittern yet again, a species that should be common but is proving to be hard to find. It didn't seem to matter much, though, because the canoeing itself was so enjoyable.

200!

I finally made it to 200 birds today! After taking care of some errands this morning, I took a trip out to Steel Canyon in NW Cache County, almost to Idaho. Several good birds have been seen in this area lately; several that I needed. I picked up the first must-have, a Grasshopper Sparrow, singing along the gravel road to the canyon - number 199. But then the road got too muddy to drive and I had to turn around before I reached the canyon. I was afraid I might be stuck just shy of 200 for yet another day. But on the drive out, I spotted a flycatcher near a creek I had passed on the way in. I had hoped that some flashy rare bird would fill the 200 spot, but instead it was a plain bird I had seen many times before: this flycatcher was my first Western Wood-Pewee of the year. (Photo above.) On the drive home I managed to pick up yet another new bird just for good measure: number 201, an Eastern Kingbird, shown below.

What next? Well, I'm not stopping here. I've met my goal but now I've set a new one. The record number of bird species seen in a year by any one person in Cache County is 235, held by both Keith Archibald and Ron Ryel. I'm now going to go for that record, and I think I'm off to a good start. From what I've heard from my more experienced Cache County birding friends, only one person has ever reached 200 earlier in the year than I did: Ron Ryel reached 200 by "about" May 24th a few years ago.