Wednesday, March 30, 2011

2011 bird-a-day challenge ends after 77 days

My 2011 birdaday challenge came to an end just 3 days before the official start of spring. I didn’t expect to make it so far into March, but if I could have sustained my list just a bit longer, I could have potentially ridden a wave of spring migrants much further. It will be fun to see if I can get more than 77 next year.
Final list is below. Notable missing easy birds are: Mallard, Common Grackle (which I saw the day after busting), Red-winged Blackbird, Chipping Sparrow, Eastern Meadowlark, Winter Wren and Belted Kingfisher.
I spent the afternoon of the bust day playing disc golf at Sugaw Creek near Charlotte, but the park let me down and didn't have any early migrants nor any of my remaining "easy" birds.
01/01/11 Red-breasted Nuthatch
01/02/11 Pine Siskin
1/3/2011 Barred Owl
1/4/2011 American Kestrel
1/5/2011 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
1/6/2011 Purple Finch
1/7/2011 Yellow Rail
1/8/2011 Lark Sparrow
1/9/2011 Piping Plover
1/10/2011 Red-throated Loon
1/11/2011 White-winged Scoter
1/12/2011 Red-tailed Hawk
1/13/2011 Cedar Waxwing
1/14/2011 Eastern Bluebird
1/15/2011 Black Vulture
1/16/2011 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
1/17/2011 Brown Creeper
1/18/2011 Dark-eyed Junco
1/19/2011 Cooper's Hawk
1/20/2011 Song Sparrow
1/21/2011 House Finch
1/22/2011 Pine Warbler
1/23/2011 Eastern Phoebe
1/24/2011 Field Sparrow
1/25/2011 Hairy Woodpecker
1/26/2011 Canada Goose
1/27/2011 Pileated Woodpecker
1/28/2011 Yellow-rumped Warbler
1/29/2011 Short-eared Owl
1/30/2011 Blue Jay
1/31/2011 Fox Sparrow
2/1/2011 Red-headed Woodpecker
2/2/2011 Rock Pigeon
2/3/2011 Brown-headed Nuthatch
2/4/2011 American Crow
2/5/2011 Mourning Dove
2/6/2011 American Woodcock
2/7/2011 Ring-billed Gull
2/8/2011 Turkey Vulture
2/9/2011 Hermit Thrush
2/10/2011 Golden-crowned Kinglet
2/11/2011 American Robin
2/12/2011 Great Horned Owl
2/13/2011 White-crowned Sparrow
2/14/2011 Great Blue Heron
2/15/2011 European Starling
2/16/2011 American Goldfinch
2/17/2011 Downy Woodpecker
2/18/2011 Tundra Swan
2/19/2011 Dovekie
2/20/2011 Swainson's Hawk
2/21/2011 House Sparrow
2/22/2011 Brown Thrasher
2/23/2011 Eastern Towhee
2/24/2011 Killdeer
2/25/2011 Common Redpoll
2/26/2011 Fish Crow
2/27/2011 White-throated Sparrow
2/28/2011 Red-shouldered Hawk
3/1/2011 Tufted Titmouse
3/2/2011 Savannah Sparrow
3/3/2011 Red-bellied woodpecker
3/4/2011 White-breasted nuthatch
3/5/2011 Northern Flicker
3/6/2011 Horned Grebe
3/7/2011 Carolina Wren
3/8/2011 Double-crested Cormorant
3/9/2011 Carolina Chickadee
3/10/2011 Wild Turkey
3/11/2011 Common Loon
3/12/2011 Marbled Godwit
3/13/2011 Bonaparte's Gull
3/14/2011 Northern Gannet
3/15/2011 Swamp Sparrow
3/16/2011 Northern Cardinal
3/17/2011 Northern Mockingbird
3/18/2011 Bald Eagle
3/19/2011 BUST!
3/20/2011 Common Grackle