2013 Year List in Review - UPDATED

DEC. 31 NOTE: For the second year in a row, blogging the review a day early got me in trouble, as there's still plenty of birding to be done on the last day of the year! This year, Dave tied me on the waning days, and despite my efforts, I couldn't regain the lead on December 31st. I did, however, add one more species - the eared grebe - to my county ear list. 

There's one day left in 2013, which means one more day to add bird species to my year list. I've stalled out at 192, well short of my goal of 200 species, but still a single species ahead of exactly tied with my competitor Dave in England, who added the tying species on December 31st!. My dad, with his trip to eastern Canada, will finish well ahead at 219. Here's how the numbers break down this year:

	2010	2011	2012	2013
Total # Bird Species	233	203	222	192
Dave's Total	237	206	275/205*	191 192
Dad's Total		230	204	219 222
# States/ Provinces	6	4	5	4
# Life Birds	23	3	6	3
# SJ County Species	133?	157	145	148 149
# Species by Month
January	87	114	105	110
February	19	13	52	6
March	25	12	3	14
April	21	25	12	20
May	37	17	24	10
June	24	2	14	5
July	1	4	0	1
August	2	4	3	2
September	3	5	0	1
October	2	1	6	0
November	4	4	0	22
December	8	2	3	0

*World total/Europe total

Last year the world traveler Dave was nice and granted me the win compared to his Europe total, but if I can hang on one more day this really feels like the first time I've beat him! (Nope, it's a tie!) I find it interesting how close we've been every year, and the fact that we're both in the low 190s this year after being above 200 in all the previous years.

The monthly numbers are interesting, but to make a comparison you also have to take into account when I've traveled outside of the northwest. Last year, it was a California trip in February. This year, it was a California trip in November!

The birding highlight of 2013 was undoubtedly my trip to California, which is also where I added my three life birds of the year, finally pushing my North American life list to over 350 species. My favorite hour of birding happened at Malibu Lagoon State Beach, where the year birds came fast and furious and the species diversity - so different form what I see in Washington - was really apparent.

So, what are the plans for 2014? I'm keeping my goal at 200 species, and hope to make it as well as add a few life birds on a trip south in February. It will likely be a slower start to the year list as for the first time I'll be starting it on San Juan Island instead of in Portland, where there's a better chance for a wider variety of species. I like to try and reach 100 species before the end of January, but I think that will be a tough one this year, even with a trip or two off island! I'll still give it a shot, so we shall see!

Whale Waiters

While going through pictures from years past, in many cases for photos to post on my Orca Watcher Photography Facebook page, I inevitably see the pictures I took while waiting for whales. People who haven't been to San Juan Island perhaps have the impression you can just go to Lime Kiln on the west side and see whales at just about anytime, but this is far from the case. It's known as Whale Watch Park, but a lot of us joke it should more accurately be called Whale Wait Park. So, what do you do while you wait for whales? Well, it's always a good time to catch up on your reading....

And believe it or not, the rocks are GREAT for napping. You just have find the comfortable ones:

And it's such a beautiful place, you may just be inspired to draw, or paint:

Of course, someone's got to keep a look out at all times:

In all directions:

Because even if it's getting late, the whales might still show up:

But whatever you do, you had better do it in style:

And you've gotta protect yourself from the elements, whether it be the sun:

Rain (protect those electronics with whatever is on hand!): 

Or wind, 'cause it gets cold down there by the water!

At this point, you might be wondering why all these crazy people spend so many hours waiting for the whales out there. Is it really worth all that time? Oh yes, it is. The payoff is the experience of a lifetime:

Definitely one to share with the family if you can:

But it's just as awesome when it's just you and the whales:

So if you ever get the chance, I highly recommend coming out to Lime Kiln, the best place in the world to wait for whales. Not only do you get time to nap, read, and contemplate the beautiful world around you, but you'll probably meet some very cool people - most of the people in these photos have been friends of mine now for years! And you never know, you might even see a whale.

Baby It's Cold Outside....

We've had beautiful sunny weather here over the last week or so, but man has it been cold! Temperatures in the mid-20s plus breezy conditions that makes the wind chill factor in the teens. Not the type of cold we're used to dealing with here!

Most of the wildlife-watching has occurred from the car as a result, or at least after a drive and then a brief hopping out of the car. Over the long holiday weekend last week, before it got THIS cold, my dad and I did a COASST survey at Fourth of July Beach (no finds) and then birded the redoubt road, hoping for some early season short-eared owls. We didn't find any owls, but did see a northern shrike (192), my first of the year. The lighting wasn't right to photograph it, but on the other side of the road, a quartet of deer were perfectly illuminated in the late afternoon sunlight.

The sunrises have also been stunning. On this morning I just missed the amazing pink clouds on my way down to Reuben Tarte; as the sun became visible the clouds immediately darkened, but it was still worth a picture:

Yesterday on my way to town to do some Christmas shopping, I stopped at Dream Lake where this time of year trumpeter swans are usually hanging out. There were also American wigeon, ring-necked ducks, and bufflehead on the part of the lake that wasn't frozen, and northern flickers, golden-crowned kinglets, song sparrows, and golden-crowned sparrows foraging along the edges.

Trumpeter swans on the frozen edge of Dream Lake

Trumpeter swan with a female bufflehead

Trumpeter swan with wigeon and a ring-necked duck taking off in the background

Next up, unless I find something unexpected, I've been going through a bunch of older photographs for a few different projects, and in the process I've been picking out some pictures for a different sort of blog...