Basically, I don't want to just have SEEN a bird - I want to have truly focused on it. I'd like to instead have some small moment or impression or observation or anecdote tied to an individual member of the species before I add it to my list. What that means is I will try to list as many species as I can but, as much as possible, I want to avoid just checking a box. So I've come up with my own, slightly tweaked plan:įor 2019, I'm aiming for a Big Year of Small Encounters. And since my own biggest plans for 2019 revolve around the environment, I have no desire to get into the type of Big Year effort that involves driving around chasing after OntBird rarity alerts (not that I have a car to do that with anyway). It should help motivate me to make more citizen science entries and help me with my own 2019 plan to get back to learning new things about birds (I've gotten lazy in the past few years - perhaps I'll write more on that another day).īut still, just keeping a list didn't feel right for me. But so far I've been pretty terrible at keeping records, even though I happily promote eBird and iNaturalist to anyone who will listen.Īfter giving it a little thought, I've decided taking on the challenge of a Big Year isn't a bad idea at all. I’m more interested in the experience of being around birds, and of observing birds as individuals. Because while there are many birders who generate incredibly detailed lists and records, I am most definitely not one of them. He said it so casually, like challenging me to entirely shift my relationship with birds was no big thing. Last week a former co-worker dropped by the Arboretum and, just before he was about to leave, mentioned that one of his plans for 2019 was to do a personal “Big Year”, trying to see as many different bird species as he can in the province of Ontario in a single year. The bird that recently swept a newcomer off her feet was just about swept off its wings! The red-bellied was back, and while it worked its way up a nearby tree my co-worker told the story of an international student who was recently delighted by spotting a red-bellied as one of her first sights at the bird garden, and thought it a truly beautiful bird (to which we all agreed).Īs he was talking, the red-bellied suddenly took to the air form the top of the tree it had been climbing, but it was caught by the strong wind and seemed to be thrown towards the woodlands for a moment before it took back control. My co-worker decided to lead the walk past the bird garden and as we approached I heard a few cha chas that I don't hear everyday. But the Arb was offering a free tour in the afternoon, and I tagged along in case any nice photo opportunities presented themselves. That didn't feel like enough to make this list, which was a disappointment. From a distance, I saw a woodpecker that was the wrong size and shape for a downy or a hairy I was "sure" it was (one of?) the red-bellied woodpecker(s) we see there from time to time, but it was backlit by the morning sun and I couldn't see any markings before it flew off towards the woodlands. I took the long way into work, passing by the bird feeders in the Humber Arboretum's Tranquility Bird Garden. #3: Red-bellied woodpecker ( Melanerpes carolinus) - Jan 10 Getting courtship off to an earlier start? I can't be certain, but later that same day we saw two red-tails swooping and circling and diving far across the grounds, and they've been been spotted riding the wind around the Centre every day since. He was smaller, and was spending a lot more time swooping and diving and showing off than she did. As I stood in the cold just fifty metres from the front door of the Centre for Urban Ecology, I saw my second red-tail of 2019. She seemed too large at first to be a red-tailed hawk, but as I got closer and pulled out my pocket binoculars I could see the tell-tale-tail itself. ![]() ![]() It was a cold, still day but bright, so the large swooping figure stood out against the vibrant blue sky. ![]() I saw her long before I reached the Arboretum. I've already spotted many birds this year who haven't yet made the list - chickadees, crows, starlings, juncos, cardinals, downy woodpeckers, hairy woodpeckers, mallards, sparrows, gulls, geese and more - so I'm really going to have to pick up the pace by slowing down more often if I want a respectable count before the year is out! #2: Red-tailed hawk ( Buteo jamaicensis) - Jan 3 After a casual challenge from a friend, I've decided to take on a Big Year challenge my way, and not check off a bird species just for seeing it, but rather only once I've taken my time and recorded an anecdote or observation abut an individual member of the species.
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