And So It Begins
2020 sucked. Pandemics, horrible wildfires, the political scene, the Kardashians. And my workload was so heavy that I rarely had time to do much, let alone go birding. I was lucky enough to get out a dozen times all year – including 3 times in December to finish the year with 205 species.
I turned 50, and my plan was to spend my 50th year doing a Big Year … or at least a Big(ish) Year based on the fact that I wasn’t going to be able to do a lot of explicitly birding trips. But then COVID happened and I’m adjusting again. I’m still doing it, but we’ll see what I can achieve without flying to many places. But I’m going for it.
| # | Date | Bird |
| 1 | 1/1 | Canada Goose |
| 2 | 1/1 | Blue Jay |
| 3 | 1/1 | House Finch |
| 4 | 1/1 | House Sparrow |
| 5 | 1/1 | Mourning Dove |
| 6 | 1/1 | European Starling |
| 7 | 1/1 | Downy Woodpecker |
| 8 | 1/1 | Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) |
| 9 | 1/1 | American Robin |
| 10 | 1/1 | Carolina Wren |
| 11 | 1/1 | White-breasted Nuthatch |
| 12 | 1/1 | Tufted Titmouse |
| 13 | 1/1 | White-throated Sparrow |
| 14 | 1/1 | Carolina Chickadee |
| 15 | 1/1 | Ring-billed Gull |
| 16 | 1/1 | Mallard |
| 17 | 1/1 | Domestic Mallard |
| 18 | 1/1 | Song Sparrow |
| 19 | 1/1 | American Crow |
| 20 | 1/1 | Northern Cardinal |
| 21 | 1/1 | Northern Mockingbird |
| 22 | 1/1 | Double-crested Cormorant |
| 23 | 1/1 | Red-bellied Woodpecker |
| 24 | 1/1 | Great Blue Heron |
| 25 | 1/1 | Great Black-backed Gull |
| 26 | 1/1 | Herring Gull |
| 27 | 1/1 | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| 28 | 1/1 | Pigeon |
| 29 | 1/1 | Belted Kingfisher |
| 30 | 1/1 | Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) |
| 31 | 1/1 | Pine Siskin |
| 32 | 1/1 | Red-winged Blackbird |
| 33 | 1/1 | Common Grackle |
Let’s do this!
Trip List
- Day 1 at Home – January 1st (33 species)
- Cape May, NJ – January 2nd (85 species, 1 lifer)
- Manasquan Inlet, NJ – January 9th (20 species)
- Barnegat Light, NJ – January 16th (35 species)
- Kelly Drive + John Heinz NWR – January 31st (34 species, 1 lifer)
- Forsythe NWR – February 6th (47 species)
- Featherbed Lane WMA – February 12th (21 species)
- Featherbed Lane WMA, Red Bank Battlefield – February 15th (61 species)
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