The guys over at 10000 Birds, and then Patrick at The Hawk Owl's Nest have both posted about their birding highlights for the past year, and that has got me thinking about some of my best birding moments of the past 364 days. 2008 has been a pretty good year for me, both birding and in general (notwithstanding the economy which I am sure has given everybody a solid boot to the pants). Pamela and I traveled quite a bit this year which led to several of the following highlights, but the top moment of the year was certainly our wedding.
So now, without any further ado, here are my top birding moments for 2008:
In January, Pamela and I escaped from the New England winter to Florida's Gulf Coast for a week, and although I did not get any life birds on this trip (I've been lucky enough to bird in Florida several times before) we saw every single "target" bird and I did get some really nice photos, including my favorite photo so far of Pileated Woodpeckers.
In late February/early March, my friends Pica & Numenius who host the Feathers of Hope blog, graciously invited me to stay with them in California's Central Valley where I managed to pick up a solid 21 life birds. It's hard to pick highlights out of a number like that, and even though many of the birds were very cool or difficult to find aywhere but in the central valley (ie Yellow-billed Magpie), the highlights for me had to be an incredibly accomodating Red-breasted Sapsucker and finally seeing the only regularly occuring woodpecker in the US that I'd not seen yet - the Nuttall's Woodpecker.
In April, we traveled to the Edwards Plateau and Big Bend with our friends Paul & Diana to see the specialties there: Black-capped Vireo, Golden-cheeked Warbler, and Colima Warbler. We hit a grand slam with all three species, working harder for some than for others, and everybody getting a good number of "lifers" on the trip.
In June, I led a trip up the Cap's Ridge Trail in NH's White Mountians, where a number of the participants got their "life" Gray Jays - especially satisfying to see their faces when that life bird flew in to take food from their hands.
Throughout the summer we were lucky in New England to have not one, not two, but three Mississippi Kites, and they successfully nested and fledged chicks. Visiting these birds on occassion was quite a thrill.
In September, Pamela and I were married outdoors on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Moments after the ceremony started, I heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo calling off in the distance. I was very good though and managed not to crane my head and look for it. For our honeymoon, we decided on a Princess Cruise-tour to Alaska, with several days on land, followed by a cruise down the inside passage. While on our honeymoon, I spotted my 600th ABA bird from the deck of our cabin - a Pink-footed Shearwater. Unfortunately, I was unable to get a pic of #600. I did get one of #599 though earlier that day, a Wandering Tattler.
In October, while we were again birding with Paul and Diana, looking for fall migrants, I happened to spot this Golden-winged Warbler - one of the few (and maybe the only - I've not found any other records yet) ones seen in Massachusetts this year.
There are a few other moments that stand out in my mind also as I think back on the year - those unexpected up-close-and-personal moments you sometimes have while birding:
