Starting
on 1 January 2003, I made a concentrated effort to try to see as many
different species of birds in Texas as possible
in a calendar year. Several folks have made similar efforts in
recent years and the record high number for a single
year stood at 490 - shared by Brush Freeman (1995), Petra Hockey (1995)
and Mark Adams (2000) - when I started my
year-long misadventure.
The
craziness is now over. I ended up with a total of 505 birds
for the year! This is a number that I couldn't have dreamed of
reaching when the year began.
Final status as of 1 January 2004
Total Number of Species encountered:
505 (477 Non-review species +
28 Review-list species)
Miles Driven: 63,176+
Counties Visited: 203+/-
Non-Review Birds missed: 2
-
Black-legged Kittiwake
-
Cape May Warbler
Last 10
birds added:
496.
Yellow-nosed Albatross - 26
September - Pelagic trip out of South Padre
497.
Black-throated Blue Warbler -
20 October - Sabine Woods
498.
Thayer's Gull - 29 October -
Belton Lake
499.
Black-headed Gull - 16 November - Cooper Lake
500. Mew Gull
- 26 November - McNary Reservoir
501. Smith's
Longspur - 7 December - Daphne Prairie
502.
Slaty-backed
Gull - 10 December - Balmorhea Lake
503. Baird's
Sparrow - 20 December - near Marfa
504.
Thick-billed Kingbird - 22
December - Selkirk Island
505.
Purple Finch - 24 December - Guy Luneau's, Rusk Co.
---
A Big Thank You! - to all the wonderful
people who helped me out!
--- Birds I Missed - a
list of most of the birds that I didn't see in 2003.
--- Photos - photos of some
of the birds I ran into during the year.
--- A Look Back - a
review of my 2003 efforts
--- Tips & Strategies -
hints for planning a Big Year
