Another year has elapsed at the usual rate, and now it draws to a close. Time for me to tally up the year’s sightings. My goals for the year were to be in the Top Ten eBird users in my county, and to attempt to take a good photo of each species. I ended up at #6, and I’m happy with the photos I got (a selection of you will see above).

I had 115 species in my yard this year, one more than last year:

1. Canada Goose
2. Turkey Vulture
3. Red-shouldered Hawk
4. Red-tailed Hawk
5. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
6. Red-bellied Woodpecker
7. Downy Woodpecker
8. Northern Flicker
9. Blue Jay
10. American Crow
11. Carolina Chickadee
12. Tufted Titmouse
13. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
14. Golden-crowned Kinglet
15. White-breasted Nuthatch
16. Red-breasted Nuthatch
17. Carolina Wren
18. European Starling
19. Eastern Bluebird
20. Hermit Thrush
21. American Robin
22. House Finch
23. Purple Finch
24. American Goldfinch
25. Dark-eyed Junco
26. White-throated Sparrow
27. Northern Cardinal
28. Mourning Dove
29. Northern Mockingbird
30. Pileated Woodpecker
31. Chipping Sparrow
32. Song Sparrow
33. Yellow-rumped Warbler
34. Great Blue Heron
35. Hairy Woodpecker
36. Common Raven
37. Brown Creeper
38. Cedar Waxwing
39. Field Sparrow
40. Black Vulture
41. Northern Harrier
42. Sharp-shinned Hawk
43. Cooper’s Hawk
44. Merlin
45. Eastern Towhee
46. Bald Eagle
47. American Kestrel
48. Eastern Phoebe
49. Eastern Meadowlark
50. Wood Duck
51. Hooded Merganser
52. Wilson’s Snipe
53. Belted Kingfisher
54. Red-winged Blackbird
55. Fish Crow
56. Brown-headed Cowbird
57. Common Grackle
58. Pine Warbler
59. Rock Pigeon
60. Osprey
61. Sandhill Crane
62. Brown Thrasher
63. Louisiana Waterthrush
64. Wild Turkey
65. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
66. Barn Swallow
67. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
68. Broad-winged Hawk
69. Tree Swallow
70. Killdeer
71. Grasshopper Sparrow
72. Wood Thrush
73. Green Heron
74. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
75. Yellow-throated Vireo
76. Orchard Oriole
77. Palm Warbler
78. Red-headed Woodpecker
79. Great Crested Flycatcher
80. Red-eyed Vireo
81. Gray Catbird
82. Indigo Bunting
83. Chimney Swift
84. Eastern Kingbird
85. Prairie Warbler
86. Blue Grosbeak
87. Yellow-breasted Chat
88. Baltimore Oriole
89. Northern Parula
90. Magnolia Warbler
91. Scarlet Tanager
92. American Redstart
93. Eastern Wood-Pewee
94. Ovenbird
95. Mallard
96. Common Yellowthroat
97. Black-throated Blue Warbler
98. Black-throated Green Warbler
99. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
100. Black-and-white Warbler
101. Warbling Vireo
102. Common Nighthawk
103. Blackpoll Warbler
104. Acadian Flycatcher
105. Chestnut-sided Warbler
106. Kentucky Warbler
107. Canada Warbler
108. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
109. Eastern Screech-Owl
110. White-eyed Vireo
111. Bay-breasted Warbler
112. Blackburnian Warbler
113. Blue-headed Vireo
114. Great Horned Owl
115. Fox Sparrow

But where I focused my energy was not my yard, but my county. My county list was 163 species long:

1. Canada Goose
2. Turkey Vulture
3. Red-shouldered Hawk
4. Red-tailed Hawk
5. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
6. Red-bellied Woodpecker
7. Downy Woodpecker
8. Northern Flicker
9. Blue Jay
10. American Crow
11. Carolina Chickadee
12. Tufted Titmouse
13. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
14. Golden-crowned Kinglet
15. White-breasted Nuthatch
16. Red-breasted Nuthatch
17. Carolina Wren
18. European Starling
19. Eastern Bluebird
20. Hermit Thrush
21. American Robin
22. House Finch
23. Purple Finch
24. American Goldfinch
25. Dark-eyed Junco
26. White-throated Sparrow
27. Northern Cardinal
28. Pileated Woodpecker
29. Common Raven
30. Mourning Dove
31. Northern Mockingbird
32. Gadwall
33. Eurasian Wigeon
34. American Wigeon
35. Mallard
36. Great Blue Heron
37. Song Sparrow
38. Yellow-rumped Warbler
39. Fish Crow
40. Chipping Sparrow
41. Hairy Woodpecker
42. Brown Creeper
43. Cedar Waxwing
44. Field Sparrow
45. Black Vulture
46. Northern Harrier
47. Sharp-shinned Hawk
48. Cooper’s Hawk
49. Merlin
50. Eastern Towhee
51. Eastern Phoebe
52. Rock Pigeon
53. Eastern Screech-Owl
54. Red-headed Woodpecker
55. American Kestrel
56. Loggerhead Shrike
57. Bald Eagle
58. Eastern Meadowlark
59. Common Merganser
60. Belted Kingfisher
61. House Sparrow
62. Pied-billed Grebe
63. Wood Duck
64. Hooded Merganser
65. Wilson’s Snipe
66. Bufflehead
67. Winter Wren
68. Fox Sparrow
69. Ring-billed Gull
70. Ring-necked Duck
71. Ruddy Duck
72. Red-winged Blackbird
73. Barred Owl
74. Brown-headed Cowbird
75. Common Grackle
76. Swamp Sparrow
77. Tree Swallow
78. Pine Warbler
79. Horned Lark
80. American Pipit
81. Tundra Swan
82. Killdeer
83. American Woodcock
84. Double-crested Cormorant
85. Green-winged Teal
86. American Coot
87. Savannah Sparrow
88. Horned Grebe
89. Osprey
90. Louisiana Waterthrush
91. Sandhill Crane
92. Brown Thrasher
93. Great Horned Owl
94. Rusty Blackbird
95. Wild Turkey
96. Blue-winged Teal
97. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
98. Ruby-throated Hummingbird
99. Blue-headed Vireo
100. Barn Swallow
101. Northern Rough-winged Swallow
102. Broad-winged Hawk
103. Indigo Bunting
104. Grasshopper Sparrow
105. Wood Thrush
106. Green Heron
107. Yellow-throated Vireo
108. Orchard Oriole
109. Palm Warbler
110. Spotted Sandpiper
111. Little Blue Heron
112. Solitary Sandpiper
113. Black-and-white Warbler
114. Northern Parula
115. Great Crested Flycatcher
116. Red-eyed Vireo
117. Gray Catbird
118. Chimney Swift
119. Eastern Kingbird
120. White-eyed Vireo
121. Yellow-breasted Chat
122. Baltimore Oriole
123. American Redstart
124. Yellow Warbler
125. Lesser Yellowlegs
126. Prairie Warbler
127. Blue Grosbeak
128. Black-throated Blue Warbler
129. Magnolia Warbler
130. Scarlet Tanager
131. Dunlin
132. Hooded Warbler
133. Eastern Wood-Pewee
134. Ovenbird
135. Common Yellowthroat
136. Black-throated Green Warbler
137. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
138. Worm-eating Warbler
139. Summer Tanager
140. Warbling Vireo
141. Common Nighthawk
142. Blackpoll Warbler
143. Kentucky Warbler
144. Cerulean Warbler
145. Bay-breasted Warbler
146. Acadian Flycatcher
147. Chestnut-sided Warbler
148. House Wren
149. Greater Scaup
150. Canada Warbler
151. Prothonotary Warbler
152. Cliff Swallow
153. Yellow-billed Cuckoo
154. Roseate Spoonbill
155. Swallow-tailed Kite
156. Northern Bobwhite
157. Great Egret
158. Veery
159. Blackburnian Warbler
160. Gray-cheeked Thrush
161. Cape May Warbler
162. Western Flycatcher
163. Greater Yellowlegs

Reflections: I continue to use Merlin and eBird as apps to enable my birding. I took on the role of Vice President of our local bird club, led a birding walk at Ivy Creek Natural Area, and started going out weekly with a group of dedicated birders. They are very talented, but I’ve been able to contribute some good observations to the team effort, which makes me feel good. Regardless of whether I’m with them or soloing, it gives me a special frisson of excitement when I see a really unusual or cool bird, as when I spotted a Northern Harrier feeding yesterday, or when I successfully tracked down rare birds like Roseate Spoonbill and Western Flycatcher. I don’t always find success when I go out birding, but you never know what’s out there if you don’t go take a look.

With trips to Mexico, southern California, Montana, the Outer Banks of North Carolina and the northern Pacific + Hawaii, I got 306 species globally for the year. I’ll not bother to list them all here, but I will link to the list.

For the coming year, I think my birding goals are: (1) top 5 in the county, (2) intentionally boost my Virginia list by visiting other parts of the state with different birds, and (3) backfilling my old birding lists from youthful travels into eBird, so that my official “life list” number there gets closer to reality (it’s currently 378, but the reality must surely be something more like 600).

Happy new year!