Greetings,
I bird nearly every day and have done so for some years but this was something
new for me.
I have had fun taking up the Bird a Day (BAD) challenge made last year and
started at the beginning of the year; adding a bird species each day to my BAD
list. Now with 21 days to finish the year I have only eight sure or near sure
things left. It is unlikely that I’ll make it through the year but it has been
fun and I would recommend the exercise to others for a year when you know you
are going to do a fair amount of travelling. Russell Woodford, who I think laid
down the challenge, scored 191, Stephen Murray 254 and John Kooistra 294 birds
a day.
It does get you out birding more often, providing more joys and
disappointments. For instance, the first two times I went looking for Oriental
Cuckoo I found it on both occasions but also found less common species so did
not use the cuckoo as the bird for that day, Black Falcon and House Swift. I
then saw Black Falcon another 5 or more times during the year but when
searching for O C, failed to find it. I did find it but chance recently.
Finding 4 more birds for the home block helped too. Another frustration has
been seeing two unusual birds on the one day and picking the wrong one as to
which is more likely to still be there the next day. I have not kept a year
list but it would exceed 1 000 as I was in North & Central America and Europe
for two months and called into Hong Kong for three days. Three short trips in
Australia also added to the birding but one cannot store birds for future days
when BADing. As I stated before if you want to get through the whole year you
should count on doing a fain amount of travelling but one can set one’s own
challenge.
If you want to give it a go next year then go to
http://www.awm3.com/birdaday2012/Account/Register.aspx?ReturnUrl= and register.
One can start at any time of year but it is usual start with the new year.
Good birding and all the best for the festive season to my birding-aus friends,
Alan
Alan's Wildlife Tours
2 Mather Road
Yungaburra 4884
Phone 07 4095 3784
Mobile 0408 953 786
http://www.alanswildlifetours.com.au/
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