Megan's Nature Nook
Nature Notes, Phenology, Photography, Fun Facts, Trips, Maybe Even a Bad Joke or Two... and More!
Wow, what a year! As I began my Big Year on January 1, 2021 I didn’t really know what to expect, or should I say, what I was getting myself into. I’ve always enjoyed being outside and watching birds, but doing a Big Year brought things to a whole new level. I didn’t have the time or resources to do a typical Big Year where participants travel all over the country on a moment’s notice to get a bird and end their year with upwards of 700 species, but I did end my Big Year being impressed with all I had learned over the year and how many species I saw. My main focus of my Big Year wasn’t the final number of species, but instead to learn more about birds. Their life history, behaviors, fun facts, and to get better at sight and sound identification. Throughout my year I met and exceeded that goal. 2021 was a year of birds and I’m so happy I decided to take the plunge into a whole new level of birding for me! Before the start of my Big Year, I set some goals for myself. Not only did I want to see how many bird species I could spot in my daily life, but I wanted to learn more about birds, get better at ID, and help birds so I wrote down a list of goals to keep me on track for the year. Here were my goals and how I reached them: Spot as many bird species as I can in my daily life in 1 calendar year I spent many days on the lookout for new birds and ended my year with 187 species, which I think is a pretty good number for only birding in 3 states (Minnesota, Nebraska, Georgia)! Learn more about birds – life history, behavior, fun facts I spent a fair amount of time reading various magazines and articles about all sorts of birds. If I was scrolling online or flipping through a magazine and something about birds caught my eye, I took the time to stop and read and I learned a lot by doing so. I also learned a lot by birding with others. I was lucky enough to have a nature related job where I was outside a majority of the time and had co-workers that were just as interested in birds and birding as I was. We learned a lot from sharing all the fun bird facts with each other and helping each other ID various birds. ID – get better at sight and sound Practice, practice, practice! Birding with friends really helped with this goal. The more eyes and ears on a bird the better. Having others to bounce ideas off of was really helpful. We consulted field guides, apps, pictures, and sound recordings to help us ID those tricky birds. The best thing to do when learning new birds is to get outside and put your skills to work. Enjoy! Use it as a great excuse to be outside! I wanted my Big Year to be something enjoyable and not turn into a chore. I wanted birding to stay fun and not be something I was forcing myself to go out and do but on the flip side, it was also a great motivation to get outside and take a hike. I found a good balance of birding helping to me stay active, but also not feeling like I always had to have my binos with or be birding if I was outside. Read 3 bird related books The three books I read for my Big Year were:
Listen to bird related podcasts BirdNote Daily is a podcast that has an episode every day that is two minutes or less. I listened to every episode of theirs in 2021. Some things they talked about I already knew, but I learned a ton of new interesting things from that podcast. A few other podcasts I listen to had some bird related episode throughout the year so I made it a point to listen to those. Ologies with Alie Ward, Species by Macken Muphy, Animals to the Max Podcast by Corbin Maxey, and This is Love by Criminal. You have to cherry pick a little to get just bird episodes, but I enjoy listening to all their content, not just the bird ones. Nature Centered from Wild Birds Unlimited and Bring Birds Back by BirdNote are two more good bird podcasts to add to your list. Submit birding lists to eBird eBird was kind of intimidating for me to use until I just dove in and tried it. It wasn’t until a few months into my Big Year that I started using it, but now I submit lists fairly regularly while watching the bird feeders or out on a hike. It’s a fun way to keep track of the birds I’ve seen, when, and where, but also to help researchers and scientists understand birds better by helping them to collect data through Citizen Science programs like eBird. Support a bird related project or organization Surprisingly this goal was somewhat hard, but mostly because I couldn’t decide which project or organization I wanted to support! There are so many great ones out there. Ultimately, I decided to support HawkWatch International through their Adopt-a-Hawk program and the Teton Raptor Center by selecting them as my Amazon Smile donation recipient. (If you don’t use AmazonSmile yet, I encourage you to do so! They donate a portion of your Amazon sale to a selected charity with no extra charge to you). Some other bird organizations and projects that would be good to support:
Participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count and Global Big Day The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is held in February each year and the Global Big Day is in May each year. On these special birding days I submitted my birding lists on eBird and helped scientists to get a better “big picture” view of bird populations and ranges. This year the Global Big Day was on my birthday, which was a perfect was to celebrate during my Big Year! For more info on GBBC check out my blog post. Become more involved as a Birds & Blooms field editor The summer of 2020 I applied to be a Birds & Blooms field editor where I answer questions and submit content for the magazine. Since it was a year focused on birds, I wanted to become more involved in the field editor group, so this year I submitted more things and was even interviewed for an article about the Great Backyard Bird Count and my participation in it! So, if you’re looking for some reading material check out the January 2022 issue of Birds & Blooms Extra! Write in my Nature Journal more I have a Nature Journal where I keep track of all sorts of phenology things, but for my Big Year I decided to dedicate a notebook just to the Big Year. So, I started my Big Year Birding Journal where I journaled each day I went birding – where I went, what I saw, if I saw any new birds, and what my count was. Let the Birding Begin! Once I had set my goals, it was time for birding! On January 1, 2021 we were up at the cabin in Emily, MN to go ice fishing and spearing with friends to ring in the new year. Although it was the first day of my big year, fishing was on the forefront so I didn’t seek out birds, but was able to spot 8 species on my first day! Including a Pileated Woodpecker which was the American Birding Association’s “Bird of the Year” for 2021. Throughout January and February I was in Nebraska and regularly added new species to my list since everything, even “the usuals,” were new species for the year. Most walks and nature outings resulted in adding birds to my list. Then in March the fun really began! We headed to St. Simon’s Island on the coast of Georgia for a week. The birding was awesome! There were SO many shorebirds, many of them were not only new species for the year, but new to me! My Big Year list and Life List were growing quickly. When my Big Year started, I thought 100 species would make a good goal. Well, in Georgia I got 50 new species, bringing me real close to 100, and I ended up reaching that 100 species goal before the end of March, so I had to up my goal to 150. In April I moved back to Minnesota where I would be spending the remainder of my Big Year. April was another great month adding 30 species to my list, most of those being waterfowl as they migrated to their summer homes. Then in May it was time for Warbler Season! These tricky little birds kept us on our toes trying to ID them all, but it was a fun challenge! May ended with 36 new species! After migration season, things slowed down quite a bit. I added a handful of birds in June, July, and September. August, October, and November yielded no new species, things were getting pretty slow. I was still getting out for hikes and watching the feeders, but it was “the usuals” with no new birds. I was stuck at 180 birds for quite a while. I was a little worried as the days kept ticking by in December and the 31st wasn’t far off. For the new year we were up to the cabin again with friends to go ice fishing and spearing. On the 31st before our friends got there, we made a quick trip over to the Sax-Zim Bog. Even before my Big Year I had been wanting to visit the Bog, so I was really happy we were able to squeeze it in! With only about 4 hours of birding (much less than we would have wanted) I added 7 more species to my Big Year List and some more to my Life List! A quick, but well worth it trip and an awesome way to end my Big Year! I ended with 187 species on December 31, 2021. It was fun to see things come full circle. I started and ended my Big Year in the same place, with the same people. I birded in three states over 12 months. Racked up 187 species during 103 days spent birding, with 72 of those species being Lifers. I witnessed countless once-in-a-lifetime moments while out in nature and found more than just birds on my outings. I learned an immense amount of bird information and impressed myself with the knowledge I gained over the year. My Big Year made me not only better at bird ID, but also better at observing and appreciating all that nature has to offer – you just have to slow down and take some time to admire it. My Big Year was more than just birds, and I’m so happy I took the plunge and did it! It was a year well spent and I’m looking forward to doing another Big Year sometime in the future! Even if a Big Year isn’t your thing, get out and watch the birds! You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy them. The Final Count! - Big Year 2021 Species List
(First number is the species number for the year, number in (#) is the species number for the month) January January 1 1. Blue Jay – Emily, MN 2. Pileated Woodpecker – Emily, MN 3. Common Raven – Emily, MN 4. Black-capped Chickadee – Emily, MN 5. White-breasted Nuthatch – Emily, MN 6. Wild Turkey – Emily, MN 7. Canada Goose – Garrison, MN 8. Trumpeter Swan – Near Lake Milacs January 2 9. American Crow – Champlin, MN 10. Red-tailed Hawk – Owatonna, MN January 3 – Kearney, NE 11. Northern Cardinal 12. Dark-eyed Junco 13. Eurasian Collared Dove 14. House Sparrow January 5 15. Mallard Duck – Cottonmill Park, Kearney, NE 16. American Robin – Cottonmill Park 17. Northern Flicker (red-shafted) – Cottonmill Park 18. American Goldfinch – Cottonmill Park 19. Rock Pigeon – Kearney, NE 20. European Starling – Kearney, NE January 6 – Kearney, NE 21. Hairy Woodpecker January 8 – Kearney, NE 22. Downy Woodpecker January 9 23. American Tree Sparrow – Yanney Park, Kearney NE 24. Cooper’s Hawk – Kearney, NE January 17 – Hike & Bike trail behind Yanney Park, Kearney, NE 25. Belted Kingfisher 26. Great Horned Owl January 18 – Archway Hike & Bike trail, Kearney, NE 27. Rough-legged Hawk* (dark morph) 28. Red-bellied Woodpecker January 24 – Kearney Cemetery 29. Red-breasted Nuthatch January 30 – North of Kearney, NE 30. Western Meadowlark February February 1 – Archway hike & bike trail, Kearney, NE 31. (1) Northern Shoveler 32. (2) Cedar Waxwing 33. (3) Bald Eagle 34. (4) Song Sparrow February 6 – Hike & bike trail from Yanney to 2nd Ave, Kearney, NE 35. (5) Green-winged Teal February 16 – Kearney, NE 36. (6) Horned Lark February 21 – Archway hike & bike trail, Kearney, NE 37. (7) Common Goldeneye February 21 – Kearney, NE 38. (8) Sandhill Crane February 28 – Kearney, NE 39. (9) Pine Sisken March March 5 – Downtown Kearney, NE 40. (1) House Finch March 7 – Gibbon, NE 41. (2) Red-winged Black Bird 42. (3) Snow Goose 43. (4) Killdeer March 10 – St. Simons Island, GA 44. (5) Wood Stork* 45. (6) Northern Harrier* 46. (7) Mourning Dove 47. (8) Palm Warbler 48. (9) Yellow-rumped Warbler 49. (10) Double-crested Cormorant 50. (11) Brown Pelican* 51. (12) Eastern Bluebird March 11 52. (13) Carolina Wren* – St. Simon’s Island 53. (14) Carolina Chickadee* – St. Simon’s Island Gould’s Inlet 54. (15) Vesper Sparrow* 55. (16) Boat-tailed Grackle* 56. (17) Great Egret 57. (18) Forster’s Tern* 58. (19) Willet* 59. (20) Ring-billed Gull 60. (21) Laughing Gull* 61. (22) Semipalmated Plover* 62. (23) Black Skimmer* 63. (24) Sanderling 64. (25) Marbled Godwit* Kayaking tour near Brunswick 65. (26) Snowy Egret* 66. (27) Tri-colored Heron* 67. (28) Greater Yellow Legs* 68. (29) White Ibis* 69. (30) While Pelican 70. (31) Osprey 71. (32) Marsh Wren* 72. (33) Tree Swallow 73. (34) Cattle Egret 74. (35) Rusty Blackbird* 75. (36) Mockingbird Gould’s Inlet 76. (37) Wilson’s Plover* 77. (38) Piping Plover* March 12 – Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge 78. (39) Black Vulture* 79. (40) Turkey Vulture 80. (41) American Bittern* 81. (42) Anhinga* 82. (43) Red-shouldered Hawk* 83. (44) Little Blue Heron* 84. (45) Blue-grey gnatcatcher* 85. (46) Gray Catbird 86. (47) Great Blue Heron March 13 – Jekyll Island, GA 87. (48) Fish Crow* 88. (49) Herring Gull 89. (50) Cackling Goose* March 14 – Ocean Drive, St. Simons Island, GA 90. (51) Savannah Sparrow 91. (52) Sora* 92. (53) Swamp Sparrow* March 15 – St. Simon’s Island, GA 93. (54) Tufted Titmouse March 28 94. (55) Ring-necked Duck – Path between Archway and I-80, Kearney, NE 95. (56) Bufflehead – Path between Archway and I-80, Kearney, NE 96. (57) Blue-winged Teal – Kea Lake WMA, Kearney, NE 97. (58) Common Grackle – Kea Lake WMA, Kearney, NE 98. (59) American Coot – Kea Lake WMA, Kearney, NE 99. (60) Pied-billed Grebe – Cunningham’s Journal Lake, Kearney, NE 100. (61) Ruddy Duck* – Rowe Sanctuary Viewing Pond, Gibbon, NE April April 1 – Pine Island, NE 101. (1) American Kestrel April 2 – Sand Point Trail, Frontenac State Park, Frontenac, MN 102. (2) Eastern Phoebe 103. (3) Wood Duck 104. (4) Canvasback* 105. (5) Redhead* 106. (6) Lesser Scaup 107. (7) Golden-crowned Kinglet April 3 – Lake Koronis, Paynesville, MN 108. (8) Hooded Merganser 109. (9) Red-breasted Merganser* 110. (10) Common Loon April 4 – Lake Koronis, Paynesville, MN 111. (11) Greater White Fronted Goose* 112. (12) Gadwall 113. (13) Common Redpoll April 18 – Hultine WMA, Eldorado, NE 114. (14) Northern Pintail* 115. (15) American Wigeon* 116. (16) Cinnamon Teal* April 24 – Lake Superior, Lutsen, MN 117. (17) Eared Grebe* 118. (18) Red-throated Grebe* April 25 – Red Wing, MN 119. (19) Purple Finch 120. (20) Ruby-crowned Kinglet April 26 – Red Wing, MN 121. (21) Brown Creeper 122. (22) White-throated Sparrow April 27 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 123. (23) Broad-winged Hawk April 28 Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 124. (24) Rose-breasted Grosbeak 125. (25) White-crowned Sparrow April 29 – Kalmar Reservoir, Byron, MN 126. (26) American Golden Plover* 127. (27) Eastern Meadowlark* 128. (28) Semipalmated Sandpiper* 129. (29) Least Sandpiper* 130. (30) Long-billed Dowitcher* May May 1 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN – feeders 131. (1) Baltimore Oriole 132. (2) Harris’s Sparrow* 133. (3) Indigo Bunting May 2 – Red Wing, MN 134. (4) Ruby-throated Hummingbird May 3 – Kutsky Park, Rochester, MN 135. (5) Northern Waterthrush 136. (6) Yellow Warbler 137. (7) Northern Parula* 138. (8) House Wren May 4 – Kasson, MN 139. (9) Ring-necked Pheasant May 5 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN – feeders 140. (10) Brown-headed Cowbird May 6 – Zumbro Trail, Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 141. (11) Black-and-white Warbler 142. (12) Great-crested Flycatcher 143. (13) Swainson’s Thrush* May 7 – Red Wing, MN 144. (14) Yellow-bellied Sapsucker May 8 Frontenac State Park, Frontenac, MN 145. (15) Yellow-throated Warbler 146. (16) Magnolia Warbler 147. (17) Yellow-throated Vireo* 148. (18) Northern Rough-winged Swallow* Sand Point, Frontenac State Park, Frontanac, MN 149. (19) Blue-winged Warbler* 150. (20) Barn Swallow 151. (21) Green Heron* May 10 – Hayfield, MN 152. (22) Woodthrush* May 13 – Hok-si-la Park, Lake City, MN 153. (23) Cape May Warbler* 154. (24) Veery 155. (25) American Redstart May 14 – Lower AP Anderson Park, Red Wing, MN 156. (26) Least Flycatcher 157. (27) Tennessee Warbler* 158. (28) Ovenbird – Pioneer/Haycreek Bike Trail, Red Wing, MN May 15 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 159. (29) Eastern Kingbird May 21 160. (30) Chimney Swift – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN 161. (31) Common Night Hawk – Red Wing, MN May 22 – Pioneer/Haycreek Bike Trail, Red Wing, MN 162. (32) Common Yellowthroat 163. (33) Ruffed Grouse May 30 164. (34) Yellow-headed Blackbird – Garrison, MN 165. (35) Red-eyed Vireo – Emily, MN May 31 – Oxbow Park – Main Picnic Area, Byron, MN 166. (36) Warbling Vireo* June June 6 – Lower A.P. Anderson Park, Red Wing, MN 167. (1) Eastern Wood Pewee* June 11 – Yanney Park, Kearney, NE 168. (2) Mute Swan* 169. (3) Purple Martin 170. (4) Dickcissel* June 16 – Oxbow Park, Byron, MN – Maple Trail 171. (5) Barred Owl June 17 – Sand Point Trail, Frontenac State Park, Frontenac, MN 172. (6) Cliff Swallow 173. (7) Eastern Towhee July July 2 – Drive to Paynesville, MN 174. (1) Bobolink* July 5 – Oxbow Park – Byron, MN 175. (2) Field Sparrow* July 9 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 176. (3) Clay-colored Sparrow* July 18 – Red Wing, MN 177. (4) Peregrine Falcon* August 0 September September 10 – Izaak Walton Wetlands, Rochester, MN 178. (1) Chestnut-sided Warbler September 20 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 179. (2) Red-headed Woodpecker September 30 – Rock Dell WMA, Rock Dell, MN 180. (3) Lincoln’s Sparrow* October 0 November 0 December December 31 – Sax-Zim Bog, Meadowlands, MN 181. (1) Pine Grosbeak* 182. (2) Boreal Chickadee* 183. (3) Gray Jay* 184. (4) Black-billed Magpie 185. (5) Evening Grosbeak* 186. (6) Northern Shrike* 187. (7) Snow Bunting* Final Big Year Count: 187 Big Year Lifers: 72 Days Birded During Big Year: 103 Thank you for joining me on this year long birding adventure! Happy Birding!
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