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| White Breasted Nuthatch |
went to Caratunk Wildlife Refuge. I knew there was a good chance I could see bluebirds. I hoped to see them quickly since I was only wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. Luckily, in the second field I got a good look at a bright bluebird in breeding colors.
I knew I was at 99 birds and thought seeing a bluebird, which is an easy bird would be a good hundredth. They are one of my favorite birds.
To put seeing 100 species of birds into some perspective. Here are some stats. As I have mentioned, I am trying to see as many species of birds as I can in Rhode Island. I joined a group that keeps track of birds. There are twenty three people that joined the list. Not that it is a competition, but I am in fourteenth place.
There have been 155 species of birds seen in Rhode Island this year. I have seen 93 of those 155 species (my other seven are MA only). To put it into perspective, the leader in Rhode Island (Jan St. Jean) has seen 140 species! I can't stress enough, that although I am no longer a beginner, I am far from an expert. The fact that she has seen forty seven more species than me, with as much time that I have put in is amazing.
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| Cardinal and Fox Sparrows |
Here are some numbers for me.
100 species, the first was a hooded merganser at daybreak Jan 1
species #100 Eastern Bluebird
93 species seen in Rhode Island or both RI and Mass
7 species in MA only, as of now
Glaucous Gull
Iceland Gull
Tree Swallow
Bluebird
Yellow Billed Loon
Pacific Loon
Mew Gull
I have seen nine species of lifebirds this year. Lifebirds are birds I have never seen before this year. Technically I had seen a couple of these lifebirds before. I changed my definition of "seeing a bird". To make my list now, I need to see the field marks that identify a species. So in that regard, I took some birds off my list from when I used to go birding a few years ago.
Lifebirds this year
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| Sandhill Crane |
Barrows Goldeneye
Razorbill
Lesser Black Backed Gull
Blue Morph Snow Goose
Glaucous Gull
Iceland Gull
Pacific Loon
Yellow Billed Loon
Mew Gull
The rarest bird I saw was most definitely the Yellow Bellied Loon. It was the first one ever seen in Massachusetts. The bird that I have spent a ton of time looking for but still haven't seen is the Long Tailed Duck. I've gone to Beavertail, where others have seen it, at least eight times, and still haven't seen it. The easiest bird I have not yet seen is probably the Belted Kingfisher.
There are birds I'm pretty sure I've seen but I'm not including on the list. When I was at Race Point another birder showed me Black Legged Kittiwakes and what he thought were Common Murres. I only got to see the Kittiwakes for a second in huge waves. The Murre could have been one of two species. I also saw what I'm almost positive was a Chipping Sparrow in North Attleboro last week, I didn't count it for the same reason, I didn't get to see enough field marks. I've seen three sharp shin hawks buzz by me. I haven't counted them because all three happened so fast, I can not rule out American Kestrel.
On top of the bird numbers I have also seen ten mammals, two fish, and two frogs.
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| Black Scoters |
Last year I saw a personal best 144 species of birds. The Rhode Island leader saw 302 in Rhode Island alone. My goal is to see 144 in Rhode Island. If I do that, along with MA birds, I will break my PB. This would not only be an attainable goal, but honestly, a quite easy goal except for one main factor. I love fishing. Not sure how much time I will want to put into birding when the fish are really biting. The best time to see migrating birds is May. I will be able to see many birds that aren't even in the United States yet. However, I love fishing for carp, stripers, and trout, so we'll see. I'll fish or bird based on what I feel like doing that day, and I'll just have to see what number I end up with. I'm off to a good start.
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