Year in Review

   

Yikes, the year is over! Where did it go? I was hoping that after being injured for a year in most of 2022 and out of work for 2023 that this year would be more "normal". I had hoped to go back to what most would consider just that. Go to work and when I had time, play. Most importantly, stay healthy. While I managed to stay healthy this year, Laurie had issues leading to a broken ankle and was bed ridden for weeks, then rehabbing for months. This effectively gave her no summer and I spent much of it visiting her or taking care of her during that time. Despite this, 2024 was the most even keeled year for me since pre-COVID

  While some years I spend much of my time fishing or birding and other years hiking, this year I spent as much time as I could trying to see how many species I could see in New England. I called it Operation 365. The hope was to see 365 species of vertebrates in a year. When I wasn't at a hospital, I was birding, fishing, seining, and herping all to see if I could reach 365.

   I kept track of my Rhode Island birds on Paul L's website. My other New New England birds were kept in a notebook. I also kept a separate list for fish, herps, and mammals. Basically this post will be dominated by one theme...numbers. I haven't kept a bird list since 2021 because I get too competitive but I did this year. Other than for the purpose of doing "A Big Year" I don't love doing it. I'd rather keep track of experiences than numbers. But I made an exception this year. 

By the numbers...

   428 species  

      301 species of birds, 28 mammals, 28 herps (amphibians and reptiles), 72 species of fish

          267 birds in RI + 34 others from MA, CT, NH, ME

     72 species of fish    19 caught with a fishing rod, the others seining, in the water, or other fishermen

      28 herps      14 reptiles, 14 amphibians

      28 mammals    nine that live in the ocean

Lifers...

    One goal was to force myself to see multiple lifers. I chased a lot of things.  I got 34 lifers. Fifteen were birds, one amphibian (Four Toed Salamander), fifteen fish, and three mammals ( Hoary Bat and Red Backed Vole, Southern Flying Squirrel). 

   Included, I got eleven new species of birds in Rhode Island bringing my Rhode Island life total up to 346

Bird lifers- MacGilvray's Warbler, Northern Shrike, Little Gull, Hermit's Warbler, Swainson's Warbler, White Winged Dove, Mottled Duck, Black Necked Stilt, American Flamingo, South Polar Skua, Lark Bunting, Grey Cheeked Thrush, Black Throated Grey Warbler, Northern Lapwing, Tropical Kingbird

   All but the Swainson's, Hermit Warbler, and Lark Bunting, were seen in RI. I also got one other state bird, Golden Eagle

   Fish lifers were the following- Pompano, Red Hake, Whiting, Snowy Grouper, Spotfin Butterflyfish, Bigeye Shorttail, Naked Goby, Oyster Toadfish, Rainwater Killifish, Four Spined Stickleback, Sheepshead Minnow,  Smallmouth Flounder,, SEAHORSE, Four-eyed Butterflyfish 

Eastern Creek Chubsucker  was my only freshwater lifer

Dips-

With a quest like this you are going to have a lot of misses. Believe me, there were many drives with my tail between my legs. A quick recap of some of my worst ones

   By far, I did the worst with mammals in terms of not seeing species I had previously seen. I missed Black Bear, Moose, River Otter, Striped Skunk and all mice (and rat) except White Footed Mouse. I tried really hard to catch rodents setting live traps. I caught plenty of White Footed Mice but nothing else until I caught a squirrel that destroyed my trap.

   For snakes I only saw six of the thirteen possible species. I knew I hasn't going to see Copperheads because I didn't go to look for them. My most surprising snake miss was Ribbon Snake which is pretty common. My friend Nicole and I came across a dead Rat Snake but I didn't count dead animals.

  I missed a lot of fish. I saw a Northern Pike, actually two, but I really wanted to catch one. I made three trips to Connecticut to fish for them each a three hour round trip. I also tried for them on the upper Connecticut River in New Hampshire twice. Though I saw one, Pike took up more time for me than any other species. I also dipped on Yellow Bullhead three times but each trip was less than an hour. My second most annoying miss was Spiny Dogfish which I tried for multiple times without luck. I also missed Albies and American Shad. 

   I got really lucky with birds. I saw almost everything I chased. I decided if it wasn't a "state bird" in RI and I had previously seen it, if I saw one in another state I wasn't going to chase it in RI. This meant after I saw Nelson's Sparrow, Greater White Fronted Goose, Short Eared Owl and thirty one other species, I wasn't going to look for them in RI. Worse than dipping was my seasickness. I missed five species on pelagics due to being upsot. I would have 306 species, and far less stress the end of December if I could have just stayed vertical and not been heaving.

Favorite Memories- 

   

Eastern Creek Chubsucker

   Obviously, I didn't want this year to be all about numbers. However, I really did want to see many lifers and make memories. Starting two sentences off in a row with obviously wouldn't be great writing, but... obviously seeing a Flamingo in RI was amazing. But so was seeing a Golden Eagle with six of my friends. Other fun birding memories were seeing a "heard only" Swainson's Warbler and getting the other four guys on it. Chasing and getting killer photos of a Black Bellied Whistling Duck with Laurie who was barely walking. There are tons of good times. I saw three lifers with Claudia Cooper and got at least two RI lifers thanks to my friend Sue Palmer.

    For herps my favorite memory was finding a Milk Snake again that I saw last year and then another much smaller one a month later. I did get chiggers though.

   For mammals I saw a coyote and almost all marine mammals from a bird club whale watch that I co-lead in April. That was fun. Also seeing a Red Backed Vole and explaining what I saw to Dan Berard and having him know exactly what I saw was cool.

   Lastly, I spent a lot of time seining. Since I had Tautog, Black Sea Bass, Scup, and Sea Robin in the seine, it saved me from having to catch them on a rod.  I think I got most excited about the Pompano, Jack Crevalle, and Eastern Creek Chubsucker. 

  Lastly for this category, it is way more fun to be a "finder" than a follower. With birds, I did not have a good year finding many of the good birds. With my friend Nicole we had Alder Flycatcher. In NH I found unreported Purple Finch, Yellow Bellied Flycatcher, Black Backed Woodpecker and Mourning Warbler. But for the most part, the rest of the good birds I saw were because of chasing reports. There is no way I would have come close to 300 birds without the unselfishness of birders.

   As for the other 128 species that were not birds I am proud to say almost all were because I found them. I had to look hard for most snakes (easily fifteen  trips looking for Green Snake). I set a minnow trap almost everyday for a month until I caught a Banded Sunfish in a creek that I thought they were in. The Chubsucker was luck since I went searching for little creeks to seine.

Many thanks...

   As I said, without unselfish birders I'm much closer to 280 than 301 birds. I enjoy hanging around dozens of birders in RI and many are really close friends. I appreciate them more than they know. There is no point naming all of them here, but a big thank you for being my friend

 There are so many people that help[ed me on this one year quest. Allison O'Conner seined with me more than anyone. I can't seine the ocean alone so without her, and her tireless pushing, I wouldn't have seen so many fish.  Laurie, Sue Palmer, Dick and Marge Bradley, Louise Ruggeri, Jan StJean, PCarl, and probably others that I can't remember at the moment all helped seine at least once.

   My buddy Dave was with me when I caught Carp and saw my excitement when I caught a White Catfish.

  For sure, the person that I talked with the most, strategized with, and told about my success and failures was Charles Avenengo. We message multiple times a week. Without his seine and teaching me how to use it, I would have less fish. He also identified many of the oddball species I caught when I sent him photos. 

   Many of you kept asking me my number supporting my effort. Barbara Seith for one, asked me many times where I was at. It was nice to know people cared. 

   Lastly, Laurie likes nature but isn't going to get excited about a  Short Billed Dowitcher, but she knew how badly I wanted three hundred New England birds. I was at 296 around December 15. So everyday that I had off from work in late December she came along as I chased whatever species had been around. She put up with a thirty mph wind with flurries coming in sideways in Provincetown. She came with me to the New Hampshire coast to see (shake your head) American Pipit for my 300th bird. Not to mention other trips to the Cape, southern RI and the White Mountains. 

   Thanks to all of you. 

Pompano

Humpback Whale

   

Buff Breasted Sandpiper

   

Black Throated Grey Warbler

    

Red Fox

 

Retiring from pelagics

Snowy Owl on the beach

 Since I got obsessed with birding and started making friends with birders in 2018 I've gone on quite a few pelagic birding trips. I remember the first one vividly seeing my first Shearwaters and Jaegers. We had a Mola Mola, Bottlenose Dolphins and even saw the fin of a Blue Shark.

  Since then I've seen almost everything out there that isn't crazy rare. My adventures have made memories of great birds, breaching whales, and a school of Pilot Whales that will last forever.

   The problem is, I get seasick on at least half of the boat trips I go on. I've tried every over the counter and prescription that I know of and more often than not, if it is slightly rough I add to the chum slick. Not only that, I stay nauseous the rest of the trip and have to lie down in the fetal position. Looking at the horizon does not work for me. Lying down in the cabin dozing in and out of sleep is the only way to keep me from getting sick over and over.

   I got so sick on a twelve hour pelagic in North Carolina that I opted out the second day wasting one hundred and seventy dollars.  The trip had been paid for months earlier but I could not bring myself to go out two days in a row.

  So I think I have made a decision to give up on pelagics. As I said, I really can't see much else as a lifer unless some crazy rare Bird comes up from South America or a Sperm Whale graces the boat with an appearance. 

  The irony is I love pelagics. While I may not seeing anything new for my life, every trip is different and you never know what you will see. I went on an eighth hour charter yesterday with most of my birding friends and spent about half the trip lying fetal along with two trips to the rail to mostly dry heave.  On the trip I saw two new species for the year before I got sick. But I missed another species. When we slowed down to watch dolphins I could barely lift my head up and did not get up to look at them.

 

Northern Gannet flying across the boat

   It is tough to justify going out for eight hours and spending one hundred ten when you feel so much like death that you won't look at Dolphins. So I decided that the only pelagics I'll ever consider will be in the Pacific. I've never seen the Pacific and if I went on a pelagic in say Monterey Bay, I'd get a dozen lifers and probably Grey Whales and other mammals. So a trip would be worth it. 

 Ironically I've never gotten sick on a whale watch.

 Many times I've just lucked out and it was flat. The whale watch I went on in April was glass calm. I could have kayaked from Plymouth to P-town across Cape Cod Bay. Other rougher trips for reasons unknown to me, I haven't gotten sick. My only hypothesis is that my stomach can handle the shorter four hour trips of a whale watch. Also I usually book whale watches for the afternoon so maybe waking up later has something to do with it. Though, I did get a great night sleep despite having to be on the road at 5:30 am yesterday. 

   Laurie thinks I should give up pelagics because of the cost and my habit of adding chum overboard. But she thinks I should go on whale watches because I haven't gotten sick. I suspect part of her thinking is because she likes whale watches as much as I do.

  Maybe next year I'll go on a whale watch and continue to go if my stomach allows. But as for dedicated pelagics and cod boat trips that last eight hours  anywhere in the Atlantic, I think I am done. 

Things that I am thankful for

 

I was happy to finally get a photo of a
Mourning Warbler

   Every year I write a post on Thanksgiving about all of the things I am thankful for. This year I was in New Hampshire and did not have time to write a post. The last couple of years had been hard and I was thankful for relationships, not drowning, and grateful for knowing people that had died. Before the last couple of Thanksgiving posts, I used to write about a few good memories from the year. I am always grateful for New Hampshire, Laurie, Dave, and Striped Bass.

   Having dividing my time between taking care of a bed bound Laurie and trying to see how many species of vertebrates  I can see in a year this year I am just grateful for nature. Without fish, the mountains, the ocean, snakes, and frogs I would be lost.

   I can not put into words how beautiful I think the natural world is. I love to fish, flip rocks, hike, snorkel, chase birds, and find any other excuse to be outside. There are many people that have mental health problems. I am lucky, other than every day stress that we all have to deal with, I do not have any mental health problems. I believe that would not be true if I didn't have the outside world. Being outdoors is my relaxation, but it also my adrenaline rush. It is my reason for planning sunrise to sunset adventures on my days off from work. 

  I could name every thing I enjoy about nature from seeing a rare bird, sitting on top of a mountain, to casting my fly or surf rod. But that list would be endless. While I may get overwhelmed in May, and wish the seasons wouldn't end in November, I understand these are First World problems and I am extremely lucky. 

It seems as though I have not had "a normal year" in the last few. With my back sidelining me a few years ago (awful) and then being healthy and not working (amazing) I had a strange couple of years. I thought things were back to normal when I got my job at Bass Pro in February. I had less free time but also had an income again. Then Laurie got hurt, broke her ankle, and had other medical issues. So many of my plans were derailed over the summer. So this year had more downs than anticipated. Still, I am grateful that when I had time... I had nature to go to. Chasing down many vertebrates was/has been a challenge that has kept me busy all year.

   Below is a list of a few of the things I m grateful for this year. While the writing above is more like my Thanksgiving posts from the last couple of years, I'd like to think about a few individual things that changed 2024 for the better for me...

    I am thankful for my job at Bass Pro Shops. Working in the fishing department is a place I thrive. I'm getting pretty good at my job and enjoy the people I work with. Management treats us well. For example, the last two days they bought us pizza. 

   I am thankful for the use of the seine. I have seen a lot of really neat fish I never knew were in both the ocean and freshwater. It takes two people to use it, so thanks to all of those that helped me.

   I am still thankful for stripers, New Hampshire, and Laurie.

   I am thankful for my birder friends.

   I love smallmouth bass

   I m thankful I got to fish with Dave a few times this year. Birding has really made it tough to go carp fishing. Glad I caught a few carp also.

   I am thankful for all of the lifers I saw this year. I got at least one lifer mammal, bird, fish, and herp. Each one was an adrenaline rush.

   I am thankful I sucked it up and bought an electric motor for my canoe. Just using the motor means more fish because I am not spending as much time paddling. Game changer!

   Call it consumerism if you want, but I am extremely thankful for my employee discount at work. I get a huge discount on Bass Pro brand gear and a very good discount on gear made by other companies. I have really improved my rods and reels along with a couple pairs of hiking boots.

   Lastly, as I said, I am just grateful I love nature. My mom had me outside as a little kid. She took me fishing and on nature walks. But I think it might not have been "nurture" in the nature vs nurture question. I think I would have wanted to explore and see all the fish and snakes anyway. For that, I am truly thankful.