Cinnamon Teal at Back Bay NWR

This morning while Sarah Davis, Ken Markley, and I were conducting an impoundment survey, Sarah noticed an odd teal and brought it to my attention. It was an obvious male Cinnamon Teal. I took a few photos to document the sighting. The provenance of the bird is unknown. Whether it will be accepted by VARCOM will depend on whether this sighting fits the currently known vagrancy pattern for Cinnamon Teal. So stay tuned. The bird was found in an area that is currently not open to the public. However, the west dike is open for birdwatching and we also saw 5 Black-necked Stilts in the north end of C pool which should be visible from the west dike. Since the teal could move around, anyone visiting the refuge should be on the alert for the Cinnamon Teal.
In addition during the beach survey we found an Iceland Gull on the beach at False Cape State Park and a Piping Plover on the north mile section of the Back Bay NWR beach.

The Calendar of Big Year Talks

Starting in the fall, I will be giving talks about the Big Year to various bird clubs and other groups.  In response to a question from Cathy and Terry Bond, who wanted to know when and where the talks would be, I have posted the calendar on my website.  Just click on the link "Calendar of Big Year talks" on the left side of the Blog under "Link to Website."  I hope you'll find a talk that fits your needs.  Contact information for each program is provided.
I have also cleaned up the two Big Year species spreadsheets.  One has the species listed by date seen in reverse order, the last seen at the top, the first seen at the bottom.  The other list has the birds listed in ABA order with the gaps showing graphically which birds I missed during the year.  You might have fun with those as your time permits.
As far as the blog goes I'm going to try to write a paragraph on some timely subject or what I'm seeing or not seeing, trying hard to be interesting, but not stimulating enough to throw readers into a flaming rage.  So check it out and see what I'm up to; your responses will be a clue as to whether it's interesting enough to continue.
Incidentally you might be interested to know that the Blog got about 10,000 hits a month until December when the hits topped 18,000.  I don't have a complete record of hits for the whole year because I didn't turn the counter on at the beginning because I didn't know about it.  My guess is that if I had been counting from January 1, 2010, the total from the year would have exceeded 110,000 hits.  I do know that for the last half of the year the total was over 72,000 hits.

It's Over

     Today is a gorgeous day in Tidewater VA.  The sun is shining brightly, enough so that I spent an hour cleaning up the backyard.  Our statuesque pine, the one with the perfect shape prior to the last snow storm, has three more missing limbs, a product of the enormous wet snow we had a week or so ago.  I did start on my year yardlist, and I did start on my Virginia yearlist, the routine type of listing, but The Big Year is over.
     Joyce and I ended the year last Friday by hosting the compilation for the Little Creek CBC on New Year's Eve.  On Saturday we began the new year by going to the VA Eastern Shore with Audrey to see the Mountain Bluebird, state bird #404 for me (photo).  Yesterday I participated in the Nansemond River CBC for which I am the compiler.  Our enthusiastic group tallied a few over 120 species and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the compilation and food at David Matson's house in Suffolk.  Today seemed like a good time for a little reflection on the year past.
     Am I happy with the Big Year?  Overwhelmingly so!  How could I not be, having passed numerical goal after goal once the original goal of 650 was reached.  Everyone should understand that the birding strategy morphed through the year.  In the beginning I set up an itinerary and expected to follow it religiously pocketing the rarities along the way that happened to be where I was.  Little if any chasing.  The reasoning?  Using that approach would keep the cost at a reasonable level.  That plan held for about the first half of the year.  That approach brought John and me to the point in March where we had all the birds and were waiting for the migration to bring us more.  It was that approach that gave us the 650 by July 1.  That firm foundation gave a clear track to the chasing which came later rather than having to clean up a bunch of missed species during the last third of the year.
     Finding the Blyth's Reed-Warbler at Gambell in September has to be the highlight of the year.  I never imagined in my wildest dreams that a new North American record would be part of the Big Year, much less dream of being the one who found it.  Others of course helped in securing the identity of the bird.  But standing there in the boneyard by myself looking at this bird created an exhilaration that is difficult to match.
     I also derived a great deal of pleasure and a large sense of accomplishment when I missed a bird, but came back to get it. There were quite a few of those like La Sagra's Flycatcher, Moscovy Duck, Black-capped Gnatcatcher, Brown Shrike, Himalayan Snowcock, and Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl just to name a few.  After missing the Black-tailed Gull three days in California, I got it in Newfoundland, a reward I'm claiming for my earlier effort.
     No Big Year is accomplished without help.  There are countless people who gave me and John their time, advice, support, housing, food, and general good will throughout the year.  First and foremost on my list has to be Joyce, my wife who never wavered in her support and good words from before the year began right up to that very last day.  This next year is her year to decide where we will go.  Well, maybe I'll still sneak off to a Cardinal's game.  Chief among the commentators on my blog were Renee and Ned who kept up my spirit and offered advice when some of the going got tough.  The other supporters and helpers were justly important but I won't attempt a complete list at this point.  You all have my most heartfelt gratitude.  I hope you know that this year would not have met the success it did without your help.
     Where do I go from here?  This year 2011 will be a Virginia year, more or less.  I'll do the birding things I usually do like the weekly walks in the Great Dismal Swamp, the bird surveys at Back Bay NWR, and VSO and CVWO field trips.  But in and around the edges I will be pulling together the details of the Big Year for inclusion in a book I'm planning to write.  I'm open to any suggestions from you, best delivered via email to robertake@gmail.com.  The blog won't go dead, but a little of the electricity will be gone.