Day One: The adventure has begun

At 7:00 am John Spahr and I began our big year at my house with coffee, homemade granola, and yogurt.  Our first official bird was a Song Sparrow to be followed by 30 other species in the yard.  Diane Tennant and Stephen Katz, reporter and photographer, respectively, for the Virginian-Pilot , were also there as part of a story she is writing on our big year.  The story will appear January 10.  Having no rain to start the day was a nice plus.  Our itinerary took us to Stumpy Lake, which I had birded yesterday as part of the Little Creek CBC.  We tallied a few more birds.  At that point Andrew Baldelli called to tell me that he was looking at the Ash-throated Flycatchers that Audrey Whitlock and Elisa Enders had found yesterday on the CBC.  So, I changed the rest of our planned itinerary and we zoomed over to see those birds, whose photos appear on the left.  Lynnhaven Inlet held some shorebirds, gulls, and Brant on the outgoing tide.  Lunch at Charlies started with she-crab soup, of course.  The bay overlook at First Landing State Park was blustery, but the 64th Street section was much milder.  At Rudee Inlet we saw some Bonaparte's Gulls, two Black Skimmers, and a young male Common Eider.  To end the day I decided to make a run to Mackay Island, a spot which had been in my original itinerary, for any waterfowl that might be moving around.  There we saw Snow Geese, Tundra Swans, Northern Harrier, and a Tri-colored Heron.  We ended the day with 82 species unofficially.