#2025 Big Year in Review

  Happy New Year!!! 2026, can you believe it? Wow has the time gone by fast.  This post is a recap of the year that was #BigYear2025🐦🐦, all the fun stuff, places visited, good times and future plans. Below are some of the highlights.

NC boat trip, morning 2

  

• 9 lifers-- OMG OMG Holy Cow; Wow!! Six lifers in AZ and 3 on a boat trip in NC waters. It's nice to see even more life birds in ONE YEAR, then the previous five years combined! Which ones will I see in 2026??     
•  2025--9, 2024--4, 2023--0, 2022--0, 2021--3, 2020--5,   2019--10, 2018--7, 2017--18, 2016--12, 2015--13 new and in 2014 I had 29 lifers. 
• I traveled to southeast Arizona and did a North Carolina palegic trip this year for birding and vacation/bird trips. I birded alot around Ohio, but no new lifers. I got 78 birds during the January 100 challenge. I am still thankful of the trips taken, birds seen, and friends I've been with making memories and good blog posts! Thank you all and GOD Bless. That puts me at #640 Life Birds for continental ABA, which means, the lower 48 states and Canada. For Hawaii, I have a separate list of 21 birds!                                                                                                                    

My ABA Bird of the Year is . . . .the Desertas Feas Petral  code 3  

one of three subspecies from Africa, #640

Flew all that way

Nesting grounds

My first pelagic trip was Aug 1991. I went out with Buddy and Red & Louise. I was on my way to 500 birds, probably 480 range. We went on a trip out of Ocean City, MD. I got all the shearwaters and Band-rump, Leach's, Wilson's and hardest White-faced storm petrel.  Fast forward 34 years later. Myself and my Ohio birder friends, wanted to do the famous Stormy Petrel II pelagic out of OBX, NC. So with that, plans where set and paid for a late summer blitz, with us going back to back days!  That's two 12 hour trips.  We dodge the Hurricane the week before, threaded the needle for late August. Friday's trip was very birdy!! We saw Brown Booby, Long-tailed Jaegar, and then one of the guides yelled, FEA's PETRAL!!!   I also saw the main target birds Black-capped Petrel and newly split Scopolis Shearwater, from Cory's Shearwater, two species now. 

*Scopolis Shearwater, #550 -- replaced Cordilleran flycatcher seen in 2014. That bird is now lumped back with Western flycatcher. So a new split replaced a new lump.

• My Ohio Bird of the Year is . . . . Ross / Snow & Goose flyover, code 1 

            

Holy Cow, what is that? 

Black tip Snow, all white short neck Ross

                                                              

Its down to the end of the year, and I'm outside on Sunday Nov 30th, very windy and out of no where I see this HUGE V in the sky!! I run and get my camera and bins, and turns out to be a large flock of Snow Geese with several Ross Geese mixed in. Several birders reported them home flyovers heading due west. Crazy, Ross Goose was FOY, but both are lifer YARD list birds, so BOOM. Ohio Birds of the year 2025 

• 3 states visited--Ohio (+214 foys)  Arizona (+71 birds)   North Carolina (+29 birds)

• 314 total species--Wow, I got 34 more species then 2024, and that's because I had a big Ohio year number which is always key and plus 9 lifers out of state. The Arizona trip was crazy!! 101 birds with 71 FOYS, 6 lifers! Thank YOU!  Then go on a boat 38 miles out to continental self just to see sea birds, have an amazing time and get lifers!!  I did keep track of my "Ohio only" birds this year and got 214!     This puts me at a 312.6 species per year average over 13 years.                        

• STATS  In 2013--338; 2014--359; 2015--322; 2016--360; 2017--377; 2018--353; 2019--321; 2020--340; 2021--279; 2022-206; 2023--216; 2024--280; 2025--314

Action at back of boat

Forster's Tern 

Pilot Whales, night hunters, squid down low

Scopolis Shearwater, #550

Black-capped Petrel, #639

Bodie Island Lighthouse, 1872

Beach House #, no shit

Team OHIO, some damn fine hardcore birders

Madera Canyon, historical hotspot

Gambill Birding Dynasty, PJ, STIZZY40

*Mexican Duck, #605 -- replaced Iceland Gull seen in 2018. That bird is now lumped back with Thayer's Gull. So again, a new split replaced a new lump

I saw the newly split Mexican Duck in Tubac, AZ. It can also be seen in LRGV, TX along the Rio Grande River.  

Below is a list of some of the new first of year birds(FOYs) I saw in Ohio, during the last 45 days of birding in 2025.

#200 Philadelphia Vireo, Blendon last of fall migration Sept

#201 Wilsons Snipe, New Albany Taylor Farms
#202 Savannah Sparrow, Teal trail Oct.                                      

#203 Green-winged Teal, miss in Jan.

#204 Winter Wren, Westerville park

#205American Pipit, October fields in Licking cty
#206 Northern Shrike, back again! November
#207 Rufous Hummingbird, rare fall visitor
#208 Ross Goose, home flyover
#209 Snow Bunting, had to wait for snowfall 12/13
#210 Lapland Longspur, ditto
#211 Great Horned Owl, heard only 530am 

#212 Greater White fronted Goose, Prairie Oaks 12/27

#213 Pine Sisken, birders backyard feeder

#214 Peregrine Falcon, OSU hospital

**heard only Ohio 2025**
 Yellow billed Cuckoo, Great horned owl, Veery, Connecticut , Kentucky, Ovenbird, Hooded Warblers, , 

Rarities seen in 2025- Code 3 or higher birds this year 
          

            Berrylline Hummingbird 4, Rufous-backed Robin 3,     Desertas Feas Petrel 3,              

• Misses--a lot of them, especially Ohio species. I birded OHIO a lot more due to no fulltime work since March. Warbler, sparrows, and shorebirds. I really liked my May trip to Clear Creek for breeding warblers.  I got to bird at Magee Marsh and Howards Marsh early on May 8th. Again, it was early and rainy windy day, but had good numbers. 
• Top 5 Ohio misses:  N pintail, Orange crowned warbler, Barred Owl, Short eared owl, Pheasant, Lincolns sparrow

Litte Blue Heron, male at Griggs Res. 

y

Rufous hummer, Franklin cty

beautiful color

• 2026 trips--So far planned trips, but likely to change. 

            1.  Arizona, Washington, someplace??
           

            2. Ohio--Biggest week in American Birding- attended 2023, 24', 25'
         
           3. Chase a rarity. Can this be the year of a Code 4 or 5 chase?? 

           4  Winter driving trip to Delaware state, Cape May Ferry for winter         lifers Dovkie, Razorbill

            

Thank you to all my friends, family and birders for supporting me these last 13 years. What a ride. Could not of predicted it myself where I would be in the end of 2025.  So here is to the future and more time to get back to Retracing the Steps with the Gambill Birding Dynasty.

Cheers

Brad

I'd like to dedicate this 2025 year and page to my mother-in -law, Denise, RIP. 

Where do I go from here?? Part 2, 2019 follow up

 

CEO Birder, Arizona 2025 Mt. Lemmon

Wow!! Can you believe it?!? Six years since I first did this original post in 2019.  My have things changed!! If we only knew then what we know now.  In March 2020 was the COVID mess that dragged the world for three years or more. We also have had two presidential elections since then. The earth is changing with more severe storms and more water than ever before. Also, please a moment of silence, for all the loved ones, family and friends who have passed since 2019. may GOD rest their soul. 

Legend killer

Well, well . . . here we are again, in the middle of no where. It's the late spring of 2025 and birding is about to pick up. Here in Ohio, the wood warblers, both breeding and migrating ones are coming north now, with shorebirds to follow. So, at this point in the Blog, I thought I would do a recap of my birding adventures since 2019, and where the future leads me.



1991, gap years, 2011 restart:
I saw my 500th bird, in southern Cally with my grandparents. I was a freshman in high school and just finished my last push in 1991 to get it done.  YEAH!!  Then came high school, then college, then post college, then my dads' death, then a girlfriend, whom is my beautiful wife, then my thirties, now late 40's etc.  I got back into birding when I decided to visit my grandparents one spring in Texas. Then the next year, I invited my friend Sam to come done, and that's when the Code 5 Black Vented Oriole showed up . . . then I got back into listing and even Sam took an interest in the hobby. Take a look at the last 138 birds I've seen over the years, on the right side of the blog.

Ago, late 2019 post: 
The last life bird I saw was May 19th, 2019, the Swainson's warbler, last of the east coast birds. That puts me at #620 for the ABA area and that's 9 total new birds this year. So I am very happy with my trips to MN, AZ and Dayton. So now is a good time to review my list, and write down every Code 1 and Code 2 bird left to see (minus palegic birds). Once that was done, my list shows that I only need 18--Code 1's  and 42--Code 2's.  Now, I have taken those birds and grouped them into which states I can see them and times of year. Remember, these things have wings and can fly!!
So below is my states I need to visit and what I can see there.

2013 LRGV

Now, May 2025 post: 
The last life bird I saw was April 25th, 2025, the Roufus-backed Robin Code 3, a hard-to-get thrush, usually in SE AZ only. That puts me at #638 for the ABA area and that's 5 total new birds this year. So, I am very happy with my trip to AZ. Now is a good time to review my list and write down every Code 1 and Code 2 bird left to see (minus pelagic birds). Once that was done, my list shows that I only need 13--Code 1's  and 32--Code 2's.  Now, I have taken those birds and grouped them into which states I can see them and times of year. Remember, these things have wings and can fly!!
So below are my states I need to visit and what I can see there.

States                        Code 1 & 2 needs

California                   Arizona                 
Mountain Quail           CA Condor            
WhiteHeaded Wp        Pinyon Jay                  
Blackbacked WP         Am. 3 toed Wp    
Bells sparrow              Am. North Goshawk       
Hammonds empidx   Buff-breast empidx         
CA Condor                 Mexican Chickadee
Island ScrubJay          Hammonds empidx     
PacfGldnPlvr              Baird's Sparrow 
Black Rail                  Varied Bunting       
                                   Thk-Bill King Bird

                                   Chihuahuan Meadowlark  

                                    Montezuma Quail    
                                                           
Colorado                                 Oregon/Idaho
 Chestnut Collard.LS               Chuckar            
 Mountain Plover           WhteHeadWp/BBWP       
 Pinyon Jay                              Hammonds Ep.                       
 Gray Crown RF                      Boreal Owl       
 Black Rosy Finch                   Cassia Cross Bill
 Grtr Prairie Chkn                    Dusky Grouse
 Lssr Prairie Chkn 

                       


Maine                      Alaska       

Bicknells Thrush     Thk-billed Murre            
Razorbill           Horned Puffin                              
Dovekie                   Grouse                                         
Roseate Tern            Rock Ptarmigan

                                 Wood Sandpiper


Florida            East Coast Pelagic  

Salt Marsh sp    Black capped Petrel  8/29/25 NC
                          Fea's Petrel Code 3 

                          Scopoli's Shearwater 

                          South Polar Skua or Great

                          Manx Shearwater

                          Tropic Bird

                          Dovkie--Feb/Mar

                          Razorbill--Feb/Mar
                          

Texas                               Minnesota   

 Black-capped Vireo       Borrel Owl              
 Mountain Plover            American 3 toe Wp

                                        Black-backed Wp

                                        Bohemian Waxwing

                                        Northern Goshawk

                                                       
Ohio                  Michigan UP                                                                      
rarity inland

or Lake Eire    Black backed Wp

missed these;               Spruce Grouse

King Eider, female

Ancient Murlett

White Wagtail

                                                                                                

Wildcards

Northern Goshawk--north AZ, UT, MN
Chesnut Collar LS--CO east plains
Spruce, Sooty & Dusky Grouse--hard, harder, hardest :)
Black Rail--Sacramento CA, heard only?                          
Black Swift--??                     
Baird's sparrow--SE AZ, or MT plains for breeding, last "easy" sparrow

Bar-tailed Godwit--SF bay or Corpus Christi TX


                                                                                         
                                                                                         
2025 & 2026 trips

• 
  
• Stormy Petral II Pelagic--August 29, 30
• 
  

& beyond
The goal is to see almost all the remaining 44 birds listed, thus that would put me around 682, well within range of 700 ABA traditional area. That would set me up for my first trip to Alaska to hopefully see #700 there.

 

Lake Erie in winter

Wood-warblers: Needed


Comila--code 3, Big Bend NP TX
Rufous-capped--code 3, AZ
Golden-crowned--code 4, south TX, missed 2018 bird, missed 2024
Fan-tailed--code 4, AZ
Slate-throated Redstart--code 4, Big Bend NP, TX


 Feel free to leave "good" comments on the blog, maybe we can meet up and BIRD!!

Next up: Summer of 2025 and planning 2026 trips. Also, any OHIO lifers please!! Come back White Wagtail.

#2024 Big Year in Review

  Happy New Year!!! 2025, can you believe it? Wow has the time gone by fast.  This post is a recap of the year that was #BigYear2024🐦🐦, all the fun stuff, places visited, good times and future plans. Below are some of the highlights.

Santa Ana NWR March 2024

    

• 4 lifers--Wow!! Triple life bird trip to LRGV, rare ones too! NV got me a warbler lifer! Its nice to see some life birds. Which ones will I see in 2025??  2024--4, 2023--0, 2022--0, 2021--3, 2020--5, 2019--10, 2018--7, 2017--18, 2016--12, 2015--13 new and in 2014 I had 29 lifers. I traveled to Texas LRGV and Nevada this year for birding and vacation/bird trips. On Thursdays and Sundays I birded around Ohio, but no new lifers!! I missed the one day wonder Ohio White Wagtail. I am still thankful of the trips taken, birds seen, and friends I've been with making memories and good blog posts! Thank you all and GOD Bless. That puts me at #633 Life Birds for continental ABA, lower 48 and Canada. Hawaii I have a separate list.                                                                                                                    

My ABA Bird of the Year is . . . .the code 5 Mottled Owl 

Follow on Instagram @ceobirder

Since we were in LRGV for family and ashes laid, we wanted to see rare birds too!  Just in luck they all stayed.  At a new private ranch, east of Salinaneo, they offer day and night bird trips. My birding friends went to the day trip on Friday, and Saturday night was the Owl trip.  The tour is highly organized and respectful of the process.  Earlier in the winter this Mexican owl came up to winter on the property. So now they have a distinct protocol, so only 3-5 seconds do we see the Owl with the light on it, and boom its over.  Pretty cool, first time ABA code 5!! 

• My Ohio Bird of the Year is . . . .the code 1 Northern Mockingbird 

Last Ohio need!! 

Its down to the end of the year, and I'm going thru my checklist, and notice I haven't seen Northern Mockingbird in Ohio yet.  What?  I saw plenty in Texas in March, but since I really have not been on the look out nor seen a NOMO.  So lucky, my birding friend has a local one at the train tracks in Worthington, so BOOM. Ohio Bird 173!!!! 

• 3 states visited--Ohio (+175 foys)  Texas (+63 birds)   Nevada (+42 birds)

• 280 total species--Wow, I got 64 more species then 2023, and that's because Texas is always key and plus 3 lifers. Then Nevada with 42 birds with another lifer was huge!! This year we got the mountain birds too except Townsends Solitaire!! I did keep track of my "Ohio only" birds this year and got 175!     This puts me at a 312.5 species per year average over 12 years.                        

• STATS  In 2013--338; 2014--359; 2015--322; 2016--360; 2017--377; 2018--353; 2019--321; 2020--340; 2021--279; 2022-206; 2023--216; 2024--280

Barn Owl Dec OH 

Eastern Screech Owl, May OH

Eastern Screech Owl, March TX

Roadside Hawk, Code 4 Lifer March TX

Below is a list of some of the new first of year birds(FOYs) I saw in Ohio, during the last 45 days of birding in 2024.

#165 Semi-palmated plover  Battelle, same
#166 Buff breasted sp   Battelle Darby teal trail wetlands Aug 15th                                       

#167 Orange crowned warbler, MAG October
#168 Black Scoters  Inglewood Dayton park

#169 Horned Grebe    same
#170 Boneparte Gull  Inglewood Dayton pk
#171 Fox sparrow, heard only Boyer Pers. 
#172 Northern Pintail duck  PickPonds
#173Northing Mockingbird   RxR tracks Worthington, thanks JK
#174 Sharp-shinned Hawk   flyby on 270N
#175 YBBS    heard only on CBC on 12/15

**heard only 2024**
 Sora rail, Yellow billed Cuckcoo, Great horned owl, Common Nighhawk, YBBS, Fox sparrow, Sedge Wren, Veery, Worm-eating, Kentucky, Hooded Warblers, Henslow Sparrow, 

Rarities seen in 2024- Code 3 or higher birds this year all in LRGV
          

            Mottled Owl code 5, Roadside Hawk code 4, Black collard Becard code 5, Clay Colored Thrush code 3, Alpamado Falcon code 3, Tropical Parula code 3,              

• Misses--a lot of them, especially Ohio species. I  birded OHIO on my days off. I really like my May trip to Clear Creek for warblers.  I got to bird at Magee Marsh this year, first time since 2019, it was early and rainy windy day, but had fun!.  

White Pelican, June Ohio

Northern Pintail, PickPonds

Black Scoters, Nov Ohio

• 2025 trips--So far planned trips, but likely to change. 

            1.  Arizona, Washington, someplace??
           

            2. Ohio--Biggest week in American Birding- we will try a Sunday or Thursday to go up to Magee and Howard Marsh, 
         
           3. Chase a rarity. Can this be the year of a Code 4 or 5 chase?? 

           4  North Carolina summer palegalic, need Black capped storm petral 

           5.  Bird in England or Italy??? If I am lucky, and still employed at MAG, maybe I can do brand training for Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lotus, Maserati or Lamborghini and get to travel. Then on my off day or extended time, I can bird some local parks??

            

Thank you to all my friends, family and birders for supporting me these last 12 years. What a ride. Could not of predicted it myself where I would be in the end of 2024.  So here is to the future and more time to get back to Retracing the Steps with the Gambill Birding Dynasty.

Cheers

Brad

#2023 Big Year in Review

   Happy New Year!!! 2024, can you believe it? Wow has the time gone by fast.  This post is a recap of the year that was #BigYear2023🐦🐦, all the fun stuff, places visited, good times and future plans. Below are some of the highlights.

    

Happy 2024 Birding!!

• 0 lifers--Wow!! Second time in a row, no life birds. SMH. My lowest year for life birds since starting this thing; 2023--0, 2022--0, 2021--3, 2020--5, 2019--10, 2018--7, 2017--18, 2016--12, 2015--13 new and in 2014 I had 29 lifers. I traveled to Washington, California, and Nevada  this year for vacation and work trips. On Thursdays and Sundays I birded around Ohio, but no new lifers!! I am still thankful of the trips taken, birds seen, and friends I've been with making memories and good blog posts! Thank you all and GOD Bless. That puts me STILL at #629 Life Birds.                                                                                                                    

My ABA Bird of the Year is . . . .the code 1 California Quail 

California Quail #600 in 2017

Since I did not get a life bird this year, nor really do a birding only trip, I was limited to BOY.  I went to Seattle in May to see friends again, and while birding at Redman Beach SP, I heard the saw this California Quail!!!  I new state bird for me in WA. I also heard this bird in CA when I was there for work training, it was calling in the vineyards. So with that and the fact it was my 600th bird  back in 2017, I choose it for Bird of the Year!! 

• My Ohio Bird of the Year is . . . .the code 1 Pacific Loon 

State Lifer, Pacific Loon

So, it is New Years Day, 2023!!! The year just started on a Sunday. I check FB Ohio rare bird alert, and Boom, Pacific Loon at Hoover Reservoir in Franklin county, just 8 miles from my house!  I drive over around 3pm on a mild day, at Walnut St. ramp. Several birders are there, and 2 Common Loons with this Pacific Loon. This was a state of Ohio life bird for new and FOY for shore!!

• 4 states visited--Ohio (+153 foys)   Washington (+ 19 birds)                                         California (+10 birds)   Nevada (+34 birds)

• 216 total species--Wow, I got 10 more species then 2022, and that's because Nevada with 34 birds was huge!! And we missed the mountain birds!!  No Texas trip, 2 birdish state trips, and 48 hour work weeks/ 210 hours per month. I did keep track of my "Ohio only" birds this year and got 153!     This puts me at a 315.5 species per year average over 11 years.                        

• STATS  In 2013--338; 2014--359; 2015--322; 2016--360; 2017--377; 2018--353; 2019--321; 2020--340; 2021--279; 2022-206; 2023--216

Spotted Towhee, WA

Band-tailed Pigeons, WA

Red-headed Woodpecker, OH

Blue-Winged Warbler, OH 

Olympic Mountain Range

Below is a list of some of the new first of year birds(FOYs) I saw in Ohio, during the last 45 days of birding in 2023.

#143 Dunlin            at wetlands, Nov 2nd off work!!
#144 Green-winged Teal                                            

#145 Glossy Ibis    at Battelle wetlands, Nov 2nd
#146 Sharp-shinned Hawk  freeway flyover
#147 Red-Throated Loo  off South Hoover, Thanksgiving Day bird streak alive!
#148 Ruddy Duck   off Hoover, winter duck missed early
#149 Red-Breasted Merganser  off Hoover Resi north, dec 7th
#150 Northern Harrier   off Harrier trail, looking for shrike
#151 Northern Shrike  12/31/23 off Harrier trail, burnt area. Franklin cty lifer!
#152 Northern Pintail  group flying off Harrier trail, back pond
#153 Hermit Thrush    fly by on Hawthorn trail, Battelle

**heard only 2023**
 Ringed Neck Pheasant, Sora rail, White-Eyed Vireo, Yellow-throated Vireo, Sedge Wren, Veery, Blackburnian, Prothonotory, and Hooded Warblers, Yellow-Breasted Chat, Scarlet Tanager, Henslow Sparrow, 

Rarities seen in 2023- Code 3 or higher birds this year
          

            None
             

• Misses--a lot of them, especially Ohio species. I  birded OHIO on my days off. I really like my May trip to Clear Creek for warblers.  But since I started working overtime every week, birding for causal fun was just not in the plans for 2023. Lets see how 2024 goes!! 

Summer Tanager, OH

Northern Shrike, OH

• 2024 trips--So far planned trips, but likely to change. 

            1.  Lower Rio Grand Valley, Texas in March.  We are spreading the ashes of my aunt Kathy Miller and Red & Louise Gambill.  Sun, birds and friends, hopefully a lifer shows up?
           

            2. Ohio--Biggest week in American Birding- we will try a Sunday or Thursday to go up to Magee and Howard Marsh, missed it in 2023.
         
           3. Chase a rarity. Can this be the year of a Code 4 or 5 chase?? 

           4. Pacific NW in May 2024?? Need Hammonds Flycatcher & MacGillverys warbler still, going back a week later then 2023

           5.  Bird in England or Italy??? If I am lucky, and still employed at MAG, maybe I can do brand training for Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lotus, Maserati or Lamborghini and get to travel. Then on my off day or extended time, I can bird some local parks??

            

Thank you to all my friends, family and birders for supporting me these last 11 years. What a ride. Could not of predicted it myself where I would be in the end of2023.  So here is to the future and more time to get back to Retracing the Steps with the Gambill Birding Dynasty.

Cheers

Brad

#2022 Big Year in Review

  Happy New Year!!! 2023, can you believe it? Wow has the time gone by fast.  This post is a recap of the year that was #BigYear2022🐦🐦, all the fun stuff, places visited, good times and future plans. Below are some of the highlights.

Teal Trail, Battelle Darby, Jan 22' dusk

• 0 lifers--Wow!! First time in a long time, no life birds. SMH. My lowest year for life birds since starting this thing;  2021--3, 2020--5, 2019--10, 2018--7, 2017--18, 2016--12, 2015--13 new and in 2014 I had 29 lifers. I only traveled to Florida this year for vacation, and birded around Ohio, but no new lifers!! I am still thankful of the trips taken, birds seen, and friends I've been with making memories and good blog posts! Thank you all and GOD Bless.                                      That puts me at #629 Life Birds.                                                                                                                    

My ABA Bird of the Year is . . . .the code 2 Mangrove Cuckoo 

stock photo, id only

During my week vacation to Marco Island, Florida in May, I got go out birding two mornings at local eBird hot spots. Up off Shell Rd, is Briggs boardwalk. It is an old easy walking loop. I stopped by chance and it was quite. 30 yards in, this cuckoo flew past me and landed in a tree. I could tell by the distinctive long tail feathers as it flew. Very elusive. No pictures, I came back two days later, and got several heard only noises of the bird but no luck with another sighting. I have only seen the Mangrove once and it was as a life bird with Red & Louise, in June 1990.  

• My Ohio Bird of the Year is . . . .the code 1 Scissor-tail Flycatcher 

Wow, what another crazy Ohio life list bird!!!  Every year something else, more then once pops up in Ohio.  This time, it is the Scissor-tail Fly. And a male at that! Late in October, alert went out that in Licking county is a male STFX. Sure enough, it stayed for the weekend, and myself and JK drove over to see it, Weird, we parked in a field lot, and scoped the bird miles away on the power lines. This is the best photo I got maxxed Zoom.  Still, this bird is common in south during migration in Florida and Texas

• 3 states visited--Ohio(+178 foys) Florida (+ 27 birds) Georgia (+1 Brown headed Nuthatch)

• 206 total species--Wow, the least amount of species I have seen in a year. No Texas trip, no other state trips, and 48 hour work weeks/ 210 hours per month. No vacations, really hampered my birding in 2022.  I did keep track of my "Ohio only" birds this year and got 178!                      This puts me at a 325.5 species per year average over 10 years.                        

• STATS  In 2013--338; 2014--359; 2015--322; 2016--360; 2017--377; 2018--353; 2019--321; 2020--340; 2021--279; 2022-206

Burrowing owls, Marco Island

5 species, name them??

Fox Sparrow, Sharon Woods

King Rail, Prairie Oaks

Below is a list of some of the new first of year birds(FOYs) I saw in Ohio, during the last 45 days of birding in 2022.

#168 Wilson's Snipe
#169 Blue-winged Teal                                            

#170 Swap Sparrow
#171 Lincoln Sparrow
#172 White-rumped sandpiper
#173 Scissor-tailed Flycatcher--Ohio lifer    Licking county October 23rd, male
#174 America Pipit
#175 Long-billed Dowitcher     Thanksgiving day at Hoover
#176 Horned Grebe                    Thanksgiving day at Alum Creek
#177 Sharp-shinned Hawk
#178 Merlin                                Westerville Spring St roost Dec 18th

**heard only 2022**
 Ringed Neck Pheasant, Sora rail, Hooded Warbler

Rarities seen in 2022--only saw one Code 3 or higher birds this year
          

            None
             

• Misses--a lot of them, especially Ohio species. I  birded OHIO strong in January, getting 90 species in the first month!! But since I started working overtime every week, birding for causal fun was just not in the plans for 2022.  

Little Blue juvi, Hilliard

Orange-crowned Warbler, Oh

• 2023 trips--So far no planned trips, but likely to change. 

          
           1. Ohio--Biggest week in American Birding--open fully for business, we will try a Sunday or Thursday to go up to Magee and Howard Marsh
         
           2. Chase a rarity. Can this be the year of a Code 4 or 5 chase?? 

           3. Pacific NW in Spring 2023?? Need Hammonds Flycatcher and MacGillverys warbler

            4.  Bird in England or Italy??? If I am lucky, and still employed at MAG, maybe I can do brand training for Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Lotus, Maserati or Lamborghini and get to travel. Then on my off day or extended time, I can bird some local parks??

Thank you to all my friends, family and birders for supporting me these last 10 years. What a ride. Could not of predicted it myself where I would be in 2022.  So here is to the future and more time to get back to Retracing the Steps with the Gambill Birding Dynasty.

Cheers

Brad

In Memorandum

Rest In Peace

Kathy Gambill Miller 1/12/2023