Where do I go from here?

Legend killer

Well, well . . . here we are again, in the middle of no where. It's the late summer of 2019 and birding is slow. Here in Ohio, the shorebirds are coming south now, with warblers to follow. So, at this point in the Blog, I thought I would do a recap of my birding adventures, and where the future leads me.



Past 7 years recap:
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/wife, then my thirties, 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 off to the races. Take a look at the last 113 birds I've seen over the years, on the right side of the blog.

Today, late 2019: 
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

States                        Code 1 & 2 needs

California                   Arizona                 
Mountain Quail           Montezuma Quail             
WhiteHeaded Wp        Pinyon Jay                  
Hammonds Epmix       ComBlkHawk  2/20' TX    
Bells sparrow              Whiskered SOwl       
McGillverys                Buff-breast empidx         
CA Condor                 Mexican Chickadee
Island ScrubJay          Bendires Thrash     
PacfGldnPlvr              Rufus-winged Sp. 
                                   Varied Bunting       
                                   ThkBill KingB      
                                                           
Colorado                                 Oregon/Idaho
 Grtr SageGruse 4/21' CO       Chuckar            
 Mountain Plvr                         WhteHeadWp       
 Pinyon Jay                              Hammonds Ep. 
 MacGillivrays war                 MacGillivrays      
 Gray Crown RF                      Boreal Owl       
 Black Rosy Finch                   Cassia CrossBill
 Brown-Capped RF 4/21' CO
 Grtr Prairie Chkn
  Lssr Prairie Chkn 

  Lewis Woodpk 1/20' CA                         


Maine                      Alaska       

Thk-billed Murre     Thk-billed Murre            
Razorbill                  Horned Puffin                              
Dovekie                    Grouse                                         
Roseate Tern
Red-billed TB
Bicknells Thrush

Florida            East Coast Palegic  

Salt Marsh sp    Parasitic Jager10/20' OH
                          South Polar Skua/Great
                          Black capped Petral
                           Manx Shearwater

Texas                                        

 Black-capped Vireo                         
 Mountain Plvr 
                                                       
Ohio                                                                             
Smith LongSpur  4/21' OH                                 
LeContes Sparrow10/20' OH                                                          
                                                                                     
                                                                                         

Wildcards

Northern Goshawk
Chesnut Collr LS
Spruce, Sooty & Dusky Grouse
Black Swift, Black Rail                          
Bohemian Waxwing                        
Hoary Redpoll                             
Baird's sparrow  


                                                                                         
                                                                                         
2020 trips

• Lower Rio Grand Valley--Mar 1
• Colorado--May 1
• Stormy Petral II Palegic--May 31
• Maine/Seal Island--July

& beyond
The goal is to see almost all the remaining 50-60 birds listed, thus that would put me within range of 700 ABA traditional area. That would set me up for my first trip to Alaska to hopefully see #700 there.

 






Wood-warblers: Needed

MacGiillvray's--code 1, west coast CA NV WA
Comila--code 3, Big Bend NP TX
Rufous-capped--code 3, AZ
Golden-crowned--code 4, south TX, missed 2018 bird
Fan-tailed--code 4, AZ
Slate-throated Redstart--code 4, Big Bend NP, TX
Bachman's--code 6, extinct, giant cane bird, no habitat left

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

Next up: Hawaii & 15 year anniversary