Morning bird walk. Got to listen to the quail and see a roadrunner.
Bendire's thrasher. Just like the curve billed thrasher, but it's smaller,
with a slightly different habit, and without the sharp whistle call. This
has been the most productive birding trip for us in years. An eighteen-bird
walk this morning. 332 on the life list.
I've been reading a wonderful book about birding: called the Big Year. I
don't usually take the time for "sport reading", so this is a real treat.
It's a fun account of how crazy people can be. People record their
life-lists, and see how many birds they can get. Some people embark on a
Big Year, and see how many birds they can get in a year. We're talking
about a North American Big Year. North America is carefully defined. North
of the Mexico border, and no more than 200 miles offshore. For a Big Year,
you need to be in the seven hundreds to get any attention. That's more
birds than are normally found in North America. You have to spot rarities.
You have to chase birds. You have to tune in to the rare bird alert, and go
on a moment's notice.
We have a Big Day so far. Our Big Day is eighty-five birds.
