2017 The Year in Birds
eBird tells me I saw a moderate 287 species last year. There are probably a few here and there I didn’t report. 169 of those were in Kings County. I didn’t travel to any new locations this year, so I only managed four life birds (and three if you don’t count the invasive Pin-tailed Whydah) but they were all really good ones:
- Hammond’s Flycatcher Central Park–The Ramble US-NY 02 Dec 2017
- Corn Crake Cedar Beach, general area US-NY 08 Nov 2017
- Parakeet Auklet Land’s End–seawatch US-CA 25 Jul 2017
- Pin-tailed Whydah Canyon Park US-CA 17 Jun 2017
Locally I added four birds to my New York list:
- Hammond’s Flycatcher Central Park–The Ramble US-NY 02 Dec 2017
- Corn Crake Cedar Beach, general area US-NY 08 Nov 2017
- Northern Goshawk Prospect Park US-NY 28 Mar 2017
- Iceland Gull Prospect Park US-NY 11 Feb 2017
Five birds to my California list:
- Parakeet Auklet Land’s End–seawatch US-CA 25 Jul 2017
- Horned Lark Bolsa Chica–walkbridge/inner bay US-CA 19 Jun 2017
- White-eyed Vireo Talbert Nature Preserve US-CA 19 Jun 2017
- Japanese White-eye Canyon Park US-CA 17 Jun 2017
- Lincoln’s Sparrow Charleston Slough/Coast Casey Forebay US-CA 18 Mar 2017
- Pin-tailed Whydah Canyon Park US-CA 17 Jun 2017
Four of these were in Orange County, bringing that total to 247.
Three birds to my New Jersey list:
- Tundra Swan Edwin B. Forsythe NWR–Southwest Pool US-NJ 10 Nov 2017
- Bald Eagle Edwin B. Forsythe NWR–Southwest Pool US-NJ 10 Nov 2017
- Bonaparte’s Gull Edwin B. Forsythe NWR–Southwest Pool US-NJ 10 Nov 2017
I added one bird, Sedge Wren, to my Louisiana list.
For Kings County I added five for a total of 271:
- Common Gallinule Prospect Park US-NY 17 Nov 2017
- Swainson’s Warbler Prospect Park US-NY 24 May 2017
- Short-billed Dowitcher Plumb Beach US-NY 05 Aug 2017
- Northern Goshawk Prospect Park US-NY 28 Mar 2017
- Iceland Gull Prospect Park US-NY 11 Feb 2017
If I hadn’t gotten sick for the Christmas count I could have picked up another 1 or 2 for Kings.
I also added two species in Queens, seven in Santa Clara, 15 in Nassau, another 15 in New York County, and 9 in San Francisco.
