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.

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