2022 The Year in Birds
2022 was a slower year than 2021. I still haven’t left the country since Covid, but I did make four trips to New Orleans and two to Arizona, so there were a few life birds to add. I finished the year with 365 species total and 19 life birds as well as a Brooklyn first Townsend’s Warbler.
In total I added 19 birds to my life list, all but one in Arizona. The one I saw in New York was a Slaty-backed Gull on the Central Park reservoir early in the year.
- Slaty-backed Gull
- Berylline Hummingbird
- Gray Flycatcher
- Nutting’s Flycatcher
- Thick-billed Kingbird
- Five-striped Sparrow
- Buff-breasted Flycatcher
- Elegant Trogon
- Elf Owl
- Whiskered Screech-Owl
- Mexican Whip-poor-will
- Olive Warbler
- Mexican Chickadee
- Plumbeous Vireo
- Spotted Owl
- Virginia’s Warbler
- Cassin’s Vireo
- Gilded Flicker
- Gray Vireo
Olive Warbler and Mexican Chickadee were especially good gets, since they require climbing a lot higher than I’m comfortable driving. They’re usually only found at the highest elevations, 9,000 feet and up. Five-striped Sparrow I saw multiple times after missing it in 2021. Nutting’s Flycatcher was the rarest of the batch, at least in the United States. Most of these were with guided groups, were known stakeouts, or both. However I did find Gilded Flicker, Gray Vireo, Cassin’s Vireo, and Virginia’s Warbler completely on my own.
Aside from the Slaty-backed Gull, it was a relatively quiet year in home territory. My only new bird for Kings County was a Townsend’s Warbler that Doug Gochfeld found in Fort Greene Park late in the year and that cooperatively hung around through Christmas bird count. This was particularly satisfying since I’d tried and failed to find one that visited Greenwood Cemetery in 2021.
I did add 22 species to my Louisiana list, 23 to my Orleans Parish list, 10 to my Jefferson Parish list, and 6 to my St. Tammany Parish list. I visited the state multiple times, including months I hadn’t previously birded there.
