Another Banner Year

Red-legged Kittiwake. Buldir Island, AK.

Shit! That was fast. All of a sudden, its over. 2010....done. I give it a B. 2010 was better than average. It's still no 2006 (A+), otherwise known as The Year Of The Ashtray, but it  has been pretty solid. Definitively better than a couple years this decade though. Of course, I'm just talking about big picture stuff here, not birding.....which is what you ultimately are here for.

Right. Y2K10. I got to work in one of my favorite areas to bird (Southeast Arizona), somehow went all the way out to (and survived!) Buldir Island, and achieved Redemption with the Humboldt Brown Rain-Shrike. Like 2009 (when I went out to Midway), seabirds and the remote island experience shaped and defined the entire year, although both times I was only off the mainland for less than 4 months. I am still attempting to wrap my mind around my proclivity to do this to myself. In my mind I can do some serious placemaking in these harsh realms...we'll see if I return to an island scene in Y2K11.

One of the famous Rufous-capped Warblers that lived up-canyon from me this spring. Florida Canyon, AZ.

STRING OF PEARLS! A Slaty-backed Gull makes its way towards Northwest Point. Buldir Island, AK.

32 new birds this year! I have a distinct feeling of Victory deep in my spine, and wonder if I am actually glowing. Because I generally do a poor job at making lists (which is pretty much the most popular thing to do in blogs), I offer you this intimate piece of information....my new birds of the year.

Y2KLIFEBIRDS2010:

Blue-footed Booby (Mex - a Nemesis Bird, finally defeated)
Common Black-Hawk (Az)
Rufous-capped Warbler (Az)
Montezuma Quail (Az)
Northwestern Crow (Ak)
Trumpeter Swan (Ak)
White-winged Crossbill (Ak)
Arctic Loon (Ak)
Kittlitz's Murrelet (Ak)
Horned Puffin (Ak)
Parakeet Auklet (Ak)
Crested Auklet (Ak)
Least Auklet (Ak)
Whiskered Auklet (Ak)
Thick-billed Murre (Ak)
Red-legged Kittiwake (Ak)
Aleutian Tern (Ak)

This Red-faced Cormorant was a proud parent of triplets. Buldir Island, AK.

I'm not trying to do any horn-tooting or anything, but you should look at the full-sized image...meet the icy stare of the auklet. Least Auklet, @Buldir.

Red-faced Cormorant (Ak)

Rock Ptarmigan (Ak)
Easten Yellow Wagtail (Ak)
Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch (Ak....long overdue, don't I know it)
Common Redpoll (Ak)
Common Rosefinch (Ak)
Hawfinch (Ak)
Brambling (Ak)
Rustic Bunting (Ak)
Wood Sandpiper (Ak)
Common Sandpiper (Ak)
Red-necked Stint (Ak)
Long-toed Stint (Ak)
Mottled Petrel (Ak)
Brown Shrike (Ca)

Why hello Common Rosefinch, its good to see you too. @Buldir

Missed Birds:

Bean Goose (Ca)
Gyrfalcon (Ca)
Ivory Gull (Ca)
Black-tailed Godwit (Ak)
Snipe Sp. So, I saw 2 snipe while in the Aleutians. One that flushed from the nuclear warhead storage area on Adak Island sounded like a frakkin' Semipalmated Plover, and I have no clue what that was. Most likely, something awesome. The other was on Buldir and didn't call (probably a Common Snipe though). At any rate, Wilson's Snipes are not expected to occur in the Western Aleutians, so whatever they were were probably new to me. Bloody frustrating. In fact, its giving me a nose bleed. Right now. But I digress...

Wood Sandpipers were one of the few expected species at Bean Goose Pond for a couple weeks. I always thought these birds would look extremely similar to Solitary Sandpipers, but they seem easily distingushable. Note golden spangling on the back. @Buldir.

A migrant Common Black-Hawk cruises in the northbound lane of the Santa Cruz River. Tubac, AZ.

The yearlist is at 406, including introduced birds (401 without them). I'm completely satisfied with that, although I will certainly do my best to better that in 2011, El Año Tranquilo.

A few kickass albums that surfaced this year:

Bomb The Music Industry! - Adults!!! Smart!!! Shithammered!!! And Bored By Everything!!!!
The Slackers - The Great Rocksteady Swindle
The Menzingers - Chamberlain Waits
Leatherface - The Stormy Petrel
Forgetters - Forgetters
Defiance, Ohio - Midwestern Minutes

Obviously there were many more winners that came out this year, but these won my affections more than most.  The new Bad Religion and None More Black albums have some great songs too...the sad fact is that I missed out on a lot of albums that came out this summer due to my station on Buldir Island (i.e. Off With Their Heads, Gaslight Anthem, The Gamits) so I am still playing catchup. It's nice knowing there is some great music out there that I can readily get my hands on though.

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Lastly, this is where I'll be for about 10 weeks this spring. Swainson's Hawks Bird Observatory in Chavarrillo, Mexico will be my home. I won't be travelling much (mostly standing in one spot looking up), but the birding around town is supposed to be quite facemelty. Really looking forward to that. It invokes a visceral reaction deep in my gut, sort of like my body is getting ready to be wracked by the sight of awesome tropical and subtropical birds. Can't wait! El Año Tranquilo should be a good one.

I'm Getting Used To Getting Old, But Where's My Ambition?

A broad-chested, short-winged Thick-billed Murre takes evasive maneuvers. 

Goodbye fall. You were a good one this year. Not one for birding necessarily (although spending August in the western Aleutians was fantastic), but for quality of life in general. So thanks to everyone who made that possible. It's been an explosive jubilee of reveling and raising glasses with old friends. And yes, much bourbon was had.

With the passing of Birder's Fall (August-November) and the onset of Birder's Winter (December-February), Californian birders are now beginning to switch gears to adjust their birding habits to better suit the winter months. So many crippling vagrants have arrived in the state in the last month (The Fab Four: Bean Goose, Ivory Gull, Brown Shrike, Black-tailed Gull) that people really have their hopes up. Many a birder has tasted the sweet taste of victory (most people who have looked for the Bean Goose) or bashed their heads into a wall of defeat (most people who looked for the Brown Shrike) after looking for said birds, and there will be more to follow. The rivers may yet run red with angry birder blood this winter. The possibilities of what may arrive here this winter are almost endless.

Here's a couple of new ones for you. They're not great shots, but for most Americans, they're great birds. Wood Sandpipers turned out to be one of the most abundant (well, relatively speaking) shorebirds on Buldir Island this year, much to my....um....delight.

This juvenile Red-necked Stint was the one and only to visit us.

Besides that, what winter means for me personally is I switch out of "WOOOHOOO NO MORE FIELD WORK!!!" phase into "Hrmm, I should probably start lining up my spring field work" phase, which isn't nearly as fun....but does add a light taste of drama to everything. Its quite strange, really. Few other people (outside my line of work) comfortably vacillate from slaving away for months to having absolutely nothing to do to lackadaisically looking for jobs knowing that somehow you'll get one if you apply to enough...I am nothing if not a consumate professional, after all. But its pretty weird. I recognize and appreciate how shitty it is for people to lose their jobs and their homes (the house I'm living in is being foreclosed on, thanks Bank of America), but since I consensually lose my job a couple of times a year....well, it just doesnt have much of an impact for me. Besides, I really enjoy my freedom...if you don't have that...what do you have?

Oh yeah, summers are usually a mix of "LIFE IS PAIN" and "I have the best job in the world!". Haven't found a way to combine those two concepts yet.

All pictures today are from July-August at Buldir Island, Alaska. As usual they have very little to do with what I'm talking about...maybe I'll work on that.

Another shot of one of the scarce Aleutian sunsets we got to see.