Mokka mit Schlag » Birding

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.
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2021 was a low but not super low year thanks to quarantine. I did make two trips to New Orleans and one to Arizona. Plus there were some really good and one spectacular bird in Brooklyn this year. Also worth noting that I set a new personal best for a Brooklyn year with 216 species. I finished the year with 311 species total and 18-19 life birds including a spectacular surprise of Gray-breasted Martin on my home patch at Prospect Park.

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This was a super low year thanks to quarantine. I finished the year with 197 species, less than I’ve seen probably since I started counting. I never left New York City and rarely left Brooklyn. I didn’t even get to Jamaica Bay. Nonetheless I did get one life bird in 2020, a King Eider that was hanging out at the Brooklyn Army Terminal pier in December.

Besides the Eider, I added five birds to my Kings County list including:

• A Western Tanager that spent a week or so in Greenwood Cemetery.
• A Short-eared Owl flying around the Fountain Ave. Landfill on the Christmas Bird Count
• Cliff Swallows that nested at Canarsie Beach Park under the Belt Parkway
• A Harlequin Duck at Sheepshead Bay early in the year

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eBird tells me I saw a reasonable 346 species last year. There are probably a few here and there I didn’t report. 165 of those were in Kings County. That’s not awful given that I didn’t take any international trips or birding tours last year. Thanks to a Shearwater pelagic out of Monterey, I added 4 life birds to my list:

• Black-footed Albatross Shearwater Journeys_09/15/2019_Leg 5/6 US-CA 15 Sep 2019
• Sabine’s Gull Shearwater Journeys_09/15/2019_Leg 3/6 US-CA 15 Sep 2019
• Red Phalarope Shearwater Journeys_09/15/2019_Leg 1/6 US-CA 15 Sep 2019
• Ashy Storm-Petrel Monterey Bay pelagic–inshore Monterey Harbor to Pt. Pinos (MTY Co.)
• Black-throated Magpie-Jay Kit Carson Park US-CA 23 Aug 2019

That’s actually five species, but the Black-throated Magpie-Jay isn’t officially countable in the U.S. since it likely either is or descends from escaped pets and does not have an established population. Still a gorgeous bird though.

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eBird tells me I saw a reasonable 404 species last year. There are probably a few here and there I didn’t report. 146 of those were in Kings County. Thanks to trips to California, New Mexico, Florida, Louisiana, Vancouver, Portugal, and Morocco I managed a respectable 20 life birds including one in Brooklyn and one in Central Park:

• Spotless Starling A1, Casablanca-Settat, MA (33.033, -8.533) MA-10 02 Dec 2018
• Brown-necked Raven Essaouira Lodge MA-11 01 Dec 2018
• Sardinian Warbler Essaouira Lodge MA-11 01 Dec 2018
• Moussier’s Redstart Essaouira Lodge MA-11 01 Dec 2018
• Corn Bunting Essaouira Lodge MA-11 01 Dec 2018
• Maghreb Magpie Boulevard Mohamed VI, Marrakech, Marrakech-Safi, MA (31.61, -8.003) MA-11 30 Nov 2018
• House Bunting Jemaa el-Fnaa MA-11 26 Nov 2018
• Common Bulbul Avenue du 7ème Art, Marrakech, Marrakech-Safi, MA (31.594, -7.99) MA-11 25 Nov 2018
• White Stork Avenue du 7ème Art, Marrakech, Marrakech-Safi, MA (31.594, -7.99) MA-11 25 Nov 2018
• Northwestern Crow Vancouver–Harbour Green Park CA-BC 28 Aug 2018
• Black Rail Alviso Marina County Park US-CA 16 Aug 2018
• Dusky Grouse Elliot Barker Trailhead US-NM 25 Jun 2018
• Brewer’s Sparrow Eagle Nest SP – Moreno Day Use Area US-NM 23 Jun 2018
• Lewis’s Woodpecker Angel Fire Resort US-NM 22 Jun 2018
• Black-billed Magpie Randall Davey Audubon Center US-NM 16 Jun 2018
• Scaled Quail Embudito Canyon US-NM 15 Jun 2018
• Black-chinned Sparrow Embudito Canyon US-NM 15 Jun 2018
• Kirtland’s Warbler Central Park–Reservoir US-NY 12 May 2018
• Bachman’s Sparrow Hal Scott Regional Preserve and Park US-FL 18 Mar 2018
• Rough-legged Hawk Salt Marsh Nature Center at Marine Park US-NY 20 Jan 2018

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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

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