2007.. A Year for the books!

Wow. I think that pretty much sums up 2007 in one very compact word. It’s hard to believe that 365 days could pass by so quickly and just like that the year is over. When I started my big year on January 1^st, 2007 I never imagined it turning into what it turned into. Looking back at the past 7 years there were on average around 350 species of birds recorded annually in Utah. When I set out on my quest I had hoped to see 325 species in Utah during the year, and beef up my Utah life list a little. And I did that, the only problem was that it was the first week in September when I saw #325, a Neotropic Cormorant at Quichipa Lake in Iron County. From there I can only say that it was an incredible fall and winter, and one that I imagine may go unrivaled ever.

Pine Valley Mountains and the Red Cliffs, December 2007

In 2007 birders across Utah reported 382 species of birds in the state. 380 of those could be classified as wild, naturally occurring, or introduced and self sustaining by most birding standards. California Condor and Spotted Dove were reported in Utah in 2007, I saw the first species, but am not counting as part of my big year. I am not sure, but I believe this may be the most species of bird ever reported in the state in a single year. Blame it on Global Warming, blame it on strange weather, blame it on whatever, 2007 produced more great birds in Utah than any time in recent history.

Long-tailed Jaeger compilation, Quail Creek Reservoir, October 2007

Back at the end of 2006 when I was still living in Indiana, I thought my chance at a Utah Big Year would have to wait until 2008, when I could make it back for a full 12 months. But on December 28, 2006 I found an opening at a small web marketing company in Orem that was in need of a designer. I called on the 29th and managed to get an interview that afternoon. With birds on my brain, I managed to seal the deal by 4:00 pm that day, and thus the planning began. Going back to Indy, wrapping up my job there, moving home, and making up for the 2 weeks I would miss in early January as I pursued Dennis Shirley and his imposing 332 species from 2004. I started the year out in Salt Lake County, the first bird being a Canada Goose at Lee Kay Ponds. On that first day I missed all the winter gulls I had hoped to find, especially the Western Gull. I chose to go to Antelope Island and try for Scoters and Long-tailed Duck instead of chase a Swamp Sparrow in Utah County. By the end of the day I started to think I may have started off completely wrong. No Long-tailed Ducks, the Swamp Sparrow was seen, and the gulls were a no show. It was starting to look like maybe 2007 was a bad year to try a big year… I left for Indiana the next day to pack up my apartment, and put in a couple more days of work. It was hard sitting in a cubicle 1500 miles away when the report of Scaled Quail came in. It was even harder driving the 1500 miles back thinking about what those 2 weeks I missed would mean in the end… Looking back now, they obviously didn't impact my year, and the worrying was for nothing. Everything just seemed to fall into place. Rarities stuck around long enough for the chase. When I chased I had a very high success rate. And talk about being in the right place at the right time. Philadelphia Vireo, Dickcissel, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Pine, Blackpoll, Prothonotary, and Palm Warbler all self found. Owls called on command. Hawks hung around Lytle on two occasions as needed. The causeway produced, and produced and produced. More jaegers this fall than the past 10 combined. Washington County was hot… And not just 112 degrees this July (during a survey on the Santa Clara River), but the birding was hot. It seemed like every trip down I pulled out a good bird, form what seemed like nowhere. I drove 340 miles a week after a Lawrence's Goldfinch had been seen, and it came to me after watching a feeder for 4 hours. I played an Elf Owl tape without luck, only to have a bird start calling ten minutes later within 100 feet of my camp. I missed Swamp Sparrow, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Least Flycatcher, and Golden-crowned Sparrow (among others) only to find or chase others successfully later in the year. Did I mention that the causeway produced, and produced and produced (I know I did, I just wanted to push that point again.). Garr Ranch was impeccable this fall, it rarely failed me. We discovered a new hot spot in the Salt Lake International Center. White-winged Crossbills were an easy chase near Mirror Lake, the winter brought an invasion of Waxwings, and every piece of the puzzle just fell into place. It almost seems surreal.

Red-breasted Sapscuker at Lytle Ranch, February 2007

Looking back I can say that the year really couldn’t have turned out any better that it did. Well, I could have seen 100% of the species reported in 2007, but that is just improbable. I only worked 4 months in an office full time. I was able to spend 3 months living in the field watching birds, and the other 5 months, were spent birding and just living out a dream. It isn’t something I will be able to do again any time soon, if ever, and it was the best decision I have ever made.

So here are the numbers!

355 - Number of Species seen and/or heard
330 - Number of Species photographed
217 - Number of days where I birded at least 1 hour
1843 - Total estimated number of hours spent birding
40,440 - Number of miles driven (My vehicle, work vehicle, others vehicles)
389 - Number of miles birding by foot
Wouldn’t you like to know? - Total Fiscal contribution to birding
0 - Regrets (well not quite, but you get the idea)

This all means that:

I saw an average of .97 species per day in 2007
I saw an average of 1.64 species per day birded in 2007
I saw an average of .19 species per hour birded in 2007
I saw an average of .0087 species per mile traveled in 2007 or 1 species every 113.9 miles

By Month I saw the following number of species in Utah:

122 – January (in 9 days of birding)
124 - February (in 9 days of birding)
151 - March (in 10 days of birding)
216 - April (in 15 days of birding)
231 - May (in 23 days of birding)
210 - June (in 24 days of birding)
201 - July (in 23 days of birding)
235 - August (in 20 days of birding)
232 - September (in 25 days of birding)
201 - October (in 26 days of birding)
157 - November (in 17 days of birding)
124 - December (in 16 days of birding)

Surprisingly I never had a real "big day", being I never recorded more than 100 species in a single day this year.

Some more numbers. Before 2007 I had seen 322 species in Utah. I was able to add an astonishing 44 species to my Utah list this year, including 11 life birds.

I was lucky enough to see a number of state firsts this year, including: Western Gull, Painted Bunting, Neotropic Cormorant, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper and Pine Warbler.

Western Gull at Farmington Bay WMA, March 2007

And I am sure there are 100's of other numbers I could come up with or go back and compute. But I won't I will simply sit back and enjoy a much needed break from chasing birds, and beating up my car. With any big year there are people who helped and I have a long list of those people who in some way contributed to my Big Year. And below is that list…

Stephen Peterson, Ryan O'Donnell, Jerry Ligouri, Paul Higgins, Betsy Beneke, Jim Lofthouse, Eric Huish, Lu Giddings, Bruce Robinson, David Wheeler, Mark Stackhouse, Glenn Barlow, Steve Coleman, Pomera Fronce, Bridget Olson, Diane Penttila, Carol Gwynn, Bryan Shirley, Matt Williams, Cliff and Lisa Weisse, Geoff Hardies, Jack Binch, Weston Smith, Stephen T. Carlile, Sylvia Gray, Deedee O'Brien, Milt Moody, Merrill Webb, Ed Leite, Matt Mills, Hillary White, Dave Hanscom, Alona Huffaker, Brian Maxfield,Josh Kreitzer, Ned Bixler, Bob Lawson, Buck Russell,Brian Currie, Glenda Cotter, Steve Carr, Stacie Schoppman, KC Childs, Kevin Wheeler, Donna Thorum, Keith Evans, Jim and Cindy Summerhill, Jeff Bilsky, Carl Ingwell, Paul Lombardi, Kent Morby, and I am sure there are numerous others that I have forgotten to put on this list. There were so many people who contributed information, help, time, encouragement, etc that it is hard to keep track. I also have to thank my family, and non-birding friends who often wondered what I was thinking running off on idiot missions to see a single bird, 330 miles away in the southwest corner of the state.

And I know some of you are thinking I forgot you, but I didn't. There were several people that without, I would not have been able to complete this year, and they get special thanks.

First, I have to thank Ann Neville for her encouragement, and tips on good birds, as well as her taking me onto Kennecott property on several occasions to look for birds.

Bill Fenimore always had a hot tip and without his connection to the backyard birders across northern Utah, I would have missed at least one great year bird in Blue Jay, so thank you Bill.

Larry Tripp and Rick Fridell. Without these two 352 wouldn’t even be a possibility. Whenever my cell phone rang and I saw that it was Rick, I knew he had a good bird and was trying to get me to come down and see it. Most of the time I did, and it was well worth the drive. These two are the connection in Washington County that relays what's happening down there to the rest of us. They are great birders and great people, that I owe a lot to this year, so thank you. And Rick, especially thank you, for always being up to just shoot-the-sh*t about birds, and share your vast knowledge, I've learned a lot from you.

Joel and Kathy Beyer are probably two of the most persistent birders in Utah, and I can't count how many birds they found that I later chased. The Beyer's always seemed to find a bird that I was in need of, at a time when I could actually go look for it. They were always encouraging and good for talking birds with wherever I ran into them, be it the causeway, Garr Ranch, Farmington Bay or even Lytle Ranch. Thank You two!

When chasing a record you are following in the footsteps of others, and I had some great footsteps to follow. Larene Wyss ticked off 327 species in 2001, a record that many thought would be unbreakable. Larene broke the record at a time when the internet hadn't quite picked up as a valuable source for sharing bird sightings. I birded with Larene on several occasions this year, and she shared her wisdom with me on each occasion. When I hit 327 I felt honored to be in the company of such a wonderful, and insightful birder.

I never thought that when I started this year 332 species would be possible. My initial goal was for 325 species, and it wasn't until I was in that arena that I decided 333 was a possibility. Only one person had previously recorded more than 327 species of birds, and that person was Dennis Shirley. Dennis is the kind of birder that everyone should strive to be. Not only is he a gifted field birder, but he is friendly, witty, and always willing to help others when it comes to finding birds. Sadly, I only ran into Dennis one time this year, and it was as I sat at 331 species as I walked around Garr Ranch in search of a Magnolia Warbler. Never in my life have I met someone that was as encouraging as Dennis was with me at his heels. He congratulated me for my year and wished me luck with the remaining months. Although I never found that Magnolia Warbler, it is one day this year I won’t forget. Thank you Dennis, for giving me something to go after, and your encouragement as I closed in.

Steve and Cindy Sommerfeld are by far the most enthusiastic birders I know, and over the past year we have become good friends through birding. The Sommerfeld's are one of three people I call when I hear about a rare bird, or find something good. They are almost always up for a chase, and several 1,000 miles traveled this year were with them. Not only are they great company, but they shed a bit of humor on every birding adventure. Steve will speak his mind, and Cindy will shake her head as if on cue. These two also fed me much needed information for birds. I chased numerous birds based off their phone calls. I especially enjoy Steve asking me if I am up yet when he calls at 1 in the afternoon about a good bird. Most of the time the answer was yes. Thank you two for everything this year.

David Slager. Most of you don’t know Dave, or never got to meet him. Dave was something else… to say the least. Colby Neuman joked that the three of us must be a sight when birding. I am just huge, standing at 6'4", and tipping the scales in the high 200's… Colby stands just over 6' and often hasn't shaved in weeks… Dave is about the same height as me, but probably only weighs 160… He is that tallest skinniest person I know. He is also a tremendous birder, knowledgeable environmentalist, and burrito lover extraordinair. Dave left Utah in August and wasn't able to help me finish out the year, but up till that point had been along on many an idiot mission. Dave was always good for an argument, always up for doing something stupid, and always pushing me to "take my big year seriously". Even after Dave left Utah I received emails telling me I had to go chase birds, or I wasn't doing enough, etc… I even received a phone call late one night in November as I drove through Washington County. He was calling with info about a bird sighting to try and help me out. Dave traveled several 1,000 miles with me this year, to San Juan County and Washington alike, and was always encouraging me to keep going. Thank you Dave, for all your help this year, you were a huge help.

Kris Purdy. Kris is by far the most observant birder I know. She is also one hell of a birder, comedian, teacher, writer, etc, etc, etc. Kris was my sounding board for much of 2007, often emailing back and forth late at night, discussing happenings with birds, field marks, and everything that is birds. Kris was also the first to call on too many occasions to count, with information about a new or hot bird for the year. Kris may have very well single handedly helped me see more rarities in 2007 thank anyone else. She was responsible for finding my first Utah Ruddy Turnstone, knocking off a nemesis bird, and also getting me to drive all the way from Leidy Peak to Bear River NWR all in one day for that bird. Kris, also relayed a number of sightings from me to the lists, as well as actually chased a report or two. For those of you that know Kris, she doesn't chase birds J . Kris, told me from the get go she would help me as often as she could, and every email and phone call was informative, helpful, and a joy. Kris helped me find number 333 this year in White's Valley. After 2 unsuccessful trips for Gray Partridge, Kris and I saw over 50 in one morning. Thank you Kris, for all your help this year, I wouldn’t have been able to see everything I did without your help.

And finally, as if most of you don't know, my biggest thanks has to go to someone I consider a very good friend. Most of you know Colby Neuman, but what most of you don’t know is Colby is the person who got me interested in birding back when I was 12 years old. At the time I knew a little about birds and was mostly interested in ducks, as my family was big into hunting. Colby sparked my interest in other birds when he produced a beaten up Peterson Field Guide from his backpack one day. Although we didn't do much birding together till college, I do have to thank him for that spark… BAG (a little inside joke). Throughout 2007 Colby was always encouraging me to keep going, to chase those rarities, to find new birds, and birding with me along the way. Colby was like a birding consultant, helping plan trips to southern Utah, to look for birds in eastern Utah, in the mountains, to go owling, etc. He also was my life line this summer, telling me about rare birds over the phone as I worked in some remote areas of southern Utah. He also posted sightings for me, and went on more idiot missions for birds than I can count. St. George, Nine Mile Flat, Leidy Peak, The West Desert, Fish Springs, etc, etc etc. I can't count how many miles we drove looking for birds, but it had to be close to 10,000. Colby was there to laugh at me when I got pulled over for speeding in Rich County in the middle of the night after walking all over Beaver Mountain trying to get a Boreal Owl for the year. He also found it funny when I got my second flat tire in 24 hours near Lucin. Colby helped me keep my head on straight this year, and make my way to where I'm at now. I have learned more about birds from him, than I have from any other person, and owe him a lot for this year. I imagine along the way he has to have seen around 300 birds this year, not a bad little take on his part. So thank you for your help and encouragement this year… 84112

And that’s it. 2007 is over, and my big year is done. Looking back its hard to believe that 365 days have passed so quickly, and at the same time I am relieved to be done. Now I can take some time and work on my photography, and work slowly towards my next goal, of seeing 400 species in Utah. I only have 34 to go, but it will likely be 34 years before I see that many new species in Utah. Thanks again to everyone who helped an encouraged me this year, I appreciated every phone call, pat on the back and email I received. It has been a journey!

Me on Leidy Peak, August 2007