CBC birding

Well, I've really only done 1 CBC in my life, and that record is probably going to hold true for this year as well.  But there sure are a lot of abnormal things found once everyone gets out birding.  Case in point:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dbosler/5269911919/in/pool-437129@N20/
white-throated x white-crowned sparrow hybrid?

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so what have I been up to?! A little bit of birding, but nothing much since the previous post about Ross's Geese. My last "new" bird for the year was this Barred Owl:

Back to taking pictures with my phone!


This Barred was my 284th species this year in Ontario. Pretty interesting! Why? Well take a look at some totals from previous years:

2010 - currently 284
2009 - 285
2008 - 282
2007 - 280
2006 - 279

I don't have my pre-2006 info on me, but every single year (since I started birding) - I've seen more species than the previous year. Every time! I've never done a "big year" - this just seems to be an example of my growing knowledge about birding and birds in Ontario.

I really thought this year would be the one to break the trend. I spent the first 2 months of the year in Newfoundland. I really didn't see any birds in Ontario until late March. Then my spring migration was the worst I've had in years. I was birding every day in May, and managed to miss several Warblers like Cerulean, Chat, Prairie, Kentucky, Yellow-throated, Connecticut, Prothonotary - just to name SEVEN.

All this, combined with the fact that I had an AWESOME birding year in 2009 (Black-tailed Gull, Black Swift etc!) - gave me little hope of passing my 2009 total of 285. And yet, here I sit now at 284?!

Will I get to 286? To pass last years total? Well I know there are still some pretty easy species to get - like Snowy Owl and Long-eared Owl (yes, I'm still missing these birds). Not to mention a few long-staying rarities  in Ontario.

Keep tuned in for the next 10+ days! I'll see if I can get to 286 without needing to chase anything (im not much of a chaser). woo!