On the Wind: 2014 Year in Review

Thirty-two new birds this year!  Most of those get blamed on Texas, but there were a few pick ups very close to home, too.  Here's the list from eBird.  This one gives me 34, but.  I have seen Red-Headed Woodpeckers and Gambel's Quail before, they were just somehow not entered into eBird yet.

Alphabetic Taxonomic		Location	S/P	Date
1	White-throated Swift	Red Rock Canyon	US-NV	05 Jul 2014
2	Juniper Titmouse	Red Rock Canyon	US-NV	05 Jul 2014
3	Gambel's Quail	Desert NWR--Corn Creek (Field Station)	US-NV	05 Jul 2014
4	Black-chinned Hummingbird	Desert NWR--Corn Creek (Field Station)	US-NV	05 Jul 2014
5	Verdin	Desert NWR--Corn Creek (Field Station)	US-NV	05 Jul 2014
6	Bullock's Oriole	Desert NWR--Corn Creek (Field Station)	US-NV	05 Jul 2014
7	Red-headed Woodpecker	Hill Farm	US-PA	29 Jun 2014
8	Black-billed Cuckoo	Gem Road	US-PA	10 May 2014
9	Bay-breasted Warbler	High Island--S.E. Gast Red Bay (UTC 054)	US-TX	25 Apr 2014
10	American Golden-Plover	Bolivar- Crystal Beach	US-TX	25 Apr 2014
11	Mississippi Kite	Rollover Pass (UTC 056)	US-TX	25 Apr 2014
12	Franklin's Gull	Rollover Pass (UTC 056)	US-TX	25 Apr 2014
13	Black Tern	Rollover Pass (UTC 056)	US-TX	25 Apr 2014
14	Blackburnian Warbler	High Island--Boy Scout Woods (UTC 055)	US-TX	25 Apr 2014
15	Fulvous Whistling-Duck	Anahuac NWR (UTC 049)	US-TX	24 Apr 2014
16	Mottled Duck	Anahuac NWR (UTC 049)	US-TX	24 Apr 2014
17	Least Bittern	Anahuac NWR (UTC 049)	US-TX	24 Apr 2014
18	Sora	Anahuac NWR (UTC 049)	US-TX	24 Apr 2014
19	Cliff Swallow	Anahuac NWR (UTC 049)	US-TX	24 Apr 2014
20	Tennessee Warbler	Aransas NWR (CTC 037) (Aransas Co.)	US-TX	20 Apr 2014
21	Cerulean Warbler	Goose Island SP--Campground area	US-TX	20 Apr 2014
22	Long-billed Dowitcher	Port Aransas- Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Ctr. (CTC 057)	US-TX	20 Apr 2014
23	Wilson's Plover	Padre Isl. NS (Kleberg Co.) (CTC 063)	US-TX	19 Apr 2014
24	Aplomado Falcon	Padre Isl. NS (Kleberg Co.) (CTC 063)	US-TX	19 Apr 2014
25	Reddish Egret	Padre Isl. NS (Kleberg Co.) (CTC 063)	US-TX	19 Apr 2014
26	White-tailed Hawk	Padre Isl. NS (Kleberg Co.) (CTC 063)	US-TX	19 Apr 2014
27	Snowy Plover	Padre Isl. NS (Kleberg Co.) (CTC 063)	US-TX	19 Apr 2014
28	Sandwich Tern	Padre Isl. NS- Malaquite Beach/Visitor Ctr. area	US-TX	18 Apr 2014
29	Glaucous Gull	Susquehanna River--Wrightsville	US-PA	08 Feb 2014
30	Red-necked Grebe	Susquehanna River--Wrightsville	US-PA	04 Feb 2014
31	King Eider	Nummy Island--Toll Bridge	US-NJ	02 Feb 2014
32	Snow Bunting	Stone Harbor Point	US-NJ	02 Feb 2014
33	Ross's Goose	Masonic Village--Serpentine Ponds	US-PA	20 Jan 2014
34	Common Goldeneye	Susquehanna River--Wrightsville	US-PA	09 Jan 2014

Some favorite bird memories from 2014 are:

• Goose Island State Park in Texas.  Just sitting at the site's picnic table and watching a Cerulean Warbler and a Golden-Winged Warbler hopping around in the same tree, like it's no big deal.
• An incredible evening in the Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge in Texas.  Golden light, very quiet, and the sky and marshes crawling with crazy birds.
• A snowy owl on an very cold, very quiet day at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.  We had to walk into the refuge, and it showed us a brand new side to the place.
• Several tremendously cold sunrises over the Susquehanna, watching winter ducks before heading into work.  A very zen way to start the day.
• A morning walk in Corn Creek Station, north of Las Vegas.  Trying to catch all the birds before the mercury hit 100 degrees.  And the piece de resistance, the Greater Roadrunner we caught hanging out in the top of a tree!  Here's the pic again, because I like it so much.
• And OMG, I can't believe I forgot - my scope!  This summer, I finally got a nice scope, after a few years of scheming and saving.  This has been a real game changer in my bird watching abilities!

I have 435 birds on my life list now. It's getting a little harder to pick up new species, but I still like getting out there and seeing who's hanging around :)