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 :)

On the Road: 2014 Year in Review

I don't think the blog did a great job of representing this part of my life.  You didn't really get anything after mid-September.  Of course, I entered hard-core study mode right about that time, so that's probably why.

But this has been a banner year for being on the road, nonetheless.  A wonderful trip through coastal Texas and Louisiana, TWO trips to Las Vegas, and journeys to old haunts on the New Jersey coast.  And an extra-long weekend exploring a new-to-us area of my home state, Pennsylvania's Northern Tier.

And multiple trips to visit family in Dayton, Ohio, and Fulton County, Pennsylvania.

Some favorite memories?  Of course.  The best part of traveling is ending up in situations you just have to laugh at, lucking into neat activities and restaurants and moments in time, and being outside of your normal routines and worries.  Here's some that made the list for 2014.

• Beach camping in Texas, particularly unknowingly picking an area where clothing was optional.  When the lady at the bird refuge told us that the next day, all I could say was, "Well, that certainly explains a few things."  Also the old, possibly crazy, guy on the beach asking us if we were there 1) with Audubon, or 2) to shoot porn.  lol.
• Two "work days" at the Farm.  Having family and the communion of work was wonderful.  My Uncle did a much better job documenting these than I did.
• Austin Dam in northern PA.  Just such a funky little place and it suited us perfectly.
• A day in Dayton where we unexpectedly had to entertain ourselves, and came up with a mini microbrewery tour on the fly.
• Being in Vegas for the 4th of July and Halloween, and the fireworks in particular.
• Eating a super-fantastic muffaletta sandwich on the banks of the Mississippi in New Orleans.
• The Ohio "perfect day" of going to Jungle Jim's International Market, Skyline Chili, and the Ohio Valley Antique Mall.  Which includes being stiff-armed by my mother-in-law into buying ALL the antiques :)
• And while we weren't the ones 'on the road' it was a lot of fun to get to hang out with my cousin Chad and his wife Sandy in September!

There are other ones, too, but since they involve birds I'll hold them for that wrap-up post.

On the Mind: 2014 Year in Review

Seventy-seven posts in 2014, and probably half of those about books.  I read 34 altogether, which is actually a little over half the number I had last year.  Which is fine, I took about three months off and also read a lot less fluff than I normally do.

Here's goodreads.com's take on my year:

No surprise, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell was the longest book.  The least favorite book is also a no brainer.  Sorry, A Discovery of Witches, but you sucked.

My favorite book?  That's tougher.  Seven books earned five stars.  It might be a three-way tie between The God of Small Things, The English Patient, and The Shipping News.

My specific challenge for 2014 was to read 20 books that were short- or long-listed for the Man Booker Prize.  I came close, only missing out on two, and each from an author that I read another book from this year.  And I did manage to get in The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton, which won the 2013 prize.

A recap:

2014 Man Booker Reading Challenge
19 books (20 if I can ever find my copy of The God of Small Things!)

Shortlist:

• Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
• Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
• number9dream by David Mitchell
• On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
• Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
• The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters
• The Night's Watch by Sarah Waters
• Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
• The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
• A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
• Fire from Heaven by Mary Renault
• The Book of Evidence by John Banville
• We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo (ebook)

Longlist:

• Get a Life by Nadine Gordimer
• Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susannah Clarke
• Elizabeth Costello by J.M. Coetzee
• Saturday by Ian McEwan
• Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
• The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

Books took me across the world this year: India, Ireland, Zimbabwe, South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, Canada, England, Italy, and the ancient world.  Forward and backward through time, and through eyes I'd otherwise never get to see through.  This is why I read.

All that being said, I have something a little less specific in mind for my 2015 Challenge!