It's official: I'm doing a 2014 Santa Clara County Junior Big Year.
The definition of a Big Year, according to Wikipedia, is: an informal competition among birders to see who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year and within a specific geographical area.
I'm definitely doing this, but to win a Big Year, you must never give up, have lots of time (and preferably money for a large-scale one), and be very skilled at identifying birds. Most Big Year birders do a Big Year to set a record for some place, whether it be a county, the ABA area, or the entire world. The record for Santa Clara County is an amazing 291 species, set in 1994 by Steve Rottenborn, and I know I will not come anywhere close to this number. I have set my first goal for the year as 200 species, but am not sure whether I will even achieve this. I don't think I am very determined or persistent, don't have the best identification skills because I am still young, and definitely do not have lots of time, which will probably be the decisive factor in me reaching (or not reaching) my goal. In 8th Grade, I will have lots of schoolwork, a science fair, and getting into high schools, but I'll try to squeeze in birding trips to hotspots around the county to see new birds, or for rarities.
On a side note, I just wanted to note that today, December 31st, Neil Hayward broke the ABA Area Big Year record. He saw just one more bird (746 + 3 provisionals) than Sandy Komito in 1998 (745 + 3 provisionals), whose record was thought to be unbeatable. A very big congratulations to him!
Another note: I will not be counting heard only birds (birds that are heard but not seen) during my Big Year. I will not be birding to break the record, but to become a better birder, and most importantly, have fun. You can follow my 2014 Junior Santa Clara County Big Year on this blog.
Good birding,
Sergey
The definition of a Big Year, according to Wikipedia, is: an informal competition among birders to see who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year and within a specific geographical area.
I'm definitely doing this, but to win a Big Year, you must never give up, have lots of time (and preferably money for a large-scale one), and be very skilled at identifying birds. Most Big Year birders do a Big Year to set a record for some place, whether it be a county, the ABA area, or the entire world. The record for Santa Clara County is an amazing 291 species, set in 1994 by Steve Rottenborn, and I know I will not come anywhere close to this number. I have set my first goal for the year as 200 species, but am not sure whether I will even achieve this. I don't think I am very determined or persistent, don't have the best identification skills because I am still young, and definitely do not have lots of time, which will probably be the decisive factor in me reaching (or not reaching) my goal. In 8th Grade, I will have lots of schoolwork, a science fair, and getting into high schools, but I'll try to squeeze in birding trips to hotspots around the county to see new birds, or for rarities.
On a side note, I just wanted to note that today, December 31st, Neil Hayward broke the ABA Area Big Year record. He saw just one more bird (746 + 3 provisionals) than Sandy Komito in 1998 (745 + 3 provisionals), whose record was thought to be unbeatable. A very big congratulations to him!
Another note: I will not be counting heard only birds (birds that are heard but not seen) during my Big Year. I will not be birding to break the record, but to become a better birder, and most importantly, have fun. You can follow my 2014 Junior Santa Clara County Big Year on this blog.
Good birding,
Sergey
Nice blog. I started one for my own big year attempt. How'd you get that bird list on the right?
ReplyDeleteJDeitsch,
DeleteThanks. To get the bird list on the right, you go to the overview of the blog, click on "layout", and add a gadget in the place you want your list to be. You can choose "list" when you click on "add a gadget."
Good luck on your Big Year!
Serpavlov