The First Day Is The Easiest
Most activities are hard when you start and then tend to get easier as you progress… unless you’re doing a Big Year. These past two days I’ve seen 58 species to add to my list which may seem incredible until you realize I’m counting birds like grackle, great blue heron, and anhinga. These bird still need to be seen this year to be counted, but this was definitely more like a game of Pokémon Snap running through the boardwalk and pointing out every bird.
We woke up January 1 around sunrise and went out to my top two local birding spots where we spotted every species of egretta except for one, the reddish egret (that bugger will soon be crossed off). It’s like the birds knew why the boardwalks were particularly busy that morning and they were ready to show off their best angles and start the New Year off right. This great blue heron is ready for cuffing season, and incase you didn’t know, he’ll tell you with his loud calls and plumage display.
