Greetings All:
In hopes that we couldn't possibly have two miserably dry, birdless,
and butterflyless years in a row and in hopes of a) getting that
danged painting done and b) getting more of my historical data entered
into eBird I decided to repeat my attempt to document 40 butterfly, 0
amphibian, 2 reptile, 80 bird, and 4 mammal species - with 90% of the
species seen/heard photographed as well.
I really think I might have been wrong about this year not being
miserably dry - with all of 0.04 inches of rain during February (and
for the year so far) - but I am nothing if not stubborn so here is the
sad report from the very sad second month.
Though I missed two weekends (one chasing a rarity near Uvalde and one
to volunteer work) I did manage to locate 0 species of butterfly, 0
species of amphibian, 0 species of reptile, 15 species of bird, and 1
species of mammal during January, getting up to 0 species of
butterfly, 0 species of amphibian, 0 species of reptile, 17 species
of bird, and 1 species of mammal for the year, hitting 0%, 0%, 0%,
21.25%, and 25% of my annual goals in a positively stunning second
month - seriously, I am stunned! Of these eighteen species, I
managed to photograph twelve, putting me at 67% of my photographic
goal.
What is truly amazing is that, though I have six species of flower
blooming in my yard and we have had numerous unseasonably warm day, I
have had none of our regularly wintering butterflies. Oh well - March
has got to be better:)
The list follows coded as *=new, (y) = photographed
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Eurasian Collared Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove (y)
Double-crested Cormorant
Sharp-shinned Hawk*
Red-tailed Hawk
Blue Jay (y)
American Robin
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
House Sparrow
House Finch
Great-tailed Grackle
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Anthony Hewetson; Lubbock