Hello All!
*I meant to write and send this out a while back.*
By now a lot of you know or have figured out (if you have been checking
the 2019 Lubbock county top 100 chart on eBird) that I’m doing a Lubbock
county “competitive” big year. Given this will probably be my last full
year here and no one will ever surpass Anthony’s Lubbock county life total
of over 370/380 species. (*Not all his data is entered into ebird, he’s
working on it!*). I figured I could challenge his Lubbock County big year
record of *285*. (*He is claiming 285 since he is still working on getting
over a decade of data entered into ebird. Anthony’s eBird big year record
in Lubbock is 278 in 2000.*) If I break or even tie the record Anthony will
have something to remember me by every day he is birding Lubbock county to
reclaim the record. It would be a good motivator to get him out of the
house more by breaking the record. Ultimately, I would like to get to 300
species for the year in Lubbock county.
So I set a few goals and benchmarks during the year to keep me motivated as
this year drags on:
1. Get to 285 species.
1.1. Get to 300 species.
2. *Location, Location, Location:* Give more accurate location discriptions
for flagged species on ebird or any species if someone asks. A lot of our
hotspots are rather large and can be difficult to track down good birds.
3. *Bird together*. Anyone who wants to go out birding with me is more than
welcome! Just be prepared for intense birding. I’ve already had the
pleasure of birding with Jim Crites, Liam McGuire, Brad Shine and Jennifer
Miller in Lubbock county this year.
*Benchmarks:*
- End of *March* I should be at *175* species.
*(Did NOT meet this benchmark)*
- End of *May* - *235* species.
- End of *August* - *260* species.
- End of *October* - *285* species
- End of *November* - *295 *species
- *December* 31st - *300 *species
I was a little behind the pace as March came to an end with 171 species.
Missing my March benchmark of 175. A little over halfway through April I’ve
made up some ground with two pretty good days at Yellow House Draw down
stream in early April and Buffalo Springs Lake on April 16th. As of this
morning, April 19th (my name day), I’m at 197 species on the year for
Lubbock county. I am going to try and end today at or above 200 species.
It has been a rather slow start to the year in Lubbock county in terms of
rarities showing up compared to last year. By the end of March last year
Red Crossbill, Phainopela, and Vermillion Flycatcher had been seen just at
the Lubbock Cemetery. Early in the year for the most part it has been a
grind. the lack of winter rains has contributed in the low number across
the region. With some usual wintering species pulling completely out of our
region during winter. There has been a few great highlight species
(Sprague’s Pipit and American Golden-Plover) as I criss-crossed the county.
The biggest miss so far has to be Bald Eagle. One was seen during the
Lubbock CBC in December and was hoping it stuck around. I usually see a few
in the region in the winter and with the increased birding effort this year
I though I would have seen one during the winter. That’s the way it goes
sometime.
As winter slowly departs and we transition into spring we have had some
much needed rain. With the recent rain, it seems things might be heating up
a bit in the rare bird department for this region:
- 3 recent sitings of Vermillion Flycatcher (Lamesa, Tahoka, Hale Center)
- 3 sitings of American Golden-plover (O’donnell, Skeen playa, Wolfforth)
- 1 siting of Dunlin (skeen playa)
- 1 siting of Sedge Wren (Hale county)
- Painted Redstart (Plainview)
- Yellow-throated Vireo (Buffalo Springs Lake)
- Black-bellied Whistling Duck
- Whimbrel (Wolfforth)
I look forward to getting the hourly alerts of rare birds y’all find over
the next month as migration trickles into our region!
Cheers,
Drew Harvey
--
Drew T. Harvey
President - Llano Estacado Audubon Society
Outreach/Media Coordinator - South Plains Texas Master Naturalist
drwharvey419@xxxxxxxxx
281-684-8230