Greetings All:
This is running a bit late - had a lot of CBC- and eBird-related
duties to get out of the way but here it is, the last report from my
2018 photographic game.
Finding myself beset with the need to paint the exterior of my house
and really work the yard back into shape, I decided to see what kind
of numbers I could rack up from my central Lubbock yard lsat year and,
accordingly, made photo-documenting my yard the photography game for
the year.
Given the habitat available at the site, my goals were pretty modest.
I shot for 40 butterfly species, 0 amphibian species, 2 reptile
species, 80 birds species, and 4 mammal species -of which I hoped to
photograph over 90%. This may not be as exciting as some of my
previous photographic games but it was certainly likely to be
hard-fought.
The results from the twelfth month were about as good as could be
expected - no new butterflies, no new herps, a few new birds, and no
new mammals - given the poor water year we have had in the region and
the law of diminishing returns. The highlight of the month was a
major snowfall that brought songbirds to my backyard feeders and a lot
of flyover geese.
During December I had 0 butterfly, 0 amphibian, 0 reptile, 21 bird,
and 1 mammal species in/over/from the year which brought me up to 35
butterfly, 0 amphibian, 2 reptile, 57 bird, and 4 mammal species for
the year - 87.5%, 100%, 100%, 71.25%, and 100% of my taxonomic goals.
Of the 98 species seen in 2018, I photographed 81 species (82.6531%).
I was a bit disappointed: just barely made three of my five taxonomic
goals and missed my photographic goal by a long shot. I have been
able, though, been able to console myself with the bourbon-based
winnings from my competition with two of my best buddies:)
The list follows coded as * = new, (y) = photographed:
Snow Goose*
Ross's Goose*
Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Eurasian Collared Dove
White-winged Dove
Mourning Dove
Ring-billed Gull
Double-crested Cormorant
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Blue Jay
American Robin
Curve-billed Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Startling
House Sparrow
House Finch
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco*(y)
Red-winged Blackbird
Great-tailed Grackle
Eastern Gray Squirrel
Anthony Hewetson; Lubbock