2014 Big Year

As 2014 came to a close, we went on as many birding outings as we could to try to bump up our Big Year list. Our totals, which we are proud to announce for our first Big Year, came out both to 186. How fitting that we tied on our first Big Year, with five individual species separately.

Also, how fitting that my dream on  New Year's Eve was that the Biking for Birds guy came to our neighborhood and was birding with me and Justin!

Also, we have a new tradition. Watch The Big Year on New Year's Day.

The more we bird, the more we love it. So it was only fitting that we have some birding goals for 2015. Justin's 2015 birding goal is to top out at 300 for his Big Year. I, on the other hand, have opted out on doing another Big Year this year. Although I will miss the excitement of it, I have chosen instead to focus on bulking up my Life Bird list. My 2015 birding goal is to get 100 new life birds. Both are big goals for us, but should be easily attainable. Although we do not plan on returning to Maui this year, we do plan on making a trip to Texas, where we should make up for missing Maui's birds and then some.

As of the first week of the new year, Justin is already over 50 birds for his Big Year list and I have already added 4 new life birds and have also added a new bird to my California list. We saw the Sanderling in Maui, but now we can say we have seen it in Huntington Beach, California as well as Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. And my new life birds so far have been: Winter Wren, Northern Waterthrush, Reddish Egret, and Black-bellied Plover. Huntington Beach (BCER and Huntington Central Park) proved a successful trip, complete with a dinner at Stonefire afterward.

Reddish Egret

Off to a good start! May this luck of birds continue the whole year through!

2014 Big Year List

Justin: 186
Lindsay: 186

There are many ways you can keep a "Big Year List" and we are technically not keeping it correctly, according to ABA. But we like the way we do it! Our Big Year consists of any bird we see throughout the year, which includes the birds we have seen in Hawaii.

A
Acorn Woodpecker-L+J
African Silverbill-L+J
Allen's Hummingbird-L+J
American Avocet-L+J
American Coot-L+J
American Crow-L+J
American Goldfinch-L+J
American Kestrel-L+J
American Pipit-L+J
American Robin-L+J
American White Pelican-L+J
American Wigeon-L+J
Anna's Hummingbird-L+J
'Apapane-L+J
B
Bald Eagle-L+J
Band-tailed Pigeon-L+J
Barn Swallow-L+J
Belted Kingfisher-L+J
Bewick's Wren-L+J
Black-crowned Night Heron-L+J
Black-necked Stilt-L+J
Black Noddy-L+J
Black Oyster Catcher-L+J
Black Phoebe-L+J
Black Turnstone-L+J
Blue Grosbeak-L+J
Blue-winged Teal-L+J
Brandt-L+J
Brandt's Cormorant-L+J
Brewer's Blackbird-L+J
Brown Booby-L+J
Brown-headed Cowbird-L+J
Brown Noddy-L+J
Brown Pelican-L+J
Bufflehead-L+J
Bullock's Oriole-L+J
Bushtit-L+J
C
Cackling Goose-L+J
California Thrasher-L+J
California Towhee-L+J
Canada Goose-L+J
Canvasback-L+J
Caspian Tern-L+J
Cassin's Kingbird-L+J
Cattle Egret-L+J
Cedar Waxwing-L+J
Chestnut Munia-L+J
Chinese Hwamei-L+J
Chukar-L+J
Cinnamon Teal-L+J
Clark's Grebe-L+J
Cliff Swallow-L+J
Common Moorhen-L+J
Common Myna-L+J
Common Peafowl-L+J
Common Raven-L+J
Common Yellowthroat-L+J
Cooper's Hawk-L+J
D
Dark-eyed Junco-L+J
Downy Woodpecker-L+J
Dunlin-L
E
Eared Grebe-L+J
Eastern Bluebird-J
Eastern Phoebe-J
Elegant Tern-L+J
Eurasian-collared Dove-L+J
Eurasian Wigeon-L+J
European Starling-L+J
F
Ferruginous Hawk-L+J
Field Sparrow-J
Forster's Tern-L+J
G
Gadwall-L+J
Golden Eagle-L+J
Gray Francolin-L+J
Graylag Goose-L+J
Great Blue Heron-L+J
Great Egret-L+J
Great Frigatebird-L+J
Greater Yellowlegs-L+J
Great-tailed Grackle-L+J
Green Heron-L+J
Green-winged Teal-L+J
H
Hawaiian Coot-L+J
Hawaiian Goose (Nene)-L+J
Hermit Thrush-L+J
Hooded Oriole-L+J
Horned Grebe-L+J
Horned Lark-L
House Finch-L+J
House Sparrow-L+J
House Wren-L+J
I
'I'iwi-L+J
J
Japanese White Eye-L+J
Java Sparrow-L+J
K
Killdeer-L+J
L
Lark Sparrow-L+J
Lawrence's Goldfinch-L+J
Lazuli Bunting-L+J
Least Sandpiper-L+J
Lesser Goldfinch-L+J
Lesser Scaup-L+J
Lesser Yellowlegs-L+J
Little Blue Heron-L+J
Loggerhead Shrike-L+J
Long-billed Curlew-L
Long-billed Dowitcher-L+J
M
Mallard-L+J
Marbled Godwit-L+J
Marsh Wren-L+J
Maui 'Amakihi-L+J
Merlin-L+J
Mountain Bluebird-L+J
Mountain Chickadee-L+J
Mourning Dove-L+J
Muscovy Duck-L+J
N
Northern Cardinal-L+J
Northern Flicker-L+J
Northern Harrier-L+J
Northern Mockingbird-L+J
Northern Pintail-L+J
Northern Rough-winged Swallow-L+J
Northern Shoveler-L+J
Nuttall's Woodpecker-L+J
O
Oak Titmouse-L+J
Orange-crowned Warbler-L+J
Osprey-L+J
P
Pacific Golden Plover-L+J
Phainopepla-L+J
Pied-billed Grebe-L+J
Pine Siskin-J
Prairie Falcon-L+J
Q
R
Red-bellied Woodpecker-J
Red-billed Leiothrix-L+J
Red-breasted Merganser-L+J
Red-breasted Nuthatch-L+J
Red-breasted Sapsucker-L+J
Red-crested Cardinal-L+J
Red-footed Booby-L+J
Redhead-L
Red Junglefowl-L+J
Red-shouldered Hawk-L+J
Red-tailed Hawk-L+J
Red-winged Blackbird-L+J
Ring-necked Duck-L+J
Ring-necked Pheasant-L+J
Rock Pigeon-L+J
Ruby-crowned Kinglet-L+J
Ruddy Duck-L+J
Ruddy Turnstone-L+J
S
Sanderling-L+J
Sandhill Crane-L+J
Savannah Sparrow-L+J
Say's Phoebe-L+J
Scaly-breasted Munia-L+J
Short-billed Dowitcher-L+J
Snow Goose-L+J
Snowy Egret-L+J
Song Sparrow-L+J
Sora-L+J
Spotted Dove-L+J
Spotted Sandpiper-L+J
Spotted Towhee-L+J
Stellers Jay-L+J
Surfbird-L+J
Surf Scoter-L+J
T
Townsend's Warbler-L
Tree Swallow-L+J
Turkey Vulture-L+J
U
V
Vermillion Flycatcher-L+J
Violet-green Swallow-L+J
W
Wandering Tattler-L+J
Western Bluebird-L+J
Western Grebe-L+J
Western Gull-L+J
Western Kingbird-L+J
Western Meadowlark-L+J
Western Sandpiper-L+J
Western Scrub Jay-L+J
Whimbrel-L+J
White-breasted Nuthatch-L+J
White-crowned Sparrow-L+J
White-faced Ibis-L+J
White-tailed Kite-L+J
White-tailed Tropicbird-L+J
White-throated Swift-L+J
Willet-L+J
Wilson's Warbler-L+J
Wood Duck-L+J
X
Y
Yellow-rumped Warbler-L+J
Yellow Warbler-L+J
Z
Zebra Dove-L+J