To GPS or not to GPS....

Another decision I need to make is whether or not to purchase a navigation system for my pick-up truck. I have a good sense of direction, and have maps and atlas' coming out the wazoo.

I drove from Stratford, CT to Fairbanks, Alaska using just one Atlas... one that had roads for Mexico, the US, and Canada. That atlas and a compass. I actually prefer to do it 'old school', if you will.


But when I was doing this year's CBC, my driver (Chris Loscalzo of CT) had an awesome GPS unit in his car. I doubt I'd use the audio functions, but it is pretty cool to be able to see what is what.



So, since I just found out that one of my blog's 'gadgets' is a poll, I am going to set one up asking the single digit number of readers what they think...


-Should I do it freely and just follow my atlas and my nature-loving desires??

-Or should I get the GPS??


With the GPS I may be able to find refuges or birding locales that I may drive past, or may not be on my edition of the atlas.

Without it, it will make finding those spots that much cooler. Example: Potter Marsh in Alaska.

My 2010 January List

Many people participate in a very fun and challenging project which entails seeing as many different species of bird in the single month of January.

I didn't chase rare birds, or really leave Stratford/Milford areas this January. Below is my list of 2010. 100 species seems to be the goal, though I know some birder who hit 100 by mid-January (Tina Green must be up over 115 by now!!)


And since I don't see myself chasing a few misses in the next 2 days... especially with this hardcore cold-front that made it's way into the area this morning. My Oregon Weather Station said it was 18 when I woke up!! So unless a rare bird is in Stratford, I feel comfortable in posting my finalized list of 2010 CT State birds seen in January. The list is below... in my opinion, the highlights were Rough-legged hawk (slow this winter), Snowy Owl, juvenile Goshawk, and a rather reliable (based on the individuals ambitions to walk about a mile in windy cold shore weather to find it!) and Orange-crowned Warbler at Long Beach Stratford.



Scot Kruitbosch and I agreed that the normal surveys and random birding would pull the Big Jan 100. I only went searching for species once (OCWA/Longspur/Snowy), and I feel good to know that I could pull 100+ species while kinda, 'lackadaisically' birding this month.

1- Red-throated Loon
2- Common Loon
3- Pied-billed Grebe
4- Great Cormorant
5- Double-crested Cormorant
6- Great Blue Heron
7- Black-crowned Night-heron
8- Mute Swan
9- Canada Goose
10- Brant
11- Wood Duck
12- Mallard
13- American Black Duck
14- Gadwall
15- Northern Pintail
16- American Wigeon
17- Green-winged Teal
18- Canvasback
19- Ring-necked Duck
20- Long-tailed Duck
21- White-winged Scotor
22- Common Goldeneye
23- Bufflhead
24- Hooded Merganser
25- Common Merganser
26- Red-breasted Merganser
27- Turkey Vulture
28- Northern Harrier
29- Sharp-shinned Hawk
30- Cooper's Hawk
31- Northern Goshawk
32- Red-shouldered Hawk
33- Red-tailed Hawk
34- Rough-legged Hawk
35- Bald Eagle
36- Merlin
37- American Kestrel
38- Peregrine Falcon
39- Wild Turkey
40- American Coot
41- Killdeer
42- Willet ('Western')
43- Purple Sandpiper
44- Sanderling
45- Dunlin
46- Boneparte's Gull
47- Ring-billed Gull
48- Herring Gull
49- Iceland Gull
50-Great Black-backed Gull
51- Mourning Dove
52- Rock Dove
53- Monk Pakakeet
54- Great Horned Owl
55- Snowy Owl
56- Barred Owl
57- Belted Kingfisher
58- Red-bellied Woodpecker
59- Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
60- Downy Woodpecker
61- Hairy Woodpecker
62- Northern Flicker
63- Pileated Woodpecker
64- Blue Jay
65- Common Raven
66- American Crow
67- Fish Crow
68- Horned Lark
69- Tufted Titmouse
70-Black-capped Chickadee
71- Red-breasted Nuthatch
72- White-breasted Nuthatch
73- Brown Creeper
74- Carolina Wren
75- Winter Wren
76- Golden-crowned Kinglet
77- Eastern Bluebird
78- American Robin
79- Gray Catbird
80- Northern Mockingbird
81- European Starling
82- American Pipit
83- Cedar Waxwing
84- Orange-crowned Warbler
85- Northern Cardinal
86- Eastern Towhee
87- American Tree Sparrow
88- Field Sparrow
89- Savannah Sparrow (including 'Ipswich' ssps
90- White-throated Sparrow
91- Fox Sparrow
92- Song Sparrow
93- Dark-eyed Junco
94- Lapland Longspur
95- Snow Bunting
96- Brown-headed Cowbird
97- Red-winged Blackbird
98- Common Grackle
99- Boat-tailed Grackle
100- Purple Finch
101- House Finch
102- American Goldfinch
103- House Sparrow

Total as of 1/29/201O)

Any Ideas??

For the 1 or 2 people who may read this, I would love some great birding spots on my 'loop'. Those other than the obvious.

My route is from Stratford, CT to Rapid City, SD.... to Yellowstone NP.... to Vegas.... to SoCal... to Tuscon... to Corpus Christi... to The Keys... to Cape Hatteras... to Cape May... back to Stratford, and any and everywhere inbetween.

I love finding my own spots to explore, like when I found a Great Horned Owl at Mt. Rushmore.... or an American Bittern and Solitary Sandpiper in a man-made pond at the IL/WI border interstate welcome center (I wanna say I-90)... or the mile+ long Common Nighthawk swarm flying over a rest-stop near Indiana Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore.


I am stuck on 304 lifers, and my goal is to be at 400 by the time I complete the loop.


Good birding, all!


-Brian-

Planning is agony!!

(adult White Ibis, FL-top; Sandhill Crane, FL-bottom)














Man I wish I can just get up and go now!! My sister, who lives in central Florida (Lake Mary) has been sending me photos of birds she see from her desk outside her work window.

There are rentention ponds within 1/4m of her work, and in the last month she sent me 2 photos, asking what species. One was a Sandhill Crane, the other, a White Ibis. What is really funny to me, is that she sent me the photo of the crane MINUTES after negative reports started coming in about a Sandhill hanging out in Durham, CT. I know birds are amazing travelers, but 1000+ miles in 15 minutes!!

Both species are year-round residents in her area, so I can expect to see both when I visit on my trip (probably later-May). The Ibis will be a lifer! I didn't go see the single crane in CT, although a state list bird for me, because it would fail in comparison to the several hundred I saw in a single flock migrating overhead in Girdwood, Alaska in 09/08. (inset photo). Less than one hour after the crane flock, an even larger flock of Greater White-fronted Geese.

( Thousands of Snow Geese, ND-top; Sandhill Cranes, AK-bottom)

Is it just me, or is everything cool OUTSIDE of Connecticut?? No, that is not true at all. I've just exhausted CT. Perhaps I just keep thinking of thousand+ flocks of geese and cranes!! I uploaded the GWFG flock, SACR flock, a SNGO flock from the Crosby Wetland Management District in far NW North Dakota (actually in Crosby), and my sister's cell phone shots of her mystery birds.






(Greater White-fronted Geese, AK)

Future posts, before I leave, will cover places I plan to go to bird/camp/hike/photograph/etc..., a recap of my last road-trip from Stratford, CT to Fairbanks (and other spots, Alaska, and aspects of the planning involved for such a trip.


-Brian-

Getting ready....

This will be first post on my recently changed blog, geared towards documenting my time wandering and exploring our wonderful country. I plan to do some hardcore birding/nature viewing/camping/hiking/backpacking/loving the life you live and living the life you love (Hooked Productions Clothing slogan).


I figured the best thing to do first would be a quick overhaul of my plans and ideals for this trip...

Back in September of '08, I drove from Connecticut to Alaska... and I still can not stop thinking about it. Though a decent amount of my driving was in Canada, my time driving under the Great Lakes and jumping up into North dakota, then over the border, was breath taking. Tens of thousands of Snow geese in the Prairie potholes. Swainson's hawks on every other hay barrel (and there are A LOT of hay barrels!!). Migrating Whooping Cranes in North Dakota!! American Bittern and Solitary SPs in a pond at the Wisconsin welcome center!!


The feeling of freedom that comes with a 'by myself' cross-country drive can not be doubled. If you see an interesting place on your way... why not stop??? I found several amazing birding/nature locales that way... Des Lac NWR/Crosby WMD/Lostwood NWR/Audubon Lake in North Dakota, Indiana Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore, Bald Eagle SP in PA, Buffalo Gap Nat'l Grassland (oh the pronghorns!!).



My trip consists of main location points that will serve as a multi day base of operation... Indiana Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore... Rapid City, SD... Yellowstone NP... Las Vegas... SoCal... Tuscon, AZ... Corpus Christi... Lake Mary, FL (my sister lives there)... Cape Hatteras... Cape May/Jones Beach/Jamaica Bay/Central park.



I am a huge camping fanatic, and will be doing muuuuuch more camping that motel/hotel staying. First, it saves a ridiculous amount of money, and second... who in the world doesn't want to camp in some of the most amazing places in the US??


A few main materials/assests for my trip are my 2005 Chevy Colorado 4x4 pick-up, brand new Black Diamond 4-season tent, Canon Digi Rebel xS w/55mm and 300mm lenses, my new Dell Inspirion laptop, the good old Bushnells, and of course... my bookcase filled with field guides.



Before I end the first of what I hope to be worthwhile and entertaining/interesing posts, I would like to rattle off a few places/towns/parks/etc that I will be visiting on this trip... (not in order)

Deadwood, SD, Mt. Rushmore, Prarie Potholes of ND, Indiana Dunes Nat'l Lakeshore, Hawk Mountain and Bald Eagle SP in PA, Yellowstone NP, Salt Lake City and the badlans of Utah, Badlands NP and The Black Hills NF in South Dakota, Las Vegas and surrounding desert habitat, anywhere in SoCal, anywhere and everywhere in SE AZ from the MX border up, Flagstaff, Pheonix, San Antonio, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Galveston, Santa Ana/Mustang Isle/Laguna Atascosa (spelling??) refuges, New Orleans, Orlando/Lake Mary, Miami, FL Keys, Savannah Georgia, Charleston and Hilton Head, SC, Durham, NC, Washington DC, etc...etc...etc... and absolutely anywhere in between that tickles me fancy.


I am torn on one aspect... to go to CO and CA, or to not. This trip encompasses a TON of amazing locales... as do both states. My thinking is that I'd like to make a trip in the future to JUST do Coloardo, or JUST to CA or the Pac Coast.



I will leave somewhere between April 21st and May 1st. Another big decision is which way to start the loop... should I go south to catch migrants on their way up, then loop back to the NW/Mid-west and catch more migrants. I feel like if I go west right away that I may miss several migrants (I am a raptor and passerine freak) not yet arrived... and when I reach the southern border of the country, the birds have left to go to where I missed them up north.



Stay tuned for more developments and more fun and interesting places to add to the itinerary as my plan starts evolving into reality.



See you guys soon!!


-B-