Hello!
Welcome to the blog, and I hope in the end that it's both helpful and entertaining. I blogged in 2011 at www.39counties.blogspot.com about my travels around the state of Washington in an attempt to see 39 species of birds in each of the 39 counties in the state over the course of the year. It was a lot of time, a lot of driving, and a lot of fun; In the end it was also successful!
In the years since, I stopped the blogging and made efforts to revisit counties. Every one of them (even King County where I live!) had corners that had been left unexplored, and of course there were more birds to see. During this recent summer, I was able to move my life list in Benton County to 100, making it the 39th county over the century mark.
I really enjoyed the big year around the state, and have enjoyed the last few years, trying to move every county up, but it's been interesting trying to figure out how to approach the years to come. Moving all of the county lists up to 150 is ultimately a goal, but I wanted to go at it differently. I think that's what made the 39counties year so fun - it was a slightly odd goal that would move me towards a bigger goal, and would move me towards it in a way that would be manageable, and enjoyable.
Leaving a county with places and birds left to visit is always hard in a way. By trying to get to all of the counties in the state, there wasn't a lot of depth in any particular county; Pend Oreille County, for example, is one that I put over 100 with a simple day and a half trip! For the years that followed, I added a smaller goal, just to play around with it: I chose one county each year and tried to see 150 species for the year.
150 species has been a routine number for me in King County each year. I get out enough to hit different habitat, and the seasons bring enough interesting birds through. The counties I hit during those years (Thurston in 2012, Island in 2013, Kittitas in 2014), provided some nice challenges, and I had a chance to learn a little more about the distribution and seasonality of different birds in each of those counties. This goal definitely counted as manageable and enjoyable!
I was told that the amount of time it would take me to get all of the counties to 150 would be about as long as it took me to get them all to 100. If I went at this the same way, I'm sure that would be the case, but I'm going to change gears a little bit. At least for this year, I plan to focus my birding on Mason County, visiting approximately monthly, and scouring the county for as many birds I can find each time. 150 is the goal, and I may just continue doing that each year with a different county (until I'm..80 or so?? That's where the plan gets fuzzy.).
I don't think this will be a Big Year in the traditional sense. The record for species seen in the county for a year is 179, and that would be an interesting goal, but... goals like that start to involve chasing rather than planning. My favorite part of these trips is planning them out and thinking about where species can be found, or at least where I'd have a chance of finding them. Some people find the thrill of hopping into a car at the spur of the moment invigorating, and will do it quite regularly, but with a family at home, I just can't do it. Not interested.
Okay, some of you won't keep reading if I never chase, so I'll try to do it at least once this year, but I swear... That's it!
I also want to get to know the county better, beyond just the birds. There are a couple of themes that will run through the year - food, people, maps, other wildlife - As a high school science teacher, I'd also like to do some things that I will be able to bring back to the class. The state of Washington asks students to know how to design a field study as part of the end-of-course exam in biology. Why not design one and carry it out?
I enjoyed the writing, and the photography last time around. I'll try to keep it interesting again this time, and if it isn't funny at some point, I'll be sure I'm not approaching it all the right way. I hope you enjoy it and come back, and that it gives you some piece of the longing I feel for getting in the car and visiting the little corners of the state.
I may have a few posts before the year starts, but it just might wait until January. We shall see!
-Tim Brennan
12/5/2014
