Birding in the New Year

I love the beginning of a new year...the odometer resets to zero, and everything old is new again. Every time you turn around you see a first-of-year (FOY) bird. And new annual BIGBY birds pop up left and right. Too bad the rest of the year can't continue at this pace. :-) Despite the cold weather, I was determined to come up with 50 FOY/BIGBY species on the first day of the new year. I fell four species short of my goal on New Year's Day, recording 46 species.

The second day of the year was even colder. I went out for several hours late in the day as the shadows grew long and picked up five more species, bringing my two-day total to 51 species. I was chilled to the bone by the time I got home, with the sun nearing the horizon, but I felt warmed at having surpassed the 50-species mark.

I also had one mammal highlight. I was in the woods to the north of the Indiana University cross country course late this afternoon, trying to focus my binoculars on what I thought might be my 52nd bird species for the new year. I was distracted by some motion in the long shadows of late afternoon. I surveyed the ridge on the other side of a steep ravine and spied a bobcat leisurely walking down a game trail. It was illuminated by the golden light of the late afternoon sun, affording me the best view of a bobcat I've ever had. It was a very cool experience.