My Big Green Big Year, part 3

After having done Big Green Big Years (BIGBYs) in 2008 and 2009, I don't think I'm going to focus on a Big Green Big YEAR in 2010.

Why?

1. I think I've pretty much tapped out my walking BIGBY area. I don't think there's a chance I can beat my walking BIGBY record in 2010 (I recorded 184 species in 2009). Quite a few of my 2009 species were seen maybe only once or twice during migration. I may not see them again in 2010.

2. I'll probably be moving out of state in mid-year.

So I've decided to focus on several shorter term BIGBY-like green birding exercises. Since all my BIGBYing is done on foot, I'll refer to them as "Big Foot" activities:

1. Early Big Foot 100 - break my personal record earliest date for reaching 100 walking BIGBY species. I found my 100th species on 4/26/09, so I'm aiming to hit 100 walking BIGBY species before that date in 2010. I'm at 60 species right now, twelve days into the year. After such a quick start, past experience dictates that the going will now be tough until the early spring migrants start to show up.

2. Big Foot Day - how many species can I see in a single day while walking from home? My personal walking BIGBY high count for one day is 74 species on 5/7/09. I didn't intentionally start that day out as a Big Day...it just sort of happened. Actually, I tallied those 74 species in just three hours of birding. I wished later that I'd stayed out longer on that day. I have a goal of 100 species in this category.

3. Modified Big Foot Day - I can drive to a location for birding, but I can't use a car for ANY purposes (not even to go to the store) between midnight and midnight on my Big Day.

4. Big Foot Hour - pretty self-explanatory.

5. Big Foot Week - ditto.

6. Big Foot Month - yes, that's right, the number of walking BIGBY species recorded in a given month.

7. Photographic Big Foot - combine with any of the above categories, except I can only count species I've photographed or videotaped.