Out With The Old, In With The New
As we close off the end to 2022, birders reflect on their accomplishments. Humanity delves into the past. And the whole world takes a moment to think about the days ahead. These are tough times for so many people, especially those in war. Everything seems to have gotten more and more complicated, even flying! It's so easy to get distracted by the outside noise when my own space is just fine.
Williamson's Sapsucker, Madera Canyon
I sometimes walk the forests alone with the birds and mammals. These are cooler days now in the desert southwest and I am so happy to be outside commuting with nature.
In December, I generally begin kicking around ideas for the 2023 year. This year, I have also started planning for 2024 as well which is a bit unusual. Usually I do a special trip for grouse once a year. While it's only one bird, it's a fun one. Any US/Canada grouse is always a treat to witness on lek grounds. This also frees us up to just enjoy the birding at a relaxing pace. It was that way for the Thick-billed Parrot this year. Specialty birds require a special visit so I always invest in one of those visits a year.
Great Blue Heron, Canoa Ranch
It's always a treat observing our local birds while trying to find some rare ones. This winter, I have found my own Townsend's Solitaires, Yellow-shafted Northern Flicker, Short-eared Owl, Williamson's Sapsuckers and others. It's a really good feeling to find your own birds rather than chase others' birds. And sometimes I do chase a few just to keep up with my birding abilities so that I stay in practice for when I look for my lifers elsewhere. It's like Spanish or riding a bike. If you forget to practice, you can get rusty and lose your edge.
Agua Caliente Park
I am a bit burned out by CBC's(Christmas Bird Count) this year due to a stressful work schedule, but I did help out with one which was close to home. I helped my friend and neighbor Jake out at Reid Park after I got done with work. I was able to add new species to his count but my personal goal was to find the Song Sparrows in Reid Park Zoo. They are renovating the area where they usually breed. Thankfully they are still there foraging around the zoo grounds. Song Sparrows are not rare here in Tucson, but they are unusual to have in Midtown. My friend Scott monitors our Great Horned Owls and I monitor our Song Sparrows and Cactus Wrens. I am also keeping an eye on Curve-billed Thrashers since their habitat is disappearing.
Sparrows overall this winter have been tricky to find. I bird the grasslands because my favorite birds are sparrows and longspurs this time of year. It has been hard to pull them up in certain areas, but recently we discovered a new hotspot where there were tons of sparrows. So we're heading back there again to give it our all.
White-crowned Sparrow
And while digging around for sparrows, I had a Short-eared Owl flush from the grasses.
Mom carries Cheroot through the sticky grasses
We've also been finding Harris's Hawks in weird places around the grasslands. It's always one and they always make me do a double take. They normally like urban woody areas. 
Harris's Hawk
So while I do my walks and count my birds, which is always productive, I think about the treks for the following year. For my big summer trip, I have been tossing around Australia/New Zealand, Ecuador and Colombia. My goal is to add 200 new birds to my life list (and any of those areas would be good).
American Pipit near Rio Rico, AZ
I think there will be trips back to Wisconsin and Maine as well next year. One to visit family and the other to visit my friend Kathie. And in between the visits, I'll do some birding and catch up with friends.
Osprey at Lakeside Park, Tucson
The variety of habitat we have around Tucson is pretty epic. It's great living close to all kinds of different birds and animals. You can wake up and ask yourself....riparian area? grassland? mountain/canyons? ag lands? or desert? I tend to choose grasslands over everything else. But I love them all.
Mom carries Cheroot so he doesn't freeze his paws on Mt. Lemmon
We wanted snow one day and so we went up to the snow where we saw some great birds. Some of my favorite things to do in the beginning of the year are surveys for Tucson Audubon. In February, we'll be back in the grasslands again with a nice hot cup of coffee from Gathering Grounds in Patagonia studying longspurs. We'll probably go and visit the cranes in Willcox. 
Red-naped Sapsucker, Mt. Lemmon
And then there's a water survey up in Phoenix with my friend Gordon. It can be fun counting American Wigeons in golf ponds....kinda. BUT it's more about working with my partner in crime and fine tuning our birding abilities together as a team so that when we travel together, we know how to read each other's expressions when we see a bird, etc. Again, it's like football or baseball training.....except it's birding. You gotta keep practicing to get better.
These are the easiest Rusty Blackbirds I've ever observed. I grabbed my chair and watched them ice skate all over the cattle pond searching for food. It was so cool.
To all my birder and nature loving friends out there, I hope you had a meaningful 2022 with lots of fantastic discoveries. May your 2023 bring you more of the same. We weave our goals in with family, friends and health and yet somehow we do it. That constant joy of discovery is the greatest feeling. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! Until next time....
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