Global Big Day - May 9, 2020

I'm reviving my blog because I want to document my first ever "big day," as serious birders call it. Since we've been quarantined because of Covid-19, I've re-kindled my love for birding. I've been out a lot on my own and a bit with Josh Day (my co-worker). We've been careful to follow physical distancing guidelines while we've searched for and observed many birds. When I saw that Cornell was sponsoring a Global Big Day on May 9th, I asked Josh if he wanted to do it with me. He was game and then we thought we'd reach out to birding expert, Merrill Webb (or Mr. Webb and I call him), and see if by chance he was up for the adventure and if he felt comfortable and safe doing so if we wore masks the whole time. Fortunately for us, he wanted to come. He said in his response, "you know you have to go from 5:30 AM until after dark, right?" and I replied, "well I'm up for it." Josh and I both were although I'm sure we both had a much less intense idea in our heads. But we both knew what a special opportunity we had to spend so many hours with Mr. Webb (my former high school teacher at Provo High), learning from the best.

Yesterday we set off for our "big day" and what an experience! It was a blast. It was a beautiful day and the weather was perfect. We saw a total of 105 species in about 14 different areas in Utah, Wasatch, and Davis counties. I saw 10 "lifers," which are new species that I've never seen in my life.

Mr. Webb plans out these days in detail. We sent him the route that Josh had planned out with a string of "hot spots" for birding. Mr. Webb went through and predicted which birds we could see in those areas. If we had seen all of the birds he predicted, we would have seen about 150 species! I blame some of it to the fact that some of the habitats we planned were popular recreation spots, such as Aspen Grove and Vivian Park/South Fork Park. We didn't see an American Dipper (one of my favorite birds, most often found in rivers), or any woodpeckers - zero, not even a Flicker! We also didn't see any Jays and we could have seen Steller's, Scrub, and Pinyon. It was a great day with about 14 hours of birding and I'm exhausted!

Here are the 105 species of birds we did see (organized taxonomically, not alphabetically):
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Pied-billed Grebe
Eared Grebe
Western Grebe
Clark's Grebe
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Black-bellied Plover
Snowy Plover
Killdeer
Whimbrel
Long-billed Curlew
Red Knot
Least Sandpiper

Long-billed Dowitcher

Wilson's Phalarope

Red-necked Phalarope

Solitary Sandpiper

Willet

Franklin's Gull

Ring-billed Gull

California Gull

Caspian Tern

Forster's Tern

Common Loon

American White Pelican

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

White-faced Ibis

Turkey Vulture

Osprey

Golden Eagle

Northern Harrier

Sharp-shinned Hawk

Swainson's Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk

Great Horned Owl

Burrowing Owl

Belted Kingfisher

American Kestrel

Western Kingbird

Eastern Kingbird

Gray Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Loggerhead Shrike

Black-billed Magpie

American Crow

Common Raven

Black-capped Chickadee

Mountain Chickadee

Horned Lark

Tree Swallow

Violet-green Swallow

Barn Swallow

Cliff Swallow

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Marsh Wren

European Starling

Sage Thrasher

Northern Mockingbird

Mountain Bluebird

American Robin

House Sparrow

House Finch

American Goldfinch

Chipping Sparrow

Brewer's Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Fox Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Green-tailed Towhee

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Western Meadowlark

Bullock's Oriole

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Brewer's Blackbird

Great-tailed Grackle

Orange-crowned Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

Yellow Warbler

Yellow-rumped Warbler

Black-headed Grosbeak

We did our part to be responsible "citizen scientists" by recording what and when and where we saw everything and submitting our lists to eBird (a global database of bird lists submitted by citizen scientists all over the world). eBird is an amazing resource if you want to get into birding because you can see what has been seen and when and you can plan your excursions accordingly.