Vancouver Big Year

Well, 2018 is here and I finished 2017 with seeing 264 birds in the Metro Vancouver Checklist. I saw one bird in Point Roberts WA which was a Heermann's Gull. Nature Vancouver counts Point Roberts, WA in the Metro Vancouver Checklist; eBird does not. Therefore, according to eBird I ended the year with 263. I don't use eBird so I go by Nature Vancouver. Regardless what checklist you use I have officially beaten the previously held record of 258 (according to eBird, 260 according to Nature Vancouver) by Ilya Povalyaev in 2015. I am the first woman to do so too, which is kinda cool.

I never set out to do a big year it just happened as I like to see as many birds and I chase everything that shows up in the Metro Vancouver Area. This isn't for listing purposes I just find it fun and I truly enjoy seeing these birds over and over again I don't tire of them.

Anyways some big misses for me were mostly due to laziness as I didn't chase them right away. If you don't go right away my motto is you can't complain when it's not there.

There were several Clay-coloured Sparrows and a few Franklin's Gulls around in 2017 that I missed. I was out of town for a Burrowing Owl that showed up as well. That was probably a good thing as I heard the police were called and it suffered harassment.

Anyways so I could have for sure have finished the year with at least 265 and probably 266 but I'm very happy to have ended up with 264.

A few others ended up getting over 250 in Vancouver, which is no easy task. It shows they are almost as crazy as me :).

They were:

Roger Foxall who got 260
Quentin Brown (who declared a Big Year right away) who got 259
Carlo Giovanella who got 255
Keith Riding who got 253

Congrats to them all!

Let's see who who cracks 250 in 2018!! It's already begun as I noticed Jan 1st everyone who lists went out and started collecting the rarities that were still present in 2017. You know what I did? I slept in and then went and laid on a dock and shot some Wood Ducks.

I wouldn't of had it any other way.

Comments

  1. sandy paiementJanuary 5, 2018 at 3:04 PM

    Congratulations, melissa! A wonderful achievement and yay for us girls!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa HaftingJanuary 5, 2018 at 6:56 PM

      Thanks Sandy!! Happy new year hope to see you out there!

      Delete
  2. Mike TabakJanuary 5, 2018 at 8:24 PM

    Congratulations Mel, you played hard and worked hard to achieve your Vancouver big year success.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa HaftingJanuary 6, 2018 at 6:21 PM

      Thank you so much mike been great seeing you out so much this year looking forward to more birding with you in 2018.

      Delete
  3. LonelytravellerJanuary 5, 2018 at 9:21 PM

    Wow what a fantastic achievement, so many birds I can't believe what you've been able to accomplish this year!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. HuiSimJanuary 9, 2018 at 1:49 PM

    Congrats, Mel, on Your Well-Deserved Win!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Melissa HaftingJanuary 10, 2018 at 6:52 PM

      Thanks Hui! not sure i'd call it a win though lol ;)

      Delete

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