Ημερολόγιο της/του jamesjarrett00

My goals for 2022 were,
250 species of birds observed in the year.
350 lifetime species of birds. I started with 317.
See 25 species of birds in each of Idaho’s 44 counties.
1000 taxa on iNaturalist.

I completed my goal of 250 species for the year on 16 November, with the Pacific Wren being bird 250. I got one more species later that day with the Pacific Loon to finish the year at 251. I missed my goal of getting to 350 lifetime species by the end of the year. I needed to add 33 species and only added 10. They were the Common Redpoll, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Long-tailed Duck, Verdin, Lark Bunting, Gray Partridge, Blue Grosbeak, Wandering Tattler, Surf Scoter, and Yellow-throated Warbler. I did not get 25 species in all 44 counties of Idaho. I did get at least one species in every county and 32 of 44 counties had at least 25 species seen, almost 73%. Canyon County had the most with 174 species and Teton County had the least with 3 species. I completed the 1000 taxa uploaded to iNaturalist on 6 August. I finished the year with 5638 observations, 1,222 species with 774 of those being research grade.

My goals for 2023 are,
To help Christi complete her counties of Idaho.
1000 research grade species on iNaturalist.
To add at least 10 new species each in Mammals, Birds, Fish, Amphibians & Reptiles plus at least 25 new plants & insects on iNaturalist.
350 lifetime bird species. (23 new species for the year)
300 lifetime birds for Idaho. (Need 29 new species)
A checklist every day on Ebird and an observation every day on iNaturalist.

Setting out on the 1st day of the month to find something interesting, I went looking for Bobolinks. There is really only one location nearby for that species. As I got to the road that they are found on, I pulled off the road to start my list. There next to where I parked is a double gate with posted signs on it and a cable lock. Something I have seen before, but this time there is a Black-billed Magpie hanging from the lock or gate, I can't quite tell. I thought it was dead so I finished getting my bird list ready. As I did that the wing moved, so I got some gloves I keep in the truck and went to check it out. As I got closer, it got squirmy but couldn't go anywhere. I gently slid it up the gap in the gate. When I got it to the top, it griped at me for taking so long to get there and flew off into the deep grass. Likely to hide in shame for being dumb enough to get his head stuck. Sadly no pictures, but another species in the hand.

So this is my 1st attempt at doing a journal. Yesterday I made the trip from Boise to Lowman to Banks to Emmett to Caldwell. Started my day observing bird banding in Boise, always a fun time listening to the very knowledgeable banding crew and learning more. Then my wife and I headed out on our own. Heading to the high country always changes the bird species observed and we had not gone this year. These trips also remind me that the butterfly species in the valley are so limited when compared to the mountains. Just making this trip gave me 8 species of birds I had not seen this year including the Steller's Jay and Cassin's Finch. As an added bonus I photographed 4 new species of butterfly for me. Granted the Stella Orangetip is just a horrible picture and Two-tailed Swallowtail doesn't actually show the tails but I was very happy to get home and discover the Milbert's Tortoiseshell was something new as was the Clodius Parnassian. So I need to remember to change my scenery to change my species list.

Update: Thanks to an individual on Inaturalist I can add one more. Edith's Checkerspot