From a small town to a big city...
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A Birding Blog
By Jared Conaway
From a small town to a big city...
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Progress. That's what's happened in a "year" of blogging (quoted year because it wasn't actually 365 days). So far, I've enjoyed writing this, when I have time. Some of y'all might get the vibe that I don't, considering how much I slack off. Believe me though, I love it and am so grateful that I jumped into this project! Anyways, lets get into this!
First, a heartfelt thank you to all of those who view my blog, and especially for those who have been around since the name change (For a month or so it was "The Birding Life"). I am thankful that I have support for my beautiful birding story. God bless you guys! I also want to mention that this blog will continue to flourish, and grow- it's not ending anytime soon. I am so excited for what the future holds, where I'm going, what I'm going to see, who I'm going to meet. What I know for now: This is my birding story, it and the people in it are so valuable to me, I'm thankful to God that I get to share it with the world! So, for this post, I have a few announcements! I'll start with: I'm really hoping to go on a road trip with Caleb, Josh, and David in all of New Mexico & the Chisos Mnts. of Big Bend NP, Texas! My hardcore goal for this trip is to get Boreal Owl. It's one of my favorite birds, and receiving it in the southernmost extension of its distribution would be phenomenal! This trip will occur in mid-May if I can go. Also, I should introduce Josh and Dave right now: Josh I've talked to on the phone quite a few time s, but never directly met him. He's a great Christian birder 20 years of age, residing in Fort Collins Colorado. He used to be one of my kind; The Maricopers. However, he went to College in Colorado a couple years ago. Dave is an excellent birder, Caleb was his first mentor, but then a couple of the best birders in the country came along... He's also Christian, and 18. "Jared Conaway. Joshua Smith. David Tonneson. Caleb Strand(oski). Their going to bring fire to the birding community!" -Morgan Freeman My next announcement: Ladies and gentlemen, I am eventually going to be a youtuber, hopefully in 2019. I'll sharpshooting towards good to great quality content. I want it to have a cinematic/vlog vibe. While I can't certainly guarantee it's gonna be like that from the start, I'm hoping that time & growth will tell. So, please hit the mental subscribe button until I kick start my channel into action! Who knows, maybe God will find me someone to help with this endeavor... Also, when I get enough viewers I'll do scheduled live streams involving birding Q&A! Surprisingly- as far as I know- nobody's done that yet! I'm so excited for this project, as it's something I never thought of doing- but something I feel I need to do. Additionally, it will be the first birding "vlogumentry" series, because while there are currently a few good bird-topic channels, there are none with a vlogging style. This next goal is for the future in general, I'm not planning for it to be completed in 2019. I'm writing a Matanuska Susitna birding guide on this website. It will include every species recorded followed up with illustrations, likely species to occur that haven't yet, ebird hotspots with a rundown of habitat, birds present, and potential dangers. By the way, the illustrations will be drawings I did with my finger on my tablet. I just need to get them on the computer. I'm hyped for this project! Also, in fall, if I get a scholarship in time, I could go on a WFO (Western Field Ornithologists) expedition in Albuquerque, NM. This means potential for 2 trips to that state next year! This also introduces a second chance for Boreal Owl, in case its a no-show on our New Texico road trip. With my plans for 2019 bagged, now I'm going to talk about great birds that I never planned on having dedicated posts for (because the stories on their own would've been too short). I had a surprise encounter with an adult female CALLIOPE HUMMINGBIRD while on a walk through the hood Oct. 2nd. I look for birds in my own hood typically every week. I've only seen a Calliope once before, at GWR, that was an immature male. It was a brief sighting, but just enough to determine identification by absolute tiny size, pale buffy flanks, dark central rectrices, spotted throat, rounded wingtips extending beyond tail, large head & shorter bill (than Costa's). As I've mentioned before, this species is an impressive long-distance migrant, grasping the longest migration for a bird its size. It occasionally passes through the lowlands of central Arizona as part of this migration, more often through mountains in the eastern region of the state. I had another neat bird & hood add the same day; A MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER in my yard! A lifer that I've never mentioned, but meant to, was a female AMERICAN GOLDFINCH that I saw at the GRPs way back on April 30th. This charismatic, fashionable finch is a well known and desired visitor of feeders across its wide range in Canada, the northern US, and east. The males are brilliant yellow, with a black cap, black wings sporting white wing-bars for contrast to the yellow, and an orange beak. Even females are beautiful: Light brown back, black & white tail, black wings with white wing-bars, pale yellow face, dark bill, and buffy on the rest of the body. I had some other great birds there as well; My lifer Lazuli Bunting (a fem), a late, tiny SHARP-SHINNED HAWK (believe that was a patch add), 2 very early migrant SAVANNAH SPARROWS, and 600 Cliff Swallows. Oh yeah, that was also when I had a RED-NECKED PHALAROPE (with many WIPHs). Lastly, I had 13 species of shorebirds, which is a decent amount. I've been frequenting a golf course in my hood for a while now, in search of a particular bird: Lawrence's Goldfinch. We are having a big eruption of them this fall/winter. There is a large, mostly bare eucalyptus in it that is excellent for flycatchers. On September 24th I discovered an unusual one perched in it: WILLOW FLYCATCHER. Identified by stocky build, large peaked head, and broad bill. Plumage was mostly brown. It was harassed by an Anna's Hummingbird. The same day, I had a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD (also a bizarre bird for the hood) and finally a COMMON GROUND-DOVE. Other days I've had; Vermillion Flycatcher, Say's Phoebe, a Tropical/Western Kingbird once, a BROWN-CRESTED FLYCATCHER (another bizarre urban presence), OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER, and a Dusky/Hammond's Flycatcher (leaning towards Dusky). On May 11th, I had a pair of TROPICAL/COUCH'S KINGBIRDS really close to my house! They intimidated a WEKI, slightly smaller and much thinner than them, scaring him away. Bill were proportionally long, heads were large, body was stocky, tails long (didn't get chance to see shape & color), and yellow was brilliant, extending up to chest. They didn't vocalize. I talked to Caleb after my sighting, and he said because I didn't get a good enough look at the primaries, couldn't determine if the bills were broad-based, and especially because they didn't vocalize, that I should leave them as TRKI/COKI. So I did. Through this year my passion for writing about my birding life has grown, and now I really let my personality flow into it. I'm looking forward to the growth of this blog; going to more places, increasing the quality of this blog, adventuring on huge dedicated trips, etc. God has a beautiful life in store for me! He does for you too! That's it for this post, stay tuned for upcoming ones, and stay tuned for the future!
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December 2019
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