Bird A Day--The Streak is Over

This has been an interesting experiment in OCD--Ornithological Compulsive Disorder. The streak ended yesterday at Brigantine with 201 days in a row logging a unique species. I went to Colliers Mills this morning in the hope of finding a pheasant or a bobwhite to stay in the game a little while longer, but I wasn't able to come out with one.

I could have continued the streak at least to the end of this month until personal matters will get in the way, but it would have required more driving than I feel like doing. For instance: I could have driven back down to Brig today--if I had, I probably would have seen a Reeve (a female Ruff) and would have been quite excited about it Bird A Day or not. Just yesterday, on the trip with Scott and Pete, we were talking about the possibility of one showing up (one already has, a male, for one day this summer) and today Pete and Mike Mandracchia found 2 (two!) Reeves. Between Atlantic and Cape May Counties I could have kept the streak alive, but that's a lot of driving just to find a bird.

To a large degree, I'm relieved that I don't have desperately look for a new bird tomorrow. It was fun to get birds on my normal birding rounds, but when, in the last month or so, I found myself going to specific places to get specific birds, the whole "game" started to feel more like an obligation, a job, and I like being retired.

The positive aspect of the challenge is that it did make me a better birder by making me match up habitat and date with desired species, as well as just the practice I got, especially ear birding. I think my observation skills, while still far from what I'd like them to be, have move up a notch or two.

Now I can get back to my regularly scheduled obsessions, like building up my Ocean County year and life list: I've already broken my 2012 record of 182 species, and I'm tied for the #4 spot on the county all time list. But also, I can just go out, walk around, look for birds and enjoy finding what I find. I'd noticed that I was rushing through a place until a found a unique species--only after I'd bagged one could I relax.

Will I take the challenge next year? I don't think so, for the same reason I'll probably never do a big year: while I enjoy birding more than just about anything, there are some mornings when I just don't feel like going out and there are remote places in the state that sometimes I just don't feel like driving to.

To see a complete list of my 201 days of Bird A Day, click the the link in the sidebar.