A Look Back on 2009
Before I started this post, I took a look back at all my posts from the year 2009. It wasn't the best year I've ever had, but I was actually quite surprised to see how much I really did in the last 365 days.
By the end of January last year, I had already added close to 70 birds to my year list, thanks to a CBC and some incredible birding luck that month. In February, I participated in the Great Backyard Bird Count and March marked a month of some fun local explorations.
May was pretty exciting too. In somewhat of a spur-of-the-moment decision, I took off across the state to go chase mega-rarity Greater Sand Plover that had showed up in Jacksonville. Turned out to be great fun and I added a few lifers and year bird to my list.
In July and August, my family and I flew out to the Great Plains for a few weeks, where I came back with nearly 30 lifers and some once-in-a-lifetime experiences. I saw more wildlife in CO and SD than I think I have ever seen on any other vacation.
For the rest of the year, school took up most of my time. It was a tough semester, with a more than full courseload of 5 classes. Thankfully though, I finished them all with high grades, much to my own surprise.
In December, my life list reached 202 species, with the last one being a Winter Wren seen on the local CBC last weekend.
2009 was a good year, but I'm not too sad to leave it behind. I have a feeling that 2010 is going to be better. After a month of Field Ornithology (starting this Tuesday!) I'm shipping off across the pond to England for 4 months.
Happy New Year, and happy birding!
Labels: New Year, retrospective
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