Is there a grace period on how far into the new year you can post your previous year-end review?
Guess what I got for Christmas? Around the end of November I decided I didn't want new binoculars as a gift because the little Nikon Travelite I had worked fine. I'm glad my parents didn't listen (or hear, who knows?) because my new Swarovski set works great. I was amazed at the difference and how I had to refamiliarize myself with old birding spots simply because I could see more of them. The difference in overall clarity--especially color--is amazing, it makes quite an impact on the frequent cold gray winter New England days. My grand-uncle, who is on the board of the Mass. Audubon Society, was able to steer my folks toward the SLC 8 x 30. Thanks Uncle John!
I also received another gift Christmas morning, regretfully before I received my binoculars: a lifer! A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker right outside my parents' window! That brought my Life Total to 124, my Year Total to 120, and my Mass Life and Year Totals to 105. You can bet after I opened my binocs I just looked out the window the rest of the day trying to see the YBSA. If I had been able to see a Hairy Woodpecker, I would have had a great Picid bingo, since I got a Downy, a Northern Flicker, and a Red-bellied throughout the rest of the day. The Hairy would've been the fourth of the common ones, and the YBSA would make a more uncommon five-picid bingo. Oh well, I still had a great Christmas.
The New Year also got off to a great start. The first bird of the year was a Song Sparrow, which was good because I just assumed it would be one of the billions of House Sparrows that come to our feeder. Rather than sleep in, I thought I would quickly go to a couple of nearby spots to start off my 2008 list. I ended up with 24 species on the day and was able to expand the species lists of a few of my favorite spots. All in all a wonderful holiday season.
I also received another gift Christmas morning, regretfully before I received my binoculars: a lifer! A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker right outside my parents' window! That brought my Life Total to 124, my Year Total to 120, and my Mass Life and Year Totals to 105. You can bet after I opened my binocs I just looked out the window the rest of the day trying to see the YBSA. If I had been able to see a Hairy Woodpecker, I would have had a great Picid bingo, since I got a Downy, a Northern Flicker, and a Red-bellied throughout the rest of the day. The Hairy would've been the fourth of the common ones, and the YBSA would make a more uncommon five-picid bingo. Oh well, I still had a great Christmas.
The New Year also got off to a great start. The first bird of the year was a Song Sparrow, which was good because I just assumed it would be one of the billions of House Sparrows that come to our feeder. Rather than sleep in, I thought I would quickly go to a couple of nearby spots to start off my 2008 list. I ended up with 24 species on the day and was able to expand the species lists of a few of my favorite spots. All in all a wonderful holiday season.
2 comments:
You have good parents! I am dreaming of a Swaroswki myself. My Leica now feeks too old...
Thanks gallicissa, maybe next year my parents will get me a trip to Sri Lanka, and then you can try the Swarovski's out yourself!
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