January 8-14, 2024 (Dane County Big Year)

Week 2 Notes

I added some new data points to the first post and will continue tracking these in future posts. I’m now tracking minutes birded and miles birded. These numbers are being taken from the eBird checklists, so there will be some data missing. I wanted to track miles driven, but I think that’s going to be too time consuming to do. Big Year’s take a lot of traveling. I would like to do a Green Big Year in the future.

Week Start Dane Total: 46 species

Monday, January 8, 2024

No birding.

Tuesday, January 9, 2024

No birding. Took a short walk in the snow. First snow storm of winter (about 6 inches accumulation over the day). I love the snow, but it makes me anxious to drive in snowy conditions.

Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Quick stop at Tenney Park before work specifically looking for Scoters and Long-tailed Duck. It was super windy and cold, didn’t get them again. The birding FOMO is getting bad.

My current target birds are: Ross’s Goose, Snow Goose, Greater-white Fronted Goose, White-winged Scoter, Long-tailed Duck, and Red-necked Grebe.

Some of these I know I’ll pick up later, but some I’m not as confident about. The below freezing temperatures coming this weekend will finally start forming some ice on the lakes. I’m wondering if this will just push some of these birds away from our area or will they concentrate in some of the locations where the water doesn’t freeze.

Current number one spot is 73 species in Dane County.

Dane County Species: 46

Time Birded Today: 30 minutes (0.5 hours)

Distance Birded Today: 0.29 miles

Thursday, January 11, 2024

No birding today.

Friday, January 12, 2024

Went on a small walk during lunch break in the snow. Not much activity except at a bird feeder I came across. No checklist made.

Saturday, January 13, 2024

A nice sunny day after all the snow. The first snow of the week (about 6 inches) plus this last snow (about 10 inches) led to a workout walking in the snow. Next time I’ll bring my snowshoes. I took a walk along lake Monona visiting Olbrich Park, Hudson Park, and Yahara Park Place. There were a lot of American Coots and Canada Geese. It was a nice surprise to pick up 3 new species for the year (Hairy Woodpecker, Northern Shoveler, and Merlin). With this coming week’s forecast being in the negatives, I don’t think I’ll be getting out much.

Dane County Species: 49

Time Birded Today: 81 minutes (1.35 hours)

Distance Birded Today: 1.35 miles

Sunday, January 14, 2024

No birding. Subzero temperatures and bad driving conditions (at least for me) means staying in.

Other Weekly Stats:

Time Birded: 111 minutes (1.85 hours)

Distance Birded: 1.64 miles

Checklists: 5

Dane County eBirder Rank: 25

Hotspots Visited:

Tenney Park