At our extended family Thanksgiving, my cousin Vincent floated an intriguing project idea to my brother-in-law, Don. The premise was simple: we would create a group chat dedicated to counting the number of bird species we see between Thanksgiving 2023 and Thanksgiving 2024.
The rules were straightforward:
- Post an original photo of a bird with your best attempt at identification.
- All photos must be in California or Nevada.
- No repeats – once you’ve logged an American Crow, for example, that’s it for that species.
- Captive birds, like those at a zoo, don’t count.
- Keep track of your own list, but report finds to the text chat. Don is the official score keeper.
- At the end of the year, birds count for 1 point, but unique birds count for 1.5. A unique birds is one that was photographed by one person, but no others. Birds found in the wild which are banded count as 2 points base, and 2.5 if the are unique.
By the end of the night, our group chat had five participants, and posts began rolling in the very next day. I kicked things off with a post:
“#1 American Crow – Buena Park.”
Others quickly followed. The project is officially underway!
I’m particularly excited about this because I’ve been a “bird nerd” for as long as I can remember. Oddly enough, I’ve never kept track of my sightings, so this project marks a first for me. I don’t know how many species I’ll spot, but setting a goal of one per week seems like a reasonable challenge—52 species by the end of the year.
So far, I’ve logged four:
- American Crow – Buena Park
- Long-Billed Curlew – Cerritos
- Vermilion Flycatcher – Cerritos
- American Wigeon – Cerritos
As far as hobbies go, this one is pretty low-key and meshes well with my other interests, like disc golf and hiking. I almost always carry a camera, and since image quality isn’t critical, I can snap quick photos as I go. There are also handy apps that help with bird identification, making the process even more enjoyable.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this project unfolds. It promises to be a fun, rewarding adventure.
Peanuts In My Pocket 
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