{"id":3678,"date":"2014-12-31T20:49:17","date_gmt":"2015-01-01T01:49:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/?p=3678"},"modified":"2014-12-31T20:49:17","modified_gmt":"2015-01-01T01:49:17","slug":"2014-year-in-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/?p=3678","title":{"rendered":"2014 – Year in Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone! I know I say it every year, but the older I get, the faster the years go by. I’ve decided to start 2015\u00a0with a new look for the blog; I am curious about what folks think of the new layout, so please comment if you have any thoughts about it. It was another great year of birding for me, and I really enjoyed\u00a0doing the blog. Here’s a snapshot of the year 2014 here at Orangebirding.<\/p>\n

BY THE NUMBERS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are my species totals for the year, with the last two year’s totals for comparison:<\/p>\n

Area \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a02014 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2013 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

World: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0244 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 240 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0199<\/p>\n

United States: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 244 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 240 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0171<\/p>\n

New York State: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0209 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 211 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0167<\/p>\n

New Jersey State: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 130 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0107 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 85<\/p>\n

ORANGE COUNTY: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 186 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 176 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 126<\/p>\n

Sullivan County: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 114 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0133 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 112<\/p>\n

Looking at the numbers, I did not have as good a year as I might have thought. I only increased my total birds for the year by 4, and my New York State and Sullivan County totals were both actually down. Orange County, however, went up by 11. \u00a0Without really realizing it, I certainly increased the importance of birding in my home county this year.<\/p>\n

I started 2014 with 284 life birds and ended the year with 315, that’s 31 new life birds added! This is\u00a0a lot \u00a0of new birds, but it is,\u00a0of course, down from last year when I\u00a0add 69 life birds to my list. I think there are a couple of reasons for this; last year we travelled to Colorado where many of the birds that I saw were lifers – I picked up 22 life birds in a week and a half. This year we spent two weeks in Maine, which is not quite as far from home, and I only added 6 life birds to my list. The second reason is where I am in my birding; life birds, especially found locally, will become increasingly difficult to see.<\/p>\n

I also thought it would be interesting to look at the number of posts I did in the last year – this is my 153rd post of the year. This is up from the 117 posts I made last year. And finally, for what it’s worth, according to Google Analytics the blog had 10,740 visits\u00a0by 3,925 individuals.<\/p>\n

TOP FIVE PHOTOS OF THE YEAR<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the past two years I have included my\u00a0favorite\u00a0photo of the year\u00a0in my end of year post. This year I did not feel like I had a single shot that stood out, so I have decided to go with a top five:<\/p>\n

\"-\"<\/a>
Forster’s Tern at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge 6\/16\/14. I love the pastel colors of this shot and also that I got lucky with the catchlight in the bird’s eye.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"-\"<\/a>
Blackburnian Warbler at Pochuck Mountain State Forest, 5\/11\/14. Pretty colors in this one, and the bird is super crisp.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"-\"<\/a>
One of my favorite birds to photograph, a male Northern Harrier on Mission Land Road, 1\/12\/14. I got very lucky with this shot, I was driving on Mission Land and this “Gray Ghost” just flew right alongside my car.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"-\"<\/a>
A flock of mixed blackbirds on Onion Avenue in New Hampton, NY, 3\/14\/14. I got lucky with the light on this one – right place right time. If you can view this one full screen, it makes a difference.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"-\"<\/a>
Laughing Gull photographed from back of the Ferry from Lewes DE to Cape May NJ, 6\/15\/14. I just like this one and I got a terrific\u00a0reaction when I posted it as well.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BIRD OF THE YEAR: BARN OWL<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"-\"<\/a>
Barn Owl in flight, Orange County NY, February 2014.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I’ve always put Barn Owl in the category of “Birds I never thought I would photograph”, particularly in Orange County NY. Seeing this bird in the wild and so close to home was amazing; getting some decent photos was the icing on the cake.<\/p>\n

MOST EXCITING BIRDING EXPERIENCE OF THE YEAR:\u00a0<\/strong>ATLANTIC PUFFINS OFF THE COAST OF MAINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A pair of Atlantic Puffins, Eastern Egg Rock Island ME, 8\/4\/14.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tricia and I\u00a0did not get the best conditions for the two puffin boating excursions\u00a0we took while we were in Maine; the fog was very thick at both locations. It did not deter us, we got some great birds, including 5 life birds for me: Northern Fulmar (LB),<\/strong> Great Shearwater (LB)<\/strong>, Wilson’s Storm Petrel, Northern Gannet, Red Phalarope, Roseate Tern (LB), Arctic Tern (LB)<\/strong>, Common Murre, Razorbill, Black Guillemot, Parasitic Jaeger (LB)<\/strong>, and Atlantic Puffin. Additionally,\u00a0I still managed to get\u00a0some decent photos in spite of the heavy fog.<\/p>\n

\"We<\/a>
Great Shearwaters on Whale Watching Tour off of Bar Harbor ME, 8\/1\/14.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FAVORITE BIRDING LOCATION OF THE YEAR: 6 1\/2 STATION ROAD SANCTUARY<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A Glossy Ibis picks through the small pond south of the Heritage Trail at 6 1\/2 Station Road Sanctuary, 8\/20\/14.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

6 1\/2 Station Road Sanctuary is the birding spot closest to my home in Goshen, but that is not why I went there so frequently this year. The reason is, that the birding was flat out good. I saw a tremendous variety of the expected species and a few less expected birds as well, including Virginia Rail, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Stilt Sandpiper, and\u00a0Glossy Ibis. In all I had 92\u00a0species at the sanctuary this year; this includes birds located at what I refer to as the Citgo Trail, which is the trail that leads to the smaller pond south of the Heritage Trail.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
One of my favorites, a\u00a0\u00a0Yellow-billed Cuckoo at 6 1\/2 Station Road Sanctuary on 9\/21\/14.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

HAPPY NEW YEAR!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to take this opportunity to thank all the birders in our area; they\u00a0are such good company and always helpful and generous with their knowledge. I hope as I learn and progress that I can do the same for others.\u00a0Special thanks to Rob Stone, John Haas, Judy Cinquina, Karen Miller, Linda Scrima, and Maria Loukeris for all their help and good company this year. Happy New Year to everyone out there – may your 2015 be filled with all the birds you can wish for, from Black-capped Chickadees to Pink-footed Geese.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s hard to believe another year has come and gone! I know I say it every year, but the older I get, the faster the years go by. I’ve decided to start 2015\u00a0with a new look for the blog; I am curious about what folks think of the new layout, so please comment if you … Continue reading “2014 – Year in Review”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5i3kT-Xk","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3678"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3734,"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3678\/revisions\/3734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orangebirding.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}