Bird-A-Day for January 2016 is done (for me)

As expected my final bird in the Bird-a-day competition starting in January 2016 was Australian Magpie, on June 23.  This meant I had got 8 days further than last year.  As that was also an improvement on the previous year I have 3 observations, which means it is mechanically possible to construct a trendline.  Whether it is sensible to do so is another matter but, with that available EXCEL, enables me to project forward 190 periods (thus ending on 31 December) which shows I will complete the BaD year in 2045!  Something to look forward to!

I should note that on June 24 a Yellow-billed Spoonbill was briefly apparent at Jerrabombera Wetlands so I did an 80km, and 3 hour, round trip to fail to see it.  At least I didn't wimp out of trying.

The pattern I have previously reported of keeping both my index score and my BaD rating a little on the rarer side of last year has continued.  This means that my running average BaD rating was a little higher ....
 ... and my average Index score a little lower than in 2015.
I recorded 35 birds in 2016 that I didn't use in 2015 and (as arithmetic would suggest) in 2016 I failed to find 26 birds used in 2015.  

Several of the additions this year (eg Grey-crowned Babbler, Plum-headed Finch and Bluebonnet) , come from trips to the Western Slopes or to Mallacoota.  The main source of missing in action for 2016 (birds such as Chirruping Wedgebill and Purple-crowned Lorikeet) was a set logged on a 2015 trip to South Australia via Broken Hill.

The most annoying 'not-counted' birds in 2016 were:
  • the Hudsonian Godwit at Woolumboola Lake (beaten out by the Paradise Shelduck at the same venue on the same day); and 
  • White throated Needletail, seen on several days in March at Mallacoota but always beaten out by 'better' birds.  I spent a lot of time looking at storm clouds in Carwoola but it was a poor year for swifts in this area.
I have previously commented on the most annoying recorded bird being Southern Whiteface.  Just after finding a flock of them a Brown Falcon went by but wasn't preferred.  A few days later I found another group of Whiteface which I couldn't use.   Ethics are terrible things.  It looked as though I was going to dip on the Falcon - until I happened to look at a photo of a flock of panic-stricken Galahs and realised I had captured a Brown Falcon ripping through the flock.

Comments

Ian Fraser said…
Excellent work that man! Pity it had to end - couldn't you just have set out north or west on the afternoon of the 23rd??? You'll need to plan more trips for next year.
26 June 2016 at 10:31:00 GMT+10
Flabmeister said…
Thanks Ian. Your final thought has already been put forward as draft policy. It is likely that very West may be the go.

Martin
26 June 2016 at 12:22:00 GMT+10
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