Yearlist and needs list - April edition

So part of the whole deal for me with this endeavor is numbers.  I think I've clarified before, that it's not the numbers by themselves, and in the end (wait on it here) it might not even be the birds (gasp!).  What I really love, and what I will not lose is the love of maps and new places.  Setting a goal like 200 species in a year means that I'll have to explore a bit more than many birders would.  If someone really was just interested in numbers, they'd probably just swing by the Places One Must Visit, and chase birds when they come, and not have to worry about driving up so many dangerous godforsaken and beautiful roads.  If someone really just loved the birds, they would just live life and go where they went and would notice the birds as they came, enjoying every bird even if it wasn't a new one on the list.

I really want to get to know this county and all of its nooks and crannies, so as I look ahead to the trips I have left (and it may not be monthly!  December is almost certainly out for any big trips, as I usually settle in for family time, so hopefully I'll hit 200 by then!), it takes a little planning.  Here are the birds I have, and the birds I have left in the 1-2-3's.

So here are the code 1-2 birds I have left:

Code 1 birds ("easy" birds, although it can be funny how that turns out!)

1. Spotted Sandpiper
2. California Gull (I have seen a total of three gulls this year... all Ring-billed)
3. Common Nighthawk
4. Calliope Hummingbird
5. Olive-sided Flycatcher
6. Western Wood-Pewee
7. Hammond's Flycatcher
8. Dusky Flycatcher
9. Western Kingbird
10. Eastern Kingbird
11. Cassin's Vireo
12. Warbling Vireo
13. Bank Swallow
14. Barn Swallow
15. House Wren
16. Swainson's Thrush
17. Hermit Thrush
18. Cedar Waxwing
19. Orange-crowned Warbler
20. MacGillivray's Warbler
21. Yellow Warbler
22. Townsend's Warbler
23. Chipping Sparrow
24. Western Tanager
25. Black-headed Grosbeak
26. Bullock's Oriole

Only three of those - Spotted Sandpiper, California Gull and Chipping Sparrow - have been seen this year, so I think I've done a decent job of picking up the common birds without even planning around them.  If I only found the rest of these, I'd be sitting at 140 for the year.  67 down, 26 to go, and nearly all of them would be possible on my next trip in late May.

Code Two birds:  These generally take a little bit of planning, but that planning will usually result in finding the bird in question, especially if that planning means multiple attempts!

1. Blue-winged Teal
2. Cinnamon Teal
3. Northern Pintail (okay, these guys have me stymied!  I've seen no reports at all this year!  No clue when and where to find them)
4. Dusky Grouse
5. Sooty Grouse (I know both of these grouse could be possible in some locations, so I'm going to work hard to spend time in areas where there ranges do not overlap, as identification may be a bit tricky otherwise)
6. Western Grebe
7. Northern Harrier (Haha.. very funny... where are you guys hiding... seriously???)
8. Least Sandpiper
9. Wilson's Snipe
10. Herring Gull (see California Gull above)
11. Caspian Tern
12. Northern Pygmy-Owl
13. Barred Owl
14. Common Poorwill
15. Black Swift
16. Vaux's Swift
17. Lewis' Woodpecker
18. Williamson's Sapsucker
19. White-headed Woodpecker (before you tell me, yes, I know the Sleeping Lady Resort is a good place for them!  I've made two visits)
20. Willow Flycatcher
21. Pacific-slope Flycatcher
22. Northern Shrike (missed it!  will have to try when winter months return)
23. Clark's Nutcracker
24. Horned Lark (not sure what their pattern of occurence is, honestly)
25. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
26. Brown Creeper
27. Veery
28. Gray Catbird
29. American Pipit
30. Bohemian Waxwing (see shrike)
31. Wilson's Warbler
32. Yellow-breasted Chat
33. Brewer's Sparrow
34. Savannah Sparrow (see lark)
35. Fox Sparrow (I will try for this one at high elevations during breeding)
36. Lincoln's Sparrow (same as Fox Sparrow)
37. Lazuli Bunting.

So if I "just" find all of these, along with the code 1 birds, I'd be at 177.  I've taken 32 code 2 birds off of this list so far this year, including a couple tricky ones!  It will be interesting to see which one or two give me trouble through the end of the year.  My money is on the waxwings!  Still, my planning won't be too terribly focused on these birds, relative to the code 3 birds out there.

Code 3 birds - Birds that are seen annually, but are not as easy to find as code 2's.  These are tough birds!

1. Pacific Loon (I may miss this one as a spring migrant, so I'll be hoping for them on the Columbia in mid-October to mid November)
2. Tundra Swan (also more likely as a fall migrant now, with an even smaller window.  I felt luck to find Trumpeters back in January on the Columbia!)
3.  Eurasian Wigeon (missed one early in the year.  Fingers crossed for the fall.)
4. Harlequin Duck (Icicle Creek and some other high elevation streams have these guys breeding.  It will take some planning and persistence, but they'll be out there.)
5. White-tailed Ptarmigan ("Sahale Arm" comes up for Chelan County, with several sightings along a ridge surrounding a lake.  There are also some spots down in the Enchantments, which might fit with a search for the Harlequins.  This would be a life bird for me!)
6. Eared Grebe (missed some by a day, darn it.  Although they do breed in Eastern Washington, that does not include, to my knowledge, anywhere in Chelan.  Fall migration - fingers crossed)
7. Northern Goshawk (year round and in Chelan, it can be just about anywhere, although high elevation clear cuts are classic habitat for them.  I won't try to find one.  Hopefully one will find me.)
8.  Rough-legged Hawk (winter bird that I missed.  For this one and goshawk, the fall migration might be productive up on Chelan Ridge)
9. Sandhill Crane (my best shot just passed with spring migration)
10. Western Sandpiper (probably fall migration)
11.  Greater Yellowlegs (I'll miss the spring migration, and will hope for fall.  This is sounding far too familiar!)
12. Wilson's Phalarope (has bred in a few spots in the last few years, notably around Lake Wenatchee)
13. Bonaparte's Gull (May and October, apparently.  I'd take any gull)
14. Glaucous-winged Gull (winter birds - maybe next winter, yeah?)
15. Band-tailed Pigeon (These slide over the Cascade Crest in the summer months.  I'll focus my efforts around Lake Wenatchee)
16. Flammulated Owl (A few good spots on either side of Highway 2. I'm looking forward to this search, as it should bring me into good habitat for a good handful of other birds)
17. Black-chinned Hummingbird (not a clue - hoping for feeder reports, honestly)
18. Anna's Hummingbird (same deal, obviously in winter, they would be easier to pick out! Other species will largely clear out by October)
19. Red-breasted Sapsucker (another Lake Wenatchee target, although they will also be mixed in with Red-naped and hybrids for the months to come)
20. Black-backed Woodpecker (excited for this search as well - recent burns on either side of Lake Chelan should be drivable by my next trip)
21. Peregrine Falcon (hmm... breeding pair on highway 97 near milepost 211?  I missed them, but will keep an eye out)
22. Gray Flycatcher (seems like there are a couple good spots for these south of Wenatchee)
23. Red-eyed Vireo (Closer to the crest in riparian areas.  For several of these passerines, my decent ears should help in finding them)
24. Common Yellowthroat (there are a few marshes worth checking.  Fish Lake and Wapato Lake come to mind.  Surprisingly tough to find!)
25. American Redstart (I'll follow sighting here and try to make some sightings if that fails)
26. Lark Sparrow (should be one of the easier three's.  I've had them on Apple Acres road before)
27. Yellow-headed Blackbird (see Common Yellowthroat)
28. Purple Finch (hmm... the similar songs I heard on my last trip all struck me as Cassin's.  Looking forward to hearing a really rich Purple Finch song.  The county seems to have these sprinkled around - especially on either side of highway 2)

So the code three birds would bring me to... 205.  Now, I'm not expecting to find all of these.  No way!  So far in three trips, I've found nine.  Three more on each trip would leave me a little short of 200.  Fortunately, I've been finding a good number of rarer birds as well, so I'm hopeful that those will help to fill out the missing pieces. Nearly 30 other species of shorebirds and gulls alone have wandered into Chelan, and there are a handful of code 4-5 birds (Spruce Grouse, Broad-winged Hawk, Boreal Owl, American Three-toed Woodpecker, Ash-throated Flycatcher, Black-throated Gray Warbler, Sage Thrasher, Gray-crowned Rosy Finch and White-winged Crossbill) where I would at least know what places to go and cross my fingers!

Thankfully, some of these overlap with other birds I'm looking for.  For example, in September, I plan to hit the Hawkwatch, which has possibilities for Rough-legged, Northern Harrier, Northern Goshawk, Broad-winged Hawk and Swainson's Hawk, although not all at the same time.  A trip to the county line may bring me Black-backed Woodpeckers and Dusky Grouse, while also holding the possibility of Spruce Grouse.

To some extent, the 3, 4 and 5 birds are all in the same bucket.  Figure out where your best odds are for finding them, and go look!  I have 14 birds from this group, and would need 23 more, assuming that I found all of the code 2 birds (ha!).  There are some excellent birders in different corners of the county, so I'm sure that some pretty unexpected birds will also get picked up (especially in that enormous group of gulls and shorebirds) that I might be able to follow up on during my trips.

So that's where it all sits!   If you have any thoughts as the year goes along, please drop me a message!