THE <strong>2011</strong> BIG DAY REPORT<strong>Big</strong> day birding is infectious. Once you get it inyour blood, it stays there and resurfaces whenyou start “thinking things”. You go out for a“normal” day of birding, and find a locationwith a bunch of hard-to-get breeding birds inclose proximity, for example. The next thing youknow, you’re putting together a team and aplan. In the past 18 months, I’ve completed 18big days, and have 6 more already planned. LikeI said, it gets in your blood.The planning and execution takes time, patience,skill and a healthy dose of luck. <strong>2011</strong>saw the convergence of those factors on severaldays, resulting in several new records. Firstwas the team of Jessie Barry, AndrewFarnsworth, Marshall Iliff, Tim Lenz, Brian Sullivan,and Chris Wood, who set a new <strong>ABA</strong>-arearecord (and Texas state record) of 264, on April22. The 24-hour effort took them across 750miles of Texas, and produced a day-list with anamazing array of species. Elf Owl and HoodedWarbler. Yellow-throated and Hutton’s Vireos.Not exactly species you might expect to see onthe same day.A little over a month later, Tom Hince andPaul Pratt would run their third Alberta big dayin three years, attempting to set a new recordfor Canada. Their effort had them coursingnearly 700 miles of Canadian wilderness, andlike the Texas big day, produced a fantastic daylistincluding disparate species like WhitewingedCrossbill, Sabine’s Gull, Black-neckedStilt and Black-crowned Night Heron. At the endof that long day—after double and triple-checkingtheir total—they recorded 218 species, indeed,setting a new big day record for Canada.Also in Canada, on May 18, the team of RichardCannings, Peter Davidson and Nathan Hentzeset a new record for British Columbia with atotal of 202 species.The lower 48 saw some new high numbersas well: 185, a new record for Florida, was setby the team of Andy Bankert and David Simpsonon April 19. On May 24, D. Lambeth, C. Merkordand S. Rossiter came in with a day-list of 168species, setting a new state record for NorthDakota. Beyond the contiguous United States,Lance Tanino and Kurt Pohlman set a new single-islandrecord for Hawaii—63 species—birdingO’ahu, on March 28.<strong>Big</strong> days are a lot of work, and let’s be serious,stressful. But they are so worth the effort.The teamwork required to comply with the 95%rule is challenging, but makes you a better birder.If you’ve ever tried to get a birding companion ona warbler at the top of a tall tree, you know itcan be difficult. Now get 3 team members onthat bird, with the clock ticking, and get all threeto agree on your identification of the bird!My most memorable days in the field havebeen big days… that “magic” day, when thebirds drip from the trees and everything lines upjust so. The thrill of the last hour, scrambling forjust a few more, and then the “woulda, shouldacoulda” conversation that inevitably follows.Spend some time with the accounts in this report,and you may soon find yourself calling yourbirding buddies and making plans of your own.Greg Neise, Editor––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––HOUSEKEEPINGPer <strong>ABA</strong> <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong> rules, certain information is requiredof <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong> submissions for acceptanceand publishing. Please remember to completelyfill out each <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong> form, including mileage,starting and ending times, locations visited, andimportance codes for species of note. Incomplete,inaccurate information or failure to complywith the 95% rule may result in the decisionto not recognize the record.Explanation of TermsSpecies of Note: A Species of Note is either onethat you didn’t expect to get but did, or one thatyou counted on but failed to see.In the former category are birds you consideredyou had virtually no chance of seeing duringyour <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong>. A Vagrant (V) is any specieswhich occurs less than annually in thestate, province, or country of your <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong>;a Rare (R) species is less than annualalong your chosen route, but may be morecommon elsewhere in your state,province, or country; an Early (E) or Late(L) species is one that is Rare due to beingunusually tardy or early. An (S) in the accountsindicates that the rarity or vagranthad been Staked Out prior to the <strong>Big</strong><strong>Day</strong>. A (#) indicates an unusually highnumber of any particular species.In the latter category are birds that youconsider virtually guaranteed, such thatyou did not specifically plan for them onyour <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong>. These are Code 2 birds (noone should ever miss a Code 1 bird). Morequantitatively, a <strong>Big</strong> Miss (M) is a speciesyou had a 95% or better chance of seeing alongyour route at that time of year (i.e., you expectto see the species on at least 19 attempts out of20), but which you inexplicably missed.Target Totals: To compare the relative result ofeach individual count, a TARGET TOTAL (TT) foreach province and state is calculated. The TT isthe average of the top three counts for a givenregion, up until the end of the previous year.They can be found in the Champion <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong>summary tables. TTs are not calculated forcounts that are intrinsically uncompetitive dueto imposed restrictions (single-county, walking,etc); that take place outside the “ideal” time ofyear; or whose Grand Total is less than 75% ofthe TT.Abbreviations:CA – Conservation AreaCo – CountyCP – County ParkMtn – MountainNF – National ForestNP – National ParkNWR – National Wildlife RefugePP – Provincial ParkPt – PointRes – ReservoirSF – State ForestSL – Sewage Lagoon/Pond/PlantSP – State ParkSWA – State Wildlife AreaWMA – Wildlife Management AreaWR – Wildlife Refuge/Area/SanctuaryWTP – Water Treatment Plant––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––<strong>2011</strong> <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong> Contender’s Table––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––% <strong>2011</strong> Target Total >95%<strong>List</strong>ed in Descending Order––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––Area Date Total Pct. TT Rank––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––HI 28-Mar 63 104.4 1––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––FL 19-Apr 185 103.3 2––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––ND 24-May 168 103 3––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––AB 4-Jun 210 102 4––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––BC 18-May 202 101.8 5––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––TX 22-Apr 264 101.3 6––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––ON 21-May 194 98.9 7––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––AB 4-Jun 210 98.3 8––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––CO 4-Jun 182 97 9––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––2 | <strong>2011</strong> <strong>ABA</strong> <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Report</strong> & <strong>ABA</strong> <strong>List</strong> <strong>Report</strong>
<strong>2011</strong> <strong>ABA</strong> <strong>Big</strong> <strong>Day</strong> <strong>Report</strong> & <strong>ABA</strong> <strong>List</strong> <strong>Report</strong> | 3
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