This year I am doing a NY Region 5 Big Year and a Oneida County Big Year. I am also going to see how many NY birds I can see without going to NYC. Hoping to find a few rarities this year and maybe even a first record for region 5! I am also going to try and chase rarities that are found within 2 hours of here if I get the time.

I think I may be able to get near 250 for the county and over 275 for the region (Oswego, Onondaga, Oneida, Herkimer, Madison Counties and the northern part of Cayuga County).

Last year I missed quite a few good rarities that I didn’t have the time to go and see, including:
Slaty-backed Gull (Ithaca)
Northern Wheatear (Lewis County)
California Gull (Cayuga)
Pacific Loon (Cayuga
Magnificent Frigatebird (Cayuga)
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (Cayuga)
Cave Swallow (Cayuga)
and a few others.
I figure this year should be as good, maybe better, but different rarities.

This year I am hoping to add quite a few birds to my Life List and NY State Life List as well. I will try and post on this blog about my trips and birding adventures.

I’m up to 24 so far and I haven’t had a chance to do any real birding yet this year.

[It didn’t really work out in 2009 as didn’t do too much birding and only had about 150 species.]