2) It gives you a reason to get off the couch and out the door: I like being outdoors, even in the winter but sometimes it takes a little motivation to brave the elements. Making a list of the bird species I see in January is a good motivator.
3) Gas finally dropped below $3.50 a gallon: There's no doubt that driving around looking for birds eats up gas. $3.50 a gallon is still expensive but not as bad as $4.00 a gallon.
4) Big January helps make the winter go by faster: I like winter but it does seem to drag on after a while.
5) It's a fun tradition: I know several bird bloggers who look forward to doing a Big January each year.
7) It gives me something to blog about for the entire month: I don't have to waste too much brain power trying to figure out what to post about this month. I already know what the topic is-Big January. It's almost like a blogger break!
What is Big January? Make a list of all the bird species you see from January 1st until January 31. I count birds only in my state but
you can set your own boundaries. It's difficult to compete with someone who doesn't live in your same region but it's still fun to compare notes. Are you doing a Big January this year?
Happy New Year Everybody!
15 comments:
I always love your lists and this one has some good ones. However, I sure wish gas would be $3.50 here; it's still in the $3.87 range. I think you've talked me into a Big January! There have been some great birds around here as well.
Happy birding in January, Larry.
Oh and Happy New Year
Awesome, can't wait to read all about it!
I started counting today and my husband and I worked hard to find 18 birds. This is always a fun January activity.
Cindy-It baffles me how there can be a .20 cents a gallon difference from two different gas stations in the same town.
Jen-read about it? Start that list Jen!
Ruth-I worked all day so only saw 5 species today.
Beautiful photos of the snow bunting
January is quite bad over here, cold dark and crappy. Still did not go out :-) Happy new year Larry
Julie-The Snow Bunting thanks you Julie!
Chris-It is very cold with lots of snow here in CT during January Chris. What's it like over your way?
I just calculated our gas price in Canada...$4.65 US $/gal ($1.21 CDN/litre). I have decided against driving down to Lake Ontario today :-(
Oh well, I always enjoy getting out to see our local winter birds. My big January will be a close to home count.
Ruth-Wow!-that is expensive! I'm going to try carpooling a couple of times during January to split the gas cost. Too bad, I imagine that you could add quite a few species with a trip to Lake Ontario.
Sounds like a good way to keep busy. I think I'll huddle in out of the cold and look at other people's pictures.
Stunning Snow Bunting photo, Larry! I agree - winter birding is fabulous. Hope you're having a great start to 2013!
I have never heard of "Big January" Cool! Pun intended :-) I am participating in local Audubon chapter backyard bird count. Staring out the window w/ a purpose..
Larry, Chris Rohrer and I are both doing a Big January here in AZ. It is his first time and he is obsessive! He has completely blown my previous records out of the water in less than a week! I am plodding along and am already at 104 species. Chris and I are going out birding again this weekend...if we can stand the cold! It's going down into the 20's tonight and our daytime high will only be in the 40's for the next 5 days! Good luck to you. It will be fun to compile our lists at the end of the month!
Oh, great pics by the way! I love the tree sparrow!
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