My 2016 Birding Year

I  ended the year with 501 species which exceeded my goal of 450 species worldwide, due to the 190 species on my 10-day bird tour to Bulgaria in June. Birds seen in the UK took my Europe total to 224 species making up for a 6-year low of 300 in North America. I missed my 250 Arizona bird target by a country mile, ending on just 215 species due to a lifestyle change that meant I spent two months in California. I saw 152 species in Coconino, reaching my target of 150 with a few birds on the Sedona CBC.

I had 42 lifers in 2016, many more than I had expected because my bird tour in Bulgaria gave me 41 of these. My only life bird in the U.S. was Tufted Puffin, courtesy of a Debi Shearwater trip to the Fallarones. I added 4 further species to my ABA list – Short-eared Owl (Vancouver),  Rose-ringed Parakeet (Bakersfield, CA), Ruff (Alviso, CA) and Lesser Sand-Plover (Navajo reservation).

My bird of the year was Tufted Puffin, one I’d been hoping to see for a while. The next three were lifers from my Europe trip: Alpine Accentor, Masked Shrike, Grey-headed Woodpecker. Of these the woodpecker was the most cooperative; on my wish list before I’d left for Bulgaria I did not image I would watch this bird feeding on the ground for five minutes.

My year end totals are as follows: 

Life List
ABA List	574
Arizona List	400
Coconino County List	282
Yard List	97

Others in my family saw five other species. My wife had a Northern Red Bishop in Sunnyvale and Red-masked Parakeets in San Francisco; my son had a Barred Owl at Shannon Point; together they saw Brant and Trumpeter Swans in coastal Washington.