Magna Anno, a Big Year by any other name, or hunting without a gun

Barred Owl from Huntley Meadows Park in VA

Step one, watch The Big Year movie with Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black.
Step two, get a couple of your friends together to hold your own (very little) Big Year birding competition.
Step three, have at it for bragging rights...and it is a pretty healthy diversion.

First, we should define a Big Year. A Big Year, according to Wikipedia (which contains the sum total of all human knowledge), "is an informal competition among birders to see who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year and within a specific geographical area. A big year may be done within a single US state, a Canadian province, within the lower 48 continental U.S. states, or within the official American Birding Association Area (defined as the 49 continental U.S. states, Canada, and the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, plus adjacent waters to a distance of 200 miles from land or half the distance to a neighboring country, whichever distance is less. Excluded by these boundaries are Bermuda, The Bahamas, Hawaii, and Greenland)."

Great Blue Heron

Now, granted that Canada isn't too far from Vermont, but do we want to have to contest with an overly competitive birder jetting off to Alaska to add some unique bird species? Hint - no we do not. The same goes for the "French islands." Another issue with the original rules - to "see or hear the largest number of species of birds...." Most of my guy friends can't hear his own wife in the next room. I'm supposed to let him vouch for the fact he heard a Gray Catbird and not a Northern Mockingbird? I don't think so.

LBB or LBJ (little brown bird or little brown job)

Our rules are that you must see and identify the bird in the lower 48 states and surrounding waters. Zoos and pet birds don't count. All bird sightings to be counted need to be entered on Cornell University's eBird site. (Registration is free and the information is used by scientists in tracking bird species distributions and migration information.)

The eBird site has an unbelievable amount of information. For example, I'm interested in seeing a Snowy Owl, a bird I have never seen. I can go to eBird, look under explore data tab, then species maps. I enter the species I'm interested in and the location (in this case a ZIP code). The result is a map with sighting locations identified. Note that on this map (below) there was a sighting near Lang Farm in Essex, Vermont on December 16th, yesterday. Just imagine if they had the eBird equivalent for 8-point bucks?! Right, there'd be no 8-point bucks left.

On the off chance you spot some interesting bird, you can add it to the eBird sightings (after setting up a free account). Then when someone hovers the cursor over your map pin they will see your name and sighting.

eBird screen shot of Snowy Owl sightings near Jericho, Vermont

eBird is a great aid to help locate birds. However, it is no guarantee that the bird will be there when you arrive. That is where the hunting comes in to play. You will usually need to spend some time in the field or woods to spot the particular bird you are stalking. It is a great excuse to get outside and observe.  You may even find that 8-point buck, just don't mark it on eBird.

Interested in joining our little big year? Just send me a response to this post and I will add you to the currently very short list. You can follow our progress on Twitter at @sportingafield. I will post progress a couple times a month, along with links to any interesting pictures we take.

Bearly Thanksgiving

My family and I spent a lovely Thanksgiving at my brother Jim's house in Woodbury, Connecticut. We were outside setting up for our annual archery tournament and the kids and I discovered some interesting tracks in the backyard. Being trained scouts, they started following the tracks by carefully walking directly in the tracks. I managed to take this picture with my iPhone before it was stomped out.

My nephew, Jack, was the lead tracker. He followed the tracks under the porch. That made me a bit nervous since we couldn't see that there were exit tracks and under the porch would be a great place to sleep for the winter.

The bear just checked out the garbage can and moved on around the house and into the next yard.  It was something we didn't expect to see in suburban Connecticut.

The trophy held hostage in New Hampshire

It was an underwhelming second annual Boushie archery tournament. The champion from last year, niece Jessica, was unable to defend her crown due to bad weather. As for the competition this year, let's just say that very few of the arrows found the actual target, never mind the bulls eye. Arrows had to be retrieved from everywhere. (Good thing there wasn't a bear around and we had to defend ourselves. It is possible that the bear could have stepped on an arrow.

This year we were joined by Pat, my daughter Maddie's boyfriend (third from the right in the dinner picture below). What we didn't know was that Pat was a ringer. He taught kids archery in summer camp. OK, he wasn't much of a ringer. Truth was the competition was rather lacking. As I said, few arrows found the target. Besides we just wanted to make Pat feel welcome. Personally, I think he would have felt just as welcome in second place.

Indian princess aiming

bird-frying chef takes aim

I was able to defend my runner-up crown and there was no trophy to be given to Pat. Not because he didn't win, but because there literally was no trophy to give him. It was still in New Hampshire. That took care of the dilemma of what to do when a non-Boushie wins the Boushie archery trophy.

I think Jim and Pam were very happy to get their house back. The jury is still out on where the 2015 third annual Boushie archery tournament will take place. The first thing we have to do is get the trophy back from New Hampshire. The second thing we have to do is practice! I haven't shot a bow since the tournament last year. It was a sad showing. Perhaps I will make a trophy for second place - I would have won it two years in a row.

the crew, from left to right, front row, then back, daughter Katie, nephew Jack, niece Emma, me (Uncle Donut - my indian name), wife Karen, pa-in-law Norm, mom Althea, dad Sherdan, sister-in-law Pam, bro Jim, former archery teacher Pat, and indian-princess-daughter Maddie

Keeping New Year's Resolutions . . . Hiking, Birding, and Photography

      Back in January 2013, before my work life went crazy, I wrote about New Year's resolutions for the Mountain Gazette. I outline some suggested resolutions that I thought would make the sporting world a better place and sportsmen better people - if that is possible.  Among the resolutions I suggested was "Take up a new and complimentary 'hobby'; something to get you out in the woods during the off season. Take up photography, bird watching, hiking, canoeing – something to get you outside; something you can do with family or friends...."

Tri-Colored Heron and Great Egret, Cape May, NJ

I decided to follow my own advice (for a change) and take up several "hobbies" to compliment hunting and fishing activities. And while many hobbies don't come cheap, they don't have to be expensive (unless you get a new camera and new hiking shoes, and a new backpack...not that I'm saying I did...).

Being outdoors keeps me sane. Some people have no problem dealing with crowds of people, tons of traffic, and lots of buildings and pavement. Not me. I need the outdoors to recreate and regenerate. When I'm in Vermont, I'm surrounded by the outdoors. When I'm away, not so much.

My "hobbies" bring me outside when noting is in season or, God forbid, I don't have time or feel like hunting or fishing. When I'm away from Vermont these same pursuits give me a great reason to head for the hills - not that I need too much of a reason.

Sky Meadow State Park, VA

I started snowshoe day hiking on the western slopes of Mount Mansfield after hunting season was over and before trout season opened with . The woods were almost empty and I certainly didn't overhead.

Friends in Virginia told me about Sky Meadows State Park, which has become a favorite - especially the section that runs along the Appalachian Trial. Wherever I am on the weekend I look to see what local trails are available.

Sometimes the weather is less than desirable or I simply don't have the time available for a good hike. Enter the hobby of birding. I used to bird back in high school and my early fatherhood years - both periods of time with my friend Tom Kenefick. Back in the day, we'd pack our daughters Lauren and Katie and go looking for Bald Eagles at Mason Neck in Virginia. We'd tie feathers on the girls and let them flop around in their winter coats hoping to attract some birds. (Just checking to see if our wives ever read my blog.)

Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows Park, VA

In fact, back in high school we birded with David Allen Sibley (once). David was in my class and Tom and I ran track with David's older brother Steve and sister Anne. We went out one night looking to call owls and stayed through dawn. We ended up in a marsh, trying to convince David to leave so we could grab some breakfast. To say that David had an unusual level of focus for a high school guy would be a gross understatement, certainly where something other than girls were concerned. Of course, having more focus than either Tom or me was a low hurdle to meet.

So, I'm birding again and taking some short side trips to various locations near and not so near and it has been a lot of fun.

Whimbrels, Cape May, NJ

The Tri-Colored Heron, Great Egret, and Whimbrel photos were taken on a September trip to Cape May, NJ. The shots were taken from a boat in choppy water. I was using a Lumix GX-7 with a 100-300 lens. The camera has an anti-vibration feature, which was handy shooting from a boat.

I saw 34 species of birds. Many of the birds were firsts for me. Kind of neat. It gets me out and is an interesting challenge to learn to identify new birds. It is like preseason scouting, where you aren't sure of what game you'll actually find.

One interesting sighting while at Cape May was a Whiskered Tern. You won't find it in your local bird guide since it is from Africa. It was visiting Cape May when I was. It was only the third sighting of this bird in the United States. Frankly, it wasn't an impressive looking bird. It was nice to add such an unusual sighting to my life list.

Expect to see many more photos in coming posts. I already have quite a backlog. 

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here; To watch his woods fill up with snow.  (Stopping by Woods on a Snow Evening, by Robert Frost)

"Whose woods these are I think I know" is a fitting title to my first blog entry since July 2013. It is the feeling I get when I'm driving home from the Burlington airport; driving up our road, looking through the trees, across the meadow to our house. For more than a year, I have traveling considerably for work.  Being home for any stretch of time is a treat.

In November 2012, I started this blog. As part of this great endeavor I thought it would be fun and interesting to try out some new gear and write up a review or two.  One techno-toy I really wanted to try out was a game camera. I did some research and settled on the Bushnell® HD Trophy Cam.  I wrote to Bushnell and told them about the blog (then with regular postings) and that I wanted to review their Trophy Cam. They were kind enough to send me the HD Trophy Cam to evaluate for a year. An unintended, but very welcome benefit of evaluating the Trophy Cam was being able to stay connected to Vermont when I was away - specifically to Vermont's changing seasons and its domesticated and wild critters.

wild critter

The Model 119537C HD Trophy Camera took 8 mega pixel photos (after a year I still haven't used the video option). The camera takes very good to great quality photos. The photos ranged from vivid color during the day to black and white at night. The color quality depended on the lighting. The only poor quality photos was when the angle of the sun washed out the picture...or when Cabot-the-wonder-dog sprinted by the camera and all that was captured was a blur.

domesticated critter - Cabot

One of the nice features of the camera is the date, time, temperature stamp on the pictures. From this information I was able to determine that standard alkaline batteries worked down to about 4 degrees. Lithium batteries were good to at least 4 below - the coldest recorded. 

I made several other observations using this feature. One observation was that my wife clearly stretched the truth when she told me she always keeps the dogs on a leash when she lets them out. I could correct her by reminding her that on June 16th at 18:30 hours she, in fact, had Cabot off the leash as she walked up to dump kitchen bio-hazards in compost!  She was most grateful for my gentle corrections. (Every parent of teenagers should run out and get one of these game cameras. Just strap it to a tree and focus it on the front of the house. Your children will think you have supernatural powers about when they broke curfew or what boyfriend came to the house and when. If only I knew then...hindsight is 20/20 they say.)

partially domesticated

Another observation I made, more in keeping with the purpose of the camera, was that the only time I recorded our resident fisher cat (near the composer) was when it was less than 10 degrees outside. (See photo below.)

The camera is quite sensitive.  It captured birds at the feeder, the movement of squirrels, and lots of raccoon activity at night - including the whole raccoon family climbing down from a tree that we had always walked by, never knowing who its residents were.

fisher cat hunting English Setters

I am hopeful that my writing hiatus is over and that I will once again be adding routine posts.  A lot has happened in over a year, some of it even good.  No matter where your travels take you, the outdoors has something to offer. There are new trails, new animals, renewal of old interests, new encounters with animals, etc. New sporting opportunities also bring new gear. One future post has to be "Confessions of an Outdoor Gear Whore." I was going to use addict, but "whore" is much more dramatic, even if inaccurate.

Remember, a bad day afield is better than a good day at a regular paying job, although the regular pay is awfully nice.