Wow, hard to believe we are almost through April already. Pages are flying off the calendar and I have sooo much to do. Someday I have to figure out the formula that allowed me to get all my tasks done while I was still grinding out days in the corporate world. To Brad’s credit he likes to point out that my time is now filled doing things I enjoy vs hunting bad spirits in the machine and filling out TPS reports. I can’t deny my time devoted to travel and birding has increased significantly and thanks to that, I am proud to say I have officially shattered my all-time Average Year record (link here). I tried to get all the numbers up to date, but I’ve hit it hard these last couple of days so that page is already off. My record (from 2023) was 340 species – as of today it sits at 352+3 putting me at 168th in the US and 8th in my county. Placements are fluctuating all over the place depending on where you are in relation to the migration so those rankings are a bit fluid. I also refreshed my life list count and even updated the counter on the left nav bar. It is rare when that is accurate, but for now 472 is correct! Brad is right, birding is definitely better than IT Enterprise Architecture ha!
The key part of those bird counts is the increased travel – in particular our monthly trips to the southwest. Today’s featured feathered friend comes courtesy of last year’s trip to Tucson, Arizona. Now, this specimen is going to be a bit hmmmm, how to put this … let’s go with a letdown from our recent offerings. We’ve tried to bring you a colorful assortment of avian fodder as of late to help make up for the lack of excitement that is coming your way …but before then…another dose of color!

Okay, now gather your wits, lower your expectations, prepare for the worst and hit that jump (might help if you close one eye before you do that).
Continue reading Color Me Rufous