Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all! This is my first post of many for 2014 to document the Big Year of Birding I plan on doing within the boundaries of Lanark County. What is a Big Year? Well the goal is to record as many bird species as possible between January 1st and December 31st, and as far as I know it has not been done before.
Birding has been my obsession since I was a child and I have birded around the globe including a Big Year for Ontario in 2012 when I saw 290 species by travelling to all corners of our province. Now I want to combine exploring all the corners of Lanark County with birding in order to establish the first Big Year count for the county. As well, seeing Lanark in all four seasons should provide a chance to discover more than just birds. I am hoping to become familiar with the landscape and its underlying geology, the trees, plants, forests, wetlands and communities. I plan on posting my progress near the start of each month on the Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists’ website with what I have seen and maybe a few pictures care of my partner Zaza.
If you see any interesting birds within the year please feel free to email me asap at iain.wilkes@hotmail.com and remember to provide clear directions and the date and time of your sighting. A network of birders is essential to a big year!
So until my next post adios amigos.
Iain
