Little Bird Nerd: 200 Birds!

As of my last "50 birds" post, I predicted I would have seen 200 bird species in my home county by August. It turns out this was a gross underestimation of my birding mojo, for I ended up reaching The Big 2-0-0 by May 28th!

My 200th bird was a great one... On this particular morning, I was out to find some specific targets, including the Yellow-breasted Chat at Inwood Stony Creek. This particular chat was chatty as can be, and afforded some brief but repeated appearances. When I was satisfied with my views, it was off into the woods. Here I got my lifer Acadian Flycatcher with the help of Paul Poronto, Macomb birder, photographer, and blogger extraordinaire. Sometime along the way, I happened to look over at just the right moment... and what to my wondering eyes did appear but a Wood Thrush, in all its speckled cinnamon glory!

The Wood Thrush sings a song that reminds me of the Happy Birthday song, with metallic trills at the end of each flutelike phrase. Happy Birthday to meeeee! Happy Birthday to meeeee! Thinking of that beautiful song seemed fitting for this celebratory moment.

Video of its call, courtesy LabofOrnithology:

What follows is the 4th edition of my "50 birds" posts, which includes photos of species I spotted in my home county this year, listed in order by the date I first observed them.

If you want to start from the beginning, here are links to the first three installments:

The first 50 species (observed between January 1st - January 8th)
Species #51-100 (observed between January 11th - April 4th)
Species #101-150 (observed between April 4th - May 2nd)

My next post of this kind will likely be at the end of the year, and will probably include fewer than 50 birds (last year my end of year total was 216 species for the home county). If I surpass that number this year, I'll be super happy; and then, the fun starts over on January 1st. 😊

May 2nd

Red-eyed Vireo

Ring-necked Pheasants

May 3rd

American Redstart

Not pictured: King Rail (an incredibly awesome and uncommon bird and ✨Life Bird #269✨ for me). Unfortunately I never saw it, only heard its distinctive call. Click here to listen, see a range map, and learn more about this species. Its conservation status is listed as "Near Threatened".