Year Goal Achieved!

With the addition of Red-necked Grebe today, I finally broke my year goal, which was to see 200 species in my county in New York. To reflect, here are some of the highlights in my county this year:

Snow Geese: 1 earlier in the year w/ Canadas on a pond, 2 just today on the barrier beach, including a blue morph.
Pink-footed Goose: NY's second reported, origins doubted by some pessimists.
Harlequin Duck: 3 drakes and a hen returning to their old spot after an absence of 2 years.
King Eider: 2, one self -found.
Sooty Shearwater: flyby from shore.
Razorbill: only my third ever.
Northern Saw-whet Owl: one adorable bird in an evergreen on the beach.
Long-eared Owl: 1 skittish bird, awful looks!
Western Kingbird: beautiful bird at a new site for me; 2nd for me in NY.
Western Tanager: cooperative bird in a backyard late winter.
Seaside Sparrow: Lucky find in marsh along with the more common Slatmarsh Shapr-tailed Sparrows, and my life Clapper Rail.
Smith's Longspur: 2nd state record! Woohoo!
Orchard Oriole: strange to see one in the county.

Belated happy holidays, and early happy New Years to all!
Brendan