Top 10 Birding Memories of 2007

Well I ended my year list at 242 species - with 228 of those in my home state of California - and 203 of those in Orange County. My last bird of 2007 was a gorgeous northern flicker, flying overhead as Drew and I took a walk around my parent's neighborhood. (according to eBird.org)

Geology trip to Death Valley, CA - April 2007.

I liked Amy Hooper's meme on her favorite birding moments of 2007, so here are mine:

1. In November the Central Valley Birding Symposium is an annual delight.
   
2. The PRBO birdathon in October was a great day, and yielded my life sage thrasher.
   
3. The unexpected day-chase of the arctic warblers in Kern was an awesome day.
   
4. Having an old birding friend -Sean Fitzgerald - visit from out of town in August provided me the opportunity to view my own patches through new eyes. 
   
5. My entire July was spent on the road with my boyfriend, and the lifers and birds I saw made it quite a memorable trip.
   
6. Memorial weekend I missed out on the annual trip out to the California deserts - but I saw my life bay-breasted warbler in Huntington, which was a fair exchange in my eyes.
   
7. In April I participated in a Big Day in Orange County, and I hope that I will be asked back to the team again in years to come.
   
8. In February, a rarity chase around Orange County with some of my favorite birders was a great day for me, with worm-eating, yellow-throated, black and white warblers on the list for our day.
9. A long-time friend, Scott Haber, came to Los Angeles, and I got a chance to finally meet face to face and do some LA county birding with him and others.
10. An impromptu day of birding at Tucker Wildlife Sanctuary, with my mentor and friend, Trude Hurd, was an unexpected treat.
11. Like Amy I'm going to cheat and add one more - the entire month of January 2007 was a great month for birding - with visits from Caity R.S. from the midwest, Jim Lomax and John Luther from northern California, as well as Frances Oliver, and Oscar Johnson.

Here's to hoping that 2008 is as filled with wonderful birding experiences as 2007 was! 

Happy New Year - see you all in 2008!