New Birds John Saw in 2009 - Page 2

In the fall of 2009, I transferred from community college up to Humboldt State University, in the redwood country of Northern California. The excitement of spending a long period of time away from home, with a different suite of birds around me, was a great motivator for me to truly begin working on my life list in earnest. I slowly began picking up various birds I should have seen near home already, as well all the new ones I couldn't; I also began keeping track of and chasing rarities when they showed up. At the very end of 2009, while on winter break and visiting my relatives in the desert, I reached a new life list milestone: #250, a Greater Roadrunner, was my halfway point on the road to 500.