Big Day (Bird Race)
21 May 1997
by Gordon J. Tans
Big Day Statistics:
After that good start, however, the birding turned flat. When we passed our mid-day checkpoint at Portage (11 a.m.) we were at a weak 76 species, but we still held out hope that Homer would be hot like it was the year before. As soon as we hit the Homer Spit, however, we knew there would be no record this year. There were practically no shorebirds there, and the birds on Kachemak Bay were nearly as disappointing. Our total of 98 was the worst of our 6 year quest for 110. This year's result was so uninspiring I have put off this report until the snow is piled deep and the temperature is in the single digits. But we are already studying the '98 tide books, and are considering a May 16 effort, when the shorebirds and waterfowl should be present in good numbers. Can't wait.
Species List
| 1 | Red-throated Loon |
| 2 | Pacific Loon |
| 3 | Common Loon |
| 4 | Horned Grebe |
| 5 | Red-necked Grebe |
| 6 | Double-crested Cormorant |
| 7 | Pelagic Cormorant |
| 8 | Red-faced Cormorant |
| 9 | Trumpeter Swan |
| 10 | Brant |
| 11 | Canada Goose |
| 12 | Green-winged Teal |
| 13 | Mallard |
| 14 | Northern Pintail |
| 15 | Northern Shoveler |
| 16 | Gadwall |
| 17 | American Wigeon |
| 18 | Canvasback |
| 19 | Ring-necked Duck |
| 20 | Greater Scaup |
| 21 | Lesser Scaup |
| 22 | Common Eider |
| 23 | Steller's Eider |
| 24 | Harlequin Duck |
| 25 | White-winged Scoter |
| 26 | Common Goldeneye |
| 27 | Barrow's Goldeneye |
| 28 | Common Merganser |
| 29 | Red-breasted Merganser |
| 30 | Bald Eagle |
| 31 | Red-tailed Hawk |
| 32 | Sandhill Crane |
| 33 | Semipalmated Plover |
| 34 | Black Oystercatcher |
| 35 | Greater Yellowlegs |
| 36 | Lesser Yellowlegs |
| 37 | Wandering Tattler |
| 38 | Spotted Sandpiper |
| 39 | Whimbrel |
| 40 | Hudsonian Godwit |
| 41 | Surfbird |
| 42 | Sanderling |
| 43 | Semipalmated Sandpiper |
| 44 | Western Sandpiper |
| 45 | Least Sandpiper |
| 46 | Pectoral Sandpiper |
| 47 | Short-billed Dowitcher |
| 48 | Common Snipe |
| 49 | Red-necked Phalarope |
| 50 | Bonaparte's Gull |
| 51 | Mew Gull |
| 52 | Herring Gull |
| 53 | Glaucous-winged Gull |
| 54 | Black-legged Kittiwake |
| 55 | Arctic Tern |
| 56 | Common Murre |
| 57 | Pigeon Guillemot |
| 58 | Marbled Murrelet |
| 59 | Tufted Puffin |
| 60 | Rock Dove |
| 61 | Rufous Hummingbird |
| 62 | Belted Kingfisher |
| 63 | Hairy Woodpecker |
| 64 | Olive-sided Flycatcher |
| 65 | Tree Swallow |
| 66 | Violet-green Swallow |
| 67 | Gray Jay |
| 68 | Steller's Jay |
| 69 | Black-billed Magpie |
| 70 | Northwestern Crow |
| 71 | Common Raven |
| 72 | Black-capped Chickadee |
| 73 | Boreal Chickadee |
| 74 | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| 75 | Brown Creeper |
| 76 | American Dipper |
| 77 | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| 78 | Swainson's Thrush |
| 79 | Hermit Thrush |
| 80 | American Robin |
| 81 | Varied Thrush |
| 82 | American Pipit |
| 83 | Bohemian Waxwing |
| 84 | Orange-crowned Warbler |
| 85 | Yellow-rumped Warbler |
| 86 | Townsend's Warbler |
| 87 | Northern Waterthrush |
| 88 | Wilson's Warbler |
| 89 | Savannah Sparrow |
| 90 | Fox Sparrow |
| 91 | Lincoln's Sparrow |
| 92 | Golden-crowned Sparrow |
| 93 | White-crowned Sparrow |
| 94 | Dark-eyed Junco |
| 95 | Red-winged Blackbird |
| 96 | Rusty Blackbird |
| 97 | Common Redpoll |
| 98 | Pine Siskin |
Big Misses:
Downy Woodpecker
Song Sparrow