Hello All,



I have been enjoying the posts about the Biggest Losers for January as well
as the posts for those that hit or exceeded the 100 mark.  Brian and I are
still somewhat new to birding only having caught the bug on a fateful trip
to Arizona in March of 2009.  Since then we've been working on our list!  So
that brings me to January 2011.  Our first attempt at tracking/documenting
birds this month was the trip to the Wilds on 1/15 where we scored 30
species.  We heard some talk from others about working on their 100.  We
didn't really give it a lot of thought.  Anyhow, the following weekend on
1/22 we wondered where we were with regards to meeting 100 for January,
purely for amusement.  On 1/22 we were at 58 for the month after a great
trek out with Rob Thorn.  The fever kicked in!  We then spent the last 9
days scheming and trying to figure out how we could secure 100.  With this
past weekend our last shot, we spent almost 10 hours on Sunday covering
quite a bit of the western part of Franklin County and a bit of Madison
County.  Needless to say we didn't get to 100 this month but we did end up
with 74.  I quite hope that to be a respectable number.  We did learn that
we need to start earlier in the month next year.



In addition to reaching 74, we ran into a lot of great birders along the
way.  We also added 6 life birds to our list this month bringing us to our
total of 276:



Rough-legged Hawk @ The Wilds (thanks to Tom Bartlett)

Eastern Meadowlark @ The Wilds

Eastern Screech-Owl @ Alum Creek Bike Path (thanks to Rob Thorn's Audubon
trip last weekend)

Common Merganser @ Hoover Park (while searching for the Cackling Geese which
we never found)

Snow Buntings @ Rosedale (thanks to Tom and Karen Beachy for the Madison
County tip) <-- best find of the month for us!!!!

Redhead Ducks @ Circleville



We are so pleased to be a part of this community and we thank each and every
person we've come across that has been patient with us and provided us with
tips, tricks and knowledge that makes us better birders each time we go out.



Here is to a great 2011 for birding here in Ohio!  See you out on the
trails..



Larry DeAtley & Brian Ellyson

Orient, OH

Franklin County


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