Outside Xmas Been Good or Bad Lists…Wildlife Checklists for New Year

Like you, I've been out and about looking for wildlife (mostly birds) to add to my lists (annual and life) for the new year. So far, it has been slow going compared to last year. Thirteen species of birds are on my checklist year-to-date. Caveat being short time invested (about 4 hours) and habitat visited. Two habitats have been concentrated on at this point, open country and Rocky Mountain Forest a) Subalpine Mesic Spruce-Fir and b) Dry-Mesic Montane Mixed. Targets for a: buteos, horned larks, snow buntings and longspurs and b: winter finches and corvids. Have done well with buteos (photo below).

Rough-legged Hawk

The forest has been really quiet...winter finches are mostly absent (CBC's bear this out). For good reason, the cone crop is pretty much non-existent. I took a field trip to Lolo Pass and found few trees (photo below, likely Subalpine Fir) with cones. The good news is the snowpack (44 inches) is 84% of normal.

Lolo Pass-Conifers and Snowpack

I record my sightings, observations in a variety of ways, hard copy and digital. I've downloaded the AOU checklist (American Ornithologists Union) and imported it into Google Sheets for annual and life list tracking. By being cloud-based, I can reach my list using any computer, tablet. Similarly, have downloaded and adapted checklists (mostly national) for dragonflies (Odonates really...provided by the Slater Museum-University of Puget Sound), butterflies (source: North American Butterfly Association), and wildflowers (Montana has an excellent natural heritage web site for plants...your State probably has extensive resources also).
The way I'm doing this is a bit dated; there is a plethora of digital resources (apps) coming online. Included are checklists (E-Bird) integrated with identification guides and natural history information (Audubon Bird Guide)...all in a mobile platform. App checklist competition comes from a published work by Whit Bronaugh titled Wildlife of North America-A Naturalists Lifelist.
Yes, tracking wildlife-watching efforts is important, think S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-based) objectives for learning about wildlife. Just don't forget wildlife-watching (drilled down from generic just "being outside" category) is also a path for daily happiness (being in the moment); here's a visual checklist "how-to-be-happy" from Pinfographics.
Leave me a comment with a link to your recent observation checklist :-)

Sunday, March 28 was predicted to be a wonderful day weatherwise. Knowing that I had not seen a mountain bluebird or any winter finch yet this year made me decide to go "up" Highway 12 to Lolo Pass (~6th trip this way!...don't know if qualifies as ignorace or determination). Counted 9 Steller's jay (Cyanocitta stelleri) on the road shoulder on the way to the pass; am guessing they were getting "grit". 1st stop of day was abrupt about 25 miles from Highway 93...a large wet meadow (guessing about 6/7 football fields long and maybe 4 wide) when I saw a Mountain bluebird (Sialia currocoides) perched on a fencepost. Made a u-turn and parked at a Lewis & Clark Trail interpretive sign/pull-off. Filmed the two male flycatching...like living turquoise.

Finished drive to the Pass. Stood in the parking lot for 15 minutes listening for singing/calling winter finches...no luck. Got back in car, stopped at highway listening for traffic coming out of Idaho (don't want to pull out in front of an 18-wheeler going downhill) and hear a crossbill singing instead of traffic. Parked, ran over to stop with video camera and captured the following footage (good sound, poor image) of ONLY one bird...how lucky can you get.

Smiling to myself, headed downhill. Made couple of stops. Heard ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbrellus) drumming along wooded streamside. Stopped at a wet meadow opening in the forest listening for fox sparrow...no luck, but take photos of granite rock (igneous origin) unique to lands at and above (underlain by the Idaho batholith) the Lolo Hot Springs. After appreciating the frozen flow of rock, went to the Lolo Campground. Heard fox sparrow (Passerella ilica) singing somewhat continuously...also a fine spot for finding chestnut-backed chickadee (Poecile rufescens). Last stop at Travelers' Rest State Park (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Lolo-MT/Travelers-Rest-State-Park/216753297384?ref=mf), sighted a Lewis woodpecker off a distance though diagnostic by flight/shape. A great day outside...now at 107 species for year and 91 species for month