Running Tallies and Needs Lists

I adjusted a lot of the language in here to reflect that it is now a Final Tally and Missed Birds List! Mission accomplished, however: 158 birds in Columbia (life list is now 161, so I saw all but three of those birds during this year!) and 151 birds in Walla Walla (life list is now 177!). I'll be returning to Columbia in future years to bring that tally to 175, but this year was nearly everything I hoped it would be. 

Columbia:

Code 1 Birds (58 of 60 species seen): I usually count on getting all of the code 1 birds in a county. This has usually been a good guide. In years where I am splitting time between counties, I've sometimes missed these birds... but it feels like the difficulty of Columbia County is going to inspire some focused efforts to at *least* get all of these. Hoping for all 60. The nighthawk would put me at 156 for the year, but it may be a toughie if I don't get out at the right time and place soon. 

1. Common Nighthawk

Code 2 birds (52 of 55 species seen): Not hard to find in general, but there is usually at least one that escapes me. So, I figure 54 of these is a reasonable goal. Picking up a couple more of these plus the nighthawk above would have me at 158 for the year. 

1. American Coot
2. Caspian Tern
3. Barn Owl

Code 3 Birds (23 of 28 seen): I usually am able to track down 80 percent of the code 3 species. Here that would mean 22-23 of them. I rounded to 23 in my initial estimate, figuring that. . .if it earned a code 3 in Columbia, it must be fairly reliable. Just being seen annually in an under-birded county should indicate that Herculean efforts may not be necessary. Dead on! Some of these misses may have required a kayak. But those grassland sparrows... They just feel like they've gotten tough. 

Oh, and that woodpecker can (unsavory language redacted). It will be nice to head back to the county in future years in an attempt to get the life list to 175! Certainly... American Three-toed Woodpecker will be one of the main targets. :)

1. Cinnamon Teal
2. Lesser Scaup
3. American Three-toed Woodpecker
4. Grasshopper Sparrow
5. Vesper Sparrow

Code 4 birds: I don't usually list code 4 birds in the needs list, but... I needed them this year! To hit 150, I figured I'd need 13 at least. I had some high hopes for the code 4's actually. "Not seen annually" might have more to do with how infrequently people bird in Columbia County, and less about the presence of these birds in the county. But how high were my hopes for these birds (and the similarly long list of code 5 birds)? Unlike so many previous years, where I've made some guesses, I just didn't think I had enough information to make a refined guess. I'd have been surprised if I fell short of 150, and I'd have been surprised if I hit 175. So, split the difference, and guessed 162? That would mean 25 higher coded birds, and I'd say that getting 22 of them made that a good guess in the end!

Remaining Code 4 birds: 

1. Trumpeter Swan
2. Tundra Swan
3. Wood Duck
4. Blue-winged Teal
5. Northern Shoveler
6. Canvasback
7. Redhead
8. Barrow's Goldeneye
9. Ruddy Duck
10. Common Poorwill
11. White-throated Swift
12. Least Sandpiper
13. Western Sandpiper
14. Wilson's Snipe
15. Solitary Sandpiper
16. Greater Yellowlegs
17. Bonaparte's Gull
18. Glaucous-winged Gull
19. Black-crowned Night-Heron
20. Flammulated Owl
21. Burrowing Owl
22. Great Gray Owl
23. Short-eared Owl
24. Boreal Owl
25. Black-backed Woodpecker
26. White-headed Woodpecker
27. Merlin
28. Prairie Falcon
29. Loggerhead Shrike
30. Blue Jay
31. Bohemian Waxwing
32. Pygmy Nuthatch
33. American Pipit
34. Pine Grosbeak
35. American Tree Sparrow
36. Yellow-headed Blackbird
37. Common Yellowthroat
38. American Redstart

Higher coded birds seen: (22!) January: Cackling Goose (4), Short billed Gull (5), White-breasted Nuthatch (4), Virginia Rail (4), Long-eared Owl (4), Northern Saw-whet Owl (4) and Gadwall (4). February: White-throated Sparrow (4), Eared Grebe (4). March: Northern Pintail (4), Chukar (4), Clark's Nutcracker (4), Ferruginous Hawk (4), Barred Owl (5) May: American White Pelican (4), Spotted Sandpiper (4) June: Green-tailed Towhee (4), Nashville Warbler (4) July: Dusky Grouse (4), Red-eyed Vireo (4), and Brewer's Sparrow (4) September: Solitary Sandpiper (4)

I really wanted to pick up some of the cooler owls - Boreal would be a life bird. Getting to see (not just hear) Great Gray Owl would have been a treat. Both were seen in the county this year, but not by me!

Columbia Running Tally: 

1. Cackling Goose (4)
2. Canada Goose (1)
3. Gadwall (4)
4. American Wigeon (2)
5. Mallard (1)
6. Northern Pintail (4)
7. Green-winged Teal (3)
8. Ring-necked Duck (2)
9. Bufflehead (2)
10. Common Goldeneye (2)
11. Hooded Merganser (1)
12. Common Merganser (1)
13. California Quail (1)
14. Wild Turkey (1)
15. Ruffed Grouse (2)
16. Dusky Grouse (4)
17. Gray Partridge (3)
18. Ring-necked Pheasant (1)
19. Chukar (4)
20. Pied-billed Grebe (2)
21. Horned Grebe (3)
22. Eared Grebe (4)
23. Western Grebe (3)
24. Rock Pigeon (1)
25. Eurasian Collared-Dove (2)
26. Mourning Dove (1)
27. Vaux's Swift (1)
28. Rufous Hummingbird (2)
29. Black-chinned Hummingbird (2)
30. Calliope Hummingbird (2)
31. Virginia Rail (4)
32. Killdeer (1)
33. Spotted Sandpiper (4)
34. Solitary Sandpiper (4)
35. Bonaparte's Gull (4)
36. Short-billed Gull (5)
37. Ring-billed Gull (1)
38. California Gull (1)
39. Herring Gull (2)
40. Double-crested Cormorant (2)
41. American White Pelican (4)
42. Great Blue Heron (1)
43. Turkey Vulture (3)
44. Osprey (2)
45. Golden Eagle (2)
46. Northern Harrier (1)
47. Sharp-shinned Hawk (2)
48. Cooper's Hawk (2)
49. American Goshawk (3)
50. Bald Eagle (2)
51. Swainson's Hawk (2)
52. Red-tailed Hawk (1)
53. Rough-legged Hawk (1)
54. Ferruginous Hawk (4)
55. Western Screech-Owl (3)
56. Great Horned Owl (1)
57. Northern Pygmy-Owl (2)
58. Barred Owl (5)
59. Long-eared Owl (4)
60. Northern Saw-whet Owl (4)
61. Belted Kingfisher (1)
62. Lewis's Woodpecker (3)
63. Williamson's Sapsucker (3)
64. Red-naped Sapsucker (2)
65. Downy Woodpecker (2)
66. Hairy Woodpecker (2)
67. Northern Flicker (1)
68. Pileated Woodpecker (3)
69. Eastern Kingbird (1)
70. Western Kingbird (1)
71. Olive-sided Flycatcher (2)
72. Western Wood-Pewee (1)
73. Willow Flycatcher (2)
74. Hammond's Flycatcher (2)
75. Dusky Flycatcher (1)
76. American Kestrel (1)
77. Western Flycatcher (3)
78. Say's Phoebe (1) 
79. Cassin's Vireo (2)
80. Warbling Vireo (2)
81. Red-eyed Vireo (4)
82. Northern Shrike (2)
83. Canada Jay (2)
84. Steller's Jay (1)
85. Clark's Nutcracker (4)
86. Black-billed Magpie (1)
87. American Crow (2)
88. Common Raven (1)
89. Black-capped Chickadee (1)
90. Mountain Chickadee (2)
91. Chestnut-backed Chickadee (3)
92. Horned Lark (1)
93. Bank Swallow (2)
94. Tree Swallow (3)
95. Violet-green Swallow (1)
96. Northern Rough-winged Swallow (2)
97. Barn Swallow (1)
98. Cliff Swallow (1)
99. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
100. Golden-crowned Kinglet (1)
101. Cedar Waxwing (1)
102. Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)
103. White-breasted Nuthatch (4)
104. Brown Creeper (2)
105. Rock Wren (1)
106. Canyon Wren (2)
107. Bewick's Wren (1)
108. Northern House Wren (1)
109. Pacific Wren (3)
110. Marsh Wren (3)
111. Gray Catbird (3)
112. European Starling (1)
113. American Dipper (2)
114. Western Bluebird (2)
115. Mountain Bluebird (2)
116. Townsend's Solitaire (2)
117. American Robin (1)
118. Varied Thrush (2)
119. Veery (3)
120. Swainson's Thrush (2)
121. Hermit Thrush (2)
122. House Sparrow (1)
123. Evening Grosbeak (3)
124. Gray-crowned Rosy Finch (3)
125. House Finch (1)
126. Cassin's Finch (1)
127. Red Crossbill (2)
128. Pine Siskin (1)
129. Lesser Goldfinch (2)
130. American Goldfinch (1)
131. Lark Sparrow (3)
132. Chipping Sparrow (1)
133. Brewer's Sparrow (4)
134. Fox Sparrow (2)
135. Dark-eyed Junco (1)
136. White-crowned Sparrow (2)
137. White-throated Sparrow (4)
138. Savannah Sparrow (2)
139. Song Sparrow (1)
140. Lincoln's Sparrow (3)
141. Green-tailed Towhee (4)
142. Spotted Towhee (1)
143. Yellow-breasted Chat (3)
144. Western Meadowlark (1)
145. Bullock's Oriole (1)
146. Red-winged Blackbird (1)
147. Brown-headed Cowbird (2)
148. Brewer's Blackbird (1)
149. Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
150. Nashville Warbler (4)
151. MacGillivray's Warbler (2)
152. Yellow Warbler (1)
153. Yellow-rumped Warbler (2)
154. Townsend's Warbler (2)
155. Wilson's Warbler (3)
156. Western Tanager (1)
157. Black-headed Grosbeak (2)
158. Lazuli Bunting (1)

Walla Walla

Code 1 (111 of 125 found): Just enough! I ended the year with 151 year birds in Walla Walla (150 being the ultimate bottom-line goal), and 175 for my life list (my eventual goal in every county!) I felt like this was a good bit of precision work, as 12 of the birds below are already on my life list in the county. I could have sought out more hummingbird feeders, could have hit more riparian habitat in the warm months, but in the end, it seems like the time was well spent elsewhere! 

1. Black-chinned Hummingbird
2. Calliope Hummingbird
3. Dunlin
4. Wilson's Snipe
5. Sharp-shinned Hawk
6. Great Horned Owl
7. Willow Flycatcher
8. Western Flycatcher
9. Cassin's Vireo
10. Warbling Vireo
11. Veery
12. Swainson's Thrush
13. Hermit Thrush
14. Fox Sparrow

Code 2 birds (27 of 63 found): Again, just enough! I did miss more birds here that could have potentially gotten onto my life list. Between the code 1 and 2 birds, it feels like a lot of shorebirds! Clearly just 5, but I know during shorebird season, I never quite got the shorebird habitat for Walla Walla figured out. Seeing birds like Grasshopper Sparrow, Vesper Sparrow, and Long-eared Owl remind me that I went light on some of those wide-open spaces in the county. 

1. Trumpeter Swan
2. Ruffed Grouse
3. Clark's Grebe
4. White-throated Swift
5. Rufous Hummingbird
6. Baird's Sandpiper
7. Semipalmated Sandpiper
8. Solitary Sandpiper
9. Forster's Tern
10. Goden Eagle
11. American Goshawk
12. Rough-legged Hawk
13. Western Screech-Owl
14. Northern Pygmy-Owl
15. Long-eared Owl
16. Red-naped Sapsucker
17. Pileated Woodpecker
18. Merlin
19. Peregrine Falcon 
20. Prairie Falcon
21. Say's Phoebe
22. Loggerhead Shrike
23. Northern Shrike
24. Chestnut-backed Chickadee
25. Brown Creeper
26. Canyon Wren
27. Pacific Wren
28. American Dipper
29. Mountain Bluebird
30. Townsend's Solitaire
31. Evening Grosbeak
32. Red Crossbill
33. Grasshopper Sparrow
34. Vesper Sparrow
35. Nashville Warbler
36. Wilson's Warbler

Code 3 birds (11 of 57 species found): The only one on here bugging me is the Ross's Goose! I saw so many Snow Geese, and there were some Ross's Geese seen in the county this year. Would have been a life bird for me, but it was missed! Actually, throw White-faced Ibis in there too. I have seen them! But only in King County. It would have been nice to pick up that species in what seems to be the easiest place to find them in the state.  

Here, at any rate, are the code 3's

1. Ross's Goose
2. Surf Scoter
3. Red-breasted Merganser
4. Dusky Grouse
5. Red-necked Grebe
6. Anna's Hummingbird
7. Sora
8. Sandhill Crane
9. Semipalmated Plover
10. Long-billed Curlew
11. Marbled Godwit
12. Stilt Sandpiper
13. Sabine's Gull
14. Short-billed Gull
15. Western Gull
16. Iceland Gull
17. Lesser Black-backed Gull
18. Glaucous gull
19. Black Tern
20. Common Tern
21. Pacific Loon
22. American Bittern
23. White-faced Ibis
24. Great Gray Owl
25. Short-eared Owl
26. Lewis's Woodpecker
27. Olive-sided Flycatcher
28. Least Flycatcher
29. Red-eyed Vireo
30. Canada Jay
31. Blue Jay
32. Bohemian Waxwing
33. White-breasted Nuthatch
34. Sage Thrasher
35. Pine Grosbeak
36. Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
37. Purple Finch
38. Common Redpoll
39. Lapland Longspur
40. Brewer's Sparrow
41. American Tree Sparrow
42. Golden-crowned Sparrow
43. Harris's Sparrow
44. White-throated Sparrow
45. Swamp Sparrow
46. Green-tailed Towhee

Walla Walla County final tally for the year! And my life list in the county when it was all said and done? 177! 56 new species added to my life list in the county. To be able to do this in a year when I found over 150 species in Columbia as well was pretty satisfying: 

1. Snow Goose (1)
2. Greater White-fronted Goose (2)
3. Cackling Goose (2)
4. Canada Goose (1)
5. Tundra Swan (1)
6. Wood Duck (1)
7. Blue-winged Teal (2)
8. Cinnamon Teal (1)
9. Northern Shoveler (1)
10. Gadwall (1)
11. Eurasian Wigeon (3)
12. American Wigeon (1)
13. Mallard (1)
14. Northern Pintail (1)
15. Green-winged Teal (1)
16. Canvasback (1)
17. Redhead (1)
18. Ring-necked Duck (1)
19. Greater Scaup (1)
20. Lesser Scaup (1)
21. Long-tailed Duck (4)
22. Bufflehead (1)
23. Common Goldeneye (1)
24. Barrow's Goldeneye (2)
25. Hooded Merganser (1)
26. Common Merganser (1)
27. Ruddy Duck (1)
28. California Quail (1)
29. Wild Turkey (1)
30. Gray Partridge (3)
31. Ring-necked Pheasant (1)
32. Rock Pigeon (1)
33. Eurasian Collared Dove (1)
34. Mourning Dove (1)
35. Common Nighthawk (2)
36. Vaux's Swift (1)
37. American Coot (1)
38. Virginia Rail (2)
39. Black-necked Stilt (1)
40. American Avocet (2)
41. Black-bellied Plover (3)
42. Killdeer (1)
43. Sanderling (3)
44. Least Sandpiper (1)
45. Pectoral Sandpiper (2)
46. Western Sandpiper (1)
47. Short-billed Dowitcher (3)
48. Long-billed Dowitcher (1)
49. Lesser Yellowlegs (1)
50. Greater Yellowlegs (1)
51. Wilson's Phalarope (2)
52. Red-necked Phalarope (2)
53. Spotted Sandpiper (1)
54. Franklin's Gull (3)
55. Ring-billed Gull (1)
56. American Herring Gull (1)
57. California Gull (1)
58. Glaucous-winged Gull (1)
59. Bonaparte's Gull (2)
60. Caspian Tern (1)
61. Pied-billed Grebe (1)
62. Horned Grebe (1)
63. Eared Grebe (2)
64. Western Grebe (1)
65. Common Loon (2)
66. Double-crested Cormorant (1)
67. Great Egret (1)
68. Great Blue Heron (1)
69. Black-crowned Night-Heron (2)
70. American White Pelican (1)
71. Turkey Vulture (2)
72. Osprey (1)
73. Cooper's Hawk (1)
74. Northern Harrier (1)
75. Bald Eagle (1)
76. Swainson's Hawk (1)
77. Red-tailed Hawk (1)
78. Ferruginous Hawk (3)
79. American Barn Owl (2)
80. Northern Saw-whet Owl (2)
81. Belted Kingfisher (1)
82. Williamson's Sapsucker (3)
83. Downy Woodpecker (1)
84. Hairy Woodpecker (1)
85. Northern Flicker (1)
86. American Kestrel (1)
87. Western Kingbird (1)
88. Eastern Kingbird (1)
89. Western Wood Pewee (1)
90. Hammond's Flycatcher (2)
91. Gray Flycatcher (3)
92. Dusky Flycatcher (2)
93. Steller's Jay (1)
94. California Scrub-Jay (4)
95. Black-billed Magpie (1)
96. American Crow (1)
97. Common Raven (1)
98. Black-capped Chickadee (1)
99. Mountain Chickadee (2)
100. Horned Lark (1)
101. Bank Swallow (1)
102. Tree Swallow (1)
103. Violet-green Swallow (1)
104. Northern Rough-winged Swallow (1)
105. Barn Swallow (1)
106. Cliff Swallow (1)
107. Golden-crowned Kinglet (2)
108. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (1)
109. Red-breasted Nuthatch (1)
110. Rock Wren (2)
111. Northern House Wren (1)
112. Marsh Wren (1)
113. Bewick's Wren (1)
114. Gray Catbird (1)
115. European Starling (1)
116. Western Bluebird (1)
117. American Robin (1)
118. Varied Thrush (2)
119. Cedar Waxwing (1)
120. House Sparrow (1)
121. American Pipit (2)
122. House Finch (1)
123. Cassin's Finch (2)
124. Pine Siskin (1)
125. Lesser Goldfinch (1)
126. American Goldfinch (1)
127. Chipping Sparrow (1)
128. Lark Sparrow (2)
129. Dark-eyed Junco (1)
130. White-crowned Sparrow (1)
131. Savannah Sparrow (1)
132. Song Sparrow (1)
133. Lincoln's Sparrow (2)
134. Spotted Towhee (1)
135. Yellow-breasted Chat (1)
136. Yellow-headed Blackbird (1)
137. Western Meadowlark (1)
138. Bullock's Oriole (1)
139. Red-winged Blackbird (1)
140. Tricolored Blackbird (3)
141. Brown-headed Cowbird (1)
142. Brewer's Blackbird (1)
143. Orange-crowned Warbler (1)
144. MacGillivray's Warbler (1)
145. Common Yellowthroat (3)
146. Yellow Warbler (1)
147. Yellow-rumped Warbler (1)
148. Townsend's Warbler (1)
149. Western Tanager (1)
150. Black-headed Grosbeak (1)
151. Lazuli Bunting (1)