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                            Tom Munson, Idaho Fish and Game
They never said it would be easy, counting the days by birds. With four weeks in on the Bird-A-Day Challenge, I’m already feeling the pressure to hang on for at least one more day, another week, possibly another month.

If you haven’t heard of it before, the is a game played by birders from around the country. The objective: Count how many days in a row you can find a “new” bird. (New = recorded for the first time in this game.)

The rule: You must never repeat a species, nor go a day without seeing a different one. If you do, you are out of the challenge.

The key to victory: Strategy. And miles and miles of highway. If you’re going to be serious about playing this game, you have to be willing to reach for the most challenging birds from the very beginning—save the common birds like pigeon and cardinal to the end, unless you’re really in a bind. Even then, think like a player: If it has to be an easy bird, make it one that won’t hang around all year. Choose a migrant. Hold on to those residents for as long as you can.

This week I chose a mix of both. I recorded some winter birds—Snow Goose, Horned Lark, Great Cormorant. But I also had to pick a few common ones—White-breasted Nuthatch, House Finch, Northern Mockingbird. The Black Vulture is the outlier; it’s a resident in my area, but somewhat uncommon because this is the northern end of its range.

It is no coincidence that two of the most challenging birds—Horned Lark and Snow Goose—fell on a weekend. The workweek is a tough time to go cruising around for uncommon species, unless you work outside, are independently wealthy, or retired—or all of the above.

I am none of those. Therefore an easy bird, or two, or three, is bound to join my weekly list. But that’s okay; I’m just playing for fun.

Are you playing along too? If you want to try this, you can start whenever you want; no need to wait until next New Year's Day. See how many days you can last. And share the birds you’re finding with us here on the Perch, and on Facebook and Twitter.

What follows is an update of my list so far.

BIRD-A-DAY?January 2012

New Year’s Day: Red-Throated Loon??
Day 2: Greater Scaup??
3: Common Merganser? ?
4: Black Duck??
5: Red-shouldered Hawk?
6: Canvasback?
7: Northern Gannet?
8: Lesser Scaup?
9: Red-bellied Woodpecker?
10: Brant?
11: Fish Crow?
12: Hooded Merganser?
13: Northern Harrier?
14: Pied-billed Grebe?
15:Bonaparte’s Gull?
16:Horned Grebe?
17: Common Goldeneye?
18: Dark-eyed Junco?
19: Common Raven?
20: Hairy Woodpecker
21: Horned Lark
22: Snow Goose
23: Northern Mockingbird
24: Black Vulture
25: Great Cormorant
26: House Finch
27: White-Breasted Nuthatch