Big Year Brazos County 2015

On a whim, and spurred by an unusually insatiable need to go see things, I decided to do a Big Year in Brazos County in 2015. It at least kept me close to home and kept me busy (or productively procrastinating).

Why did I do this? I don’t know… I’ll try to explain more at the end. Suffice to say, it was the right time to commit to something a little eccentric like this!

Let’s break this down by some general grouping, as I’m sure no one wants a day-by-day report (and I don’t want to write it!)!

How many roads must a man walk down, before he finds that dang finch!?!?
Frequently traveled county roads highlighted in blue.

CBC! CBC! CBC!

In the coming weeks, people around the world will venture out into their backyards, city parks, fields, ponds, lakes, and nearby forests to count the number of birds flying around participating in Audubon's Christmas Bird Count. 115+ years ago, people would relax after the Christmas festivities by shooting as many birds as they could. Big, small, colorful, drab, good to eat or just something in your backyard- didn’t matter. Shoot 'em and count 'em!

In 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman proposed that people should go out and count the birds instead of shoot them! An idea that came too late to stem the decline of species such as the Passenger Pigeon or Carolina Parakeet, but one that started the longest running citizen science project in the U.S.

Savannah Sparrow from TXCS CBC 2012