I am taking part in a little friendly competition this year, between myself and two of my friends. We are seeing who can see the most bird species in a single year. Expect many photographs this year, since I will try and document everything I see as best I can! I will use this space to show the different places I've gone and the different things that I have seen.

1) The first day of the year I picked up 8 species, the most interesting of which was probably the Rock Pigeons.

2) January 4th was a very good day, and the best birds were a Great Horned Owl and a Red-shouldered Hawk.

3) Still in Ohio on January 9th, I got the chance to see 4 Tundra Swans, some Northern Shovelers, and both species of Kinglets that we have here in North America. The total stands at 46.

4) My trip to South Carolina begins. Pine Warblers and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker are really cool finds. Then I head to Huntington Beach State Park for a day and pick up 29 new species, from Gadwall and Bufflehead to White Ibis and a Wood Stork. My total is now 89 species.

5) On my drive back to Ohio on Rt 77/Rt 33, a Wild Turkey flew over the road. Plus one to my list!

6) January 23rd was a very warm day in Ohio, and a decent day to go birding. Picked up Common Goldeneye and Redhead.

7) February 1st was a decent day as well. Saw some Golden-crowned Kinglets and Ruddy Ducks. Over the next few days I found more Tundra Swans and Brown Creepers. I managed two life-birds as well! Cackling Geese and Black-crowned Night-Herons.

8) On my drive down to South Carolina (again), I saw a Rottweiler carrying a deer carcass from the side of the highway. I was terrified!

9) Saturday, February 18th was spent on Daytona Beach, Florida. I picked up plenty of new birds for the year (like Sandwich Terns and Ruddy Turnstones), as well as two more life-birds! Black Skimmers and Eurasian Collared Doves. A few more days in South Carolina before my return to Ohio on the 23rd and my list is up to 106.

10) Back in Ohio on March 6th, I had a business trip out to the Wilds. An amazing place, truly. While I was there I saw a... wait for it... a Golden Eagle!!! Talk about an amazing bird!

11) March 29th. A lot of new birds are arriving from the south. I see Savannah Sparrows for the first time this year, and the Tree Swallows have been back for a few days.

12) American Pipit! A new life bird on April 4th, and something I've always wanted to see. I also find my first warbler on the year (for Ohio), a Yellow-throated Warbler, which is one of my absolute favorites. Up to 123 birds!

13) It's late April already, and my count keeps rising faster and faster. In one week I'll be leaving to spend some time up at Lake Erie for the Biggest Week in Birding festival, and I'm sure that my count will skyrocket. Recently the warblers have made a major push, and I've seen a ton of Black-throated Greens Wablers, some Nashville Warblers, and even a Blue-winged Warbler. The favorite sighting though was a very amiable White-eyed Vireo, something I had never gotten a good look at before. My count is now up to 149, and I've already beaten my year counts from 2008 and 2009.

14) Another trip to Blendon Woods (where I picked up my Blue-winged Warbler) and I see... even more Blue-winged Warblers! I also get my first Scarlet and Summer Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles, Indigo Bunting, Spotted Sandpipers, Hooded Warblers, Kentucky Warbler and so on. My list is now at 165!

15) The long awaited trip to Magee Marsh! This is the mecca of birding in North America, or at least the only one that I have easy access to. A few friends join my on my trip up to Lake Erie and on the first day I added Northern Waterthrushes, Common Terns, Sandhill Crane, Veery, Blue-headed Vireo, Prothonotary Warbler, and a surprising number of Cape May Warblers. On the second day (2 days later), I finally see my first Louisiana Waterthrush, Canada Warbler, and I see an Olive-sided Flycatcher for the first time. The list stands at 186, which is already the most species that I've ever seen in North America in one year!

Here is the (continually updated) list of birds that I've seen in 2012:

Cackling Goose
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swan
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Ring-necked Pheasant
Wild Turkey
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Wood Stork
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Rough-legged Hawk
Golden Eagle
American Kestrel
Sora
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Pectoral Sandpiper
Dunlin
Wilson's Snipe
American Woodcock
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Royal Tern
Sandwich Tern
Black Skimmer
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Eastern Screech-Owl
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Horned Lark
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Northern Waterthrush
Blue-winged Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Kentucky Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Cape May Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Canada Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
Eastern Towhee
American Tree Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Summer Tanager
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch
House Finch
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Total: 186

For reference (mostly my own), here are my numbers from previous years (United States only).

2008- 142

2009- 144

2010- 181

2011- 156