Ben’s Big Year

I've talked a little in blog posts before about the arbitrary nature of things-- how we tell time, how we name wildlife, how we define "danger". But i'm here to ask you to indulge me yet again as I dive into the arbitrary. 
When I started Wild New York, the goal was to see as many of the 600 species found in New York City as I could. To date, I've gotten to about 223 of our vertebrate species-- just over a third of the way there. 185 of those are birds. According to iNaturalist, New York hosts 373 species of birds. Compare that with 40 species of reptiles and amphibians, and 39 species of mammals (I'm at 12 and 22 respectively). Obviously, that's a lot of work to do. 

But there’s this thing called seasons.

Reptiles, amphibians, and mammals aren't very active during the winter, but you know who's always around? Birds. Part of the reason birding is such an easy hobby to pick up for fans of the natural world is that nearly every month, you can see something new. Earlier this January, I grabbed a lifer Greater White-fronted Goose, and it's inspired me to make this a Big Year. 

What’s a big Year?

And what are the rules? What's the point? Never you fear-- everything is made up and the points don't matter! Each "Big Year" is different. Some people do it by county, other's by country, and some even just do it in their backyard! My plan is to make it for wherever I happen to find myself. Travel often presents itself when I least expect it, and although I have a few trips planned, I have no idea when and where I may get to this year. So while I plan to try and hit 300 species in New York City, the goal is to finally cross that 300 species threshold in a single calendar year. Make sure you're following me here-- this is where I'll be reporting on my progress!