As the year draws to a close – yes, only 1.5 months to go – I look at my birding to see what I’ve accomplished or missed. My lens today was my # of species at various Hotspots where I have the most species. I was pleasantly surprised to see of the top 100 Hotspots in RI, I have the most species in 9 of them. The dets:
#10 – Quonnie Breachway – Species: 183 Out of: 235-78% New in 2022: 48
#14 – Succotash Marsh – Species: 130 Out of: 223-56% New in 2022: 34
#20 – Mud Pond – Species: 141 Out of: 207-68% New in 2022: 42
#25 – Moonstone Beach Road – Species: 127 Out of: 188-68% New in 2022: 55
#45 – Card’s Pond – Species: 98 Out of: 166-59% New in 2022: 59
#63 – Avondale Farm – Species: 98 Out of: 157-62% New in 2022: 33
#65 – Gardiner Pond – Species: 92 Out of: 156-59% New in 2022: 25
#73 – Watch Hill Lighthouse – Species: 86 Out of: 153-56% New in 2022: 11
#90 -- Misquamicut State Beach – Species: 67 Out of: 144-47% New in 2022: 34
A few other Hotspots (less than top 100) where I have the most species:
Ponagansett Road – Species: 99 Out of: 124-80% New in 2022: 36
Long & Ell Ponds – Species: 57 Out of: 112-51% New in 2022: 57 – New spot!
Heaton Orchard – Species: 46 Out of: 104-44% New in 2022: 35
So what did I learn –
I haven’t been spending as much time in Avondale or Watch Hill as I had in previous years – I may revisit that
My time at Quonnie has been quite productive – Keep doing that
My winter patches (Mud Pond, Moonstone Beach Rd and Card’s Pond) are working well
More people should bird Gardiner Pond early in the morning.
Exploring new Hotspots is good!
Staying close to home can be very productive!
All in all, I’m pretty happy with all this. I should note, I will never add this many species again -- the thing with birding is as you accumulate history, there are less new species to find. I may have to start venturing out of RI more.
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