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The Dawn of an All Species Big Year

1/1/2015

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PictureMorning Glory Plume Moth
I kissed my first species of the year as the clock struck midnight and my Big Year commenced. Now my wife (Homo sapiens) literally is #1 on my list! But with 999 more species to go, I couldn't tarry. And no, I have no intention of kissing them all! Within minutes, I was bundled up and heading out the door into the uncomfortably cold night.  

I had recently found two species of owls during the Christmas Bird Count at Dorsey's Knob and I hoped to re-locate them both. The first one was easy. All it took was a short walk in the dark and my best whistled rendition of an Eastern Screech-Owl. Within seconds I had one of the diminutive owls fly in and land perhaps 30 feet away. Screech-Owls nest in tree cavities in the lower elevation wooded portions of the park. Unfortunately, the second owl was a no show. I had been hearing a pair of Great Horned Owls calling off and on for a month. Sometimes they called from within the park while at other times they called from the vicinity of the federal minimum security prison located below the park. I knew the Great Horned Owls would be a long shot because they typically fall silent when they begin to incubate their eggs in early January.

As I walked back toward my home at the Groscup Center, I decided to check for moths at some of the dusk to dawn lights at the Dorsey's Knob Lodge. Bingo! A very cold looking Morning Glory Plume Moth clung motionless to the side of the building. A gentle poke confirmed that it was still alive. Unfortunately, it fled the scene before I obtained a picture. To the right is a photo of one that I took at the park late last year. Who says that you can't find moths when the temperature drops below freezing?

Over the course of the day, I picked up several more species on an incidental basis. Hearing the call of a Northern Cardinal just prior to sunrise was quite pleasant. On the other hand, seeing a White-footed Mouse scamper across my kitchen floor was rather unwelcome. Regardless, they both count equally toward reaching my target of 1000 species in 2015
    


Picture
The Sun rises on the first day of my Dorsey's Knob Big Year.
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  • Home
  • Birds
  • Moths
    • WV Micromoths
  • Blog
  • Butterflies
  • WV Moths
    • Family Tortricidae
    • Misc Micromoths
    • Family Limacodidae
    • Family Pyralidae
    • Family Crambidae
    • Family Depranidae
    • Family Uraniidae
    • Family Geometridae
    • Family Apatelodidae
    • Family Lasiocampidae
    • Family Saturniidae
    • Family Sphingidae
    • Family Notodontidae
    • Family Erebidae
    • Family Euteliidae
    • Family Noctuidae