Journey to 1000 bird species

     To me, the harshest part of birding in USA in terms of targeting birds is NE US coast during winter. I felt this was the right time to do it, and booked a flight to JFK airport at NY for Chistmas. I wanted to target the birds that come down from Greenland and the parts of Canada near the poles to the NE US coast for the winter. The main target was Purple Sandpiper which I have nowhere else to see in US. Some birds also winter on the NW US coast. I feel NW coast is easier weather-wise and more scenic. Little Gull was a consideration, but it was sighted twice in Dec along the coast. It is sometimes at the Great Lakes, which are out of the way. It also wanders to TX sometimes. So it was not a target, but I wanted to keep an eye out for it. I later heard it is relatively easier on NE coast in April during migration staging with Bonaparte's Gulls. Glaucous Gull had very few reports, and I wanted to keep an eye for it too. Black-legged Kittiwakes had sightings along Cape ...

     My first trip to Granger Lake area was with a Travis Audubon group in Jan 2014. We saw good birds, but dipped on Mountain Plovers, which are winter visitors to TX. My highlight during that trip was good looks at Burrowing Owls, and I was getting into a fever which I initially mistook as tiredness due to lack of enough sleep. My next visit was for Striped Sparrow in Jan 2015. The sparrow was rejected by TBRC though, and so I'm not counting it. I tried for Mountain Plovers during that trip and dipped. Spotting them requires carefully scanning mega fields on County Roads. Mountain Plovers      In Feb that year, I made an attempt for Longspurs and the plovers and dipped on both. In Nov 2017 I made another attempt and dipped. On my fifth (or sixth in case I'm missing another Travis Audubon trip) attempt this Sat, I got them just before sundown! I noted three birds fly a short distance and drop down. The fields had Meadowlarks, but the flight was like...