My Top Birds of 2011

This year has been a fantastic birding year for me.  I added 32 new birds to my life list, 31 to my Arizona list, and 29 to my Pima County list.  I reached my goal of 200 birds for the year in Pima County, finishing with 212.  I also reached 400 life birds and 400 birds in the ABA area.  I saw awesome birds, incredible bird behaviors, and met a lot of great birders.  I've narrowed my best sightings down to the top 15.  Here they are with links to their blog posts:

#15 Sage Sparrow- Avra Valley west of Tucson 12/24/11:

#14 Golden Eagle- San Rafael Valley 12/10/11:

#13 Evening Grosbeak- Mt. Lemmon, Santa Catalina Mtns. 05/08/11:

#12 Burrowing Owl fledglings- found near where I work 06/13/11:

#11 Clay-colored Sparrow- my neighborhood patch 11/06/11:

#10 Elegant Trogon- Madera Canyon 08/06/11:

#9 Streak-backed Oriole- near Patagonia Lake 06/12/11:

#8 Rough-legged Hawk- Kansas Settlement, SE AZ 01/22/11:

#7 Long-tailed Duck- Peña Blanca Lake 11/05/11:

#6 Cape May Warbler- Peña Blanca Lake 09/24/11:

#5 Black-legged Kittiwake- Casa Grande, AZ 11/03/11:

#4 Magnificent Frigatebird- Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico 07/23/11:

#3 Fan-tailed Warbler- Madera Canyon 06/27/11:

photo courtesy Laurens Halsey

#2 Short-eared Owl- San Rafael Valley 12/10/11:

photo courtesy Arlene Ripley 11/23/11

#1 Nutting's Flycatcher- Bill Williams NWR 12/27/11:

Happy New Year everyone!

<--- Flycatcher Fun