Top Ten Lifers of 2009: Number 10

Without further ado I present my Top Ten Lifers of 2009. I guess at some point in life I won't have 10 life birds in a year but until then I will try and keep up with tradition. This year has given me many great rewards. I had excellent trips to the Bahamas, Maine, and the West Coast. Of course not all of my lifers were found on far flung trips, some of them came from closer to home locations. My number ten bird was found on January 20, 2009 at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge.

I live in South Florida so you must understand that ducks are not necessarily in great number except for a few months out of the year and even then we only have a few species this far south. To see things like Buffleheads and pintails you generally must drive further north. So you can imagine my excitement when my trip to the wildlife refuge netted me my first ever Canvasback. I was birding with my two friends Hewy and Kelly. We stopped for a short hour or two at the refuge. After scanning the wetlands we came up with 34 species. Right before leaving we made one more stop and with the help of my scope I found number 35 for the refuge and my lifer Canvasback. After many celebrations we headed to dinner very happy. It's always great to start the year off with a new bird.