Hi Everyone,

Nearly all of us who suffer from the addiction of birding are familiar with the temporary madness known as a Big Day and a Big Year. The grueling intensity of a Big Day pushes physical and mental limits, its logistical details so complex as to be absurd. At its competitive limits, it requires that participants master the most subtle calls and distant IDs. On the other extreme, a Big Year is a cruel test of one's tenacity. Keeping focused after missing that Olive-sided Flycatcher for the 11th time requires a special brand of obstinacy. 

But there is a more twisted form yet, and you can count on Maryland birders to celebrate it--the Big January. You see, at the end of a Big Day there is sleep. In a Big Year, you can save a few white-winged gulls or a Lapland Longspur for December. To pursue a record Big January, the insane competitor must see nearly everything--plus a lot of rarities--and under patently miserable conditions. Searching for low-density wintering species such as Sora and Seaside Sparrow is a real challenge, but a decidedly rewarding one.

This year, a handful of Maryland birders fell victim to Big January Madness, and set out to break Marshall Iliff's record of 178 species set in 1998 or 1999. The second place record of 177 species was set by Matt Hafner in 2003. 

Jim Stasz hit the ground running in 2009, and by the end of January 1st, he had picked up Rufous Hummingbird, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow-throated Warbler, Eurasian Wigeon, and Red-necked Grebe. Others had productive days, but they weren't fully infected just yet. Their illness might be described as "Reasonable Big Year Fever." Then on January 3rd, four of us decided to launch an impromptu attack on the January Big Day record of 138 species set by Jim Stasz, Matt Hafner, Marshall Iliff, and George Armistead. I joined Jim Brighton, Mikey Lutmerding, and Ron Gutberlet for one of our craziest days, and somehow we managed to see 134 species--so, so close! We had also caught Big January Madness.

This explains why you might have seen reports from any of these lunatics from Washington and Worcester Counties in the same day, and why an Orange-crowned Warbler was chased like it was a Lazuli Bunting. I kept pace briefly, but surrendered after my schedule could not absorb a 15-minute-notice trip to Massachusetts. And then there were four.

Jim Stasz, Jim Brighton, Ron Gutberlet, and Mikey Lutmerding carried on, all of them supposedly still attending jobs and meeting social obligations. Their vehicles' odometers begged for mercy. Wawas ran out of caffeinated beverages. Cruel text messages boasted triumphantly of Great Egrets and Saltmarsh Sparrows. 

Finally, it was January 31st and the four were spread out from Garrett to Worcester. Stasz is summoning grouse from the mountain tops in 7 degree weather and Jim Brighton is driving from Queen Anne's to southern Worcester via Triadelphia. 

And then the results were in. They ALL won. 

Stasz crushed the record by 11 species with an incredible total of 189, followed as closely as possible by Jim Brighton with 188. Ron Gutberlet came in with 184 and Mikey Lutmerding with 182. 

Jim Brighton said, "Even though it was an awesome month for rarities, I believe that it might have been possible to at least match the record without all the rarities." Not so any longer. Future competitors will have to pick the right year and out-insane the quite insane. Of course, if you are the type of person who is prone to such a thing, you just became more interested. We all agree with Stasz that someday someone will break 200.

A partial list of the non-annual January rarities: Tufted Duck, Barrow's Goldeneye, Dovekie, Razorbill, American White Pelican, Snowy Owl, Rufous Hummingbird, Northern Shrike, Yellow-throated Warbler, Dickcissel, Lark Sparrow, White-winged Crossbill, and Common Redpoll. A much longer list of great birds could easily be compiled to include eiders, white-winged gulls, rails, and the other 'expected' rarities.

SELECTED MISSES - I asked each of them about their misses.

Jim Stasz: Brown Pelican, Harlequin Duck, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Glossy Ibis, Common Yellowthroat. Others that might have been possible: Northern Fulmar, Manx Shearwater, Green Heron, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Goshawk, Sora, Common Moorhen, Black Rail, Piping Plover, Laughing Gull, Little Gull, Black-headed Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Atlantic Puffin, both murres, Blue-headed Vireo, Northern Shrike, Nashville Warbler, Yellow-breasted Chat, Painted Bunting, Clay-colored Sparrow, Le Conte's Sparrow, Lincoln's Sparrow, Harris's Sparrow, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Hoary Redpoll, Red Crossbill, Evening Grosbeak. 

** Of these, I know that the following were seen by some of the others: Harlequin Duck, Common Yellowthroat, Blue-winged Teal, Northern Goshawk, Sora, Common Moorhen, Northern Shrike, and Red Crossbill.

Jim Brighton: Brown Pelican, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Glossy Ibis, Peregrine Falcon, Northern Bobwhite, Western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, godwits, Black-headed Gull, Little Gull, Razorbill, swallows other than Tree, Blue-headed Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Lincoln's and Clay-colored Sparrows, Brewer's Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, Common Redpoll.

Ron Gutberlet: Red-necked Grebe, Brown Pelican, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Glossy Ibis, Ring-necked Pheasant, Northern Bobwhite, Golden Eagle, Least Sandpiper, godwits, Black-headed Gull, Little Gull, Razorbill, Blue-headed Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Lincoln's and Clay-colored Sparrows, Brewer's Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, Common Redpoll.

Mikey Lutmerding: Red-necked Grebe, Brown Pelican, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Glossy Ibis, Ring-necked Pheasant, Northern Bobwhite, Golden Eagle, Long-billed Dowitcher, Least Sandpiper, Black-headed Gull, Little 
Gull, Dovekie, Snowy Owl, Blue-headed Vireo, Nashville Warbler, Lincoln's and Clay-colored Sparrows, Brewer's Blackbird, Baltimore Oriole, Common Redpoll.

Of course this also means that all four of them are better positioned than anyone has ever been to beat the full state Big Year record.

Please join me in congratulating these four madmen for raising the bar on Maryland birding insanity. Amazing job, guys!

Bill

Bill Hubick
Pasadena, Maryland

http://www.billhubick.com