It's once again been a very strange year in terms of outdoor activities. I missed the early summer window for odonates again this year, not because of lockdowns but rather the exact opposite - all of my usual spots were absolutely overrun with people. I didn't enjoy crowded trails even before the pandemic, so obviously I was not any more inclined with a virus floating around.
I compensated by going hard on birds this spring, since birds at least you can go look at first thing in the morning when most people are still in bed. As a result, I broke all of my previous personal records for number of species seen per month and for the year overall. Even got a couple of lifers in the process: Orchard Oriole and Least Bittern. I slowed down into the summer, but I'm still ahead of my previous bests as we now head into fall migration (!!) - excepting the year I went north, of course, I can't compete with the extra fifty or so western and northern species I saw that year, not while sticking close to home. I can, however, make efforts to chase down some of the shorebirds and waterfowl that have started showing up on their way south. I can't believe it's migration time again already, but away we go, I guess.
This year I also discovered the joy that is an inflatable kayak, so much of my summer has been spent out on the water rather than hunting down critters. I can't bring myself to be too upset about that.
