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This is an example of the standard assignment for the birding book
portion of the Avian Project.
The Big Year
By Mark Obmascik
Chapter 1
January 1, 1998
The author introduces the three main characters: Sandy Komito, Al Levantin,
and Greg Miller. These men are birders who embark on a Big Year (within the
birding world, this is a year in which a birder attempts to see or hear as
many avian species as possible within the United States and Canada
including Alaska). While they have the same goal, they couldn’t be much
different in personalities and life experiences.
Sandy Komito is a successful independent roofing contractor from New
Jersey. In short, he’s a hustler looking for what breaks come his way. If the
breaks aren’t there, he’ll create them. He’s driven, successful and obsessed
with birding.
Al Levatin grew up in the east. He pursued a career with a fortune 500
corporation where he rose to a vice presidency. His profession took him over
the world. Now retired, he and his wife enjoy the rich, good life in a mansion
near Aspen, CO. After a forty year corporate career and family life, he is
pursuing a childhood birding dream.
Greg Miller is unlike either Sandy or Al. He is recently divorced, over weight
and unhappy. After an education for the Ministry, he surprisingly followed a
career in computer science. In 1998, he was working double shifts at a power
plant as a programmer debugging software for Y2K.
Sandy began his Big Year in Nogales, AZ sipping a predawn coffee at
Denny’s. He was in southern Arizona to see the Nutting’s Flycatcher, a
Mexican vagrant which rarely visits southern Arizona, but dose count toward
the Big Year totals. Sandy was successful. He spotted the flycatcher exactly
where the tip from the Rare Bird Alert hotline said it would be - in the
Patagonia Lake State Park.
For Al, his Big Year started in his own back yard on Elk Mountain near Aspen.
Not known as a birding hot spot, his “back yard” managed to yield over thirty
species including three rare species of rosy finches. Too, Al was the first
birder to launch a Big Year on skis!
Miller launched his Big Year on a break from his Y2K work with a quick dash
out of the office to the nuclear power plant’s cooling outflow into Chesapeake
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Bay. The area was alive with sea birds. While he only stepped out of his
office, he was back in the hunt!
Note: This summary is a little long.
Legend: New Jersey to Patagonia, AZ
Aspen, CO
Chesapeake Bay
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[Link]
Birding Hotspot for the Big Day Chapter: 1
Name: Patagonia Lake State Park
Location: 400 Patagonia Lake Rd Patagonia, AZ 85624 (SW Arizona)
Type: State park
Stewards: Arizona State Parks
Habitat(s): Riparian, lake, semi-arid grassland and desert
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Birds of note: Elegant Trogon, Rufous-backed Robin, and the Black-capped
Gnatcatcher (about 300 speciesin total).
Other wildlife: Javalina, rattle snakes, mule deer
Activities: Birding, fishing, camping and hiking
Special Events: Avian Adventure Pontoon Boat Tour (Fall dates). Migratory birds
Photos: Lake and semi-arid grassland habitats
[Link]
Avian Data Sheet
Species number: 26 Book: The Big Year Chapter: 1 Page:
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Common name: Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch
Scientific name: Leucosticte tephrocotis
Order: PASSERIFORMES
Family: FRINGILLIDAE - Subfamily Carduelinae
• Description: Size: 14-21 cm (6-8 in) Wingspan: 33 cm (13 in) Weight: 22-60 g (0.78-
2.12 ounces) Medium-sized finch. Dark brown overall. Gray cheek patches wrapping around
back of head. Black forehead. Pink on belly, rump, and in wings. Long, pointed wings. White
tuft of feathers at base of bill. Bill gray to black during breeding, yellow in fall and winter. Eyes
brown. Legs and feet black.
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Conservation Status: Little information. Remoteness of breeding sites reduces impacts of
human activity.
Male: Sexes similar, but female with less distinct black in crown and less pink. Male's bill stays
black longer than female's.
Female:
Young: Juvenile similar to adult female, but duller, and lacking gray crown, black forehead, and
pink on underparts.
Nest: Bulky cup of moss, lichen, grass, and sedge, lined with fine grass, hair, wool, and feathers.
Placed in crack or hole in cliff or on small cliff ledge under overhanging rocks, occasionally on the
ground, and rarely on a building. Usually not visible, totally hidden in cracks or holes or among
boulders.
Eggs: White and unmarked, or with some reddish or brownish specks.
Habitat: Breeds in alpine areas, usually near snow fields or glaciers, talus, rockpiles, and cliffs.
Winters in open country, including mountain meadows, shrublands, roadsides, towns, cultivated areas,
rocky hillsides, and margins of dry ditches.
Food: Seeds, insects, and some vegetation.
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Breeding range:
Non-breeding range:
Call: [Link]
crowned_Rosy-[Link]
Video: [Link]
Source(s): [Link] ;
[Link]
[Link]
Avian Data Sheet
Species number: 27 Book: The Big Year Chapter: 1Page: 19
Common name: Bonaparte's Gull
Scientific name: Larus philadelphia
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Order: CHARADRIIFORMES
Family: Family LARIDAE - Subfamily Larinae
Description: Small gull. White triangle in outer part of wing. Back pale gray. Underparts white.
Head black during breeding. Dark spot behind eyes in [Link]: 28-38 cm (11-15 in) Wingspan: 76-
80 cm (30-31 in) Weight: 180-225 g (6.35-7.94 ounces).
Conservation Status: Numbers have increased over last 100 years.
Male: Sexes look alike.
Female:
Young: Juvenile with much brown on head, neck, and back, a dark bar across the wing, and a black
tail tip. Immature similar to nonbreeding adult, but with brownish black bar across the base of the
wing, much black in the outer wing, and a black band across the tip of the tail. In first breeding
plumage the black head is partly mottled with white.
Nest: Open cup of twigs, small branches, and bark, lined with mosses and lichens. Placed in tree or
bent-over rushes.
Eggs: Buffy green, with dark spots and blotches.
Habitat: Breeds around lakes and marshes in boreal forest. Winters along lakes, rivers, marshes,
bays, and beaches along coasts.
Food: Small fish and large invertebrates, including insects. Does not eat garbage or carrion.
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Breeding range:
Non-breeding range:
Call:
[Link]
ml
Video:
[Link]
Source(s): [Link]
[Link]
[Link]