Subject: [Tweeters] My Green Big Year
Date: Jan 11 08:12:18 2006
From: Deb Hagerty - 42psalm01 at foxinternet.com


Interesting idea Eugene. So in the margin of my notebook I should note my
starting and ending mileage in addition to the date, destination, weather,
moon phase, and tide. That is a good idea. As long as I do the rest anyway,
why not? BTW, any idea on a rough guess when going to Friday Harbor and
birding from the ferry? This could get interesting! Now I have to be careful
not to fudge when I go to town early for errands and plan to make stops at
Lake Stevens and the Everett Water Front or the Marysville Lagoons to
practice my voyeurism!



Thanks again for the idea.



Deb of Ray & Deb Fame

Robe Valley in Washington

42psalm01 at foxinternet.com



http://members5.boardhost.com/Koinonia/index.html

-------Original Message-------



From: Eugene and Nancy Hunn

Date: 01/09/06 17:24:53

To: tweeters

Subject: [Tweeters] My Green Big Year



Tweets:



I open the year with this challenge to Tweeters:



Given our unfortunate dependence on foreign (and domestic) oil and the
unconscionably large size of our human footprint, I would like to propose
that we redefine our 2005 Washington Big Year goal by seeing how many
species we can see in the state while expending a limited amount of fossil
fuels.



I figure it should be possible to tally well over 300 species in the state
in 2005 while driving less than 6000 miles and/or burning less than 240
gallons, averaging 500 miles and/or 20 gallons per month.



There are many possible routes any of which might offer the possibility of
seeing virtually all regularly occuring Washington species within these
energetic limits.



After several helpful comments from fellow Tweets, I refined the rules:



Mileage and fuel expenditures should be divided by the number of riders in
the vehicle (even pelagic trips are included, based on 25 birders burning
120 gallons of diesel). Car pooling and using fuel efficient vehicles (my
Subaru is just average at 27 mpg) offer a premium. Public transportation
would be free! As would travel by foot, bicycle, canoe, or kayak. If one
travels on business, one need only count the detours for birds, and if one
combines a birding trip with a hike or other non-birding activity, one might
split the miles between the trip goals. Perhaps some computer whiz could
develop special software to do the calculations.



My score for 2005:



January 31, 144 species, 555 miles, 20.6 gallons or 7 birds per gallon;

February 28, 172 species, 1185 miles, 60.7 gallons, or 2.83 birds per gallon
(I busted the budget chasing a Cape May Warbler on the far side of Spokane);

August 30, 279 species, 2450 miles, 109.3 gallons or 1.64 birds per gallon

December 31, 312 species, 4850.8 miles, 204.9 gallons or 1.52 birds per
gallon! I also set a personal best King County year tally of 210.



As you can see, I met my goals and then some. However, I plan to do a bit
better in 2006, with more car-pooling, canoe-, bike-, and bus-riding, and a
stronger focus on my home county. I?m shooting for 4000 miles and/or 150
gallons.



Gene Hunn

18476 47th Pl NE

Lake Forest Park, WA 98155

enhunn323 at comcast.net