Hi Tweeters & Inland NW Birders -

An updated version of the 2013 county year list project is up at Washington Birder. We've received updates from almost all the counties with details through the end of April. County compilers, especially for the underbirded counties, would appreciate receiving reports of any birds seen in their counties.

Checking in with county compilers at the end of April produces a lot of variability -- new species are arriving every day and differences from one year to the next shouldn't be over-interpreted -- check in again at for the mid-year report to see whether the possible trends noted below prove durable:

As of the end of April 332 species have been reported across the state, 292 in Western WA and 269 in Eastern WA. All three of these totals are noticeably higher than last year or the year before at this point (last year we had 4 fewer in Western WA, 9 fewer in Eastern WA, and 11 fewer state-wide]

23 counties ahead of their total from the same time last year. 29 counties have already tallied over 150 species, and King Yakima & Clallam are over 200 for the year so far.

If you'd like to take a look at where things stand, the list and many other interesting files are at the Washington Birder website:

http://www.wabirder.com/


A direct link to the 2012 county yearlist & the list of county compilers:
http://www.wabirder.com/county_yearlist.html




Thanks to all the compilers and all those pitching in to sketch a picture of another year's birds in WA.


Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA