Hi Tweeters and Inland NW Birders -

An updated version of the 2022 County Year List Project is up and available at Washington Birder. All 39 counties sent in updates of the year list at the mid-way point. Thanks compilers for all your work, and thanks everyone who has contributed.

I think of the mid-year check-in as a relatively stable time of year to compare across years -; The end of June finds us mostly done with spring migration, and still ahead of fall migration.

Here's how things look compared with recent years:

We've tallied 367 species statewide as of the mid-way point in 2022. That's just a bit above average for this point over the last 10 years [364], and it is 4 higher than 2021 at this point.

In Western WA, our 334 total is exactly the same total as last year's at this point. The total ties our highest for this point since 2012, and we are above average [326] by a good amount.

In Eastern WA, our 306 species tallied is four higher than last year and above average for check-ins at this point.

36 Counties have a total within 10 species of the check-in at this point last year -that's a pretty solid indication of how consistent these #s can be despite every year's unique collection of differences.

19 counties are higher than they were at this point last year, 19 are lower, and 1 [Spokane] was at exactly the same total as last year's check-in.

64 species have been seen in all 39 counties (last year that number was 63). and 152 species have been found in 30 or more counties -; that's our core of wide-spread regulars, and pretty similar to other years at this point.

Looking at species tallied last year but not this year yet, the 12 in this category are mostly rare birds that aren't surprising to see in some years and not in others. The most surprising 'misses' to me are Laysan Albatross, Brown Booby & Long-tailed Jaeger - not guaranteed in any given year, but lately pretty close to reliably annual in the state.

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/ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.wabirder.com/__;!!JYXjzlvb!zG34Bg6bHN7DFbBBUaTDwShMg1FqqyJYn5MFZzMWbfTt3uAOqMTkSTJu0EzT-2kdesFyODa5qw$>


A direct link to the 2022 county yearlist & the list of county compilers contact info:
http://www.wabirder.com/county_yearlist.html <https://urldefense.com/v3/__http://www.wabirder.com/county_yearlist.html__;!!JYXjzlvb!zG34Bg6bHN7DFbBBUaTDwShMg1FqqyJYn5MFZzMWbfTt3uAOqMTkSTJu0EzT-2kdesFgZPFJVA$>


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

Good birding,



Matt Bartels
Seattle, WA