Last year was the first in which I kept a year list. For a long time I had resisted the idea because, as much as I enjoy record-keeping, data, and stats, keeping year lists, state lists, and county lists seemed a bit… extra. I had a life list and that seemed like enough. But I writhed with envy every time my friend L. shared a birding story with me. I wasn’t jealous of her birding skills—I’m not half the birder she is and I’m comfortable with that—but I wanted to spend more time birding, more time honing my skills, and I just never seemed to make that a priority the way she did. It finally occurred to me that a year list might be just the thing to motivate me.

Amazingly, it worked. From 2016 to 2021, the number of species I saw each year (according to eBird) ranged from about 100 to 150. In 2022, that count jumped to 204 species—and I think that’s nothing to sneeze at! Here’s a breakdown of the birds I saw (and didn’t see!) this year:

Total species: 203 species

Total families: 49 families (approximately; depends on your current taxonomy)

The complete set: Nuthatches! I saw a Red-Breasted Nuthatch in January of last year here in Portland. White-Breasted Nuthatches can also be found in the metro area if you know where to look, but I saw my first on the east side of the Cascades. I rounded out the collected with a Pygmy Nuthatch in Bend in June. (There were several families for which I saw all the species realistically found in Oregon. Some of them, like Wrentits and Dippers, feel like cheating to count because there’s only species present.)

The missing piece: Swallows! I was so close to getting all of the swallows, but never managed to find a Purple Martin.

The total loss: Everything pelagic, including Albatrosses, Petrels, and Storm-Petrels. The only reason gulls don’t join this category of disappointment is that I did ok on the terns.

Favorite bird: California Quail. We used to have a covey living in my parents’ neighborhood, which would sing their distinctive “Chicago!” song and sometimes run through our yard… until the wild meadow where they nested was bulldozed to make way for a Subaru dealership. (I hope the irony isn’t lost on you.) This was the first year I’ve seen them in Oregon since then.

Least favorite bird: Song Sparrow. Not that I don’t love Song Sparrows, overall, but this year I spent a lot of time looking for unusual sparrows and the Song Sparrows kept getting my hopes up.

Greatest rarity: Least Tern seen at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in May. I overheard someone say one hadn’t been recorded in Oregon for 30 years. The tern looked absolutely miserable and I didn’t have high hopes for its survival.

Hardest won: Short-Eared Owl. I actually led two guided nature walks to help people see this one, which was a lifer for me. Absolutely worth it, but I put in a lot of hours and work on my own and with the public to earn this. Runner-up is the White-Headed Woodpecker, which I found in a clearing outside Ashland after bushwhacking my way into a clearing that turned out to be full of hornets!

Close call: Black-Crowned Night Heron. I visited the Koll Center Wetlands three times looking for this bird before I finally found it, just days before the end of the year. Whew!

The one that got away: Black Swifts, which I thought would be a sure thing at Salt Springs in the Willamette National Forest. No dice, and I never got a chance to look for them again.

This year kicked off to an inauspicious start: on New Year’s Day I went out birding and was immediately confronted by a flock of scaups. Greater? Lesser? Maybe this year I’ll figure it out…