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Post by Randy on Jun 20, 2020 21:50:25 GMT -8
So, when I first heard about fantasy birding I said to my wife "I know I'm a crazy birder but can you believe there's fantasy birding? I'm definitely not that crazy!".
6 months into my Canada Big Year game on Fantasy Birding and I'm having a blast. Gord and Chris were also somewhat reluctant participants but I believe they would agree with me that it's pretty enjoyable and requires as much or as little effort as you have time for. Currently Chris is in 1st place in the Canada Big Year competition!
Anyway, there are a handful of target species that I'm missing and I believe Gord is missing some of these too. If anyone is heading for any of these and if you have time please let me know!
Brewer's Sparrow
Northern Pygmy-Owl
Flammulated Owl
Gray Flycatcher
Dusky Grouse
Sooty Grouse
Black Swift
California Scrub-Jay
Williamson's Sapsucker
Or if anyone happens to be going on some sort of pelagic (although I don't think there are currently any going on given the social distancing mandate) please let me, Chris, or Gord know.
I would also encourage others to join one of the Fantasy Birding games - although most seem to be "Big Year" related so probably best to start near the start of the year. However, there are still 6 months left!
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Post by nickinthegarden on Jun 21, 2020 3:15:57 GMT -8
I do not know anything about Fantasy Birding but if you were to go up to Manning Park to the Cascade Lookout you would see Dusky Grouse and possibly Sooty. I saw two one in full breeding mode and I heard another by Lightning Lake on Friday morning.  Dusky Grouse by Nick, on Flickr |
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Post by graeme45 on Jun 21, 2020 8:56:16 GMT -8
Your photo appears to be a Sooty Grouse, based on the extensive amount of gray at the tip of the tail. Dusky has a very thin gray edge or no gray edge at all.
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Post by nickinthegarden on Jun 21, 2020 10:15:28 GMT -8
You are correct I double checked again. I had it once but got distracted and wrote down the wrong one it is a Sooty Grouse. It is still on Randy's List.
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Post by Randy on Jun 21, 2020 11:41:11 GMT -8
Thanks Nick! If you plan to head there again let me know.
The way it works is you choose a 10 km radius circle for a day at a time and get all the species found within that circle as per eBird sightings. Surprisingly enjoyable.
If you or anyone heads there I'll be putting my circle on Manning! Sadly I won't have time to get there myself!
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Post by Gord on Jul 4, 2020 11:04:51 GMT -8
I’ve found it fun to do this and wish I started earlier. I’ve learned a great deal about Canada’s bird populations. Also playing the game has exposed some holes in my knowledge of Canadian geography I’m a little embarrassed to admit. While looking to put circles for the game I’ve mused to myself “I didn’t know that town was located there.” 😂
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Post by paulos on Jul 9, 2020 5:00:48 GMT -8
I’ve seen or heard several of those birds recently... but I’m not quite sure I follow how this works. Could anyone offer a simple explanation? Does it involve vicarious birding through a team of some sort?
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Post by butterfly on Jul 9, 2020 5:15:27 GMT -8
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Post by Randy on Jul 9, 2020 7:59:16 GMT -8
I’ve seen or heard several of those birds recently... but I’m not quite sure I follow how this works. Could anyone offer a simple explanation? Does it involve vicarious birding through a team of some sort? Hey Paul, so the way it works it you join a "game" - ABA Big Year, BC Big Year, State Big Year, various big day games, etc (akin to a "League" in fantasy sports). Gord, Chris, myself and my brother joined the Canada Big Year game. This particular one is an individual game, however, I believe there are some team games for yard lists etc that Matt (the creator of Fantasy Birding) has created. To be honest there's new stuff coming out all the time. For the Canada Big Year Game the goal is just that - to accumulate as many species as possible in Canada within the calendar year. Every day you select a spot in the country based on your target bird(s) that you need for your year list. A standard circle would be 10 km radius and you get access to all the eBird sightings within that circle for the day. If you choose an offshore location for pelagic species you get a 100 km radius circle but only can get credit for any seabirds reported. I believe there are about 50 people in the Canada Big Year Game. It takes as much or as little time as you would like to put into it. We are each around 420 species in Canada for the year so far so it is getting much harder to get more species. I think we've checked off most on the above list but we definitely still need: Gray Flycatcher Williamson's Sapsucker California Scrub-Jay And I still need Pygmy-Owl, although I'm not sure if Gord, Chris, or my brother need this species still. The problem is we are at the mercy of people going out and birding the area. I have put a circle many times near Osoyoos for sapsucker and gray flycatcher but I haven't lucked out with people birding those locations on those days and finding those target species. If you are planning to go out to get any of the above species let us know and I'm sure we will all drop a circle where you are going with the hopes you can get them. If you have some time, it's definitely super fun and worth checking out. There's still almost 6 months left in the year! |
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Post by paulos on Jul 10, 2020 6:20:17 GMT -8
Ok, got it. Sounds interesting. I'll let you know if I head out looking for a Williamson's Sapsucker. I actually dipped on one on Anarchist Mountain driving through yesterday, but there is a small population around Cranbrook I may try to track down.
If you are still looking for Black Swift, it looks like someone sees them one or two times a week in Castlegar. Some of the others I've seen in the last month, but now I see you need to have an idea in advance.
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Post by expiallyd on Aug 5, 2020 18:47:23 GMT -8
This sounds like fun! I may join in next year.
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Post by Chris on Dec 31, 2020 12:04:05 GMT -8
Bumping this due to the time of year. If anyone is interested in trying it out you can go to www.fantasybirding.com and create an account and then join a game. The Canada one is a good starting point I think, it's called Oh Canada 2021. There's an ABA one which likely is more challenging. I tried a global one and while it was neat to get many species I never heard of, not many people use EBird in a lot of countries. There are many other games as well. |
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Post by expiallyd on Jan 21, 2021 21:27:02 GMT -8
Thank you for posting about Fnatasy Birding. I am playing only the Canada game -- so far. So much fun! Thanks for letting us know about this, Randy and Chris.
Anne
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Post by Randy on Dec 30, 2021 7:56:03 GMT -8
The time has come for those interested in Fantasy Birding to join big year games for 2022. I've started a Canada Big Year game again. Gord, Chris, and I have had a lot of fun with this the past couple years and Anne played this year as well. Gord was the big winner this year with 496 species! Hope to see some of you there!
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Post by expiallyd on Dec 30, 2021 11:03:51 GMT -8
Lots of fun! I'm in again for next year. My nemesis bird this year was gray-crowned rosy finch; kept chasing them but never made contact. Randy, there is still hope for you to pick up another 6 species today and tomorrow and catch Gord.  |
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