I spent a couple hours this morning at Westminster Memorial Park, looking unsuccessfully for the Tennessee Warbler that was reported there on yesterday's CBC. This makes at least four Tennessee Warblers I have chased and missed this year, making it one of my biggest misses of the year, along with Scarlet Tanager (chased and missed three, two by a day and one by an hour) and White-winged Dove (chased and missed at least four, with many additional hours spent trying to find one on my own). At the other end of the spectrum, my avian highlights during the year included Manx Shearwater, Red-billed Tropicbird, Brown and Blue-footed Boobies, Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Sandhill Crane, American Golden-Plover, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Yellow-green Vireo, Pygmy Nuthatch, Sage Thrasher, and Bell's Sparrow. As of today I have 324 species (318 NIB) in Orange County this year, falling a little short of Jim Pike's record of 322 (NIB) in 1999 and a few birds behind Tom-Ford Hutchinson, who was also doing a big year this year. I would like to thank all those who helped me reach this number, whether by providing information, accompanying me on my birding outings, helping me locate birds, reporting rarities in a timely manner so that I was able to chase them, or through your words of encouragement. Your help was greatly appreciated.





Tom Benson



San Bernardino, CA