Especially since about 2/3 of the total was attained while driving to the "big city" for provisions today. And would have probably ended up with more if I could ID sparrows while zooming by at 60 MPH. I did add four new species to my year list and ended up with a total of 25 species on the day - that would be the most I've seen in a day since back in August or September.

Just in case you're wondering "How does a guy identify 16 or 17 species of birds while driving"?, it really isn't that hard. My friend Kevin Karlson teaches a technique called "Birding by Impression" and, while I haven't taken his class, I have read about it and had sort of developed the same thing independently in my almost 9 years watching birds (he's far better at it than I am, though). It is a matter of being familiar enough with certain species that I can be doing 70 down I-15, see a large, dark figure with a bright white head and tail in a tree and, in a split second, the brain registers "Bald Eagle". An electric blue bird with a gray belly perched on a fence post or wire: Mountain Bluebird; similar color blue with a red breast: Western Bluebird. Horned Lark is a cinch with a quick glance and I am able to make out the head pattern as it flies along in my direction of travel. Stocky brown bird with a bright yellow breast equals Western Meadowlark. And so it goes. Robins, pigeons, Red-tailed Hawks, or whatever, if I am familiar with the species habitat, flight characteristics, obvious field marks, etc., it doesn't take but a second to make a positive identification. (Sometimes I do stop, though. At 100 yards off the highway that raft of ducks with green heads demanded a closer look with the binoculars because, as it turned out, it was a mixed group of Mallards and Green-winged Teal - and I would have probably just thought "Mallard".)

What I found amazing was the seemingly sudden appearance of Mountain Bluebirds; I saw close to 50 in a matter of a few hours, almost like someone had released from a cage or something. The other 3 new "year birds" were the Green-winged Teal (lots of them, too), a Great Blue Heron, and California Gull. The teal and bluebirds were within the boundary limit of the Bryce checklist area, so will pad that year list, too. Totals are now 39 species within the state and 27 on the Bryce list since January 1.