Crazy idea -- iNat big year, day 1
Somehow I ended up with the crazy idea of trying to find 2,000 species in one county this year. (That would be Lake County, IL, since I live here.) I'm curious to find out if it's possible, and in a more general sense, at what point is the outcome of such a project contingent upon the observer's available time rather than the actual biodiversity of the area. Doing the math shows an average of 5.47 species per day will do it. (That would be just a bit higher next year, since 2020 is a leap year.)
Day 1, of course, would be New Year's, and that's the date of the Waukegan CBC. So a long walk around St. Mary's Seminary, trying to focus just on the birds while ignoring lichens, liverworts, etc. Still, between there, MacArthur Woods, and a quick check of N. Pt. Marina, the year started off fine, with 24 species. The most notable find of the day for this project was the Greater White-fronted Goose, a bird that I often go several years in a row without seeing in the county.