Anything Goes!

Eastern Bluebird in Athens, June 1

Those of you who have read my blog for a while (and thank you for that!) will know that every June I participate from afar in the Alachua County Audubon June Bird Challenge. I joined in this fun activity when we lived in Florida and have tried to continue it on my own since moving away some 11 years ago. The object of the June Challenge is to see as many species of birds as you can within the county from June 1-30. You can work in teams and in fact, teamwork is encouraged. But you must actually see the bird for it to count. It was always fun for me, and although I never came close to winning, I enjoyed seeking target birds and exploring all the best nature spots in the county with my birding friends. When I moved away I was sad to leave that behind, but I took the opportunity to create my own version, in a new county, with a new target list. At first I tried to cajole some friends into joining me, but June is hot and steamy in Georgia and no one took me up on my invitation. So for 11 years I have done the June Challenge on my own. A couple of years ago I decided that, since I didn't have extra eyes to help me find the stubborn hiders, it would be ok to count birds I knew I heard, even if I didn't see them. It felt a little cheaty, but I'm not going for the win anyway, and it's my list, so there. This year presented a new, bigger challenge. We had a lot of travel scheduled and I would not be in the county, or the state, or even the country for long stretches. In addition, the days that I was in town were packed with preparation for being away. But I really wanted to do the June Challenge. So, in addition to allowing birds heard but not seen, I decided to count any bird I saw, regardless of location. I was in Athens-Clarke County for about 1 week in June so I missed my chance to find a lot of the good reliable birds, like Mississippi Kite, Common Yellowthroat, Yellow Breasted Chat, and Yellow Billed Cuckoo, but I managed to get a good start at home. With my new "Calvinball" rules (from Calvin and Hobbes--the rules change as you go!) I got an Osprey in South Carolina, a Starling in Roanoke, a Bald Eagle in West Virginia, a Great Egret in Susquehanna, a Black-capped Chickadee in New Jersey, a Louisiana Water Thrush in the Hudson Valley of New York, and a Gull in Baltimore. I did much of that birding from the car so there were no photos. But I felt happy to still be playing along.

A week after returning from our road trip up the East Coast and back, we hopped a plane to Buenos Aires, and I was able to add a whole slew of good birds, never before seen on the June Challenge list! It was actually winter down there, but with the help of Merlin and the internet, I identified some good city birds that were just out and about in the parks, such as Monk Parakeets, Rufous Thrushes and Rufous Horneros. A juvenile Harris's Hawk sat in a tree outside of our hotel room and let me get some good long looks. We took a side trip to Colonia, Uruguay, and I added Red-crested Cardinals, Great Kiskadees and Picazuru Pigeons. While we were in Buenos Aires we also got caught up in World Cup fever. They sure love Messi down there! Vamos Argentina! 

Monk Parakeets in a park

Harris's Hawk outside our room

Great Kiskadee

Red-crested Cardinal

Picazuru Pigeon

World Cup in Argentina

Cattle Tyrant waiting for a bus

At the end of the week we spent a couple of hours in a fantastic urban nature preserve, the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve. It's a preserved wetland area on the edge of Buenos Aires. We took an Uber there. It is very popular with walkers, runners, birders, photographers, and families with picnics and the place was loaded with great birds for my list. I could have spent the whole week there. I added Crested Caracaras, Southern Screamers, Wattled Jacanas, a Roadside Hawk, White-faced Whistling Ducks, Black Necked Swans, a Golden-crowned Warbler, and more. I even saw turtles and some nutria swimming. It was very satisfying. In all I counted 33 species in Buenos Aires. Added to the five I saw on the road to New York and the 58 I counted in Athens, my total came to 96. I can live with that! 

Costanera Sur preserve

The preserve is right next to the Porto Madero part of Buenos Aires

White-faced Whistling Ducks and Rosy-billed Pochards

Crested Caracara walking along the beach near picnickers

Southern Screamer

Wattled Jacana

Nutria

Golden-crowned Warbler

One other thing I'd like to note. The world seems so unhinged and crazy these days, and it would be easy to give in to the fear and hype and just stay home where it feels safe and predictable. But if you have the chance, I urge you to take a step away from home and experience life in a different culture. It broadens your perspective and adds to your collected experience. Taste the food, walk the streets, listen to the conversations, see families play and interact and go about their days just like we do at home. It is a character building experience to feel how humbling it is to try to get by day to day, performing the most basic transactions in another language. I think the world would be a much kinder place if everyone had to try to figure out how to ask how to find the bathroom or to get change for the washing machine in a different language. For that matter, to figure out what soap to use! But just get out there and give it a try. You will find that most people are kind and happy to help if you make the effort to step into their world.

I guess the big message here is that it's not whether you win or lose, but whether you have fun and get out there see some birds and wildlife and enjoy the world. Which I did this June. And I can't wait for next June!

Here's my June 2026 list. Out of county birds have an asterisk:

Acadian Flycatcher	X
Barn swallow	X
Black and white warbler	X
Black vulture	X
Blue gray gnatcatcher	X
Blue jay	X
Bluebird	X
Brown headed nuthatch	X
Brown thrasher	X
Canada goose	X
Cardinal	X
Carolina wren	X
Catbird	X
Chickadee	X
Chimney swift	X
Chipping sparrow	X
Common grackle	X
Cooper's hawk	X
Cowbird	X
Crow (American)	X
Downy woodpecker	X
Eastern kingbird	X
Eastern phoebe	X
Eastern wood pewee	X
Fish crow	X
Goldfinch	X
Great blue heron	X
Great crested flycatcher	X
Great white egret	X
Green heron	X
House finch	X
*House sparrow	X
House wren	X
*Louisiana waterthrush	X
Mockingbird	X
Mourning dove	X
Northern rough winged swallow	X
*Osprey	X
*Pileated woodpecker	X
Pine warbler	X
Red bellied woodpecker	X
Red eyed vireo	X
Red shouldered hawk	X
Red tailed hawk	X
*Red winged blackbird	X
Robin	X
*Rock pigeon	X
Ruby throated hummingbird	X
Scarlet tanager	X
*Song sparrow	X
*Starling	X
Summer tanager	X
*Titmouse	X
Towhee	X
Turkey vulture	X
*White breasted nuthatch	X
White eyed vireo	X
Wood thrush	X
*Cattle Egret	X
*Gull	X
*Black-capped Chickadee	X
*Bald Eagle	X
*Yellow Warbler	X
*Harris's Hawk	X
*Rufous Hornero	X
*Chalk-browed Mockingbird	X
*Yellow-chevroned Parakeet	X
*Maroon-bellied Parakeet	X
*Monk Parakeet	X
*Great Kiskadee	X
*Picazuro Pigeon	X
*Grayish Baywing	X
*Rufous-bellied Thrush	X
*Red-crested Cardinal	X
*Narrow-billed Woodcreeper	X
*Southern Screamer	X
*White-faced Whistling Duck	X
*Black-necked Swan	X
*White-winged Coot	X
*Wattled Jacana	X
*Rufescent Tiger Heron	X
*Cocoi Heron	X
*Roadside Hawk	X
*Green Kingfisher	X
*Crested Caracara	X
*Cattle Tyrant	X
*Rufous-collared Sparrow	X
*Shiny Cowbird	X
*Golden-crowned Warbler	X
*Masked Gnatcatcher	X
*Southern Lapwing	X
*Brazilian Teal	X
*Rosy-billed Pochard	X
*Blue-and-white Swallow	X
*Bare aced Ibis	X
*Nanday Parakeet	X