Happy New Year’s Eve to everyone. I hope you have a wonderful 2026. As the clock counts down to midnight on this last day of 2025, I can’t help but be a bit nervous about the adventure I’m about to embark on. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks sorting through eBird hotspots, looking for the best birding spots and following rare-bird alerts, attempting to devise the best strategy for seeing as many birds as possible. I still can’t really believe I’m about to attempt a Big Year, even though it is only for our State.

Strategery

Obviously, if I’m going to be successful in this endeavor, I will need a solid strategery, er, I mean strategy. While I have a full weekend of birding planned for the 3rd and 4th of January with a trip to Bosque del Apache, can you really do a Big Year without getting a respectable checklist the very first day?

What should be the goal for the first day? Seeing all the common birds you know you can check off the list, or chasing the elusive rarities that may pop up on the 31st of December? What if you chase one of the vagrants that was spotted the day before, only to end up missing a more impressive rarity in the area you initially planned to visit? There are a multitude of options, and I’m not sure any one course of action is correct.

As I have to work the next day, I’ll likely play it safe and stick to my original plan: a 300-mile loop to some productive birding hot spots likely to produce multiple waterfowl. There should be an abundance of species to be found at the waterbodies on the eastern side of New Mexico, and occasionally a misplaced swan or an uncommon gull appears.

The Route

My plan for day 1 is to start birding in Clovis at Ned Houk Park and the Wastewater Treatment Plant, then end the day at Sumner Lake State Park, with stops at Oasis Lake State Park and Bosque Redondo on the way.

These hot spots have multiple winter birds and the opportunity for some rarities. The only problem is they haven’t been heavily birded, so it’s hard to know what is there for certain. The only way to find out is to explore them and see what we find. My hope is to find between 50 and 100 species on the first day.

Stay Tuned…

I have to say I’m like a kid at Christmas. I’ve been going through my gear, getting my camera, binoculars, scopes, and birding books ready for the big day, eagerly anticipating what I may find. I hope you share my excitement, and this Blog inspires you to get out and do some birding of your own.

My goal is to update the blog posts at least weekly with the newest photos and finds. I’m committed to being on the road and traveling the state each week in search of our feathered friends, so don’t be surprised if I show up at your doorstep looking for a couch to crash on.

Good luck to all those attempting the Big Year, and a happy and prosperous New Year to all!