Our, now eight year old, annual New Year’s Day ritual is simple: grab the Labrador and head into the far-flung fringes of the Helena Valley. From Marysville to the Gates of the Mountains, and from Black Sandy to the Spokane Hills, and Mount Helena (of course) we spend the day hunting for a positive ID on as many species as possible.
We typically see about 200 species in a year, so a strong first day gives us a great head start on our annual total. Seeing 25 to 30 species on January 1st preps us for the ‘dry spell’ that January and February can be- lacking in both easily observable species and the easy opportunity to find them.
Lately, we made a few preliminary efforts to find the current hotspots and those efforts have been promising, with daily species scores hitting the mid-thirties. If this cold snap does not last, we might even be in a position to challenge our personal record of 43 species (set on New Year’s Day 2025). We have our plan, from the pockets of resident robins and Pinyon Jays to a hardy flock of Western Bluebirds and a few lingering gulls, and as long as we have open water at the Gates, Hauser, Lakeside, and Devil’s Elbow, the odds are in our favor.
Wish us luck!
Here’s how we’ve done in prior First Day Blitzes:
2025- 43
2024- 30
2023- 26
2022- 34
2021- 25
2020- 24
2019- 22
2018- 25
Nature, every day. 
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