EDIT: 10/31:25: Okay, so, everything down below from the 10/6 update didn’t come to pass. The past month has been one in which I’ve not done all that much birding. The post that will cover 9/15 – 9/28 is going to come out in the next few days, hopefully on Sunday 11/2. (EDIT: The time I planned to spend on 11/2 finishing up the writing ended up being spent chasing a few local birds; Three Lifers including Black Rail and Bar-tailed Godwit! The post will now come out on Monday 11/3) That is going to be the last post following the “old” format. Since I haven’t done all that much birding of late I don’t have much to write about, however November should be a change from that with my Pelagic originally planned for 10/25 having been rescheduled to 11/1 due to weather, and plans being in place to do more birding in the Vegas area as well as Arizona on my way to New Mexico. I will definitely write a post covering this birding, as well as at least one retrospective post on this year in general and a few posts covering my birding in Albuquerque once I get settled. I am not going to promise any release dates on these posts other than that I will try to not have nearly as long a gap between them as the gap since my last post.
10/6/25: Apologies not only for the absence of posts these past couple weeks, but also the absence of any updates regarding the situation.
As some of you may know, on 9/23/25 at 3:37 PM I “completed” my quest and hit 100 species for Washington, state 48/48. A post covering Weeks 38 and 39 will come out on Wednesday, 10/8 – this post covering 9/15-9/28. From there, I will assume an every other week schedule, with the next post coming out on 10/22 and covering 9/29-10/12, and a post on 11/5 covering 10/13-10/26.
The biggest reason for this change, as well as the lack of posts in the recent weeks, is that I am effectively out of money (I’ve spent much of the last week doing DoorDash orders or working on my laptop) and from this point forward my birding is going to shift majorly. I am still in Washington as I write this, but in the coming couple weeks will work my way to California where I am scheduled to go on a Pelagic on 10/25 before gradually working my way towards New Mexico, where I expect I will arrive around 11/5-11/10. The rest of the year will be spent there, but I plan to at least keep birding regularly and trying to meet and get to know the Albuquerque birding community.
This is a change from my original plans, but the expenses of my car repairs were effectively backbreaking even with the incredibly generosity I received. Again I am sorry for the last of posts lately, but this has been a situation I have struggled on how to approach and has sapped much of my willpower.
Needless to say, this year has been nothing short of spectacular, and despite having finally run dry on funds I plan to try to make the most of the year ahead of me, with this past week of DoorDashing hopefully being enough to fund some solid birding focus for my journey south, my time in California, and my working my way through Nevada and Arizona on my way to New Mexico.
Also once I arrive in New Mexico I plan to begin working on my book, which unlike my blog won’t be just a narrative of “I went here and saw these birds, then met this person, then went here”, but rather an introspective look on the journey, my experiences, and my growth both as a birder and a person (as well as a fair share of stories about the year worked in).
First and foremost - thank you to anyone who chooses to support me in this insane adventure of mine. When I initially had this idea and began planning I didn't even consider the possibility that others would want to support me, but I am extremely grateful to those who have reached out to do so. For those who are interested in supporting me, I have set up a Patreon, which can be accessed by clicking the logo to the left (or you can send me a message via the contact page). Again, thank you for your incredibly generous support!
All Patrons will receive my "Daily Notes" 12-36 hours after the end of each day, and Patrons subscribed to the "Sponsor" tier will receive monthly postcards, mailed out between the 25th and end of each month.
For anyone who wishes to support me without using Patreon, clicking the "$" Icon will link you to my Venmo as well. There is also an option on Patreon to purchase my Daily Notes Collection for a one-time $10 payment without becoming a paid member, which will give you access to the Daily Notes without having to subscribe to a monthly subscription. For those who it requests the last four of my number for, it's 1403.
Following recent suggestions I went ahead and created a GoFundMe in order to help ensure I can keep this adventure going and afford the costs of gas, vehicle maintenance, and food (including, with enough support, some more diversity in my diet). The GoFundMe can be accessed by clicking the image link with the coin going into the donation box. (If anyone knows how to add a custom icon on Elemetor to make the Venmo and GoFundMe Links their respective logos, I'd love to hear how to do it!)
Thank you again to those of you who have supported me so far, it's tremendously generous and greatly appreciated.
Follow me on my journey to see 100 species in every Lower-48 State during 2025, experience some of the incredible places and events in American birding, and meet and bird with as many local birders as possible along the way.
Posts will be made every Wednesday (I will try to have them out by 5pm, but situationally they might be a bit later) and will cover the previous Monday through Sunday. Additional posts will be made periodically with no set schedule.
