ABA Blog in Review: December 2012

Happy New Year!

There's been a lot of reminiscing here and elsewhere in the last week or so, ostensibly coming to an end on this of all days.  And well, we're all about looking forward here at the ABA too, particularly with a new Bird of the Year nearly ready to make its debut very shortly, so I promise you that this post is the last bit of looking backwards you'll see here at the ABA Blog for a while because 2013 is going to be a really great year for birding and the ABA and we don't want to slight it in the least.

But as is my monthly wont, here is a quick rehash of stuff that happened here at the ABA Blog for December, just in case you missed anything. 

First there was a lot of content in conjunction with the November 2012 issue of Birding magazine, which you absolutely should have in your hands by now.  That is all tabulated at the Online Table of Contents, but those topics included a discussions on changing the ABA Code of Birding Ethics and the possible expansion of the ABA-Area, the 7 "new" species on the ABA list, an essay on Rose-face Lovebirds (one of those species), a look at our 2012 Bird of the Year and how it might be 5 co-BOYs, and a couple discussions on the recent photo quizzes. 

As for our contributors, Board member Lynn Barber counts the ways birding makes her life fuller as she puts the finishing touches on her (record-breaking?) South Dakota Big Year.

Jeff Bouton joins us as a regular contributor with a wide ranging discussion on the worst bird common names.

Laura Erickson continues her series on what is involved in getting involved in conservation issues.

Bird of the Year coordinator Robert Mortenson wraps up the year of the Evening Grosbeak and gears up for the Year of the [REDACTED].

In this period of Christmas Bird Counts, webmaster Greg Neise waxes nostalgic on his own favorite CBC experience.

Photo guru Bill Schmocker fabricates his own iPhone-scoping rig in his garage.  Cool stuff!

Rick Wright curates book reviews from the most recent Birding issue, including new books from Zickefoose, Burton and Croxhall, and Dunne, Sibley and Sutton. 

And there was birding too!  John Puschock leads the way with rare bird reports including Falcated Duck, White Wagtail, and Great-winged Petrel in California, Little Egret in Massachusetts, Dusky Thrush in Alaska, and state-firsts Costa's Hummingbird in Florida and Barred Owl in Nevada.

Thanks for reading, commenting, and supporting the ABA.  If you're not a member, join today!

Here's to a great 2013!