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A new month brings a fresh start for those who decided to join in on the Bird-a-Day Challenge. The official challenge, taking place on  began on New Year's Day. Since then I have been trying to play along, just for fun, counting how many days in a row I can find a “new” bird. (New = recorded for the first time in this game.) So far, I’ve lasted five weeks. Making it this far has already been tough, and it’s only going to get harder.

Plenty of people are playing along, some from as far away as the UK. And a number of new people recently started counting from Feb 1. Maybe some of us will last until the grueling month of March, when many birds will become even more difficult to see. That's because they will be busy winging from their wintering grounds to their breeding territories, in some cases as far north as the Arctic. Still, this is a game. There’s no penalty for falling out, no prize for lasting the longest.

If you have just decided to join in, you can find additional info and updates about the challenge--from the start until now—. The following is an update of my Bird-A-Day List so far. And please don’t be shy; Post your b-a-d list in comments on this blog, and on ̽����ѡ Magazine’s Facebook page and Twitter. Happy birding!

BIRD-A-DAY?

January 2012
 New Year’s Day: Red-Throated Loon??
Day 2: Greater Scaup??
3: Common Merganser? ?
4: Black Duck??
5: Red-shouldered Hawk?
6: Canvasback?
7: Northern Gannet?
8: Lesser Scaup?
9: Red-bellied Woodpecker?
10: Brant?
11: Fish Crow?
12: Hooded Merganser?
13: Northern Harrier?
14: Pied-billed Grebe?
15:Bonaparte’s Gull?
16:Horned Grebe?
17: Common Goldeneye?
18: Dark-eyed Junco?
19: Common Raven?
20: Hairy Woodpecker
21: Horned Lark
22: Snow Goose
23: Northern Mockingbird
24: Black Vulture
25: Great Cormorant
26: House Finch
27: White-Breasted Nuthatch
28: Northern Shrike
29: White-winged Scoter
30: Turkey
31: Bald Eagle

February
1st, Day 32: Golden-crowned Kinglet
2nd, Day 33: Northern Pintail
3rd, Day 34: White-throated Sparrow