Musing over a life list

[Pat Hodgson]

, the only problem is my bucket list may not necessarily agree with my wife's list

This is actually a serious issue, requiring much thought.  The NBSP (non-birding spouse) can be talked into certain destinations much easier than others.  Costa Rica is probably a much easier sell than Colombia.

[Pat Hodgson]

For 2015:

yard list: 99 +1 for red-bellied woodpecker
Ontario list: 290 +5 Swainson's warbler, piping plover, Wilson's plover, whimbrel (filling a hole there!), mountain bluebird, I'm not counting painted bunting from Oakville
ABA area (that's Canada plus US 49 states not Hawaii): 575 +2 Baird's sparrow and dusky grouse in Alberta
world total*: 1878 +222 41 South Korea, 1 North Korea (I was in the south by about 20m at Panmunjom in the DMZ but the bird, cinereous vulture, was well inside North Korea when I first saw it!), 7 Bonaire, Caribbean Netherlands, 167 Peru, 2 Alberta as above, 3 Slovenia, 1 Italy

* total is a bit higher than an ABA-compliant total might be, I have counted a couple of new species and splits that are not official yet

[Dinusaur]

...Costa Rica is probably a much easier sell than Colombia.

Thanks for the suggestion Pat - yes Costa Rica is probably be next when opportunity arrives. Are you a world traveler or what? You have collected an amazing number of species from around the world. Happy Birding.

[Reuven_M]

As this thread is still active I thought I'd add that I got four lifers over the weekend in a whirlwind trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin: Ivory Gull, Gyrfalcon, Black-billed Magpie and Lewis's Woodpecker.

[Walter Fisher]

Time for an update to my last update...

Ontario 'Lifer' Birds - 305 (2015 additions: Neotropic Cormorant, White-faced Ibis, Wilson's Plover, Piping Plover, Willet, Red Knot, Wilson's Phalarope, Eurasian Collard-Dove, Black-backed Woodpecker, Yellow-throated Vireo, Harris' Sparrow, and Western Meadowlark).
Local Park Birds - 189 (2015 additions: Black-billed Cuckoo and Tufted Titmouse).  Rosetta McClain Gardens, Toronto
Backyard Birds - 104 (2015 additions: Eastern Screech-owl, Common Raven, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and Bay-breasted Warbler).

Good birding,
Walter

[JW Mills]

I'm not really sure what my total is now. When I started birding in BC I would just tick off the birds in the back of my Golden Guide, the total there is about 250. In 2014 I started using eBird, the total there is 226. Neither list is complete as I stopped ticking off birds in the guide sometime after I started using eBird and eBird only includes Ontario birds.

[winz]

I'm not really sure what my total is now. When I started birding in BC I would just tick off the birds in the back of my Golden Guide, the total there is about 250. In 2014 I started using eBird, the total there is 226. Neither list is complete as I stopped ticking off birds in the guide sometime after I started using eBird and eBird only includes Ontario birds.

eBird is not only for Ontario Birds.  You can enter information for anywhere in the world that you have birded.  You can enter historical information if you have the date and the location.
I added quite a number of birds to my lists last year, since I was able to bird in Jamaica and California, along with trips to Point Pelee National Park, Carden Alvar and Presqu'ile Provincial Park

[GStuart]

Surprising to me, I managed to add six birds to my Ontario list this year.

Swainson's Warbler; Tommy Thompson Park--Wet Woods - 18 May 2015
Wilson's Plover; Toronto--Toronto Islands (Hanlan's Point) - 29 May 2015
Little Egret; Ottawa--Britannia Conservation Area (Filtration Plant/Point) - 26 Jun 2015
Pink-footed Goose; Lafleche Landfill - 04 Nov 2015
Bullock's Oriole; stakeout Bullock's Oriole, Pakenham - 01 Dec 2015
Vermilion Flycatcher; stakeout Vermilion Flycatcher, Wallaceburg--Nelson St - 22 Dec 2015

[winz]

For 2015:

yard list: 99 +1 for red-bellied woodpecker
Ontario list: 290 +5 Swainson's warbler, piping plover, Wilson's plover, whimbrel (filling a hole there!), mountain bluebird, I'm not counting painted bunting from Oakville

I counted the Painted Bunting in Oakville.  Is it considered an escapee?

[Pat Hodgson]

I counted the Painted Bunting in Oakville.  Is it considered an escapee?

In a nutshell, yes.

[JW Mills]

I'm not really sure what my total is now. When I started birding in BC I would just tick off the birds in the back of my Golden Guide, the total there is about 250. In 2014 I started using eBird, the total there is 226. Neither list is complete as I stopped ticking off birds in the guide sometime after I started using eBird and eBird only includes Ontario birds.

eBird is not only for Ontario Birds.  You can enter information for anywhere in the world that you have birded.  You can enter historical information if you have the date and the location.
I added quite a number of birds to my lists last year, since I was able to bird in Jamaica and California, along with trips to Point Pelee National Park, Carden Alvar and Presqu'ile Provincial Park

Thanks, yes I know about that.
So far all my birding has been in Ontario and BC. I'm probably the only birder that is not interested in seeing birds from other countries!
You can actually enter your historical info for life-list purposes even if you don't have date and location, eBird has a protocol for that. It's just that I'm not too concerned about adding the old stuff from BC.

[Walter Fisher]

I'm probably the only birder that is not interested in seeing birds from other countries!

You and me both my friend!  The only bird I've ever 'noticed' outside of Canada was Brown Pelican in Mexico many years ago.

Walter

[thouc]

I counted the Painted Bunting in Oakville.  Is it considered an escapee?

In a nutshell, yes.

I keep track of my records in e-Bird and as far as I know it's lacking a functionality to mark an observation as an escapee or otherwise not countable on the lists. I think escapees should be reported on e-Bird to track their prevalence, if they are becoming established etc.

I guess my official total is down to 294 then even if my e-Bird list is 295.

[Brian Bailey]

I'm probably the only birder that is not interested in seeing birds from other countries!

You are missing out on one of the most fascinating aspects of birding!  And it's not about the list - it's about observing birds and behavior.  Depending on how far from home you travel, you can see familiar birds in unfamiliar situations, closely related species to the ones you're familiar with, or most interesting:  completely different families of birds filling the same ecological niche.

It could be stressful in some countries, if you have a psychological need to positively identify every bird you see, but if you're willing to let some (many?) go unidentified, it can be a lot of fun.

BB

[JW Mills]

I'm probably the only birder that is not interested in seeing birds from other countries!

You are missing out on one of the most fascinating aspects of birding!  And it's not about the list - it's about observing birds and behavior.  Depending on how far from home you travel, you can see familiar birds in unfamiliar situations, closely related species to the ones you're familiar with, or most interesting:  completely different families of birds filling the same ecological niche.

It could be stressful in some countries, if you have a psychological need to positively identify every bird you see, but if you're willing to let some (many?) go unidentified, it can be a lot of fun.

BB

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree!