I finally have a tally on the birds I added to my life list on my trip! I'm not a huge list keeper exactly...but I keep a life list and it's not a big number either...but as you get more and more tics on the page you really have to travel afar to add something new...or be ready to "scramble the jet" if you want to chase after rare sightings! If I was a free bird and didn't have 4 others depending on me, (Mom, Floss, Annie, & Casey) I'd be up and running :o)It is a competitive thing but its like you're competing with mother nature.
I was NOT able to photograph ever new bird I saw but I tried in almost every case a few times it was while I was out walking Casey without a camera and all I could do was watch helplessly as the bird was well seen and not photographed...or driving the car and it just flew right in front of me, even if you have your camera and the bird IS right in front of you is no guarantee you will get a photo of it. I nearly gave up photography period due to birds! BUT TG the digital age came along and saved me from exile!
And thanks go out to my blog friend Jen of i used to hate birds for doing a bird outing with me and helping me with I'ds on some of the tougher ones. Not being familiar with Western birds makes it hard to I'd them and I'm awful with water birds of any kind since I live in a forest I'm used to forest dwelling birds!
So here are my new additions...this is in the order I saw them and general location!
- Pinyon Jay - Garfield Co, CO
- Red Shafted Flicker - Garfield Co, CO
- Sandhill Crane - Dinosaur N.M. Jensen, Utah
- American Avocet - GSL, Utah
- Wilson's Phalarope -GSL, Utah
- Red-Necked Phalarope - GSL, Utah
- Eared Grebe - GSL, Utah
- Sage Thrasher - GSL, Utah
- Sage Sparrow - GSL, Utah
- Chukar - GSL, Utah
- Bushtit - Craters of the Moon, Carey, ID
- Long Billed Dowitcher - Ridgefield NWR, WA
- Barrow's Goldeneye- Mt. St. Helens, WA
- Varied Thrush - Mt Rainier, WA
- Heermann's Gull - Port Townsend, WA
- Thayer's Gull Port Townsend, WA
- Chestnut Backed Chickadee - Olympic NP, WA
- Red Breasted Sapsucker - Olympic NP, WA
- Cinnamon Backed Chickadee - Oylmpic NP, WA
- Surf Scoter - Coast Highway, Kalaloch, WA
- Black Scoter - Coast Highway, Kalaloch, WA
- Canvas Back - Astoria, OR
- Northern Pintail - Astoria OR
- Winter Wren - Cape Meares, OR
- Brandt's Cormorant - Yaquina Head, OR
- Black Oyster Catcher - Heceta Head Beach, OR
- Common Merganser - Umpqua Rv Umpqua NF, OR
- Northern Goshawk - Lower Klamath WLR- Doris, CA
- Sage Grouse - Lower Klamath WLR- Doris, CA
- Townsend's Solitaire - Lava Beds N.M., Indian Well, CA
- Snow Goose - Tule Lake NWR, Tulelake, CA
- Cackling Goose - Tule Lake NWR, Tulelake, CA
- Lesser Goldfinch - Tule Lake NWR, Tulelake, CA
- White Faced Ibis - Tule Lake NWR, Tulelake, CA
- Green Winged Teal - Tule Lake NWR, Tulelake, CA
Final Tally New Lifers = 35 and there were some Unidentifiable's even with photos...so can't always get a perfect count...That brings my life list tally to 311 not huge But its a work in progress! The tally of all birds's ID'd for this trip from start to finish was 122 Not bad!
I found out that there is a 600 club, out there somewhere...if your life list includes 600 birds that means you get top Honors...so I'm half of that I am now however a member of the 300 club...if there is such a thing. I think some patches are in order like we used to get for bowling!
I found out that there is a 600 club, out there somewhere...if your life list includes 600 birds that means you get top Honors...so I'm half of that I am now however a member of the 300 club...if there is such a thing. I think some patches are in order like we used to get for bowling!
I wanted to send y'all over to McQ;s Travels for some super bird photos and an impressive birding spot to add to your birding wanna go list! Some other spots I really want to visit are the Bosque Del'Apache NWR down in NM, Aransas NWR in Texas (possible Whooping Cranes there)
Here is a great resource to bookmark, a list of
PEACE and happy birding!
Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.
You really scored! I have about as many on my life list. I don't want it to grow too quickly too fast cuz once you've added a bird, that's it! If you're a member of the 600 club, you'd have to start going to foreign countries to add any more!
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Deletes still plenty of birds right here in NA I havent seen...I have NOT seen the road runner yet--and groan when I hear others have seen one..lol
This is just great! Congratulations are definitely in order. I've never counted mine up, tho I do mark them when I see them the first time ( in my fav birding book). We've been to both those places on your wish list, both wonderful.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you had a good trip up this way and adding all these lifers was a wonderful bonus!
That's what I do tic it off in the little box of my copy of NatGeo Birds of NA. That's where I keep my list...If the fires that threatened at the time I had planned my trip I had plan B and it was to head down toward Bosque...but Im glad I have that yet to experience!!
DeleteThat's a very impressive list. I should go through my pictures and tick off the ones I have seen, never thought of that.
ReplyDeleteJO you def should it feels good to know when progress is being made.
DeleteGood job! I've been to both Bosque del Apache and Aransas NWR. Hit the first at the wrong time of the year and just saw a few sandhill ctanes. Took the boat at Aransas and saw the whooping crane families. That was very cool.
ReplyDeleteI do think timing is everything! I REALLY would love to see the Whooping Cranes!
DeleteGreat list! Super awesome sightings. We just love our feathered friends. :)
ReplyDeleteseeing new and different birds was one of the highlights of this fall trip for me....now I have this bee in my bonnet to go to Everglades before the migrants leave! :o)
DeleteCongrats on all the new birds!!! That's awesome!! Glad I could help with a couple of the ID's. Can't believe you got to see Sage Grouse! Such a cool bird. One thing- Winter Wrens got split a few years back, so out here we have Pacific Wrens and back east there are Winter Wrens. They look the same pretty much. Anyway, congrats again, 35 is a fantastic number!
ReplyDeleteThat's the problem I run into by using my 1993 copy of Nat Geo's Birds! One old timey birder told me just wait long enough they will change it back referring to the bird name changes that keep happening...so I still use old school language for the most part I need an update, but just can't part with my old book!! Saw the sage grouse when a dozen or so flushed out of the tall grass edges of one of the canals near Lower Klamath! AND there were these blue barrels with signs on that said "Hunters Put your Grouse Wings in the Bucket," yada yada yada, I didnt even read the rest....damn
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