We did the past year good. I hit the 250 goal dead on, and Lise got pretty close with 244 species (97.6%). Combined we had a total of 252 species. Lise got a Thayer’s gull which I did not. I got Lesser Black-backed Gull, Short-eared Owl, Veery, Bohemian Waxwing, Blue Grosbeak, and Palm Warbler that Lise did not. Not for lack of trying on either of our parts. Lise scrambled a number of times when Bohemians were reported locally but always just missed them.
We both got some lifers like parasitic jaeger, least bittern, white-faced ibis, Iceland gull, northern hawk owl, and Thayer’s gull. We have some glaring misses too, like Lincoln’s sparrow, clay colored sparrow, prothonotary warbler and screech owl. We should have gotten all of those.
This year I’m going to track the species we see, both avian and odonata, but not set a numeric goal. Couple of reasons why. For starters, I’m doing two out-of-the-country trips this year. In April Lise and I are doing the Panama Canal cruise and in September Stefan and I are doing the Machu Picchu trip. Our life lists better increase but the trips will cut out Michigan birding time.
I would also like to focus a bit more on photography this year. Any type of photography, not just wildlife photography. Getting good “publishable quality” photos requires different strategies than racking up species counts. You can be doing serious birding, or doing serious bird photography, but you can’t do a good job of both simultaneously. Hard to get high species counts when you are sitting for hours in a blind.
I still need some goals, something to focus on. A reason to plan trips and get outside so I’m not just looking out windows all day. So for goals I’m thinking in terms of numbers of photographs and number of new places visited rather than number of species tallied. I’ll still chase things to get as high a count I can. Like the Townsend’s solitaire report at Ludington State Park that just hit my email. I’m just not setting a target number of species.
Coming up with good goals isn’t easy. You want them to be something like Stalin’s five year plans. Challenging, but achievable with effort. Maybe without the possibility of getting shot if you don’t make the goal. At a personal level, I need some kind of stimulating challenge to work on. Otherwise I tend to get bored and into trouble.
I remember reading once that Ansel Adams considered getting 10 printable photos in a year a successful year. When you’re lugging around a camera that weighs the same as a small car, ten is a pretty good number. So maybe I’ll shoot for 50 good, high quality photos. That’s about one a week. Not just quick grab shots but planned, well executed photos. Messing with the lizard photos don’t count.
Messing with the lizard photo. Doesn’t count.
Neither does this one.
I also want to shoot for visiting six new places in Michigan this year. State parks or rec areas, game areas, non-profit nature preserves … There are a lot of opportunities. More than we have time for in our current employment and child rearing status. Michigan has about 20% of its land base in some kind of protected status. Mostly up north, there’s frightfully little around here. Compare Michigan’s 20% figure to Indiana’s 4% figure. Gotta love that corn and soybeans. Anyway, given our crazy schedules, saving time for travel excursions, and knowing we will still be hitting old favorite spots, six new places will be a challenge.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 