I'm a relatively newly-minted birder. While I've always enjoyed watching birds, it was only a couple of years ago that I started to actively seek them out. Last year I found myself in the pleasant position of getting a decent promotion at work ... and with it a massive increase in my stress level. Birding (and wandering around in nature generally) provided a welcome respite from the completely unnatural world of business while I learned to adjust. Now, I have a decent collection of feeders, am making significant progress in learning how to identify many similar birds through their various "tells", and happily update my lists on ebird.
Given that I'm starting to take myself a bit more seriously as a birder, it's only natural that there are certain things that I'd like to see happen in 2013. If anyone is interested, I'd like to hear what your goals for the year in the birding world are as well. Without further ado, here are a few of my goals:
Total Birds on 2013 List
Last year, I managed to hit 50 species. While that's amateur hour for anyone seriously interested in birding, for me it was more casual. I also didn't move much beyond my home region (which had about 140 identified species last year on ebird). Given that I have plans to go further afield and to devote more time to the hobby, I'm aiming for 100 this year.
Bird I Most Want to See
It's definitely not a rare bird ... believe it or not, I've never seen an Indigo Bunting and that is the bird I'm most hoping I can see in 2013. Last year, there were 4 birds that I wanted to check off my list - the Belted Kingfisher, the Scarlet Tanager, the Kestrel, and the Indigo Bunting. I managed to catch 3 of the 4. Here's hoping I can catch the bunting this summer.
States with Submitted Lists
I'd like to move beyond just birding in Minnesota this year and take a few dedicated birding trips, likely over the weekend, to the surrounding states. I'd like to submit lists this year for birding trips in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin in addition to Minnesota. I would consider 20 species in each to be a success (and would anticipate plenty of species overlap).
So what are you hoping to accomplish as a birder this year? Any birds you particularly want to see? Trips you really want to take? Anyone planning on going full-out Jack Black and Steve Martin this year :)?
Sun May 19, 2013 at 7:02 PM PT: The Indigo Bunting came to me without me having to seek it out at all, as it turns out - I saw one at my feeder on Friday morning and was able to tick it off my life list. As seems to happen, I then saw an Indigo the very next day when visiting my mom and stepdad. Life is funny that way ;) I hope everyone's birding year is going well!