The 10% Club - Milestones (1 Viewer)

[lgonz1008]

Peninsular Malaysia...feels a bit more affordable and a better introduction, and I don't have the finances to do Borneo on the same trip.

Depending on how my luck goes, I might do Australia or Malaysia next year. Borneo can be affordable if planned directly without using a big company, if you don't mind sharing the trip with another newbie birder to the region, maybe we can plan something (just need to wait until September to see if Australia goes through).

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Well...

Some near-term goals:

• I'd like to get to 6,000 species. If the trips I have scheduled all happen, I figure that will happen in November sometime.
• In 2018 I set a goal to see all the gulls in the world. At the time I needed 5 or 6. Now I'm down to one - White-eyed Gull. I've had four trips to Israel cancelled - 3 because of covid and one because of unrest. Right now I've got a trip to Saudi Arabia scheduled for next February, so hopefully that goal falls then.

Longer term (dependent on health, etc.):

• I'd hope to get to 7,000.
• I've seen 224 families. Can I get them all? Maybe. I've never been to PNG and Madagascar, so if I go there, I can get close. Then I need some oddballs.
• It might be fun to see all the penguins. I need 3 - Humboldt, Snares, and Royal.

And interestingly, I've hit 800 species for the expanded ABA region twice. I got there with the flamingos that showed up in PA in September. Then the Western Flycatcher got lumped, so I dropped back to 799. Fortunately, the Red-flanked Bluetail in New Jersey got me back to 800. But I'd better see one more just in case the redpolls get lumped. I don't want to have to do it again.

 

[qwerty5]

My only defined long-term goal I have at the moment is to see all the regularly occurring ABA Continental birds (because Hawaii feels like a weird tack-on with no ecological connection)

 

[raymie]

My only defined long-term goal I have at the moment is to see all the regularly occurring ABA Continental birds (because Hawaii feels like a weird tack-on with no ecological connection)

I don't know that I'd say that. Most of Hawaii's native extant bird taxa originate from North America. Several species, such as Laysan Albatross, Pacific Golden-Plover, Wandering Tattler, and several others make migratory movements between Hawaii and mainland North America.

If Hawaii has no ecological connection to the rest of North America, then it's also kind of hard to argue for the inclusion of south Florida and south Texas, which are usually considered to be in an entirely different biogeographic realm than the rest of the ABA area.

 

[temmie]

I'm not going to jinx it giving away my secret wishes / milestones, and at this point I honestly don't know where I'm going to end up in terms of numbers and statistics. Life is short and the process is imho more important than the goal.

Birding has to be enjoyed and striving for numbers often gets in the way of that enjoyment. That doesn't mean I don't have ambitions / plans / wishes...
If there is one thing I would like to express as an ambition, is to become a better birder all the time. Nothing gives me more pleasure than having more experience, deeper insight, better observations, improvements in planning, more insight in a bird's behaviour or habitat... A better grip on birds, be it by expanding the list, or simply by new experiences with birds you thought you knew well.

 

[Lerxst]

Crossed 5,000 last year. Ultimate goal is 50% of all species, so a few hundred more to go.

I intend to set the world record for most species identified by a legally blind person. As far as I know, I already have.

 

[YuShan]

Crossed 5,000 last year. Ultimate goal is 50% of all species, so a few hundred more to go.

I intend to set the world record for most species identified by a legally blind person. As far as I know, I already have.

Nice! 5000 are heard only?

 

[hookem2010]

I started birding in 2016, both a really good and bad time to begin this journey.
eBird was well-established, so finding birds is easier than ever. As a 28 year-old, I was just starting to earn money to travel.
On the flip side, populations are declining, my spouse, while interested in the outdoors, does not bird, and I've got an almost 2 year-old with another on the way.
At 526, I've got no final number in mind. I'm hoping that I'm still able to head to Colombia in a few months, which should get me around 700.
My immediate goals are hitting 400 in Texas (at 399 since January!) and getting another 37 to hit 500 in the ABA. The latter will take some time since I don't foresee much significant travel in the next couple of years.
I think international travel may become more doable afterward, and even if I'm seeing common birds or sneaking away for a day on a family trip perhaps I could hit 1000 worldwide by the end of the decade, or soon thereafter. I guess that is the goal I will set for now. 1000 by 2030!
Honestly, seeing about 10% of all birds during my lifetime is not a goal I would have foreseen when I started this hobby and realized there were over 10,000 species out there. 1500+ would be a birding life well lived.

 

[mjh73]

Coming up on 20% (2057)
Would like to hit 1/3rd by 60 (gives me 9 years) 50% species lifetime (hoping to live past 60!)
See something in most families (all sounds too hard/expensive!)

600 for Australia in the next couple of years (29 away) A trip to the top end should get me there pretty much.

Tick off all of some more Aussie groups (only need 1 cockatoo, 1 treecreeper, 2 bowerbirds, 1 butcher bird/wood swallow etc)

See an ant-thrush.

 

[Lerxst]

Nice! 5000 are heard only?

No. I'm legally blind, not totally blind. If there is a lot of light, I can see through a very narrow tunnel, about 2% of what a normally sighted person sees. So I can see certain types of birds. If we are scoping a lake shore, for example, or other places where the birds are sedentary and well lit. But in a dark forest and the birds are moving, it is almost impossible unless I get lucky... That is where heard-only comes in, and my rule is that I have to get a recording and then verify it against multiple xeno-canto references. I will never take a guide's word for it, and have rejected alleged IDs that I could not corroborate via recordings.