2024 Targets (5 Viewers)

[Bewick]

I've been a bit dry on bittern walking around recently - would like some of those in 2024. Also have never seen a lesser spotted woodpecker would like one of those 😁

Good point- lesser spotted woodpecker is also one of my goals.

 

[Pinewood]

Hello,

I have no targets. I am happy to see what turns up on my walks and I never go more than 200m out of my way, to see an unusual bird.

A happy, healthy and peaceful new year to all,
Arthur

 

[snowyegret24]

Ive got a big list of targets and a couple trips in mind, If all goes to plan I could be looking at over 50 new life birds! 2 of my main doable targets this year will be Spruce grouse up in north New England, and American Oystercatcher on the coast. I made a long checklist with some of my top possible target birds in New England and I'm hopeful for at least getting a few of them! My main targets for my traveling (though none of those plans are set yet so there’s no guarantee) are Colima Warbler, Elf Owl, Mexican Jay, and Common Black Hawk and if I'm really lucky and go out of my way maybe Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo . So many possibilities in 2024 though!!

 

[thyoloalethe]

My target is minimum one lifer--I try to get one every calendar year, which is getting trickier to do in years when I'm not traveling somewhere new (I don't know yet if I'll be travelling anywhere this year). There are a few low-density species I could still get locally if I'm lucky. I picked up 3 lifers in 2023, all quite serendipitously.

 

[Torcol]

Here are my targets for 2024

From my local patch (southwest of France) : Lesser Spotted Woodpecker this is a bird that has eluded me for a while.
And getting a correct photo of a Bonelli's Warbler

I have a trip planned on February to Fuerteventura where I hope to see :
Hubara Bustard
Cream coloured Courser
Black bellied Sandgrouse
Plain Swift
Red-billed Tropicbird (a man can dream)
Mediterranean Short-toed Lark
Fuerteventura Chat
Degener subspecie of the African Blue Tit
Red-vented Bulbul

Then I will make a trip to Catalonia in April, my targets are :
Dupont's Lark
Calandra Lark
Mediterranean Short-toed Lark (if missed on Fuerteventura)
Pin-tailed Sangrouse
Black bellied Sandgrouse(if missed on Fuerteventura)
Iberian Green Woodpecker
Black Wheatear
Iberian Shrike

 

[ovenbird43]

Not too many specific goals this year. Do more local birding than I did last year. I'll almost certainly do at least one larger trip, but it's still very up in the air. I've been eyeing a fall trip to Papua New Guinea, though I imagine if I don't commit soon I'll be waiting for 2025. A friend of mine keeps talking about a trip to Kenya sometime, but we have made no plans yet or even set a rough timeframe. I have a different friend who is an extremely keen birder but has never been on a pelagic, I'd love to take him on a Cape Hatteras trip or something, but again - ideas and no actual plans.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

South Africa in September for my last 2 African families; Rockjumpers and Secretarybird.

 

[Dr.Boletus]

I have updated my wish list for this year.
For this year, I hope to do something extra special- see a bird which I dreamed of seeing since 2017 and always failed when I tried.
I hope to go to Hungary and see and get photos of a Saker falcon
Hopefully with photos of red-footed falcons too- my photo from Lakenheath in May 2018 is nothing to be proud of

 

[Leafbringer]

I'd like to take a nice picture of musk lorikeets. I've seen them before but haven't gotten a clear photo yet.

 

[PaulCountyDurham]

Increasing my knowledge of songbirds and their behaviour.

In terms of photography:

A detailed picture of the male Pied Flycatcher with sun shining on the bird, taken outside of the woods. 'Not going to be easy but it's been done before by others.

and:

A Peregrine in decent range with some sun on the bird. As above: 'not easy but been done before.

 

[hookem2010]

2024 goals, hmmmm...
1) Actually make it to Colombia. I don't even know what expectations to set for the trip, but hopefully hitting 700 for my life list
2) Go somewhere with the family where I can add a handful of new ABA species
3) Get my current resident county list to #2 overall for my Texas counties
4) See a 2nd longspur species
5) Hit 400 species for Texas. Certainly I can manage 3 more species without significant travel

Mixed success this year. Having our 2nd child in October may have had something to do with that....
1) Couldn't leave my pregnant wife with a difficult toddler in her 3rd trimester, so Colombia was nixed. Watching the lists roll in from my friends was bittersweet.
2) No significant travel this year
3) I got close, adding 28 species to my county list, 4 shy of my 2nd highest county total. I really focused on birding my 2-mile radius patch, exceeding 200 species in the 2 years we've lived here.
4) Yes! Thick-billed longspur successfully tracked down at the beginning of the year
5) I sit at 400 exactly. The longspur and a green-tailed towhee got me close in January. Eventually tracked down a king rail near Houston, one of my few chases more than half an hour from home this year

 

[lgonz1008]

Main goal is to reach 2,000 (currently at 1,661) in the life list and thankfully I have some trips planned that can get me there:

• Jamaica trip in March with some friends can guarantee me 30+ lifers, including my first taste of proper Caribbean species that can't be Florida vagrants.
• Alaska in late May with my family has been planned to be a wildlife trip but if all goes right, 20+ lifers wouldn't be out of the question.
• Ecuador trip in August only got one week confirmed out of the hoped for two, but I can realistically get over 100 lifers including some icons like Andean Condor and Stygian Owl.
• Atlantic Rainforest of Brazil is the last planned trip in late October/early November, this one is still tentative but if all else fails, seeing 250+ lifers is realistic with the cotingas of the region being my most wanted targets.
• On a more local level, hope to get my Florida life list to 350 species (currently at 344) and this should be easy if I made a trip to the panhandle in winter, but not sure if I can make the time with everything else I got on my plate.
  • Top 3 realistic nemesis birds in the state are Black Rail, American Woodcock and Blue-winged Warbler, but vagrants like Bicknell's Thrush and Kirtland's Warbler seem to be found once every year and we get lucky in winter with some wild rarities (King Eider and Red-throated Loon being two recent additions)

Mixed bag, but many more positive results than negative ones:

• Did not reach my 2,000 goal, shy of 22 species. So I'm currently at 1,978, but I think that I'm guaranteed 2,000 in 2025 at this point.
• Jamaica was a great trip with 39 lifers in total, all the island endemics plus a few nice bonuses.
• Alaska gave me less than expected, unusually cold spring meant that species like Lapland Longspur had not returned to their breeding grounds yet and the boat tour skipping the seabird colonies took away all chances for a few seabirds.
• Ecuador trip was completely canceled by the end of January, the issues with the cartels taking over the news stations scared the participants, so the trip did not go through
• Atlantic Rainforest was all I could hope for and more, managed to see 262 lifers, including my top bird, Swallow-tailed Cotinga. Plus, I made a birding friend around my age (mid to late 20s) that likes international travel, so we are set for Indonesia next year!
• Exceeded my Florida life list goal by adding 11 species (currently at 355). No trip to the Panhandle was made, but I managed to remove one of my nemesis birds this month when I saw Blue-winged Warbler (and a bonus Yellow-bellied Flycatcher). Currently in charge of a CBC in my area, so will be interesting how many species I get to compile for the count.

 

[JRP01]

I would love to pass 300 birds in my country, Im at 253, lets see if i get it

Ended the year with 308 species in Spain, so success. I also crushed my annual list with 267 species this year, last year it was 225 species.

 

[Farnboro John]

I got around to digitising some old photos, which gave me a picture of one of my target birds for the British Isles listed at the start of the thread, Icterine Warbler - which was nice, albeit I already had the picture on wet film. I photographed two birds in the British Isles for the first time, Pied Wheatear and Scarlet Tanager (the latter being a tick) and got improved photos of Puffin, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Northern Waterthrush.

Perhaps birding was a little bit thin but on the positive though untargeted side I saw 168 new birds and 24 mammals in Bolivia as well as seeing 200 species of moth in the British Isles of which 31 were new including the mighty Goat Moth. Finally I also caught up in Dorset with Scarlet Darter, my 49th Odonata species in the British Isles.

Happy with my year!

John

 

[Val35]

So far for 2024, I only have one trip planned but it's a non-birding trip to Italy in January. I still have one target bird there : Red-Billed Leiothrix.

Then of course, I'd like to add some species to my Corsican list : I have to try for Long Eared Owl, it's a localised breeding species here but the data suggest that there might be a nice population in the Northwest of the island. I guess I'll try this in February/March.
Then I don't know what migration will bring but hopefully a few new birds for my regional list (the ones I can think of now are Bar Tailed Godwit, Greater Scaup and Yellow Browed Warbler) and maybe even some lifers !
My Corsican list is currently at 247 species and it would be nice to reach 250 in 2024

I did see RB Leiothrix in Italy.

I didn't try to find Long Eared Owl in Corsica though...but still managed to reach the 251 species mark for my Corsica list with long awaited additions such as Collared Pratincole, Ortolan Bunting and Yellow Browed Warbler + the completely unexpected African Gallinule of last March !

A very good year overall even though spring migration started slowly, the end of April and begining of May turned out great

 

[qwerty5]

Anything bird related that you hope to experience/accomplish in 2024.

My number one goal is to finally get 200 year birds in my county. 210 should not be hard, but this year I was thwarted by a horrible May and being gone for all of September and most of October. My other targets are also all for my county, because I don't have any travel plans yet:

1. Bell's Vireo. I look at eBird and they seem to be breeding everywhere around my county, but they just refuse to be found by me.

2. At least two county warbler lifers. Possible options: Connecticut, Mourning, Golden-winged, Worm-eating, and (incredibly unlikely) Kirtland's.

3. Rough-legged Hawk and Short-eared Owl. Both scarce wintering birds. I still have a chance to connect with one or both this year.

4. A 100+ species day. This shouldn't be hard with a good day in May, but the problem is finding the right day and actually being able to go birding.

5. 15 county lifers. I've got to increase my list from embarrassing to not-quite-as-embarrassing.

Mostly successful year. I hit 200 county year birds in late October, and am on 205 now, despite another poor performance in May and terrible shorebird habitat most of the year.

1. Never connected with a Bell's Vireo. Maybe due to the fact that I focused on other birding during most of June and never got serious in my search until July. As a result I also wasn't able to hit all of the potential habitats I planned to.

2. Exceeded this goal with three new county warblers. All spring migration got me was a heard only Connecticut. Fall migration was much better overall, and I got two Golden-winged Warblers, great views of a Connecticut, and late in the season, a Mourning.

3. Connected with a Short-eared Owl in late February. A Rough-legged Hawk was reported in the same area multiple times in February and March, but I could never find it. Then, while fishing in mid-April without binoculars, I had one fly over. Definitely the best incidental sighting I've ever had.

4. Never got a chance to do a Big Day. Spring was just too busy for me.

5. I've had 14 county lifers so far in 2024, but I also got two last December after writing this, so I'll count this goal as acheived.

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

I did get my 6,000th - an Andean Flamingo in Bolivia.

I have a few targets for 2025, but that's for another thread.

 

[Mysticete]

Anyway, as to the actual thread topic, I am still not exactly sure what 2024 will bring me. Due to furloughs I doubt I will be able to go anywhere exotic (or too exotic anyway). I'll probably continue to try to knock off a few missing state birds, and perhaps chase a few rarities

Birds trips I am considering:

Not in 2024, but in between Christmas and New Years I will be making my first trip, with a colleague who is a photographer, to Sax Zim Bog area. Targets include Great Gray Owl, Northern Hawk Owl, Black-backed Woodpecker, and American Marten. Boreal Owl would be great but I am not counting on it

The other trips are still speculative, and may or may not happen, depending on work, conference schedules, etc

Dakotas to knock off some sparrows and a few other random ABA birds I need, as well as hopefully get some cool mammals. Main bird targets would be Baird's, LeContes, and Nelson's sparrows, along with White-winged Junco, Yellow Rail, Gray Partridge, Lewis's Woodpecker, and Black-backed Woodpecker if I dip on it in Sax Zim Bog

Alternatively, I may do my long belated Appalachian trip, with targets including Worm-eating, Kentucky, and Swainson's Warblers, plus hopefully some cool salamanders

Another option, If I have a few extra bucks, would be a long weekend in the Austin area of Texas, specifically targeting Golden-cheeked Warbler and Black-capped Vireo, but hopefully also get the local form of Woodhouse's Scrub-Jay, Rufous-crowned Sparrow, and a few others.

Anyway, that is what I have been considering for the moment, but who knows really.

Well, while it doesn't count for 2024, I did go to Northern Minnesota, where I was able to pick up Northern Hawk Owl and American Marten. However, we kept dipping on Great Gray Owl and Black-backed Woodpecker, and between the unseasonably warm weather and some non-bird related aspects, it was not the funnest trip

Most of the potential trips got scuttled when I took on an interim class, which basically occupied me through early June. So no Central Texas, Appalachians, or North Dakota. Instead, in early August I did two back to back pelagics out of San Diego and hung out with friends. I dipped on the land bird targets (August is tough for those, but I also lived there for three years so most of what I could get I had already seen). The only two land birds I tried for were Burrowing and Blue-crowned Parakeets, two recently countable exotics. Dipped on those but did get my first county Swinhoe's White-eye, which was a lesser target.

The pelagic was decent. We dipped utterly on alcids which was one of the main focus, and also Cook's Petrel and rarer procellariiformes. I did get good views of three lifers however, Cocos Booby, South Polar Skua, and Townsend's Storm Petrel, and really crappy views of Least Storm Petrel.

And that was kind of it. Having done Ecuador the year before I didn't have the funds for another international trip, and due to work, stress, and mental health I just didn't get out much. In fact I probably did the least amount of birding I have done since I first moved here. Hopefully 2025 is better...at the least I have Malaysia to look forward to this summer.

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

South Africa in September for my last 2 African families; Rockjumpers and Secretarybird.

Well these two families were successfully ticked, but thanks to Spotted Creeper being elevated to family status, Africa is not complete!

 

[lgonz1008]

Well these two families were successfully ticked, but thanks to Spotted Creeper being elevated to family status, Africa is not complete!

You could always try for the Indian Spotted Creeper to tick that family.