polymania

I recently assisted the Fort Collins Audubon Society with a monthly bird census out at the Fossil Creek Reservoir Natural Area. As we saw and heard a few surprise species like Red-breasted Merganser, Long-tailed Duck, and Virginia Rail, the fellow who was leading the census told me he was keeping a year list. For some reason, the idea of keeping my own year list had never dawned on me, even after having read The Big Year by Mark Obmascik, which is all about hardcore birders keeping track of all their bird sightings in a calendar year. So, I decided to start my own year list for 2005, which of course is much smaller than those in Obmascik's book. The '600 Club'? Hell, for me, I'd be happy to be in the '300 Club'. So far in 2005, I have 176 species.

I also started a Colorado List when we first moved here in November. That list has 113 species. You can always check to see the current status of that list here.

In general I've been cautious about keeping track of so many lists. Of course I also have the most general of lists, a Life List, which includes all birds seen anywhere in the world. But I've hesitated on keeping a separate list for the localities where I've lived, until recently. I'm not sure how I suddenly overcame this reluctance, but listing has a new appeal to me. I think it's basically another manifestation of that 'pack-rat' mentality, where I want to keep track of everything and lose nothing. So be it. Bird lists are a way of ensuring my continuity of experiences, by connecting the past with the present. Until my photography really gets past rank amateur poseur status, lists will have to do.