I take a rather different view. I think birders going for a big year ought to record all identifiable sub-species seen, and their totals should be adjusted if these are subsequently split (and reduced by relevant lumps). It's up to them whether they want to go for insurance birds, and those who make the effort to do so ought to enjoy the benefit.
I would also remove all exotic / introduced species from the reckoning. To me it seems just plain silly to make arbitrary decisions about whether e.g. Budgie populations are self-sustaining. Spending hundreds (or is it thousands?) of dollars chartering a helicopter to see an introduced Asian partridge seems just plain nuts...
It would also presumably make Hawaii much easier to deal with.
Large crowd down at Brigantine NWR this AM chasing the Common Greenshank. I suspect some of the big year-ers were among them.
Yve and the Deans already had it from Alaska. Doesn't look like the Stolls have gotten it yet.
Gaylee Dean cleaned up Ross's Gull, which her husband already had. Nice to see them back in the game.
I see that our 2016 hero Olaf has bagged himself a SIBERIAN-HEADED CHICKATIT!
http://olafsbigyear.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/tit-for-tat.html?m=1
I see that our 2016 hero Olaf has bagged himself a SIBERIAN-HEADED CHICKATIT!
http://olafsbigyear.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/tit-for-tat.html?m=1
Seems he also got the long-staying American Bitterness too :smoke:
Interesting to see Bradley/Olaf not far short of 800.
I was referring to his rather barbed comments about "another person" (aka JW) claiming to have seen Gray-headed Chickadee last year, and the rather obvious insinuation that he strung it.
JW: "774 9-Nov Gray-headed Chickadee Noatak National Preserve, Brooks Range, Alaska"
OD: "I did not see this bird in 2016. One person reported it un-witnessed where the Boreal chickadee also lives in western Alaska and two weeks later in November it was reported again by another person again unwitnessed and nobody produced a single photo. It wasn’t worth my effort to try that for a five figure bird (more than $10 grand to get it), that in some likelihood was not even a GHCH."
Actually Bradley is one behind Olaf - they fell out on St Paul and Olaf refused to provide directions to the Mottled Petrel that he saw fly past.