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What's the fun of year lists ? (1 Viewer)

osborne

Well-known member
I keep a life list but I fail to see the point or fun of keeping a year list. It just seems to make bird watching more stressful to me and means it becomes little more than a race and would seem to make birding rather predictable.
Why do people on here keep a year list ? Is it an extension of the joys of childhood i.e such as collecting football stickers every year and seeing if you can fill the album year after year. Like football stickers and other annual hobbies, does it not become rather boring after a few years ? To me a life list is a celebration of an individual's birding life and should be cherished as such. However, what is the point of selecting a random period of time, in this case a year, and making a list from it just for the sake of making a list ?
 
I assume you mean the practice of keeping a year list with a specific target in mind. I used to aim for 200 a year. At least it made sure I got out into the field regularly and kept my eye in - something I've got a bit lazy about in recent years. That in turn helps to ensure that you see at least some of the tricky scarcer birds often enough to get to know them properly. I don't bother with a target now, but I keep my year lists going because I want to know when I saw particular birds: it doubles as a (rudimentary) index to my notebooks.
 
I htink it serves the purpose of elevating the importance of birds that you would otherwise take for granted and not see - like Ring Ouzel and Lesser sp Woodpecker
 
It isn't fun . . . it is arduous hard work, and essential to keep birding abilities in good trim, like taking exercise is essential for athletes

3:)
 
This is the first year that I've kept a year list. What I have noticed is that it makes the return of some of the migratory birds even more exciting, as I get to tick off each species on my year list as I see them the first time this spring. As someone else pointed out, I also will use it to see what date I first saw each bird.
 
I've got to agree with just about everything said above - although it is fun... for me at least.

I temper that by saying that I don't have a target, I just record what I see, regardless of how many are on the list.

I guess it simply takes all sorts, and there are those among us (guilty as charged) who can't help making lists.

To be slightly serious for a moment, I would say that a "year" is no more arbitrary a period of time than a "lifetime". What it does do (these aren't my words, but some advice I was given) is it allows you to mark trends - if you don't count the numbers then simply date trends.

It's want you want out of your hobby, I suppose.

Tell me, osborne, do you record the date of what you id? If so, do you record only the date of your first iding of a bird?

If so (to both) ... fine... no problem at all.

But if you record everything you id by date, well then you already keep a year list!!!

What ever you do... enjoy :t:
 
All I have is scraps of paper -with the birds I have seen - lying around the house, which I can't usually find.

That'll do me.
 
Hi Birdman,
Yes, every day I record the birds I see and keep them in a rather rigid diary format. I've done this ever since I started birding 5 years ago, so I suppose I do have a year list ! This was a deliberately slightly provocative thread on my part and for good reason; in my mind this year I've counted the birds I've seen so far this year and the number comes to 92 - nothing special but I don't drive and am merely a local patch watcher. So I asked not so much to criticise year lists but simply to see what motivates other birdwatchers to keep one.
Michael's point emphasises the paradox of any hobby - you really do want to improve after a while and maintain your birding abilities but if it gets more arduous it defeats why you took up the hobby in the first place ! More likely, it's simply a case of the birdwatcher moving on to new challenges. However I'd far rather the hobby came before the list rather than the list coming before the hobby and dictating everything.
Am amused at Jane's post. A Ring Ouzel is one of my most desired lifers and out of reach as I don't drive and live out of reach of their favoured moorland habitat. As for LSW I 've saw one just once by accident and it rates as one of the best days of my birding life as I'd accepted that this was one species I'd probably never see. So I couldn't imagine taking either for granted !
 
I've never kept a year list before,but having seen the fun that others on BF seemed to be enjoying,I tallied up my own records,by checking against a list.
This immediately showed me which ones I hadn't seen so far this year,which is of more general interest to me.
Despite people posting their totals regularly,I don't get the impression that it is a competitive situation.
 
The experience of the first view of every bird on a new list is the thing (unless too much malt went down at Hogmanay). Not the overall list per se. Having said that, there's not much wrong with self competitiveness, which can lead to self improvement of not only numbers, but knowledge and ID skills.
 
osborne said:
- you really do want to improve after a while and maintain your birding abilities but if it gets more arduous it defeats why you took up the hobby in the first place !
I can relate to that entirely! I bird for the enjoyment of it, and at my age I'm not into masochism. The downside is that what you get out of a hobby is only proportional to what you put in, so I have to accept that I'm never going to be up to the standard of many here.
 
I've been using ebird on the Cornell web site. I keep track of every bird I've seen and where on it. By accident, I discovered that you can print out a report for a year, so I guess I do have a year list. I like the idea of inputting today's date, and being able to view what I've seen and where on that particular day. It's an anal thing. If you think a year list is bad, I've heard of birders that keep a list of the birds they've seen on T.V. Now that's compulsive...

Mike
 
Hi all,
mikebirdart said:
Having said that, there's not much wrong with self competitiveness, which can lead to self improvement of not only numbers, but knowledge and ID skills.
That's as may be,and it would never do to get complacent in any way,but(playing devil's advocate here,but speaking from experience)the keeping of a year list can add unnecessary pressure!For example,I was keeping a year list against a few friends until recently,but they got a lift to Wexford on Saturday and got about 6-7 species that I have yet to see for the year.The final straw was when I was taking part in a Hen Harrier survey yesterday(those aforementioned friends were involved),and one of them had a pair mobbing a Buzzard:he had already seen at least one Buzzard this year,but I've not seen one since September!I lost my cool,and then vowed that I'd have to pull out of the contest,as I was taking it too seriously.
In much the same vein,another friend of mine is catching up on my Irish list,and I have decided not to let a rivalry,friendly or otherwise,start up between us,as this again could lead to unnecessary stress.
I'll just travel for birds that I want to see:ticks obviously,but also others,such as these two Montagu's Harriers at Tacumshin if they stay until the end of the week(never seen a male,and not seen the species for 4 years).
Mind you,I still enjoyed getting my first Garganey for the year yesterday....
Harry
 
I've just started keeping a year list. I don't record dates because that's not what my birding is about, not at the moment, anyway.
I'm just using it as a gentle reminder that I don't often look hard enough or close enough and identify as many species as I could.
Looking at the list reminds me that I've not seen any red kites this year and as it's a bird that I really like I should really make more effort. That said, if I see a red kite today I'll still be happy seeing one tomorrow and another the day after that.
 
What can be more satisfying than reading old journals, noting something you saw 1 year 3 days ago, and going out and finding one TODAY?

Or building up years and years of records and noticing patterns in arrival and departure dates, numbers seen or fledging dates?

For me, it's all part of trying to be a more competent and aware birder.

Then again, different strokes for different folks, I guess..................
 
I've been using ebird on the Cornell web site. I keep track of every bird I've seen and where on it. By accident, I discovered that you can print out a report for a year, so I guess I do have a year list. I like the idea of inputting today's date, and being able to view what I've seen and where on that particular day. It's an anal thing.

I use eBird too. I give them the data to assist them in their monitoring of bird populations throughout North America. As a side benefit, they allow me to go in and see what I inputed, and to sort that data in several ways, including species seen in a year. A rather nice symbiotic relationship, if you ask me.

Unfortunately, they don't offer a way to get a report longer than one year's time, so it won't work for a life list (although they did say they'll be incorporating that feature soon).
 
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You can't beat a year list to get you out of the house more regularly. My mate and I have had a yearlist competition last year and he beat me by ten (so he says). I am determined to beat him this year and I have been out more than normal and found myself some good birds.
(I am currently on 220 for the year, with not much long distance involved (Scotland and Cornwall).

I'm waiting for somebody to introduce chough to the Yorkshire coast and then: I'll never have to go to Wales again!!!
 
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Lawman said:
You can't beat a year list to get you out of the house more regularly.

There it is in a nutshell folks! Birding is not only about birds,its about getting out there and enjoying the sights and sounds that our passion throws at us.
I do a Lothian year list every few years, in 95 I ammased 208 species with 212 in 2002.
In both these instances not only did I manage to find my own birds but I also doubled the number of records that I sent in to the local recorder.
I generally send in around 3-4oo records per year but in 2002 I sent in 800+ records.
Having a yearlist, a local one in particular drives you on, okay there was times when I got in only for the phone to tell me of a bird 30 miles away but in general I was out most evenings and weekends looking for my own birds.
So try one and see then how you all feel about it, but mostly just enjoy being out and about.
 
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