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ABA Big Year 2017 (2 Viewers)

And Stoll doesn't appear to have birded in Hawaii (yet), so these are all 'classic' ABA Area birds. Quite an impressive list if he's not doing a big year.
 
You could probably rack up a pretty big list in the ABA even without a whole lot of twitching (and Florida and AK have so far this year been pretty good, maybe better than 2016). Every year there are people who do a "big year" without going for a record, so we will have to see if the numbers here start leveling off after mid summer.
 
Honestly, if I really wanted to go for the record (which I don't...I have nowhere near the time, money, or dedicated focus for such an endeavor), I would probably wait until the Hawaii checklist changes were input into the existing list and finalized. That is suppose to happen this fall, but it wouldn't surprise me if some of the exotics weren't fully sorted out until the close of 2018.
 
I'm thinking we should start a new forum. I have the up-to-date lists in my two spreadsheets. The three who are in it this year (as far as I know) are Yve Morrell, Ruben Stoll and Victor Stoll. I'm waiting for the Stolls to proofread what I have before I can make them public. Their eBird list contains some exotics, so they're not at 700 just yet.
Yve is at 673 (her blog, "The Dancing Birder," stays pretty current); the difference between the lists for Ruben and Victor is that Victor needs Golden-winged Warbler.
I've heard that the Hawaii list will be published later this summer when they do the yearly update, so anything a birder gets this year will count as long as the species makes the list.
Joe
 
Yeah the Hawaii birds will be added, but I am still not sure how complete the addition of exotics will be. If the ABA decides a thorough review is needed for all the exotics (or at least all of those which are not super abundant, like Japanese White-eye), than it may not be a "complete" list.
 
Here is the first "score," confirmed by all involved:
Ruben Stoll - 695 (481+156+40+11+6+1)
Victor Stoll - 694 (481+155+40+11+6+1)
Yve Morrell - 673 (479+140+34+16+4+0)

Joe
 
Odds are some of these folks lost at least one tick with Thayer's Gull. Wonder if any of them are going to bother to swing by Idaho for the Cassia Crossbill
 
Here are the updated lists. Besides the three 2017 Big Years, I've also added John Vanderpoel's 2011 Big Year to the "By Codes" sheet. I'll likely add another past Big Year before too long.
The difference between Yve's total on her blog and in my lists is that she's keeping the location of her Long-eared Owl secret.
Thayer's Gull will be included until the ABA officially releases the changes to the list.

Joe
 

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The difference between Yve's total on her blog and in my lists is that she's keeping the location of her Long-eared Owl secret.


Joe

Is there some deep meaningful reason for that? I didn't think it was a particularly difficult one to catch up with, so is the individual in a vulnerable place?

John
 
Is there some deep meaningful reason for that? I didn't think it was a particularly difficult one to catch up with, so is the individual in a vulnerable place?

John

Depends on where she encountered it and also where she is from. Here in the NYC area, even reporting the nest/roost of a Great Horned Owl (even if in a super obvious and high traffic area) is sufficient to get banned from relevant listing email groups.

If the LE Owl is from an area where it would be likely pestered by photographers, or if she learned birding in an area where owl paranoia exists, I could see why she didn't report it.
 
Depends on where she encountered it and also where she is from. Here in the NYC area, even reporting the nest/roost of a Great Horned Owl (even if in a super obvious and high traffic area) is sufficient to get banned from relevant listing email groups.

If the LE Owl is from an area where it would be likely pestered by photographers, or if she learned birding in an area where owl paranoia exists, I could see why she didn't report it.

Fair enough, I certainly wouldn't report one over here for a variety of reasons from birder enthusiasm to morons with crossbows.

John
 
Dan,
Thanks for facilitating the new thread!
Yve has added Baird's Sparrow & McCown's Longspur; the Stolls have added Little Gull. Ruben has added Saltmarsh Sparrow to his eBird list; I'm thinking that Victor merely hasn't done his eBird update just yet.

I believe that the birders will get to keep Thayer's for this year's list; I'm waiting to hear back from a member of the ABA Recording Standards Committee (a fellow IL birder) for clarification. I need to know from a couple of sides, as I'm the list compiler for the Illinois Ornithological Society. Needless to say, I'll share the answer here.
Joe
 
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My understanding is that the AOU updates are usually factored into the annual checklist update, which comes out around November in the annual Lister's Guide. So likely that is when the lump would go into effect?
 
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