[gthang]

Like many people on this forum, I tend to not think of posting a life list (for obvious reasons). But I have changed my mind and decided to post my life list since last July (the unofficial start of the hobby). There's a big gap from July to February of this year (February 2004 is the official start of the hobby). Since last July, I have listed 76 birds, over 50 of them here in Stormville, NY or surrounding towns.

Using a format similar to Fulmar's, I will chronologically describe my bird sightings, and list the new birds after each description.

The unofficial start was when my family and I took an annual trip to Florida to visit my grandmother. Our first stop was in New Bern, North Carolina to visit my aunt and uncle. During our stay at their house, my uncle took us out on his boat. While enjoying the breeze through my hair, I happened to spot an Osprey sitting on a channel marker.

01. Osprey

After leaving North Carolina, we continued south to southern Florida. After a couple of days going around town to see the attractions, we decided to embark on a wildlife tour. So we headed to unknown parks near water, and added 11 more birds to my life list.

02. White Ibis
03. Roseate Spoonbill
04. Wood Stork
05. Laughing Gull
06. Sandhill Crane
07. Brown Pelican
08. Cattle Egret
09. Great Egret
10. Snowy Egret
11. Magnificent Frigatebird
12. Common Moorhen
13. Red-Shouldered Hawk (B. l. extimus subspecies)

After after a week of being in Florida, we headed home to New York. The next record occured in February, at our feeders. For the next two months, all the new lifers had been seen on the feeders.

14. American Goldfinch
15. White-Breasted Nuthatch
16. Tufted Titmouse
17. Black-Capped Chickadee
18. Dark-Eyed Junco
19. House Finch
20. Red-Bellied Woodpecker
21. Carolina Wren
22. American Crow
23. Downy Woodpecker
24. Northern Cardinal
25. Song Sparrow
26. American Tree Sparrow
27. Pine Siskin
28. Mourning Dove
29. House Sparrow
30. Fox Sparrow
31. Hairy Woodpecker
32. Common Grackle
33. Blue Jay
34. European Starling
35. American Robin
36. Eastern Phoebe
37. Turkey Vulture
38. Brown-Headed Cowbird
39. Purple Finch
40. Red-Winged Blackbird
41. Chipping Sparrow
42. White-Throated Sparrow
43. Northern Flicker
44. Canada Goose
45. Mallard
46. Red-Tailed Hawk
The Red-Tailed Hawk was seen on April 23rd. The next day, I decided to start traveling to further increase my life list. So a trip to Bashakill Marsh State Wildlife Management Area was in order. After coming home from Bashakill, I took a walk to the neighborhood pond, where I got two new birds.

47. Ring-Necked Duck
48. Yellow-Rumped Warbler
49. Great Blue Heron

On the 25th of April, my father wanted to see Bashakill Marsh up close. So he and I took a trip there. Besides encountering our first NY resident Great Egret, we were also over-joyed to hear reports of resident Ospreys nesting on the shores of Bashakill. Unfortunately, there were no Osprey in the air that day.

50. Bald Eagle

It's now May, and the first May bird was encountered on the 5th, in the form of a female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak. That very same day, I also took notice of an American Robin look-a-like, which I IDed as a Veery.

51. Rose-Breasted Grosbeak
52. Veery

On the 10th, my first Ruby-Throated Hummingbird showed up unexpectedly while I was out doing yard work. I quickly set up a nectar dispenser, but the hummer never returned for a week.

53. Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

After a severe decline in feeder visitors, I decided to make daily trips to the pond. My decision has paid off, as I saw 7 new birds in just 6 days (one day I had seen 4 new birds!).

54. Gray Catbird
55. Solitary Sandpiper
56. Green Heron
57. Wood Duck
58. Common Yellowthroat
13. Red-Shouldered Hawk (B. l. lineatus subspecies)
59. Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

After seeing the pond being worked on with construction equipment, I had not seen a single new bird there since the 13th of May. On the 17th, I saw my first Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, but that was it. So my next move was to visit the other area ponds and lakes. Again, my decision has paid off, as on the 19th, I had listed a total of 5 new birds; followed by 1 on the 20th, 1 on the 21st, and 1 on the 24th.

60. Barn Swallow
61. Graylag Goose
62. Eastern Kingbird
63. Mute Swan
64. Savannah Sparrow
65. Broad-Winged Hawk
66. Tree Swallow
67. Baltimore Oriole

Other birds I've seen include
68. Wild Turkey
69. Boat-Tailed Grackle
70. House Wren
71. Ring-Billed Gill

This is my list up to this point. Will surely be adding more.

[Fulmar]

Nice story, and you have seen a few species that I haven't. One small remark however, when you count the two subspecies of Red-shouldered Hawk (nos. 13 and 59) as two entries, you are effectively making a subspecies list instead of a species list. But it's your personal list of course and you can do with it what you want!

Peter

[gthang]

Yeah, about that, I had neglected to change the numbers to relfect the subspecies.

[Charles Harper]

Relfection is a peculiarly human ability.

Seriously, I wish I could produce such a graphic ornithoscopic autobiography. My first hundred birds are lost in the mists of time (like the dinosaurs). We didn't make lists in those days. The pencil was not yet invented.

[gthang]

On the 25th of May, I took a 5-6 mile hike at Fahnestock Memorial State Park, which netted me an Eastern Towhee (which I couldn't get a picture of) and a really long walk back to my car...

2 days later, I visited another area lake, and didn't find anything. So I was on my way back to my car, and I spotted a speck on the water. Since I couldn't tell whether it was a log or a bird from such a great distance, I used my digi-cam to check it out. After snapping the first picture, I noticed the profile of a swimming bird. The way the bird looked in the pictures made me think it was a Common Loon. But it was, in fact, a Double-Crested Cormorant.

72. Eastern Towhee
73. Double-Crested Cormorant

My very first June bird was sighted (or not!) on the 3rd. I was coming home from a long day of driving to various parks, and was sitting at a traffic light. I was watching some European Starlings feeding on the grass near Marist College. While watching them, I noticed a "large sparrow" feeding near them. Thinking nothing of the possiblities, I snapped a picture. About an hour later, I replayed the picture in my camera, and was startled to see two prominent breast bands distinctive of a Killdeer.

74. Killdeer

On the 4th of June, was treated to two more birds, a Kingfisher and a Flycatcher (my third flycatcher).

75. Belted Kingfisher
76. Great Crested Flycatcher

This list is from May 25th to June 6th.