Vanderpoel Hits 650 (1 Viewer)

[fugl]

greater feat? I am not sure I follow. Sandy Komito had access to Attu, and even with the small number of splits since Komito's big year, I still would say Sandy had an advantage that later birders don't have.

Edit: for my money I am more impressed with Kenn Kaufman's big year, or Greg Miller's

What I was mostly thinking of is the huge advantage conferred on the modern twitcher by improvements in communications & public recording (most notably the cell phone revolution & ebird). I admit, however, that Attu is a fair point on the other side.

According to post #117 Vanderpoel was at 744 earlier today, one shy of the record. Is that what he finished with?

 

[Mysticete]

yep...looks like he ends at 744, unless he miscounted somewhere along the line.

I do cede that birding listserves have changed things, however it should be noted that Sandy had developed an elaborate network of contacts which forwarded rare birds news to him. So I guess it is more effort on his part, but he still was able to rely on access to shared information. One could argue that nowadays, the rbas and listserves provide a fairer playing field, as you are less reliant on knowing "the right people".

 

[owl flight]

743/745 & 744/748

whichever way you look at it, a fantastic effort which was gripping :eek!: right up to the end

will twitchers be heading to adak for the asian rosy finch then?

 

[Mysticete]

Outside of someone doing a big year I don't believe a whole lot of remote Alaska twitching goes on. It's expensive and from my understanding there are only 2 regular flights a week, and there is a good chance that in winter weather conditions will ground one of those flights. So a risky and expensive twitch.

 

[Paul Chapman]

Outside of someone doing a big year I don't believe a whole lot of remote Alaska twitching goes on. It's expensive and from my understanding there are only 2 regular flights a week, and there is a good chance that in winter weather conditions will ground one of those flights. So a risky and expensive twitch.

Does no-one even go for a first in such circumstances? I am completely ignorant of the American twitching scene. Is there someone who is significantly ahead of his competitors? If not, surely there would be some peer pressure if someone went?

All the best

 

[Mysticete]

There might be a few 800+ ABA birders who may make the trip, but remember this is probably a multiple $1000 dollar twitch with a high probability of failure. Most of the 800+ twitchers will have already spent several weeks in Gambell every fall to maximize their chances for first ABA records.

The sheer distances and logistical difficulties of Alaska make for a much different birding scene in the US than say Britain. Top listers will generally twitch things in the lower 48, easily assessible areas of Canada, and Anchorage/Seward, but the remote Aleutians don't lend themselves well to that sort of birding.

 

[Paul Chapman]

There might be a few 800+ ABA birders who may make the trip, but remember this is probably a multiple $1000 dollar twitch with a high probability of failure. Most of the 800+ twitchers will have already spent several weeks in Gambell every fall to maximize their chances for first ABA records.

The sheer distances and logistical difficulties of Alaska make for a much different birding scene in the US than say Britain. Top listers will generally twitch things in the lower 48, easily assessible areas of Canada, and Anchorage/Seward, but the remote Aleutians don't lend themselves well to that sort of birding.

Noted. Very interesting. I suspect that there is a parallel here to WP Listing. Many thanks for the response.

All the best