Vanderpoel Hits 650 (1 Viewer)

[Mysticete]

Where was that posted? Narba appears not to have any reports for today

EDIT: nm, found the posting on the Alaska listserve

 

[Mysticete]

Update today...John failed to get the Whooper Swans and is not twitching the Anchorage Dusky Thrush. With a week left, and some of that time reserved for a pelagic, He is going to need some great timing and a lot of luck to match Sandy Komito's 745 record. I have a feeling Adak in December (and not November) might have been a mistake...

 

[Fred Urie]

Drive 700 miles to the Hooded Crane, then back for the Skua on Thursday,
fly to Canada for the Smew at Whitby, then to Arizona for Nuttings on
Saturday. Wow. What a way to finish the year.

 

[owl flight]

742 - Hooded Crane

 

[csanchez7]

Is it a good strategy to go for the Hooded Crane? There is a very high probability that it is an escapee.

Carlos

 

[Big Phil]

Won't the Hooded Crane be uncountable for the big year as not on ABA list at the time? Didn't Komito also see 3 such species which would make his big year 748 if they are counted? Confused!

A great effort and compulsive reading whatever the outcome!

 

[Paul Chapman]

Won't the Hooded Crane be uncountable for the big year as not on ABA list at the time? Didn't Komito also see 3 such species which would make his big year 748 if they are counted? Confused!

A great effort and compulsive reading whatever the outcome!

From the blog, he has added it provisionally:-

"So I’m now at 742 species. Of course the Hooded Crane will need to be accepted by one of the state committees before the ABA Checklist Committee will accept it. Until its been accepted or rejected I’ll keep it on my list as a provisional bird. Of course I think that it’s a wild bird but I clearly have a stake in this decision."

If not accepted before publication of his total, I understand on the '745 principle', he loses it.

I have to say that ordinarily I can see both sides of most arguments but on this one, I simply can't understand a comparison against 745. If you want to say that you are setting a new record for the number of birds seen in a particular year, you need to compare your own total with the previous highest number on the same basis that you calculate your total and that may mean updating various elements.

All the best

Paul

 

[Mysticete]

I don't see anything wrong with the strategy. The Hooded Crane is about the only thing he has time to grab and still make his Wednesday pelagic. The Smew and Nuttings are much farther away, and he can still grab both after the pelagic before January 1st.

 

[owl flight]

Won't the Hooded Crane be uncountable for the big year as not on ABA list at the time? Didn't Komito also see 3 such species which would make his big year 748 if they are counted? Confused!

there's a few links to discussions on this subject earlier in this thread ^^^

seems to me there's two numbers - 745 (the published total) & 748 (the final total). chris hitt sums it up. wikipedia takes same approach. vanderpoel himself mentions it after meeting komito in anchorage, so 748 would seem to be the total he's aiming for

 

[Jonny721]

Information from someone who was on the pelagic with John today...

743 - Great Skua

 

[Mysticete]

So, unless the birding gods are cruel, he is going to tie the original record looks like it

 

[Reuven_M]

The smew was not seen today

 

[Mysticete]

narba has links up to the next round (2012) of ABA big years, although both are modest efforts and might not be as quite gripping as John's big year

 

[Fred Urie]

The Dusky Thrush in Alaska was still available.

 

[Fred Urie]

And this on Adak:

http://adakbirding.com/potential-north-american-first-asian-rosy-finch-on-adak/

Would you bother going if you knew that in reality you needed 748?

 

[Fred Urie]

The father and son Big Year have no money, and the retired couple are only
spending 10 Grand. No Asian Rosy Finch, Dusky Thrush.

 

[owl flight]

744 - Nutting’s Flycatcher... missed the Smew

 

[Mysticete]

John would no doubt have gone but getting up to Alaska (especially Adak) takes a lot of time. I don't think you could realistically pull that off in 2 days. As it is, getting stranded on Adak a few weeks ago probably hurt him, since he had to put off the Hooded Crane and Nutting's Flycatcher, and he had a lot less time to try for the Smew (which vanished before he could see it)

 

[fugl]

I would say that in thinking about these things one should distinguish between "record" & "feat". 746 in 2011 breaks the record, but 745 in 1998 was by far the greater feat. And as far as I'm concerned, it's the feat that really "counts".

 

[Mysticete]

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