How Many Lists Do You Keep? (1 Viewer)

Steve Lister · Mar 12, 2005

Cinyras said:
Lists can't beat good field notes. Reading a list is like looking at a table of contents.

No reason why you can't have both. I have field notebooks going back to 1980 and wish I had kept the earlier ones. Your field notes are essential to update your lists when anything is split. And as for lists, I live up to my name. This year I am keeping the following...

World (Life and Year)
Eurasia L
WP LY
Europe LY
Britain LY
Leics LY
Lincs LY
Yorks LY
(+ L lists for all but four other English Counties)
Rutland Water L
Swithland Res L
(+ L lists for eight Yorkshire sites)
Africa L
Asia L
N America L
C America L
S America L
Caribbean L
ABA area L
AOU area L
(+state L lists for five US states)
Afrotropics L
Middle East L
Macronesia L
Atlantic Ocean L
Indian sub-continent L
(+ country L lists for all the countries I have visited - maybe 60)

That's about 150.

Steve Lister

Wan2caTanager · Mar 12, 2005

I have only a year list(which i started in April instead of January so now I am on a funny birding year! |=)|) and an ABA life list. I haven't really birded out of the USA so right now I don't really need a world life list.(One day....|:d|) I used to have a month list going, but I got tired of righting down alot of the same species every month so I stopped doing that.lol |=)|
I liked looking at everyones different kinds of lists! I never really thought of doing somthing like a garden list. Maybe I'll start another! |=)|

Suki · Mar 12, 2005

Let's see

life list
North America ABA list
state lists where I bird most often
list of what I see at home
UK list
Norway list
Sweden list
travel list or trip list of special places I have been to (i.e. St. Lucia)

Then I also have my Mom's list. This is the list my family kept up from family vacations (wayyyy back then). Every time I find one from her list I check it off. Still several to go.

Suki
For me nothing calms the nerves like birding

Woodchatshrike · Mar 23, 2005

Out of all you lot who keep many lists, which is the most important to you?

Gill Osborne · Mar 24, 2005

Mmm...hard question! I would have once said Life List BUT I'm having sooo much fun this year with my Year List and keeping a close eye on my new ticks to add on here...it's added a bit more fun to my birding!
For example, today (well, yesterday as it's gone midnight!), I went along to Cresswell Pond as I'd heard about a Spoonbill and a Lapland Bunting being seen there. But I missed both!!! If I was only obsessed with my Life List I would have been REALLY disappointed but since I added five new birds to my Year List I'm not! LOL
Still aiming to reach the Magic 200 by the end of the year though! I'm currently on 172 so just 28 to go! I've made a list of birds I WANT and where I have to go and, if things work out according to the list, I should do it...JUST!!! It's just a little challenge for myself to aim for.

Having said that, I don't JUST keep lists....I write up my diary every night of anything in the natural world...flowers,insects, mammals etc. And my main file has more detail and pictures. Beginning to think I'm getting a bit obsessive...in a nice way LOL

GILL

buckskin hawk · Mar 24, 2005

I didn't start keeping a list until someone gave me a National Geographic Journal three years ago. The only thing I had previously listed was visits to National Parks so my Journal includes birds seen in National Parks and other expeditions. Due to this site, I have now started a state list for 2005.

Gill Osborne · Mar 24, 2005

buckskin hawk said:
I didn't start keeping a list until someone gave me a National Geographic Journal three years ago. The only thing I had previously listed was visits to National Parks so my Journal includes birds seen in National Parks and other expeditions. Due to this site, I have now started a state list for 2005.

This is the beginning of the end...you'll eventually end up with loads of separate lists like the rest of us!!! LOL

It's fun though!

GILL

Richard D · Mar 24, 2005

This is the first year I've started listing so only have a County and Year List for 2005. I suppose I could try and remember all I've seen over the years and put together a life list but I suspect that as was birding in my teenage years that I've probably forgotten some of the commoner species I've seen.

andy one · Mar 24, 2005

British List
Scottish List (this is my priority this year)
British Year List
Scottish Year List

Andy..

jeff · Mar 24, 2005

I just store 'em in a database, if i feel the need for a list, just run a query.

Jos Stratford · Mar 24, 2005

Can't even manage a shopping list!

Balcony Birder · Mar 25, 2005

Nightjar61 said:
So how many lists do you keep?

Dave

Thanks to eBird, more than I need, but no less than I want.

Some years ago I ran into a birder who mentioned a life list. As soon as he used the term I knew what he meant. (until recent years I did almost all my birding solo)

Then, just a few short years ago I ran into eBird (www.eBird.org) for North American birds. eBird is a website here in the US sponsored by the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. By entering my checklists on-line, I can then query the database to provide me with almost any type of report imaginable. I can request week, month, year; by location, by bird; trends, patterns; create frequency or abundance tables. I can gather the information by specific location, or from a map and I can print out what I want. In addition, I can also access information for the entire North American database of checklists, not just my own.

So, you can see, I have entirely more lists than I need, but not less than I want.

)

markpie · Mar 25, 2005

I have many lists on excel. These are:

Lifelist
British list
Year lists (3 now)
My patch list
My patch year list
Lea Valley list
Lea valley year list (2 now)
Garden list
And 2 more regular birding places lists

Mark

brianfm · Mar 25, 2005

Lists

I have taking some convincing that all this listing is really necessary but now I have started I do feel it adds to my enjoyment of the best pastime there is.....bird watching. This is the first year I have begun to put together a UK Year List and I fortunately have around enough info to put together a UK Life List and World Life List. I am hoping that the World List will help me get to grips with bird families. Oh... and of course I have a Garden List. Don't think I would want to take on any more but I suppose you never know! I do keep records of all birding visits now. Suppose the importance of listing was brought home to me when I saw a Velvet Scoter in Northumberland this year and thought I had a lifer until looking at a report I had of a trip to Canada in 2001 and found that I had seen them there. Could not have been a life shattering experience at the time as I could not remember!

Steve Lister · Mar 25, 2005

brianfm said:
Suppose the importance of listing was brought home to me when I saw a Velvet Scoter in Northumberland this year and thought I had a lifer until looking at a report I had of a trip to Canada in 2001 and found that I had seen them there. Could not have been a life shattering experience at the time as I could not remember!

Now if you were Dutch or a UK400 type then it would have been a lifer, as they split White-winged Scoter.

Steve

brianfm · Mar 25, 2005

Lists

Steve Lister said:
Now if you were Dutch or a UK400 type then it would have been a lifer, as they split White-winged Scoter.

Steve

Oh Really! Not sure whether I can deal with all these complications Steve.
Trying to put my list together is hard enough!

Neil Grubb · Apr 9, 2005

One. Garden list. Haven't added anything to it since December - the most recent addition was Goldcrest. The most conspicuous absentee is House Sparrow!

For some reason I otherwise have a strong aversion to listing!

nkgray · Apr 23, 2005

I keep an Access database of all my sightings. Amongst other things I record the date, a GPS waypoint for each sighting and a record of which country, province or national park the sighting was in. I hyperlink to my own photos/birdcall recordings of that sighting if any. I can sort by date, any time period, country, region, birding spot, etc. So you could say the number of lists is infinite! Me, obsessive? Surely not!!!!!!!

Neil Gray

lvn600 · Apr 23, 2005

I keep the life list. I'm also keeping a monthly list of species seen in local birding spots that I visit on a regular basis and will take a list of any new spot as well. I guess they are more of surveys than lists.

cfagyal · Apr 23, 2005

I have as many lists as I want, since I keep every last sighting in Avisys (and soon to also be in Birders Diary 3.5). So I have life lists, north american state lists, country lists, north american county lists for every county i've been to in any state i've been to, site (patch) lists for any site i've visited in any state i've visited in any country i've visited, etc.

Plus I have reports for year lists, etc...

So Probably in the neighborhood of 200-300 possible lists at the moment, maybe more.

How Many Lists Do You Keep? (1 Viewer)

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