2022 Targets and Goals (1 Viewer)

[qwerty5]

It's still three weeks until 2022, but since the Top 5 of 2021 thread is up, I may as well post this as well.

My list is of the birds I am going to try to find, and that I have a good chance of seeing (in other words, not a wishlist). My list is in rough order, and aside from the top few, it would probably change tomorrow.

1. Cerulean Warbler: This is the one bird I feel like I must see, at all costs.
2. Summer Tanager
3. Hooded Warbler
4. Kentucky Warbler
5. Bell's Vireo: This is a rare bird in my area, but they have nested at a local park for the last few years, so fingers crossed that they'll come back.
6. Henslow's Sparrow
7. Prothonotary Warbler
8. Prairie Warbler
9. White-eyed Vireo
10. Acadian Flycatcher

I also have the goal to reach 200 species on my life list by the end of 2022. I only need 28 more, which should be easy to get just from common birds in my area.

Another goal which I would like to achieve, is to see all the warblers on my life list during 2022. This year I almost completed it, missing only Louisiana Waterthrush. Next year may be a little harder, since I have added several warblers to my life list, including the locally rare Golden-winged and Worm-eating Warblers.

 

[ClarkWGriswold]

Long Eared Owl is top of my list. Got a week in North Norfolk in Feb so will give it a go then.

Rich

 

[Owene]

A lot depends on travel restrictions, have a few trips booked (nothing too extravagant, one spanish naturetrek tour and hopefully some European non birding family holidays starting with tenerife in february ) and have also come round the idea that I’d enjoy seeing birds doing what they usually do more than a lost vagrant or chasing British ticks I’ve seen abroad. But I’ve a suspicion my trips will get cancelled.

I’ve only got a handful of U.K. bird species left and i'm not sure i'll have a shot at any this year so most of my targets are vague or non-birdy


1. Smooth snake and sand lizard. The final two established U.K. reptiles for me.

2 Duke of burgundy. The main thing that stands out for me is hopefully filling as many gaps in my U.K. butterfly list as possible so also..

3. Purple emperor.

4. 400 species across birds, mammals reptiles and butterflies for the year. Small number for a lot of people here but probably around 100 more than i've managed before.

5 Edible Dormouse. Had some good info from John a while back and it seems like one where you can plan a definite trip and hopefully have a good experience.

I think those are targets that can stand even without any foreign travel whereas I think most of the standout birding experiences will probably be in europe.

 

[raymie]

Kentucky Warbler and Ross's Goose.

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Be nice to get a lifer in 2022, as my last one was in Jan 2020 (Pygmy Cormorant in Brussels.)

Finding a rarity on my (particularly rubbish) local patch would be my main target though, but 2021 has so far produced not even a county level description species, in spite of heavy coverage from me and more other local observers than ever before.

All in all, even a slightly less depressingly rubbish year would be good 😊

 

[Mysticete]

Well, I have several trips lined up or in the planning stages for 2022. I will be 100% heading off to Socal in January on a birding tour with Wildside, which targets LA exotics + California Condor + Island Scrub-Jay. There is also a overwintering Little Stint that I am hoping to get a chance to go for.

In June/July, I am tentatively planning my first trip to Hawaii. This is the last big "new frontier" for me in ABA area birding, with the potential of getting something like 50 new lifers/ABA birds. I probably won't have the money to do a full sweep, but I should see the majority of gettable birds. Particular top goals are I'iwi and White Noddy/Fairytern/Tern (whatever folks eventually decide the common name is)...Those are wishlist birds that I have always wanted to see.

In Early August, I have a conference in Southern Florida, after which I plan to visit the Florida Keys. It's not the optimal time of year, but I figure I should be able to get 5 or 6 lifers/ABA birds.

Locally, Worm-eating and Kentucky Warblers as well as LeConte's Sparrow are potential lifers, and the latter two breed in Wisconsin, although not specifically around me. Worm-eating are a much rarer breeder but there is always a chance for a stray migrant. Might also make a go for Eurasian Tree Sparrow which can be found in Iowa; having seen that in Japan and the UK it's not been something I have been particularly psyched to see. I would also in general like to improve upon my shorebird and sparrow lists for the state, which overall I feel are pretty miserable.

Oh, and make another run at a Fantasy birding ABA big year. I goofed up my attempt last year by making some horrible choices for the time I was in Panama, falling ridiculously behind from my former top 20 position, and lost interest. This time I will hopefully do a bit better.

 

[lgonz1008]

Have one confirmed trip to Guyana in February and a possible trip to Ecuador in May, nothing else planned before that, but still want to grow my state list a bit (missing obvious targets from Spring/Summer).

Here is what I'm planning/hoping to get:

1. Guyana
   1. Harpy Eagle
   2. Capuchinbird
   3. Gray-winged Trumpeter
   4. Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock
   5. Rufous-winged Ground-Cuckoo or White Bellbird (either of these is unlikely but both are among of my top birds that I want to see)
2. Ecuador (Northwest Area)
   1. Oilbird
   2. Long-wattled Umbrellabird
   3. Giant Antpitta
   4. Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe
   5. Black Solitaire (unlikely but beautiful bird of the Choco)
3. Florida (all of these would be lifers that I'm somehow still missing and somehow I still haven't seen Carolina Chickadee in Florida...)
   1. Wood Thrush
   2. Blue-winged Warbler
   3. Kentucky Warbler
   4. Mississippi Kite
   5. Whooping Crane

Hopefully this helps me get well past my 1,000 species goal but who knows, so far the only confirmed trip is Guyana and thinks can easily fall apart or line up perfectly in a few months time.

If I get to be greedy (and I usually am), I'd say that I'd like a long weekend/short week (5 days) in either Jamaica or Guatemala to aim for either the island's endemics or Central American megas (Horned Guan, Resplendent Quetzal and Pink-headed Warbler mainly).

 

[Mysticete]

Kentucky Warbler and Ross's Goose.

Yeah I dipped at Wyalusing last year for Kentucky, and Ross's Goose is the only normally occurring goose I need for WIsconsin (although it would not be a lifer).

 

[qwerty5]

Ross's Goose.

They are rare here, but there was one 15 miles away from me last weekend. I went looking on Sunday, and of course it was gone. Add to that the Black-legged Kittiwake at the same park the weekend before that I was also a day late for. It's not been a very nice introduction to rarity chasing for me.

 

[Mysticete]

They are rare here, but there was one 15 miles away from me last weekend. I went looking on Sunday, and of course it was gone. Add to that the Black-legged Kittiwake at the same park the weekend before that I was also a day late for. It's not been a very nice introduction to rarity chasing for me.

Twitching is a cruel mistress.

The worst is when you go and chase a bird that was present the day before you show up, and was sighted the day after, but of course the day you are there its never reported. That was my experience with last year's Black-throated Gray Warbler down in Madison WI

Although I guess still better than the "You should have been here 5 minutes ago..." response

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

Even worse than “five minutes ago “ is to arrive to see birders staring up into the sky at something that you cannot locate, followed by a four hour wait, leaving in darkness, to hear that the Franklin’s Gull concerned arrived a couple of minutes after I left! Still, I did catch up with it some months later.

 

[lgonz1008]

Twitching is a cruel mistress.

The worst is when you go and chase a bird that was present the day before you show up, and was sighted the day after, but of course the day you are there its never reported. That was my experience with last year's Black-throated Gray Warbler down in Madison WI

Although I guess still better than the "You should have been here 5 minutes ago..." response

Try leaving work early by saying you had a personal health emergency, getting to the site until sunset and dipping...

I did get the bird on my second visit, but it costed me a lot of miles and $8 for park entry in a weekend (but I know some birders didn't get it after 6 attempts, so I'm glad with not dipping on the rarity [Gray-tailed Tattler in this case]).

 

[raymie]

Yeah I dipped at Wyalusing last year for Kentucky, and Ross's Goose is the only normally occurring goose I need for WIsconsin (although it would not be a lifer).

The two species I listed here are the most glaring gaps in my Wisconsin (and also Life) List. I haven't even been to Wyalusing yet (and I've missed KEWA in other states). Ross's Goose I've just been unlucky with, it's the kind of species you just have to run into.

Twitching is a cruel mistress.

The worst is when you go and chase a bird that was present the day before you show up, and was sighted the day after, but of course the day you are there its never reported. That was my experience with last year's Black-throated Gray Warbler down in Madison WI

Although I guess still better than the "You should have been here 5 minutes ago..." response

I missed that same BTGW in the exact same way - three times! Not very happy with that obviously.

I recently missed a Townsend's Solitaire when I decided to leave the spot and later learned it showed up ten minutes after I left. sigh

 

[qwerty5]

I was actually there the first day the Kittiwake was spotted, but left about an hour before it was reported. I'm nagged by the feeling that I may have simply overlooked it among the Bonaparte's Gulls.

 

[birdboybowley]

Be nice to get a lifer in 2022, as my last one was in Jan 2020

Mine was feb '20. First year in 40 that I've not got a new bird ☹
Hopefully Southern Ecuador will still happen next month 🤞
Then it's my 50th next year (bloody hell....😱😱) so hoping to do a month in Chile

 

[Larry Sweetland]

Mine was feb '20. First year in 40 that I've not got a new bird ☹
Hopefully Southern Ecuador will still happen next month 🤞
Then it's my 50th next year (bloody hell....😱😱) so hoping to do a month in Chile

Wishing you luck getting away Ads 🤞

 

[Welsh Peregrine]

At least you aren’t 65 next year, Ads.

 

[birdboybowley]

At least you aren’t 65 next year, Ads.

True Kelv, but it's still closer than I'd like it to be 😱😂

 

[birdboybowley]

Wishing you luck getting away Ads 🤞

Cheers mate, got everything crossed 😂

 

[Jeff Hopkins]

Mine was feb '20. First year in 40 that I've not got a new bird ☹
Hopefully Southern Ecuador will still happen next month 🤞
Then it's my 50th next year (bloody hell....😱😱) so hoping to do a month in Chile

I'm hopefully heading to Southern Ecuador next month, too. Maybe we'll run into each other!