In the early 90s, I started looking at birds (I prefer this expression, used by the late Claudia Wilds, to alternatives like “birdwatching”). I am still developing my ID skills, and I haven’t traveled extensively, so my list is still quite short.
These are some of my life birds from around the continent:
- #178, Common Raven (Corvus corax), Beacon Hill Park, Victoria, British Columbia
- #169, Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus), Deception Pass State Park, Washington
- #185, Brewer’s Blackbird (Euphagus cyanocephalus), Bonneville Dam Visitor’s Center, Oregon
- #227, American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), Eldorado National Forest, California
- #327, Vermilion Flycatcher (Pyrocephalus rubinus), Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, California
- #279, White-tailed Ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura), Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
- #342, Painted Bunting (Passerina ciris), Atchafalaya Basin, St. Martin Parish, Louisiana
- #166, Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia), Muscatatuck NWR, Indiana
- #331, Nashville Warbler (Vermivora ruficapilla), Adirondack Park, Paul Smiths, New York
- #201, Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos), Brigantine/Forsythe NWR, New Jersey
- #131, Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos), Waggoner’s Gap, Pennsylvania
- #232, Black-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus erythropthalmus), Bombay Hook NWR, Delaware
- #188, Red-Headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), Myrtle Grove WMA, Maryland
- #157, Red-Necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena), Washington Channel, District of Columbia
- #231, Yellow-crowned Night Heron (Nyctanassa violacea), Huntley Meadows Park, Virginia
- #338, Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus), Oregon Inlet, North Carolina
- #106, Black-Throated Green Warbler (Dendroica virens), Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
- #243, Magnificent Frigatebird (Fregata magnificens), “Ding” Darling NWR, Florida
I remember locations of lifers sometimes better than the birds themselves. I have identified new birds that were flying across my path while I drove the back roads of Maryland, feeding in a parking lot of a power station, loafing in a downpour, hunkering down against a bitter January wind off the ocean.