I saw 133 species during my trip, 15 of which were new for the USA (13 for my World list) and which took my ABA list to 608. I know diehard listers get 700+ in a year but that is souless. How much of the country do you actually see? My meagre 600 is a labour of love, it has taken years and I have visited 42 States whilst doing it, New Mexico being the latest. Along the way I've crossed the Cascades, birded the Olympic peninsula, driven down the Florida Keys, admired the Grand Canyon, visited the Badlands of South Dakota, taken in Central Park, the Rio Grande, Cape May and four Hawaiian islands. The Redwood Forests and the Gulf Stream waters? Yep, those too. And I am not done yet.
608 and eight more States to bird. I've actually already been to Montana and South Carolina in my pre-birding days but can find no record of having seen anything. There is nothing for it, I will have to go again. I enjoy the planning as much as anything and am already plotting the next one. I reckon a road trip from Dallas to Chicago could work out pretty nicely, and neatly colour in the remaining central portion of the map - Oklahoma, Kansas and Iowa.
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| New birds in bold |
For now though I am sitting tight as it is not a good time to be buying flights, and I have a couple of upcoming trips already booked that I need to focus on. Birding in the USA remains one of my most enjoyable pasttimes though and I really can't recommend it enough. And even once I've finally visted my 50th State I won't stop there, the only issue is time.
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