Seeing as it is near the midway point of the year I thought it would be nice to check in on how the blogging Big Year birders are doing thus far in 2012. It’s quite a list!
Josh Vandermeulen is sitting pretty at 317 species for the year in Ontario, only 21 off the province’s record of 338, set by Glen Coady in 1996.
Anthony Collerton is also racking up the species, with 322 species checked off his New York State checklist so far, only 30 species off the state record of 352 set just last year by Richard Fried. Anthony also has a brand new blog!
The birders birding on a budget and doing a lower-48 big year, Renee Rubin and Michael Delesantro, are doing nicely at 614 species for the year, amazing considering how little money they have spent.
Blake and Holly Wright are hoping to photograph 400 species in the lower 48 this year and have managed to make it to 351 thus far. Not only that, but they are doing their big year to raise money for the Houston Audubon Society and the Katy Prairie Conservancy.
A twelve-year-old birder, Skyler Bol, is shooting for 400 species for the year and he is easily going to make it, as he has already ticked 389!
Mary Beth Stowe is hoping to tick 350 species along the lower Texas Coast this year and has netted 307 so far. She is also doing her big year to raise money to help a youngster, Peyton Behrens, in his fight against leukemia.
A gang of four Calgarians (if that is what you call people from Calgary) are doing a combined mammal and bird big year across Canada, hoping to hit 400 bird species and 50 mammals, though it seems that they really want to hit a combined 500 species (with the catchy moniker “Fur and Feathers 500”). At 56 mammals and 381 birds it seems that they will easily reach the original goal but the more ambitious idea of reaching 500 might be tough.
Lynn Barber is chasing the South Dakota big year record and has reached 316 species, which leaves her 16 short of the record of 332. You can keep up with her exploits on the ABA Blog.
Are there any other blogging big year birders out there? Let us know in the comments.
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I am doing my usual Big Year in Costa Rica that is limited by the parameters of family and work. As of today, the list stands at 539 species and I hope to break 600 by December.
Glad to see that Renee and Michael, the Big Year on a Budget birders, are still going strong. I had a chance to bird with them on the Dry Tortugas, where they were camping out underneath a nighthawk that never talked. Renee and Michael were very patient (I would have been shouting at the bird, “Talk, dammit!”) and got their Antillean Nighthawks a few days later on the Keys.
Just wanted to let you know that Robert Baumander is doing a North American Big Year, leaving me at home alone most of the time between his birding and work schedule, as is also working a full time job that includes lots of travel.
John Weigel is doing a big year around Australia http://www.birdingfordevils.com.au/ currently sitting on 661 according to his blog.
@Everyone: Thanks for the additions.
@Donna: It’s great that they have gotten so many birds, isn’t it?
Does anybody know if there is a big year record set in the state of Illinois and if there is what is it,
@Lew: I used this site to figure out that the record is 323.
I found a black scoter in PA
Maybe we are extremely lucky with our abundant birdlife in South Africa, but one of my friends is guiding for an Italian couple and they are targeting 500 species in 20 days. After 10 days they are already on 325 without Kruger Park, Pelagrics or Kgalagadi. We have an annual birding big day where people record more than 300 in 24 hours in a 50 km radius.