We birders do love a list.
Life, year, day, green, UK, world, garden, holiday – the lists go on! Some birders keep one list, others several, with various ways of recording; from handwritten notepads, to complicated excel spreadsheets, to online apps. Some keep their lists to themselves, some publish to the world. It really is each to their own. But for all of us as we bird, our lists grow longer and the chances to add to them, particularly life lists, become fewer.
What brought this to mind recently was one of the Warwick
100 team, when I reported our first house and sand martins of the year, commented
that he had never seen any martin of any type.
Oh to go back to those days of being new to birdwatching! Back when a
house martin was a lifer; that feeling of excitement when a brand new bird went
onto my most important of lists. So I
guess this is why birders year list, day list and set themselves never ending challenges
– to try to capture that joy again.
Nothing beats a lifer, however, which is why some birders twitch; going
against their spouses, employers and their eco-ethics to get that all
important, adrenaline pumping moment.
I keep three personal lists on top of the Warwick 100 challenge – life,
green and wild wee. Yep, you read that
right! That last one currently stands
(or squats, as I’m a girl) at 34, with Dartford warbler my best wee list bird.
The Warwick 100 team only exists because of a list – to reach
100 species of bird as quickly as possible each year – and I have to admit,
this is the one that I am most invested in.
So for now, I’ll enjoy watching the excitement in our newest team members…and
make sure I try to wee in more interesting places!
Lizzy
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