A Birder's Milestone

In what seemed like an eternity to reach, I finally hit another benchmark for world birding. I have now officially seen 1,101 birds on the planet. There are currently over 10,000 birds on planet Earth.  With the covid pandemic, everything had been disrupted.  Instead of 100+ new life birds last year, I added 5. And I'll admit those 5 were good ones, but life is a ticking and goals need to be met.  My last flight anywhere happened in October of 2019 from Portland, Oregon. 

On our last trek to Texas, I added another 4 lifers and it helped me reach the 100 species marker.  Most of the birds for this 100 group happened while on our trek to Wales back in 2019 with Steve. One of the exciting birds for me to see in the wild was the Northern Lapwing.  I think they are beautiful birds. 

During that same day, I also got to spy on bird #1010, the Great-crested Grebe.  I think this particular species of grebe is absolutely stunning. 

At 1020, we witnessed the simpler looking Common Buzzard.  It fed with many Red Kites around a farm known for its raptor show. 

At 1030, I finally was able to understand why they called this goose above a Pink-footed Goose.  I think it's a rather good looking bird.  Again, we saw this bird in Wales.  It's unbelievable how many wonderful birds there were everywhere. 

The Great Spotted Woodpecker was a delight to see in the wild. It made 1040. 

During one of my favorite days out birding with Steve, we were able to observe a Jack Snipe!  I love snipes and I got to see 2 species while in Wales!  

Then on a quick stop to McDonald's, #1060 happened, the Hooded Crow.  This is one of the easiest crow species to ID.  What a treat!

At 1070, the Little Grebe made me smile. This was yet another cute colorful grebe. Between the 1000-1070 bird species seen, I also had a few favorites like the Black Grouse, Willow Ptarmigan, Water Rail, Common Wood-Pigeon, Blackbird, Robin, Rook, Red Kite, Red-billed Chough, Tawny Owl, Hawfinch and Green Woodpecker. To name a few....

Little did I know at the time that covid would end the international travel and it would be my last trip abroad for 2 years. 

Not a fan of Texas (but LOVE the birding there), but needing to go, I met with friends Gordon and Laurie for a few endemics. Laurie made everything better along with her sidekick Buckey. It was really the Lesser Prairie-Chicken we were after, but we also needed some other great birds like the Black-headed Vireo above. Laurie helped us get onto the bird. This vireo species is quite beautiful and was a treat to see in the wild near Austin. 

The game got harder during the summer of 2019, when I focused my sights on a few cool lifers in Maine and Wisconsin. I met with Travis in Wisconsin near my hometown where we really had great views of this Henslow's Sparrow.  At that point, I cracked 1090 and thought to myself....I'm so close to the milestone! Sickness and later covid hit and a Saltmarsh Sparrow, Eared Quetzal, Mountain Quail, and Garganey later, I'd finally hit the 1,100 landmark.  It took nearly 2 years to get to this spot. I have learned not to take anything for granted anymore!

On my final 2nd Texas trip for the last lifers in that state, I added White-tailed Hawk!  We were on a coastal highway at sunset.  The hawk flew over our heads and thrilled both Gordon and myself. It was a long journey to get to 1,100.  This year the journeys will be hard fought with friends and alone. We are trying again to visit Panama.  In October, I head to Colombia. And in December, I carry the ashes of a friend back to the place we met where I will take her birding with me one last time before I lay her ashes down by our home and school on the island nation of Cape Verde. Birding is a journey.  And it takes on different meanings the further you get into it. This past 100 felt bittersweet. British birding and hanging with Bonnie and Steve was really fun, but after that, it got so much trickier with covid.  Hopefully things will get better soon for all of us. I do look forward to these next 99 birds.  What will they be?  Stay tuned!