After Kim Eckert (and now others) broke the ribbon and left everyone else in the dust by attaining the Holy Grail of 400, and because chasing is a lot easier in this technological age in terms of the speed of finding out when and exactly where rarities are spotted and calling rare birds in with playback (something I don't do but understand), I suppose 300 does seem like a less thrilling goal to some. But I think it's still a wonderful benchmark. It still takes time and planning and familiarity with the state's many birding areas to reach 300. Yes, 300 is an arbitrary number. But it's a pretty one, isn't it?
I got to 300 back in the 80s when I had three small children and was pretty overwhelmed, so I don't remember the day or the species that put me over the top. I just remember finally going through AviSys and seeing I was at 303. If I don't know what my #300 bird was, I do know what it wasn't--a Northern Cardinal. I think I may be unique in this, but I reached 300 before I ever saw a cardinal in the state. My pregnancies, babies, and toddlers kept me pretty close to Duluth except for some specific trips, and nary a cardinal on them! And every time I tried to chase down a cardinal on the Duluth hotline, it eluded me. Of course, now they're all over my neighborhood, but back then my nemesis bird in Minnesota happened to be the very species that, in Illinois in the 1950s, taught me how to whistle. (My new nemesis bird is Sabine's Gull.) I don't report my numbers to MOU or ABA or anyone else. A few birders (not many, really, and none I've dealt with in Minnesota) put way too much importance on numbers, which on their own really don't mean much at all. I've known great birders who stick close to home so their number is low relative to their skill, and lousy birders who go on lots of guided birding trips or just aren't very careful, so their numbers are huge relative to their skill. And I've always felt awkward about competitions (when I was #1 in my high school class, I wouldn't even give the speech). So overall, I feel happiest when I keep my numbers to myself. But I like that the listing game is out there, and that the state and county goals are something I can shoot for in my own private way. And I like knowing that the top birders are way out ahead of me, having earned that big, big number with their inspiring focus, determination, and amazing skills. The Boy Scout Bird Study Merit Badge keeps lowering the standards for kids to meet in terms of how many birds they must see to earn the badge. It would be ironic if we made our benchmark higher, wouldn't it? That said, I've become less inclined to chase rarities in my dotage, mainly because I hate wasting natural resources and contributing to the decline of air quality. But people who spend their days driving all over tarnation seeing new birds aren't watching TV, baking baguettes, doing laundry, playing on their Wii, or all the other ways we squander natural resources, at least not while they're birding, and we all have to figure out our own responses to energy use based on our own needs and abilities. I'd love to see a "Green" birding category become really competitive and fun, but even if we started doing that, I can't imagine MOU without the worthy and time-honored tradition that the "300 Club" is. Best, Laura Erickson (soon to be back in Duluth) -- -- Laura Erickson Science Editor Cornell Lab of Ornithology 159 Sapsucker Woods Road Ithaca, NY 14850 607-254-1114 If you've found this information useful, I hope you'll consider supporting our work on behalf of birds and other wildlife. In addition to knowing that you'll be making a difference for conservation, you'll receive our award-winning Living Bird magazine and informative BirdScope newsletter four times a year. We invite you to join our "force for nature." To sign up or watch our video about membership, visit http://www.birds.cornell.edu/NetCommunity/membership or call us at 1-800-843-2473. For the love, understanding, and protection of birds There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. --Rachel Carson Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail. ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
