State Birding Lifelong Goals

This is the first post to my blog dedicated to my state birding and and state listing hobby.  Since the early 1980's I've had the goal of reaching the reporting thresholds the American Birding Assocation (ABA) has set for state birds in each of the 49 continental states and D.C.  I used to have a goal of reaching 10,000 total ticks in the U.S. (sum of all my state lists), but I passed that goal back in 2003.  Then after moving to New England I added a goal of reaching 2,000 total ticks in the New England states.  As of May 2011, my stats are -

• 36 states + DC above the ABA thresholds
• 12,026 total ticks in the US and Canada
• 1,850 total ticks in New England

Needless to say, these goals require a lot of time in the field coving lots of territory.  And typically I receive great help from local birding experts - without that help I couldn't have gotten to the totals I have today.

I hope to publish additional posts when I add new state birds, and after new birding adventures in general.  Stay tuned.