[TN-Bird] Re: Tennessee Birders by the Numbers: 2008


Dear Kevin - 

Thanks for taking the time to go through the ABA list totals, but you did 
overlook the only list total that really matters - the World Life List. 

Also, if you took the trouble to include Mexico and South America, you should 
take a look at West Indies/Caribbean. 



These new games the ABA has added, like total tickies, where you just count the 
same bird over and over in different areas, are pretty silly to me. Are you 
willing to undergo the expense to travel to every continent on the globe to see 
new life birds? There's the challenge. 

The other challenge is to see if you can find eveything within a partcular 
area. However, It's unlikely I'll return to the Caribbean. Although the 10 
species I could still find in Jamaica is intriguing it's an area that has 
reached diminishing returns for me, as has the lower 48. Going to Alaska to 
seek Asian species strikes me as expensive and a bit crazy when you can find 
hundreds of them during migration in China and Hong Kong. 



It's much tougher birding in Afro-Eurasia because people trap and shoot all 
species while they are cutting down the habitat as quickly as they can. But you 
can find thousands of species if you are willing the dedicate yourself to the 
quest and assume the risks you incur for your great adventures. This spring on 
Mindanao we were tracking down hornbills and Imperial pigeons just a step ahead 
of the chain saws, which we heard everywhere. It was a five hour drive into the 
area on non-existant roads with burned out trucks dotting the landscape from 
loggers who failed to pay "taxes" to the New People's Army. My brother-in-law, 
on leave from fighting MILF Muslim rebels, carried a .45 strapped to his thigh 
and watched my back, while also carrying my scope. 



If I were to win the lottery tomorrow, my first destination would be South 
Africa, followed by Panama, Equador and the Galapagos. Otherwise I'll return to 
Mindanao for family obligations and pursue the Philippine Eagle and Bukidnon 
Woodcock, followed by a trip to Palawan. On my last trip I got  Zamboanga 
Bulbul safely out of its normal range in the combat zone with the MILF, an 
unexpected treat. 



James Brooks
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