Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching

I was reading the December 2025 of Birding magazine and saw a mention of Listers: A Glimpse Into Extreme Birdwatching in their Book and Media Reviews section. It's a quiet Sunday, so why not watch? This is a quirky documentary about two brothers, who are relatively new birders who decide the best way to learn about birds is to jump right off into the deep end with a Lower 48 Big Year.

This 2-hour film highlights their efforts, eventually documenting their 579 species for the year, placing them in 23rd place for this competition in 2024. At the beginning of the documentary, there is a "For Mature Audiences" warning. I didn't feel anything was too objectionable, but I know some of my neighbors would have some concerns (marijuana usage, a few swear words, and some low-grade crude commentary). The film is available for free on You Tube. I highly recommend a watch if you enjoy birding and have a sense of humor.

Some excellent bird photos and videos (with identification) highlight the film. At the end of the year, they are much more proficient birders, but decide listing detracts from birdwatching. The real joy of birdwatching is to watch the birds.

Good birding!

ABA's Bird of the Year

By Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren - Golden-winged Warbler, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63976506

The American Birding Association (ABA) names a Bird of the Year every January. This year's bird is the Golden-winged Warbler. A pretty bird, although not one that hangs out in our area. But that's ok. The bird does range through much of the eastern part of the country, to include Sabine Woods, a Texas Ornithological Society sanctuary in east Texas. 

I bring this up to highlight the ABA. I am a member because they do a lot of bird conservation. The magazine is beautiful and interesting, although it tends to be more technical than many other birding magazines. ABA also has an interesting bird podcast. I try not to read the book reviews--I would have to get another job to support my bird book habit. And more shelf space.

Warblers are challenging birds to identify, mostly because they are constantly on the move. I have a hard enough time catching a glimpse of them, let alone identify or take a picture of one. I used to go birding with a lady named Dorothy when I lived in Virginia. She could see a warbler for a second and tell  you what it was, but she had spent decades banding birds and had written a book about warblers, so there was a good reason for that. We were out one day and I asked her the identity of a duck out on the lake. She said, "It's a duck." She said she hadn't spent much time working on her identification skills with ducks, so she had a difficult time identifying them. I can honestly say, I do reasonably well with ducks, but other than a few very distinctive species, warblers stump me much of the time. But I enjoy watching them anyway.

Good birding!

A Poignant and Timely Blog Post

One of the blogs I enjoy following is the ABA Blog (American Birding Association). Ted Eubanks writes it. Anyway, he posted a very poignant entry this morning that is worth sharing--I hope you will take time to read it. http://blog.aba.org/2012/01/ted-eubanks-snowy-owls.html

Good birding!

Economic Impact of Nature Tourism (Especially Birding) in Texas

A great blog post by American Birding Association (ABA) President Ted Lee Eubanks on how nature tourism creates jobs here in the state of Texas. I hope everyone will send a copy to our state legislators. I would have preferred to see the point made without the stick in the eye of conservatives, but the point about the economic impact of nature tourism is still valid.

Good birding!

Summer Birding

I don't mind being out in the winter, but I truly hate the summer once temps get into the 90's, let alone over 100. Summer has definitely arrived, and I suppose it is about time, but I could jump right past summer and be happy. Even though morning temps are more moderate, 80's are still not much to get excited about.

My air conditioner is my friend. I try not to keep it too cool in the house (after all, then it is 100 degrees outside, 80 feels really cool.) My summer birding tends to tend more toward magazines and websites than binoculars and the field. Call me a wuss, but there you have it. One of these days, perhaps I'll be wealthy enough to high tail it someplace cooler for at least part of the summer and watch birds there.

Anyway, the point to my ramble is that I am catching up on my birding magazines (we won't talk about how many of them I subscribe to--I am sure there should be some legal limit for those of us who have no willpower whatsoever about these things.) There is a nice article on field notes in the Winging It newsletter from the American Birding Association (ABA.) I would provide a link as the article is on-line, but it is password protected for members only. If you are a member and just haven't checked on the June issue of Winging It, I would recommend the article.

If you are a more serious birder, then I would suggest membership in the ABA as they have some good birding ID quizzes that help sharpen your skills as well as some interesting articles and beautiful photos in their publications. They do orient their writings to a more scientific crowd however, so the writing style is definitely not Birdwatchers Digest--articles are more in-depth and focus a lot on research and more technical aspects of the hobby. They also cater to listers--those who keep meticulous records of their sitings.

Good birding!