I was going to say from someone that works in central Ohio during the week, that around 250-258 is a good number. That includes 1 palegic, 1 week spring birding around Lake Erie, 1 trip South, and the rest around home....that's my typical non chase bird list. Steve J. On Dec 22, 2015 7:56 AM, "Haans Petruschke" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Back in the 1990's Vic Fazio and I estimated about 250 or so just being > dedicated and going to appropriate locations. A good way to estimate is to > look at a resource like "Birds of the Cleveland Region" 2004- Rosche, ed. > and start counting. Given enough time in the field you will likely find > all the common and uncommon species. Plus some rare ones. Also that > reference is old so some birds have changed in status over the past > decade. Mostly increasing in numbers and occurrence with one or two > exceptions like Rusty Blackbird. So you are far more likely to find a > Sandhill Crane or Merlin today than 10 years ago. > > Haans > > On Tue, Dec 22, 2015 at 7:05 AM, Jon <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > To say that I have spent a lot of hours driving with my friends Kent and > > Ben over the past 2 years would be an understatement. During those > drives > > we have talked about birds, family, life, and everything in between. > Here > > is a subject that we began kicking around a few months ago and I thought > it > > might make for some interesting conversation here. If you would rather > > just chase reports of birds, then you can hit the delete button now. > > > > We started pondering this question: How many birds could a person see in > > Ohio in a calendar year WITHOUT using any outside resources? Think of it > > as a “Pure Big Year”. Outside resources would include this listserv, all > > social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.), phone “hotlines” (yes, some still > > exist), or information gained in any way outside of your own finding of a > > bird. If you aren’t the one who literally finds the bird on your own, it > > does not count. NO CHASING. We think that historical resources such as > > the Annotated Checklist, or Peterjohn’s Birds of Ohio would be perfectly > > appropriate as this constitutes doing research in order to develop a game > > plan. > > > > We often see folks getting over 300 birds in Ohio lately, which is a > > pretty remarkable number. Clearly a HUGE part of that is the ability to > > chase the reports of birds found by others. > > > > So the question is: How many species of birds do you think that an > > experienced birder could locate in a year without ANY kind of outside > help? > > > > Clearly, those who have been birding in Ohio for years would have the > > advantage of knowing where and when to seek out species to increase their > > odds, but that is what I mean by an experienced birder. During our > > conversations about this subject we have tossed around a few numbers that > > we think would be possible, but I will not share them here so as to > > encourage others to weigh in without undue influence. There have been > > county efforts that may be a good reflection of what would be possible > > state-wide (like Jen Brumfield’s Cuyahoga effort). > > > > I am also interested to hear what kinds of pitfalls you can imagine for > > such an endeavor. For instance, how would you handle a trip to the > > boardwalk at Magee Marsh in May? How could you NOT be using the efforts > of > > others (clogs on the boardwalk around a Mourning Warbler) in that circus > of > > people? How would a person cope with the psychological challenges > > (loneliness, mental fatigue) of undergoing such a difficult endeavor? > > Would photo documentation be required to make the tally “legitimate?" > > > > I truly hope that some of the excellent birders who call Ohio home will > > weigh in on this thoughtfully. I wonder if anyone would attempt such a > > challenge? I wonder if an optics or other birding-related company would > > consider sponsoring such an endeavor? > > > > > > Jon Cefus > > Cuyahoga Falls > > > > > > “Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from > > the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent > > disinclination to do so.” > > -Douglas Adams > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > > Please consider joining our Society, at > > www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. > > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > > > > > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > > listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > > Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. > Please consider joining our Society, at > www.ohiobirds.org/site/membership.php. > Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. > > > You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: > listserv.miamioh.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS > Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask] > ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. 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