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Some of the top year listers from both sides of the "pond" recount some of their personal highs and lows of 2001 Click here to see and join the 2002 Year Listers Click on the links to see the final results of: 2001 British Year List - 2001 N. American ABA Area Year List - 2001 N. American State and Province Year List
No. 1 James Lees (Total 322) Had a great year and ended up top of the list even with work and studying. Lost two girlfriends and spent thousands of pounds travelling to see birds from Scilly to Scotland but what a year: Fea's Petrel, Red-Necked Stint, PGTips, Green Heron, Snowy Egret, Little Swift, Marmora's Warbler and many more.
No. 2 Stephen D Keightley (Total 310) My highs were:- Green Heron Messingham Lincs. Snowy Egret Seal Island, and Red-flanked Bluetail in my home county Cleveland. Not forgetting Little Swift. I was on my way to the Isle of Skye for a long weekend 26 May when the swift came over the pager. I eventually ticked it on Tuesday 27th May (Incredible). The low has to be giving away my Pelagic ticket because of a family illness.
No. 5 Gary Bagnell (Total 303) Most memorable moment was getting the 300th year tick, the adult Ivory Gull. The day before I walked 8 miles on a shingle beach from Findhorn to Burghead looking for the Black Scoter, I spent the whole afternoon looking for it & did not see it. The next day I was faced with a decision to either have another look for the Black Scoter or go for the more or less guaranteed Ivory gull. My decision was Black Scoter (as it was a lifer). I found the bird within 10 minutes of getting there. Then I decided to drive for the Ivory Gull. All roads north of Inverness were covered in snow. I had a hire car & the rental agreement stated that I was liable to pay the excess of £3500 of any accident I had. On the way to the Gull, I must have skid/slid the car about ten times - narrowly avoiding walls, fences, oncoming cars etc. I cannot believe I got there in one piece. When I got to the site, the bird was just sitting on the pier watching, the snow fall.
No. 6 Robert Laughton (Total 300) 2001 has been a good year for me, although it was not until May 13th I got my first lifer (Thrush Nightingale, Spurn) As with every year, you have your highs and lows but I'm glad to say I had more highs! One being the Fea's Petrel on the Scillonian Pelagic in August, not bad going for my first ever pelagic! Another high was the Rose-coloured Starling I found near my house in Bristol staying into 2001, and seeing it almost everyday. The maddest twitch was probably seeing the Marmora's Warbler at Sizewell, as it came up when me and James Lees was in the New Forest watching Wood Warblers after seeing the Collared Pratincole in W.Sussex. Also being on Scilly and watching the Paddyfield Warbler down to 5 feet as it came on the pager! Then seconds later, mega alert going off again and rushing down to the quay and being on the only boat load of birders to see the Rose-breasted.Grosbeak on St Martins - that could take some beating. It was a good year locally as well with seeing Baird's Sand, White-W-Blk.Tern, Savi's Warbler, Purple Heron and being at Chew Valley Lake as the Night Heron was found on Herriots Bridge. Some of the lows had to be the Bobolinks this year, being on Scilly hoping for the Prawle Point bird to stay only for it to leave on my birthday! And then dipping another at Spurn. Another low was dipping the Hume's-Y.Br Warbler at Portland, after missing one there the year before, but Portland made up for it when I saw the Tail-less Blyth's Reed Warbler in the obs garden. So overall, it was a good year but it was still not up to 1999 standards for me, hopefully this year scilly will have another good year as always, and there should be lots of other goodies to keep us hungry twitchers entertained.
No. 9 Jez Robson (Total 296) My year total would have been higher if I'd started year listing in January and not November!(Perhaps then I would have got Nightjar, Short Eared Owl, Hawfinch etc.) Best birds of the year being the Baltimore Oriole (being a just reward for staying an extra day in Holyhead to dip the Catbird), Green Heron (despite deciding not to pop in and bird Messingham as I drove past it the day before it was found) and Red Necked Stint (although not a tick). Other highlights included vast numbers of Leach's Petrels in the Mersey and loads of migrants dropping out of the sky on Lundy (even if it did cost me Paddyfield Warbler and Rose Breasted Grosbeak). Finally connecting with Capercaillie (just), Melodious warbler and Caspian tern came as a big relief. Not too many painful dips either apart from Catbird, Black Faced Bunting and Short Toed Treecreeper
No. 2 Larry Semo (Total 471) My 2001 year list was built mainly on traveling for work or visiting family. Only three trips were for the sake of birding along: Alaska (Nome/Gambell), Texas, and Duluth. I did bird Colorado considerably and was fortunate to see quite a few vagrants there. North American and State vagrants that stand out in my mind from 2001 include: Black-tailed Gull and Common Ringed Plover in Alaska, Gyrfalcon in Duluth/Superior, and Sulphur-bellied Flycatcher in Texas.
No. 5 Steve Sosensky (Total 452) This was an incredible year for me and for birding in California. Key birds were Greater Sand Plover (first western hemisphere record), Common Greenshank (first lower 48), Nutting's Flycatcher (continuing from 2001, first CA), and Great-crested Flycatcher, Black Rosy-finch, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Rufous-backed Robin, and Emperor Goose all made rare visits. My out of state trips were to Colorado (in April) for the grouse and chickens, and to the Northeast for winter finches, alcids, and Snowy Owl. Self-found CBRC birds were a Curlew Sandpiper and a Dusky-capped Flycatcher. OTOH, I missed two Curlew Sandpipers before finding mine, and missed Eyebrowed Thrush, Connecticut Warbler, Northern Wheatear, Black Rail, and Boreal Chickadee each by one day. A probable Brown Booby got away before I could get a solid ID and nobody else got on the bird at the time.
No. 6 Chris Charlesworth (Total 448) Although 2001 was supposed to be a "non-listing" year for me, my list turned out to be quite nice anyways. My total wouldn't have been possible if I had not made a trip to Texas in April. Many great birds there including Swallow-tailed Kite, and my 500th ABA bird, a Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Good finds around home (BC, Canada) included White-headed Woodpecker, Ivory Gull, Gyrfalcon, Hoary Redpoll and Northern Hawk Owl. Hopefully 2002 will be as lucrative or better for birds.
No. 7 Tyler Davis (Total 443) Oh, it was a great year. I went into the year not expecting as many birds as I saw, and came out thinking I could have seen many more. Undoubtedly, my best bird of the year was the Yellow-green Vireo us Camp Chiricahua guys found in Portal, AZ. Coming in at a close second was the Ivory Gull that decided to visit Vancouver, and third was a Tropical Parula in Texas. Other awesome birds this year included the Yellow-throated Warbler amidst the snowy landscape of Twisp, WA (first state record); a Northern Hawk-owl early in the year, and Great Grey Owls this summer in WA; Bohemian Waxwings and Pine Grosbeaks in Winthrop, WA; and, on the last day of the year, Bar-tailed Godwit in Tokeland, WA. Oooh - also Tropical Kingbird and Cattle Egret were splendid Washington birds. In Arizona on an unforgettable with Camp Chiricahua, Varied Buntings, Thick-billed Kingbirds, Berylline Hummers, a Montezuma Quail, and Elegant Trogons topped the list. Thanks to Dave Jasper and Rob Day! On a spring-break trip to Texas, my best birds were Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl, Northern Beardless-Tyrannulet, Ringed Kingfisher, White-collared Seedeater, Black-capped Vireo, Golden-cheeked Warbler, and Tamaulipas Crow. Biggest miss: migration. Winds from the South blew all the migrants right over the coast . . . at least it gives me an excuse to go back! Also, in BC, I saw the last two remaining Crested Mynas. This coming year, I hope to stray a little from the ABA area and do some birding in Costa Rica over Christmas break . . . I'm quite excited, to say the least . . .
No. 8 Colin Thoreen (Total 438) I think it is just a fluke that I had a good year. I went on five trips this year that help my list greatly. One was going to the east coast in May, specifically Central Park, West Point, and Mt. Auburn Cemetary. In Central Park alone I had 22 species of warblers. Mt. Auburn was almost the same, except I had a Tennessee Warbler - first for the year. I also went to Arizona for the sole purpose of birding. The first time was with Seattle Audubon Society BirdWatch teen group where we found 163 species of birds including the Berrylline Hummingbird and a first for the county of Tucson a Least Bittern at Agua Calliente. The second time I was down there I was with Camp Chiricuhua (VENT camp) a ton of fun. Our best bird that trip was a Yellow-green Vireo that showed up for a day in Portal. My total year list for Arizona alone in two trip came out to be 206 sp. But we did miss both White-eared and Lucifer Hummingbird. Before I forget, in the beginning of the summer I commercial fished in Alaska (Neknak) where I got Slaty-backed Gull, Red-faced Comerant, Aleutian Tern, and Northwestern Crow. I then got to go on one pelagic trip in August (first time on the west coast) where I broke 500 for my ABA life list. And finally getting to bird around the home state Washington with mentors and friends. Next year I hope to do better. I will be going to Florida with the BirdWatch group for 7 days inculding a trip to Dry Tortugas and the summer as a bird guide at Cave Sreek Ranch in Portal Arizona along with Tyler Davis. Thank you to all whom helped me to get around the state to see birds and to those friends whom birded with me. To all the other birders have a great next year and keep out getting out birding. If anybody comes out to Seattle and wants someone to show them around the state give me an email.
No. 9 TIED Charlie Wright (Total 435) The highest point of the year for me was a 2 week trip to the Upper Texas Coast in mid-late April. A couple of friends and I tallied over 230 species on this trip, almost all were north of Galveston Bay. I got 102 ABA life birds, mainly because I'd never been east of Arizona before. The "best" bird for me was a Yellow Rail at Anahuac NWR, that was actually caught by the leader of the "Rail Walk." Also scores of migrants at High Island and Sabine Woods, and the Piney Woods specialties.
No. 9 TIED Alex Lees (Total 435) A year in California (starting the preceding autumn), as part of my degree excelled all my ornithological expectations. Based in Orange County some choice winter and spring rarities included the much twitched Nutting's flycatcher, a smart Yellow-throated vireo, Harris's sparrow and Tropical kingbird. Further afield in the state, I was able to enjoy Varied thrushes in the redwoods of Santa Cruz; Yellow-footed gulls at the Salton Sea; Island scrub-jay; a stonking Hawaiian petrel and albatrosses off Ventura and Black swifts and Gray vireos in the San Bernadino Mountains. Trips to New England in March and June provided a seaduck and warbler spectacle respectively, whilst a mad three day tour of Arizona provided a stunning Flame-coloured tanager, Elegant trogon, Spotted owl and a plethora of hummers. Returning to the states in late December after a six-month absence, I notched up some last minute specialities in Florida, among them Limpkin, Short-tailed hawk and Shiny cowbird. A big thank you to everyone who offered me lifts and information across the states.
No. 1 Steve Sosensky, California (Total 418) This was an incredible year for me and for birding in California. Key birds were Greater Sand Plover (first western hemisphere record), Common Greenshank (first lower 48), Nutting's Flycatcher (continuing from 2001, first CA), and Great-crested Flycatcher, Black Rosy-finch, Ruddy Ground-Dove, Rufous-backed Robin, and Emperor Goose all made rare visits. Self-found CBRC birds were a Curlew Sandpiper and a Dusky-capped Flycatcher. OTOH, I missed two Curlew Sandpipers before finding mine, and missed Eyebrowed Thrush, Connecticut Warbler, Northern Wheatear, Black Rail, and Boreal Chickadee each by one day. A probable Brown Booby got away before I could get a solid ID and nobody else got on the bird at the time.
No. 2 Charles Easley, Texas (Total 377) I saw 377 species this year in Texas. 400 species is a much better number, and most Texas birders use the number 400 as a benchmark to serious birding in one year in Texas. Really no low points this year, missing Barred Owl was really hard to understand. Seeing a family of (5) Lucy's Warblers south of I-10 in far West Texas in 106 degree heat was a neat thing. I was able to visit all the major birding areas in Texas this year. Also I was able to hike into the upper parts of the Davis Mountains in far West Texas, an area that is under birded and holds many new and exciting finds in the future. My Texas list stands at 539, with the addition of Pygmy Nuthatch. this year.
No. 6 David Allinson, Texas (Total 328) Highlights: Three glorious weeks in April-May from Houston, Gulf Coast, Rio Grande, Davis Mountains, and Lost Maples State Park tallying 328 species (78 lifers) including ABA #600th lifer (Black-capped Vireo). Finished year with adult Ivory Gull in Vancouver. David Allinson Victoria, BC Canada President, Rocky Point Bird Observatory (www.islandnet.com/~rpbo)
No. 8 Charlie Wright, Washington (Total 321) I birded as much as I possibly could in 2001, and covered my home state fairly well. It was a specacular year for rarities. The rarest birds that I saw were a White Ibis (1st state record), Wilson's Storm-Petrel (2nd state record), Mountain Plover (3rd state record), Spruce Grouse, and all 15 species of owls including N. Hawk-Owl and Boreal. Unfortunately, I also missed quite a few birds that I "should" have gotten, especially Chukar (my nemesis bird), Willet, Franklin's Gull, Acorn Woodpecker, Lesser Goldfinch, and Ash-throated Flycatcher.