15 replies to this topic

[fisherman1313]

I see a lot of posts about life lists and year lists which got me to wondering what everyone's highest species total for a single day is.

Mine is 101. I went on a field trip to Cosumnes River Preserve with the local Audubon group. (Cosumnes is just off Hwy 5 between Stockton and Sacramento, if anybody in the area has never been there I HIGHLY recommend it) At one point the guy who was keeping the trip list informed us that we had 90 species for the day and he said he wanted to get to 95. I said if we made it to 95 that would just make him want 96 and then 97, and so on. Well we made 95 and as we approached the boardwalk out over the marsh he told the group that we had actually made it to 96 and he wanted to try for 97. Seconds later we added Barn Swallow (97), then Semipalmated Plover and American Pipit (98 and 99). When we got back to the cars the leader said he wanted to go out near "the barns" and look for the Blue Grosbeak that had been reported earlier in the week. At the barns we added EC Dove (100) and were about to leave when someone in the car I was in asked, "What is that?" It was our grosbeak (101) and it ended one of the best birding days that many of us had ever had.

EDIT: I just noticed I spelled highest wrong.

[JimBob]

Mine is 56. The most lifers I have gotten in one day is nine.

[dklucius]

i have not kept a one day total but i know it has to be later parts of june each year that all the migrant song birds and the regular visiters are all here mobbing the feeders with their young fledglings. my neice was counting numbers one day and there were over 60 birds in the yard at one time. everything from orioles and tanagers and grosbeaks and woodpeckers and finches. plus the usual blackbirds and magpies and scrub jays and house finches and both eurasian doves and mourning doves and others too.

[spookyjimjams]

I think mine is about 50 unassisted at the Sacramento NWR. But I do have to agree that the Cosumnes River Preserve is one of the more outstanding places to bird. In one area right on I-5, you can hit marsh, river, riparian, oak and cottonwood forest, and open field. There are nice trails in the trees and a boardwalk out into the marsh. There is a fun little board at the visitor station that you can list sightings. Some are a little dubious, some are a great find. Plus, people list other interesting wildlife.

I can't wait until the NWR opens to the public across I-5 at Elk Grove, this area should be great too. When though?

[calepo]

24 for me, back in 2009.

[hbvol]

Highest species count is 42 on a guided trip (but still in the lower 48)
Most lifers was my first winter trip to South FL ( Ding Darling NWR) 26 lifers out of 28 species

[fisherman1313]

Most lifers was my first winter trip to South FL ( Ding Darling NWR) 26 lifers out of 28 species

Those trips early in your birding "career" are fun because you can rack up lifers pretty fast. On my first field trip (which coincidentally ended up at Cosumnes) I added well over a dozen to my life list.

[jblakelock]

I saw 45 the other day at Coyote Hills in Fremont, CA. It's pretty diverse habitat as well: creek running into the San Francisco Bay, Marsh areas and some wooded areas too.

[guy_incognito]

My highest personal total for a day is 97 at Salton Sea, while on a trip with the Audubon group. I know some very experienced people that get up to around 130 species in a day around Salton Sea.

Fisherman1313, were you actually able to see all 101 on the trip, or was that the trip total? I always miss quite a few seen by others on a trip.

[fisherman1313]

Fisherman1313, were you actually able to see all 101 on the trip, or was that the trip total? I always miss quite a few seen by others on a trip.

I saw all 101. There were a few that I originally missed because the guy who was leading that trip likes to walk REALLY fast and I prefer a slower pace, but the ones I missed were pretty common so I eventually picked them up. The good thing about lagging behind the main group was that I, and those that lagged with me (including the "list keeper"), got to see a few that the faster group missed.

[Desertthorn]

Wow, I consider myself lucky if I see a dozen. You guys are amazing

[fisherman1313]

Wow, I consider myself lucky if I see a dozen. You guys are amazing

It helps to have plenty of other eyes helping you look. On the trip I was on we had 7 or 8 people so there were birds that might have been missed if I was out by myself. Tho my highest single day total when birding alone is in the mid 80s. So I probably still would have done pretty well. It also helps to go someplace like Cosumnes which, like spookyjimjams said, has a wide variety of habitats in close proximity to one another.

[illin]

I think mine is in the 80's somewhere. I hope to break 100 this year. Most lifers in a day is around 10.

[guy_incognito]

I saw all 101. There were a few that I originally missed because the guy who was leading that trip likes to walk REALLY fast and I prefer a slower pace, but the ones I missed were pretty common so I eventually picked them up. The good thing about lagging behind the main group was that I, and those that lagged with me (including the "list keeper"), got to see a few that the faster group missed.

Nice. Pretty impressive to see all the birds on a trip. Probably also depends how many people are on the trip. I was on a trip that probably had 30+ people, so invariable people were spread out, and someone may catch an American Bittern or a quick flash or some other bird that the majority miss.

Not sure what my personal best total is for birding alone, but I also tend not to do a full day and multiple locations alone. Probably in the 70s for a solo birding day?

[birder boy11]

Mine is 57 at Gull Lake Alberta in May. My friend and I went camping out there for 2 days in total we saw 75 species.

[fisherman1313]

Nice. Pretty impressive to see all the birds on a trip.

It was a one time thing. On most of the trips I've been on I've missed a few that others saw. I remember one of the first field trips I went on (to Yosemite) where everyone in the group was trying to direct me to a Red-breasted Nuthatch that was "in that Sequoia, right next to the lowest patch of chartruese lichen" but I never saw it.