2 replies to this topic

[Platypus]

Hi everyone,

I'm not sure why I didn't offer this before (probably because I bet everyone already has their life list method set in stone), but I just thought about sharing this now.

When I started birding, I created an Excel template that automatically counts the number of lifers and photo lifers you have. It's nothing special, but it's handy if you didn't think about doing it before. Here is what it ends up looking like:



Notice the counts at the top right. You don't have to input anything there, it automatically does it for you. I use this in addition to eBird because this stores different information and also counts my photo lifers (which I can update any time I want). EBird is great for other reasons, so I use both.

If you want to use this template, you can download it here. As with any Excel document, you can add or remove columns if you want different information in your list. To clear my data, simply highlight the cells with my data, right click and click "Clear Contents". I order mine taxonomically using the AOU list or eBird, but you could do it alphabetically or chronologically if you wanted. Excel will sort that automatically if you ask it to.

This probably isn't useful to many people since everyone already has their own method of storing their life list, but I thought I'd share just in case. Let me know if you need any additional help!

[ColoTomo]

I have a version too, that's literally a copy of the ABA checklist- the advantage is you don't have to write in the name, just add any character to the "count" column and it automatically counts. You can reuse it over and over again for trip lists, site lists, county lists, etc. But I don't use dropbox - any suggestions on how I can upload here for common download?

[Platypus]

I thought about doing that as well, but I liked this format because I could neatly add in the other information (ex. date, location, photo lifer) without having blank rows for unseen birds. Good to see that someone else thought of that format as well and that it works! Good to have more than one option because everyone has different preferences.

I just always use Dropbox, but after searching a bit I think this is a popular option for uploading files without needing to create an account. It seems like you upload a file and input your email address and it sends you a download link to your email that you can post here. If you don't want to input your email address you could probably sift through the Google results until you found one that works.