Ebird is such a cool resource. If you want to know how you’re doing compared to other birders, you can call up a list of the top 100 birders, by number of species reported, in several different categories. Each list can be created by World, Country, State, or County. If you’re not in the top 100, your name doesn’t show up on the list, but it gives you a numerical ranking for where you stand. (On April 24th, I was number 1,324 in the world. I have a ranking, but my number has a comma in it.) Every year I jump up in the rankings after the Big Day, but this is crazy. Before the Big Day, I was number 112 in the U.S. After, I’m number 45. I jump that far up in the rankings not because I suddenly got to be a better birder, but because I went birding with a better birder.
I wonder about the logic of that sometimes; is it fair to report all the birds I see when I go out with Jon, because I see and hear so many more when I’m out with him than when I’m out by myself? I rationalize it, and say I should count all these birds because “it’s just a matter of degree”. If a person goes out with any friend, they’ll see more birds. That’s just the way it works; if one person sees a bird the other doesn’t, he’ll call the other person’s attention to it. Is it my fault my friend happens to be a birding beast?
I don’t think so. I’m counting everything!
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