14
Birder's Guide to Listing and Taxonomy | October 2015
ABA 700 Before 70
trees, I wondered, "Where is everyone?"
By 7:20 a.m. I had several awesome views
of the colorful Yellow-green Vireo, and
slowly birders began to arrive. I met Da-
vid Pereksta, who initially found the vir-
eo. He was my rock star, so I forced him
to autograph my journal. #698 Yellow-
green Vireo , Oct. 3, 2013, Laguna Rd. tam-
arisks (a lifer tree), Ventura, CA.
I was getting a little nervous, still hav-
ing found no mannikin. I checked eBird,
which indicated there was a virtual man-
nikin desert around Ventura, so I moved
on. With encouragement and help from
local birders, I found a way onto a section
of Santa Cruz Island that was not closed by
the government shutdown. (I had forgotten
that much of the island is part of the Chan-
nel Islands National Park.) The Nature
Conservancy property at Prisoners Harbor
was still open, and the Island Packers boats
were running. #699 Island Scrub-Jay , Oct.
4, 2013, Santa Cruz Island, CA.
At this point, I had to wear blinders and
hope that no Nutmeg Mannikin would
cross my path. NARBA alerted me to a
bird I needed in Tucson, so I left at dawn.
Darkness was a necessity; I had to get
away from Los Angeles and any possibili-
ty of seeing mannikins. I reached Tucson's
Reid Park by 4 p.m. and found it packed
with people, dogs, weddings, tents, festi-
vals, and a concert. I went to bed.
I overslept Sunday morning and didn't
arrive at Reid Park until after eight. There
were no other birders nearby, but on the
ground near the rose garden was my gold
ring. #700 Rufous-backed Robin , Oct. 6,
2013, Reid Park, Tucson, AZ.
Please, pity all the people that met me
that morning. I was on a high!
Technology has changed much over
my birding career. I could not have done
this without iPhone, emails, eBird, NAR-
BA, Google, friends, and the many great
birders I met during my quest. Someone
did ask me, "What could be next: 800
before 80?"
