Pennsylvania Birdlists Summary 1994

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Compiled by Terry Schiefer

 
Pennsylvania Birdlists is ten years old! We have grown a lot since the first newsletter-style issue in 1986. Every year a few more birders send in their lists along with the old familiar names whose list totals we’ve seen grow over the years. Ten years ago seeing 300 species in one county seemed like an unreachable goal except maybe in Erie County. Well, the Lancaster County birding crew proved me wrong with two birders reaching the 300 mark in that county. Congratulations to Tom Garner and Eric Witmer who now join Jerry McWilliams in the exclusive 300 County Club (They are looking for some new members).

Ten years ago only six birders had seen 300 species in the entire state let alone a single county. There are now 36 birders who have broken the 300 barrier in Pennsylvania. The new additions to our list are: William Stocku, Richard Colyer, Nick Pulcinella, Steve Farbotnik, and Ken Lebo.

In the county life list category, Steve Santner still holds the top list in seven counties followed by Margaret Higbee with five and Bill Reid with four. There are still 21 counties with top lists under 200.

For those of you looking for a birding challenge try doing a county big year. Working on a county annual list will test your knowledge of local bird migration and distribution and you will be bound to learn a lot about the birds in your own neck of the woods. There are still 19 counties without any annual lists reported and many of those that are reported have very low totals. Are there any takers?

Last year’s report form incorrectly listed my old address on the opposite (envelope) side of the form. This resulted in many of you sending your lists to the wrong address. Fortunately it appears that most if not all of your lists were forwarded to my new address. We apologize for any lists that may have been lost in the mail.

I’ve trimmed back the county annual list category to include only the top three lists as well as all lists submitted for the current year. This will save space for other great articles in Pennsylvania Birds. Totals marked with an asterisk (*) are previously submitted totals as an updated total was not received this year. Totals marked (B) were originally published in the Birding list supplement.