I like to tick birds I've seen. I am not obsessive about ticking and don't create list after list to justify the purchase of Microsoft Excel. I keep a life list of my Southern Africa birds and have not yet migrated to maintaining a world list. Many years ago I tried atlasing but it really didn't work for me as the admin was just too much to juggle. When the opportunity presented itself on BLNG weekend camps I found myself atlasing with my friend Pauline as she liked to keep her clipboard close and didn't mind sitting for hours at home after the outing to enter all the birds we'd seen on some database. In order. With timelines. No way.
Something happened towards the end of 2012 that changed everything for me. A genius created an app (also known as an application on a smart phone or tablet) called Lynx Bird Ticks. This app gave Android atlasers the ability to log all their bird sightings with a date and time stamp as well as location and GPS co-ordinates. With a click of a button, the list could be submitted, all while out in the field. With the swipe of a finger, all post-outing admin disappeared overnight. It was time to start atlasing and making a contribution. Little did I know how it would change my birding forever.
I see birding very differently to how I saw it a couple of years ago. I now think in small blocks and the routes within them. I don't like to see blue or red lines through a block as that means a major highway or tar road could interrupt my birding pleasure. I like yellow lines and I like grey lines because I can watch my birds far away from the noise and danger of traffic. It's dusty and muddy sometimes but it works as I can just get on with it. Blue areas are just the best as a productive farm dam makes all the difference to the bird count and can add as many as 10 additional birds to my list.
Prior to visiting a venue, I look for blocks and coloured lines to actually plan my route. Previously I used to just drive somewhere and enjoy the birds I could find. Now, with a bit of research I can actually predict the birds I could find in the block which helps me to understand the habitat so I'm prepared to bundu-bash, watch from the car, pack my wellies or take my allergy tablets to counter the hayfever from the grasslands. Instead of driving randomly through an area I am obliged to spend two hours searching around inside the block, in all habitats and access points available within that block. This means I see more birds and understand the habitat better than ever. I have a mental list of the minimum number of birds I need to see in those two hours. My identification skills have improved dramatically. An LBJ is a tick now, not always a challenge. My ears pick up the subtle difference in sounds I never bothered to learn previously. I know the common birds like the back of my hand.
Weird words and phrases are now part of my everyday birding life. I talk about going "Lynxing" with other atlasers. I use phrases like "every bird counts" and "I only need to see one more bird to get to...". The worst phrase ever spoken by a South African birder "I'm desperate to see a Common Myna" is now commonplace in my list of phrases.
If you're keen on improving your general birding knowledge or identification skills and have a slightly competitive streak, then seriously consider getting out there and atlasing. Not only will it enrich your vocab, but you also get to make a contribution as a citizen scientist (closest I'll ever be to being called a scientist) to one of the biggest birding projects ever. For more information, check out http://sabap2.adu.org.za/
