2019 by the Numbers
/What are your goals and how do you measure your progress toward them?
My goals are to continuously learn, spend lots of time with friends and family, have fun experiences in nature, visit many parts of Canada and see lots of wildlife. This article embraces my numerical geekiness and summarizes my 2019 results on the latter two - visiting Canada and seeing wildlife. I am incredibly grateful that I can work on those goals while also having a fulfilling job for an organization that means a lot to me.
Canadian Travel
In 2019, I didn't leave Canada. I spent 148 nights away from home in 90 locations – 79 nights in 50 hotels in 45 cities, 35 nights in 30 campsites, 20 nights in two university dorm rooms, six nights in four bed & breakfasts and eight nights in four houses. I stayed overnight in all ten provinces and two territories (sorry Northwest Territories... I'll get to you this year!). I camped in six provinces and one territory. I visited Labrador for the first time. All in all, my goal to travel Canada was met!
Waiting to board the Qajaq Q Ferry in St. Barbe, Newfoundland. The ferry takes one hour 45 minutes to reach blanc Sablon, Quebec near the Labrador border. It’s the cheapest way to visit labrador with an added bonus of thousands of gannets on the crossing!
Seeing Wildlife
I contribute many photos to iNaturalist and eBird, citizen science projects that automatically calculate statistics. I've posted over 5000 images of living things to iNaturalist (lately I've gone back to post all my plant photos from the last decade) and 4400 bird photos to eBird.
Both sites help me learn so much. I posted a photo of a slug in my campground on Haida Gwaii and learned that it's not just any slug, it's a Pacific Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus). That trillium from the Smoky Mountains isn't just any trillium, it's Painted Trillium (Trillium undulatum), in the same genus as the Great White Trilliums (Trillium grandiflorum) that blanket the forest floor in Sandbanks Provincial Park each May.
Painted Trillium, Smoky Mountains, Tennessee
Pacific Banana Slug, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia
Birding Goals
eBird is a spectacular tool. I use its smartphone app to record my bird sightings and it automatically keeps track of how many different species I have identified in each region. (Note that I use "identify" rather than "see" because some birds are more easily identified using sound).
Canada Map on My eBird Profile. Redness indicates the number of species identified in each province & territory. I can’t wait to make nunavut redder!
British Columbia Map on my eBird profile. I must get my Sunshine Coast, Powell River and Port Alberni lists over 50!
My birding goals will take years (decades?) to accomplish:
- 200 species in each Canadian province & territory
- 50 species in each eBird region of Canada
- 10000 Canadian "region ticks"
- Canada life list exceeds USA life list
The first goal is easy to understand - 200 species identified in each province and territory. Nunavut will be hard - I've been there twice and my life list is only nine - but I can't wait to try!
Canadian "region ticks" are the sum of my life list in every Canadian region (BC Sunshine Coast list plus BC Northern Rocky Mountains list plus Newfoundland Avalon Peninsula list, etc.). My current number is 8818 and it's possible I'll get over 10000 in 2020.
I added 10 species to my Canada life list in 2019 (see below) bringing my total to 377. My USA life list is 430 so at that rate, it will take another six years for my Canada list to surpass USA. I could shorten that time by going on pelagic birdwatching trips to see shearwaters and petrels but I haven't felt compelled to do that yet.
Birding - 2019 Highlights
2019 was a great year for birds! My highlights were:
- I identified at least 100 species in five provinces (ON - 204; BC - 153; QC - 122; AB - 111; NL - 104).
- I had 1070 "province/territory year ticks" (the sum of my BC year list plus my AB year list, etc.). 2019 was my first year over 1000.
- My life list in nine provinces is now at least 110. The only province under 100 is PEI at 76. I'm travelling there for work in the spring and in July so I should get all provinces over 100 in 2020. I will also make progress on the territories - I am vacationing in Inuvik, Northwest Territories (life list 65) and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory (life list 79) in the spring. I am also visiting Nunavut but that's in March for work so I don't expect to see any birds other than ravens. Maybe I'll luck into a Snow Bunting or two!
- I added four species to my world life list (Curlew Sandpiper, Pomarine Jaeger, Sooty Shearwater and Sooty Grouse) while in Canada, bringing my North American total to 539. It must have been a sooty year!
- I added six other species to my Canada life list (Western Sandpiper, Piping Plover, Eurasian Skylark, Hutton's Vireo, Rhinoceros Auklet and Black-throated Gray Warbler), bringing my total to 377.
Pomarine Jaeger, Forteau, Labrador
Piping Plover, Codroy Valley Provincial Park, Newfoundland. I love the sidney crosby leg band! It indicates that this individual is a female banded as a chick in July 2018 at J. T. Cheeseman Provincial Park in Newfoundland. She was also spotted in spring 2019 in Georgia on her way north!
Summary
Withdrawing from the rat race of 9-5 desk jobs and foregoing the pursuit of titles and money was the best decision I ever made. Doing so allowed me to stumble upon a lifestyle filled with travel, nature and meaningful work. I know it's not for everyone and I'm fine with that. I'm extremely grateful that it works for me!