The recent flood of comments about "hot shot" birders,male vs female", etc.
leads me to think that most of the present birders on this network do not know
how obsessive birding can be. In 1977, about 25 birders (myself included) decide
d to see who could find the most birds in one year in California.Most of the
participants did not have steady jobs or could leave work at a moments notice
and drive 500 miles to get a say Snowy Owl in Crescent City and then drive all
that day back to San diego for some other rarity.If a Ross' Gull had showed up
in Oregon or Nevada, none of these people would have gone for it because "it
didn't count" I haven't heard about this kind of birding for a long time and
wonder if it was a transient phenomenom of that era? I should add that there
were two women involved and that they finished the year in the top five.Most of
you will probably think that this was a completely misguided effort but I know
that it was the most exciting year that I ever had. Clark Blake, Dept. of geology, WWU, Bellingham, WA 98225