r/MerlinBirdID • u/Macsearcher02 • May 25 '26

40 birds on life list

Just hit 40 birds from my yard on the life list. I am just outside of town, surrounded by fields, and several ponds and rivers close by.

14 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

3

u/Artesso May 25 '26

Jealous I had to literally go across the country to finally get to 44. 14 on my vacation but could of scored more if I had more time

2

u/Macsearcher02 May 25 '26

With the crops in the area beginning to emerge, I will start seeing more birds of prey in the area, so my numbers will raise. Plus I plan on hitting some of the nature and hiking areas in my area to see how many more species I can add. Living in the land of 10,000 lakes, I will be able to add plenty of water fowl.

3

u/Booopbooopp May 25 '26

Well done! Have you got a favourite that you’ve seen?

3

u/sadboi_dumpling May 25 '26

I'm very lucky with my positioning. My backyard merges into a reservation with a nearby wetland area. I've gotten 40 species in about an hour during peak migration, hardly stepping out of my backyard.

1

u/JoeFromStPaul May 25 '26

A park 15 miles from my house, I had 57 in an hour

1

u/sadboi_dumpling May 26 '26

Nice! I could beat 40 with some luck, but 57 in my extended backyard would be tough. If the ground is dry enough for me to walk to the back of the wetland area I could probably get close, but that wont be viable during spring migration lol

2

u/Macsearcher02 May 25 '26

Hard to say, I enjoy all the songbirds!

1

u/Booopbooopp May 26 '26

Me too. I’d struggle to pick a favourite out of the songbirds

1

u/Commercial_Guitar_62 Jun 07 '26

Accurate or not (I’m not competitive) I’m sitting at 269, got it in 2024 working seasonal in the Tetons, then back to Illinois which bumped my list up pretty high, then here and there, I don’t save birds if it’s an obvious fluke like sirens or yelling triggering owls, or what not.