When I 
was five years old, my parents gave me the Golden Guide to Birds of North America. Yep, that’s correct: instead of giving me a toy fire truck or a football like regular parents, they gave me a book about birds. But kids are impressionable, and sure enough I studied that book left and right for years thereafter (as much as a kid can). I knew that someday I would really like to actually see all the species illustrated in that book, and as I began to recognize some of those birds in my backyard I added a check mark next to its name in the field guide.
That was the beginning of my “life list,” which is a birder’s list of all the species he or she has seen in his or her lifetime. That list now includes over 600 species from North America (including Mexico and Costa Rica), but I still have yet to see all of the birds illustrated in my first field guide (there’s close to 1,000 of them). Having spent most of my life in Minnesota, however, I have become intimately familiar with the Land of 10,000 Lakes and its birds, exploring throughout the state’s 87 counties and varied habitats. In fact, there’s not a single species that regularly occurs in Minnesota each year that I haven’t seen.
At some point I plan to travel the country and abroad in search of “new” birds and wildlife, but for now my life is in Minnesota. In 2008 after graduating from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter with majors in Environmental Studies and English, I began working as the naturalist at the college’s 125-acre Linnaeus Arboretum. As naturalist I interpreted phenological events in the arboretum and surrounding area for a diverse population, from five-year-olds making their first foray into the great outdoors to octogenarians celebrating their sixtieth college reunion.
In September 2011 I entered graduate school at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul in pursuit of a master’s degree in Wildlife Ecology and Management within the U’s School of Natural Resources. In my research I am studying the effects of grassland harvesting for biofuel (ethanol) on prairie birds.
To learn more about my earlier years of birding, read my essay “A Fledging Passion.”
———————————————————————————————————————
Check out the short documentary Life List, filmed and produced by my brother back in 2004-2005 and featuring yours truly (hair and clothing styles have since changed). For more information on the film visit Comeuppance Productions.
Life List from Tom Dunlap on Vimeo.