I don't travel outside of Louisiana as much as I used to, and rarely just to bird. That's OK. My way of thinking about my Life List has evolved with age. I've accepted that anybody with a tank of gas or a wallet full of plastic can travel around the continent seeing the birds that are supposed to be there. More power to 'em, and sometimes I envy them, but luckily there's no shortage of exciting birds here.
I've become much more interested in the local birds and my local lists, and the challenge of finding surprises here.
Here is a quick, rough count of the many birding lists I do care about right now and the number of species on each:
My Louisiana state list--399
Cameron Parish list--357
Lafayette Parish--292
Vermilion Parish--284
SW LA--376
Yard list--163
