Is Sandy Komito’s record 745 species or 748? And how is it tabulated? There is a fascinating (to obsessive listers) discussion on the ABA Blog between Greg Neise and Ted Floyd.
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
Well that sucked me right in. Really interesting geeky logistics at play here. I suspect John will need a huge shift in fortunes to hit 748 from here (given his travails in Adak) but I wish him well and for me 748 should be the mark.
Or you could, you know, go watch some birds. Seems to me that if you do care about such things it is a case for lighting a fire under the state committees to get them to speed things up a bit.