Adding to Your "Life List"

For birders, a "Life List" is the combined list of all the birds they've ever spotted (or for some, at least heard).  There's a certain feeling of elation that goes along with seeing a bird for the first time: palpitations, a jolt of energy to the stomach, maybe a light sweat, perhaps a fast grin.  Sometimes you spend all morning looking for one particular bird, or maybe you've been looking for a bird for weeks, or you know about a bird to at least hope you see it before you die, and so when you finally see it, it's a huge accomplishment.  Or, a huge surprise.

Sometimes they find you first.

Through the years, there have been plenty of times I've found myself flipping through the Peterson or Sibley field guides to identify a bird.  Many times, I pause on the Indigo Bunting page, wishing just once, I could see one, but always missing it.

Today, driving home, I saw the brightest blue flash of feathers along the road side!  I stopped my car immediately (I was not on a main road) so that I could get a closer look.  Despite never having seen an indigo bunting in real life, I've spent so much time pining over the pictures that I knew the bird instantly.  How beautiful!  How cute!  How exciting!

What things have you been pining over that you can add to your "Life List"?

Photo courtesy of Classy View Point and Lang Elliot