I have recently spent some time -- actually, quite a lot of time -- reorganizing the species list. Where before all the species were on one page, now they have been broken out into five separate pages (see the alphabetic tabs above). As the number of species grew, it seemed to make more sense to break the list up.
I'm now up to 71 species (of which only five, parenthetically, are introduced species). My next milestone is 100. At maybe five new species a year, call it another six years. I'm fairly certain this is achievable, though I may be said to have gotten most of the low-hanging fruit. Still, there are a couple dozen birds that aren't the least bit rare in Eastern Massachusetts that I ought to be able to spot here in Somerville at some point. A few more raptors, a handful of new warblers, some aquatic birds, the odd songbird, and voila.
By way of context, consider that there are just about 500 birds that the American Ornithologists' Union list as Massachusetts birds. Consider that about a third of those are considered rare, very occasional migrants, or indeed extinct. That leaves about 300-odd species. Now, of that 300, a decent number -- maybe half, I'll say -- are found only in habitats we don't have in Somerville: offshore waters, beaches, old-growth forests, marshes, swamps...
Well, actually, we have scarcely any habitat worth mentioning. That's what gives this whole thing its blood- from-a-stone quality. But that said, the stone has at least yielded something. With a bit more squeezing, I bet I can get a few more drops.
