Thoughts about…

TBY Update: Abundance and Scarcity

The 2024 Tahoe Big Year has been a wild ride, to say the least. So far, there’s about 70 participants. And that includes kids and adults, most of which are adults. Of those 70 individuals, 21 of them have over 100 species. One of the reasons it’s been so wild this year is because we had a relatively mild winter, so we found a lot of birds early on. For example, on New Year’s Day, I had already logged 33 species. And I wasn’t the only one that had that many.

I know that the screenshot below of the leaderbird – a play words, obviously, leaderboard/leaderbird – shows May First’s numbers. On May 1st, I logged my 142nd bird. As of this recording, which is May 7th, I’m already up to 155.

Rabe Meadow on April 4, 2024. © Jared Manninen

The target number that many of us are shooting for is to document 200 bird species. It doesn’t sound like much. However, when you consider the fact that, historically, there have only been roughly 325 documented bird species in the Lake Tahoe and Truckee region that’s kind of a high bar. I know it doesn’t sound like that when you do the math because it only works out to be somewhere between like 60 and 65% of the birds. Also, when you consider in the overall state of California (as of August of 2022) there are 681 species on the California Bird Records Committee list, 325 doesn’t sound like much. And, then, 200 sounds even less.

But, then again, Lake Tahoe is a challenging place to call home for people and birds. So not only do we have a lot of people coming in and leaving after a short time here at Lake Tahoe, the same goes for the birds.

Therefore, of those 325 – again, that’s a rough number. I think there’s maybe a couple more just because it seems like every year there’s something new found. Anyway, many of those 325 birds are actually just vagrants. They only pop in once every few years, and it’s on one day for an hour. Or, they stick around for a day and then they fly off.

Kirkwood XC on April 6, 2024. © Jared Manninen

Lake Tahoe, because it’s a huge body of water, provides a lot of habitat for different birds. So we end up being this thoroughfare for stuff traveling all over, from the Great Basin over to the coast or from north to south and vice versa. And then when you throw in an occasional snowstorm or wildfire with smoke, environmental factors cause birds to change up their behaviors so that they can get to wherever they’re going. But, again, we end up being this location where stuff does stick around for a short amount of time before moving on because there’s really diverse habitat here.

A part of the wildness of the season is the fact that we have seen such a variety of birds. I mean, I’m definitely logging a lot of lifer birds. So, the first time seeing these things in my entire life, which I tend to not actually see stuff in those terms. Like, in the birding world, finding a lifer bird is something that you’ve kind of been pursuing all of your life and now you just found it. But there’s so much that I haven’t seen. So for me to call something a lifer is almost a little bit of a joke because my birding experience is so short lived compared to many other people’s experience that it just it feels weird … because I haven’t actually been trying for 20 years to see such and such bird or whatever. It’s a new bird for me. Technically a lifer. But, anyway, it’s just it’s a funny thing.

Carson Pass on April 9, 2024. © Jared Manninen

That said, I have been seeing a bunch of birds that I’ve never seen before and that’s been super fun because of all the diversity that I get to photograph. I really dove into this wildlife photography thing during this process, and I’m really having a good time.

It kind of seems like, though, in spite of the variety there’s a low volume of birds. What we’re seeing is one or two of the same species, mostly one of a really unique species. Again, if it’s rare, and it just gets knocked off course en route to its usual location that it would be flying to, it’s understandable that there would only be one. But there’s just a lot of other species that aren’t necessarily rare, maybe not super common, but just not rare that we’re only seeing one or two. At least up until now.

As a result, it seems like we’re all chasing the same birds. That’s not really an enjoyable experience for me even though, again, I will do it in order to log my 200 birds. However, I’d much rather know that there’s at least a few of them out there that I could see, and maybe see them in a different location compared to where everyone else is finding them.

I don’t necessarily believe that there’s anything nefarious or out of the ordinary about this because, again, we had a really mild winter. So we had a lot of birds around that we wouldn’t normally see until April and May. Perhaps because of the mild winter they decided to either stick around or come up early.

Washoe Meadows State Park on April 14, 2024. © Jared Manninen

All of that said, one of the concepts that I’ve been mulling over this past month is this idea of abundance versus scarcity.

We all want to live with abundance. We want to know that there’s going to be enough, whether that’s food, water, a place to live, resources, toys to play with, places to go … but what happens when the reality in front of us is scarcity?

Grass Lake on Luther Pass on April 24, 2024. © Jared Manninen

Again, I liked that idea of envisioning or visualizing this idea that our lives are filled with abundance. However, I’m also pretty good about keeping one foot in the skeptic’s world, where there may not be enough. When you believe that there’s an abundance of everything, I can’t help but feel like you start to get a little soft. That’s because you believe that there’s always going to be something there for you. No need to grind, after all.

But if you embrace the idea that this may actually be something that falls into the scarcity column like time, right? We all have this finite existence. We may only see this one bird right now, today, in this moment, so can we squeeze as much out of that moment as possible?

Sunrise over Lake Tahoe on April 25, 2024. © Jared Manninen

Although I don’t want to live or believe that there will never be enough, I also don’t want to always assume that there will always be enough. I want to tread that line between the two so that I remember that this may be the only moment in time that I’ll have to see this, to be with this person, to experience this event. Otherwise, we just get this idea that it’s fine! We’re going to have another time next week, next month, next year … yeah, well, you might not!

So make sure those camera settings are dialed in, take lots of pictures, hug your loved ones, love where you’re at … because this moment is unique and we’re never going to be able to recreate it.

Lake Tahoe on April 27, 2024. © Jared Manninen

The current Tahoe Big Year standings are different than the screenshot below. So visit the official TBY website to see the up-to-date top 5 contenders. I’m disappointed that I didn’t keep a better routine record of my bird count during the 2021 Tahoe Big Year because it would be cool to compare/contrast that year compared to this. I guarantee, though, that I didn’t have anywhere near the 140+ birds that I had this year!

I took a break from making videos, so production was low this past month. But it’s all good. I’ve been finding it nice to be outside looking for birds and other cool stuff without feeling the pressure to produce a video. Funny how maintaining a YouTube channel becomes so consuming. Not that I don’t enjoy. But I also just like being outside and in the moment 🙂

I don’t have a specific online purchasing option for my greeting cards. However, if you did want to purchase one (or more), do it through the amber-colored button toward the bottom of this page that says “Support Tahoe Trail Guide.” This is a PayPal paying option where you’ll have to type in the $ amount your sending, as well as a description of what you want. Also include:

• Name
• Mailing Address (if you live near me, I can hand deliver and refund your shipping)
• Email Address (so that I can contact you if something is amiss)
• What cards you want (see the caption underneath the image for the names)

$5 per card + $2.99 shipping = $7.99/card

$20 for all five cards + $4.99 shipping = $24.99

I haven’t shared much over the past year or so about the work that my mom’s been involved with (for the past 10+ years), but I wanted to offer this panel discussion that she was recently on about the case (video below). Essentially, my mom has been a citizen advocate for six men who were wrongfully convicted in the early 1990s for killing one of their co-workers. Unless you’re from Wisconsin, you’ve probably never heard this story. Rather, unless you were living in Wisconsin in the 1990s you’ve probably never heard about it. But it’s a totally bonkers true crime story in a similar vein as a Cohen Brothers movie. Except, you know, this actually happened in real life to six innocent men.

One of the men was exonerated after serving five years in prison. Unfortunately for the other five men, though, they each spent 20+ years in prison. But they’re all out of prison as of this past year, which is very exciting. And they’re taking steps toward receiving full exonerations, as well. Most importantly, though, they’re out and living life again.

My mom’s blog is called “A Matter of Facts…” if you’re interested in learning more about this case.

Thanks for being a part of my life. Until next time…

-Jared Manninen

Tahoe Trail Guide is an online resource for hiking, backpacking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing in the Lake Tahoe region. In addition to trail data, I offer backcountry “how-to” articles and information about the local and natural history of Tahoe. Tahoe Swag is a collection of art and design products I create based on my love of the outdoors and appreciation for Lake Tahoe and the surrounding Sierra Nevada Mountains.

If you like any of the images I post in these newsletters, please contact me. I’d be more than happy to upload them to my RedBubble account so that you can order prints and other merchandise featuring the images.

A Note about Patreon and PayPal…

Patreon is an online platform for providing financial support to creators who provide quality digital content that’s otherwise free. I offer various subscription tiers starting at $3. And all subscription tiers from $6 and up will receive original artwork after six consecutive months of contributions. The button directly below the Patreon button is a way in which to provide a one-time payment via PayPal (if subscriptions aren’t your thing).

My newsletters here on JaredManninen.com, the articles that I publish on Tahoe Trail Guide, and the videos I upload to YouTube will always be free. But if you’re interested in contributing to the health and longevity of my websites and YouTube channel, consider subscribing. Even a little goes a long way 🙂

Become a Patron!