Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig - My Bucket List

Well, the title says it all. I have to mention that it was an incredibly difficult task to narrow it down to the top 10 things, if I want to I can ramble on for days about stuff I want to do, but here it is anyway (Take note that it’s in no particular order):

• See 5400 species of bird - A couple of years ago my goal was to see 3000 species of bird, but now, having achieved that, I decided to set my sights higher; 5400 species would be roughly half the species of birds in the world;

• Visit Antarctica - It would be amazing to go to one of the only places in the world that’s practically untouched by humans, so it remains stunning and pristine. Imagine it… “Hey where did you go for Christmas?” “Oh, you know, I went to Antarctica.”  It also helps that it would be my last continent to visit, so I ‘need’ to go!;

Antarctica
Photograph taken by and copyright Dr Robert Lambert,
Lecturer in Environmental History and wildlife expert

Antarctica
Photograph taken by and copyright Dr Robert Lambert,
Lecturer in Environmental History and wildlife expert

Antarctica
Photograph taken by and copyright Dr Robert Lambert, 
Lecturer in Environmental History and wildlife expert

• Go trekking in the Himalayas - There is spectacular wildlife like Snow Leopard and Snowcocks, but to be honest I think it would just be amazing generally, think of the view;

Snow Leopard, on Naturetrek's amazing "Ladakh - 
A Snow Leopard Quest" Tour
Photograph taken by and copyright Fritz Polking courtesy of Naturetrek,

My dad, Chris Craig, on his way to see Himalayan Monal,
Nepal, April 1996
Photograph taken by and copyright Dan Cole, Bird Artist

Chris Craig, on his way to see Himalayan Monal,
Nepal, April 1996
Photograph taken by and copyright Dan Cole, Bird Artist

Chris Craig, at site for Himalayan Snowcock, 
Nepal, April 1996 
Photograph taken by and copyright Dan Cole

Dan Cole, talented Bird Artist, sketching the Himalayan Snowcock he had just seen for Birds of the Indian 
Subcontinent, Nepal, April 1996
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Annapurna Range at Himalayan Snowcock site, 
Nepal, April 1996
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

Annapurna Range, Nepal, April 1996
Photograph taken by and copyright Chris Craig

• “Finish” Australia - I have only been to Queensland. Well not ‘only’, but you know what I mean;

Chris Craig at Sydney Harbour in 1993 
(with funny looking dreadlocks!)
Photograph taken by and copyright Marc Lee

• Learn to dive – I have been snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, which was fantastic. Whilst I was out there, people were diving and I wanted to be able to do it, but I was too young at the time. It would be brilliant to learn to dive and maybe I’ll even get a chance to in Borneo;

Michaelmas Cay, Outer Great Barrier Reef,
Queensland, Australia, July 2013
Photograph taken by and copyright Helena Craig

• Get a British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ‘C’ licence for bird ringing (bird banding);

Marsh Tit ringed in our garden, March 2014
Photograph taken by and copyright Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

• Go white-water rafting - I laugh at the image of mum falling off in my imagination, so think how funny it would be in real life;

• See all the species of hummingbird in the world - One of my favourite families I have seen almost half of them so far, there are 337 species and I have seen 156;

Rufous-crested Coquette, Amazonia Lodge, 

Peru, July 2012
Photo taken by and copyright Chris Craig

• Go to the Galapagos - Think of all the amazing species there, and also I want to see the tortoises; and

• Volunteer for an expedition to an ‘only just discovered’ island to help identify new species - Loads of really cool people like Steve Backshall have done this on TV.

Photograph of Steve Backshall, chosen for my mum 
Photograph courtesy of Steve Backshall website