What is the the one thing that you wish to add to your life list in the year 2020? For me it would be the Dragonhunter Dragonfly. I have been looking for that sucker for a long time and I hope to see it this year. What are some of your wildlife goals for this year?
Definitely the tiger moths Arctia caja and parthenos, and Catocala badia, sappho and lacrymosa
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Nice ones go get em!
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I want to see a badger. I know they live around here, and I even found a possible den, but I haven’t seen the actual animals yet.
Also, would love to see a mountain lion… from a distance.
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Badgers are difficult to see in California.
I saw one once in Santa Barbara County a long time ago. I was trundling along on a dirt road in front of me. I slowed down and watched it for a few minutes, then it dove off the road into the grass and vanished. That’s the only one I’ve seen though.
A friend of mine had 2 in a campsite in Sonoma County a while ago. They came into the camp looking for scraps.
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The same thing it’s been every year since I was five: A Snowy Owl. Someday…
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Gonna visit Irkutskaya Oblast’ and have a full list of birds just checking iNat obs:
Olive-backed Pipit, Long-tailed Rosefinch, Vega Gull, Daurian Patridge, Siberian Stonechat, Azure-Winged Magpie, Yellow-breasted Bunting, Daurian Redstart, Meadow Bunting, Eastern Marsh-Harrier, ok, stop, just take me there, I need to see every organism that I haven’t seen before!
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I’m still looking for a living Nine-Banded Armadillo.
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Several things, especially since I’m in Florida. Ideally, Arethaea phalangium or some Atlanticus sp. that isn’t gibbosus. I hope to find a small nymph of Lea floridensis as well since that has pretty much never been seen. There’s a possibility I can find Paxilla obesa as well; a type of pygmy grasshopper with a distinct build that is associated with pitcher plants, but would be the final missing genus for the family in North America for BugGuide and iNat.
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i have a whole list of things i really want to see, but im hoping that i can start this year off catching a bobcat on my trail camera ive set up. coyotes as well but really hoping for that bobcat. the park has seen their coyotes, but no one has actually seen the bobcat yet.
both of these animals i have observed footprints of, but actually getting pics of the animals would be so different
ive also thought about going out to look at the feral monkeys for years now but never have, maybe its time i do that. in the same area of the monkeys are manatees, which i have seen many times as a child but havent in the recent enough past to have any pics for inat, and havent seen any since joining.
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Golden eagle
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To see a badger in California, I’d try Point Reyes. I’ve only seen a live one once there but the place is littered with badger holes. I’ve hiked a trail only to come back and find fresh badger holes in the trail that weren’t there when I returned. I also saw two badgers in two days on a recent trip to Yellowstone.
For myself, I’d most like to see Sacramento Valley Red Fox, though also Fisher (which is, along with possibly wolverine, the only mustelid present in California that I haven’t yet seen), and I’d like to actually be able to document some evidence that I’ve seen a long-tailed weasel (none so far have been willing to stick around for a photo. Porcupine would be very nice and I have a planned trip to Santa Cruz Island to look for Island fox there.
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I want to see a pink lady’s slipper in bloom. I’ve been looking for the orchid for a while, but I finally found it in September, long after it had bloomed. But, now I know where to go in May to see it. 
I’d also like to see an American copper, an elfin (any elfin), a zebra swallowtail or one of the rarer hairstreaks or a mourning cloak (I must’ve been about 8 when I last saw one)–actually just any butterfly species I haven’t seen before. And, a living luna moth ( I found a dead one this past fall) or another saturniid. Mostly, I love being surprised by wonderful new-to-me species, so I’m looking forward to whatever Mother Nature sends (except ticks).
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This year I really want to be able to focus on some of the southern Alabama species… Maybe see some rarer species; Eastern Coral Snake, Alabama Red-bellied Cooter, Razor-backed Musk Turtle, ect. But one species that I would wish to see would definitely be a Green Tree Frog… I mean there so common but I have yet to see one! (and photographed it anyways…) :-)
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I wanted to see a Red fox, and then DH had to pee while we were out walking, and spotted one off trail. Beautiful, and it hung around for a few pictures, before bouncing off. Happy new year, and may you see your heart’s desire soon!
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Whatever I don’t expect to see but am about to see. :)
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My top 3 target species by major organism groups and these are more or less my first photos rather than adding to my life list.
Birds: Northern Goshawk, Harris’s Sparrow and Flammulated Owl
Mammals: Mountain Lion, North American River Otter and American Black Bear
Reptiles: Desert Collared Lizard, Mountain Short-horned Lizard and Desert Horned Lizard
Amphibians: Columbian Spotted Frog, Rocky Mountain Tailed Frog and Desert Nightsnake
Fish: Cutthroat Trout, Chinook Salmon and Coho Salmon
Insects: Koebele’s Grasshopper, Melanoplus elkhornese and Blue-winged Grasshopper
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I find it amazing and somewhat hilarious how many of my best observations have been discovered while answering the “call of nature” on hikes. Congratulations on your sighting!
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My target for this year is this little guy: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/27844-Chioglossa-lusitanica
Gonatista grisea, Phyllovates chlorophaea, Statillia maculata, Liturgusa krattorum (the last one would be predicated on traveling to South America!) I would also like to find Dynastes tityus. I want to breed this species. Going to Arizona or anywhere in the Southwest would give me a huge list!