[nysbirds-l] Sixth Annual Seatuck LI Challenge Results
The 6th Annual Seatuck LI Birding Challenge was conducted on 28 September this year, and despite the date being later than in past years, the weather was still more like summer than fall. The persistent tendency for the wind to be lightly from the northeast and the warm, sunny weather no doubt was responsible for smaller numbers and less variety of migrant species than would be expected, many of them most likely leftover from the last good flight day. Many folks rued the slow pace and low number of species found on this hot day, yet enthusiasm was still high all the way to the five o’clock hour when the compilation and celebrations began at the lovely Scully mansion. Competing this year were five senior teams with a total of 21 participants and six high school teams with over a dozen (not all names were submitted). Senior teams found 155 species, and the high school teams found 41 species; they added two not seen by the senior teams, Ring-necked Duck and Least Tern, bringing the total to 157 species. Not bad for a day in the doldrums! The cumulative total for the six years now stands at 235, with four species added this year: Lesser Scaup (Bird Brainz and Four Harbors Herons at Connetquot River SP), Northern Saw-whet Owl (Pteam Ptarmigeddon, Northport), Winter Wren (Outlaws, Southards Pond Park), and White-crowned Sparrow (Four Harbors Herons, Jones Beach West End). The Outlaws took first place with 113 species and 15 “saves” (species not seen by any other team). All of the Outlaws have long histories competing in the challenge, often together in various combinations, and generally producing very competitive totals—but always short of first place. Thus, it was a satisfying reward to finally wrest the coveted trophy from the younger whipper-snapper teams! In second place were the Four Harbors Herons, with 107, and in third place, Pteam Ptarmigeddon with 100. The Three-legged Ravens! took first prize for the high school teams, seeing an impressive 31 of the 41 total species for that group. All the senior teams came in with multiple “saves”, making for a nice variety of the more unusual species. Thanks to Enrico Nardone and the Seatuck team for organizing and hosting this increasingly popular and exciting event. For more information on this important organization, visit the website at: https://www.seatuck.org/index.php/seatuck-birding-challenge If you would like a copy of the spreadsheet breaking out the teams, species and saves, please email me off the listserv. We hope to see everyone back next year, and as always, we welcome new teams to join us! -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
[nysbirds-l] Sixth Annual Seatuck LI Challenge Results
The 6th Annual Seatuck LI Birding Challenge was conducted on 28 September this year, and despite the date being later than in past years, the weather was still more like summer than fall. The persistent tendency for the wind to be lightly from the northeast and the warm, sunny weather no doubt was responsible for smaller numbers and less variety of migrant species than would be expected, many of them most likely leftover from the last good flight day. Many folks rued the slow pace and low number of species found on this hot day, yet enthusiasm was still high all the way to the five o’clock hour when the compilation and celebrations began at the lovely Scully mansion. Competing this year were five senior teams with a total of 21 participants and six high school teams with over a dozen (not all names were submitted). Senior teams found 155 species, and the high school teams found 41 species; they added two not seen by the senior teams, Ring-necked Duck and Least Tern, bringing the total to 157 species. Not bad for a day in the doldrums! The cumulative total for the six years now stands at 235, with four species added this year: Lesser Scaup (Bird Brainz and Four Harbors Herons at Connetquot River SP), Northern Saw-whet Owl (Pteam Ptarmigeddon, Northport), Winter Wren (Outlaws, Southards Pond Park), and White-crowned Sparrow (Four Harbors Herons, Jones Beach West End). The Outlaws took first place with 113 species and 15 “saves” (species not seen by any other team). All of the Outlaws have long histories competing in the challenge, often together in various combinations, and generally producing very competitive totals—but always short of first place. Thus, it was a satisfying reward to finally wrest the coveted trophy from the younger whipper-snapper teams! In second place were the Four Harbors Herons, with 107, and in third place, Pteam Ptarmigeddon with 100. The Three-legged Ravens! took first prize for the high school teams, seeing an impressive 31 of the 41 total species for that group. All the senior teams came in with multiple “saves”, making for a nice variety of the more unusual species. Thanks to Enrico Nardone and the Seatuck team for organizing and hosting this increasingly popular and exciting event. For more information on this important organization, visit the website at: https://www.seatuck.org/index.php/seatuck-birding-challenge If you would like a copy of the spreadsheet breaking out the teams, species and saves, please email me off the listserv. We hope to see everyone back next year, and as always, we welcome new teams to join us! -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/nysbirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
