Connecticut Bird Chaser #3: May 11, 2024

An occasional newsletter for Migration Magic Birdathon Participants and Donors

Notes on Monday’s Big Day, Birdathon totals so far, and birds no one has reported yet

May 11, 2024 — The Birdathon is for everybody not just bird nerds like us at Connecticut Audubon. We pay a lot of attention to rare birds and long species lists. But most Birdathon participants are more relaxed, which makes sense. Birding is supposed to be fun and personally rewarding.

Wherever you fall on the birding spectrum, the bird walks Connecticut Audubon offers are worth going on. Check this page for upcoming walks, including a couple on Mother’s Day.

If you’ve registered for the Birdathon but haven’t gotten out into the field yet, the walks are a great way to participate.

Contribute to bird conservation by making a donation to the Migration Magic Birdathon. Click here!

A reminder and a thank you
About a dozen people have signed up for the Birdathon in the last 5 days, and many more than that have made donations. Thank you all!

Birders, remember to use eBird. Click this link and look for the Accept Trip link in the upper right.

Once you do that, all of your eBird checklists for the month will be included automatically.

Migration Magic Big Day
Four of my energetic colleagues are going all out on Monday to raise money for bird conservation. They’re doing a “Big Day” — 16-plus hours of birding together in a quest to see at least 150 species.

Stefan Martin, Deb Eccleston, Joe Attwater and Matt Bell will start the day at 4 a.m. and finish after sunset. It promises to be a lot of fun.

We’re asking people to make per-bird pledges or straight donations. The contributions all go to conservation projects such as those at the Smith Richardson preserve in Westport, the Bafflin Sanctuary in Pomfret, and the Roger Tory Peterson Estuary Center in Old Lyme.

It’s been a big hit with donors, raising more than $4,000 in 48 hours.

To join in the fund, make a contribution here!

You can read the Big Day details on our website.

Peregrine Falcon. Photo courtesy of Scott Kruitbosch.

Birdathon totals
As of this after, 93 people have signed up for the Birdathon. They’ve seen 199 species combined!

A couple of days ago I asked Matt Bell for a list of birds that haven’t been seen but which might be out there, waiting. Here’s what he said:

10 species we don’t have, that are around or are coming, that should put us over 200 (in rough order of easiest to hardest):

1. Peregrine Falcon (it’s been seen since)

2. Cerulean Warbler (it’s been seen since)

3. Eastern Whip-poor-will

4. Red-headed Woodpecker

5. Willow Flycatcher

6. Cliff Swallow

7. Grasshopper Sparrow

8. Sandhill Crane

9. Least Bittern

10. Ruffed Grouse (It’s been seen since).

Kudos to any of you who see any of the birds on that list!

A few final notes
When you look at the eBird trip page, you’ll see that it says 202 species. Three of those are from out of state and won’t count for our Birdathon, which is why we’re at 199.

Several lists have been submitted to eBird by an Anonymous eBirder. Unfortunately, we don’t know who you are and are unable to include you in the Birdathon competition. So please get in touch if that’s you.

Happy birding! Please don’t hesitate to be in touch with questions or anything else.

Tom Andersen
Connecticut Audubon

Migration Magic Sponsors

Mark Naso, CFP ®
203-900-3573  Mark.Naso@wellsfargo.com

Gawel Excavating