Everyone should try Avicaching!
Last month I decided to try see how many eBird Avicaching spots I could
visit in one day.
Kevin (McGowan) thought it sounded like a fun plan too. He joined forces
with me at the end of June for a test run of this endeavor.
We decided to try to maximize for points and # of spots instead of species.
Results: 33 spots (in about 14 hours).
216 points
It was definitely an exciting adventure of a new kind. Since we were going
for # of spots instead of species we didn't have to worry about the weather
reports as much and indeed it was overcast and rainy for part of the day.
It ended up taking a lot more planning and strategy than we had anticipated
but it was well worth it. I am very glad we were using Kevin's Subaru and
not the old van I am driving these days as I don't think my vehicle would
have made it to the spots that are on dirt/gravel roads. We drove at a
rather leisurely pace and did take nearly an hour lunch break since this
was supposed to be the "test run" of our endeavor. I'm not sure if we will
ever try to beat our own record of 33 spots in a day. I know others have
done Big Avicaching days but I think they were going for # of species.
The only unusual bird we heard was a NORTHERN BOBWHITE which was likely a
released bird.
We enjoyed finding many bird nests, including a YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER
nest.
Fledglings of many species abounded including Willow Flycatchers.
We used the eBird App to enter in data as we went. However there were a few
locations that neither Verizon or AT&T could pick up a signal. For those
locations we made a voice record of the birds we saw and entered it in to
eBird later. Our GPS unit came in very handy for navigating to all these
places.
The most interesting aspect was seeing parts of the Cortland and Tompkins
that neither of us had ever been to. My dapple dachshund, Sashie, joined us
and likely enjoyed having 33 new roadside spots to sniff (on leash). There
are some very peaceful wooded spots that we definitely want to visit again.
I am looking forward to hearing about some of YOUR avicaching adventures.
Please feel free to contact me off list.
Lee Ann van Leer
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