With apologies for the long delay, here at last are the results of this year's Challenge, hosted by the Seatuck Environmental Association. Second Annual Seatuck Birding Challenge, 26 September, 2015 Competing as seven senior and five high school teams, 47 birders scoured Long Island, finding 148 species. These included 35 species seen by all senior teams (and by most high school teams as well), and 29 notable species seen by just a single team (saves!)--see detailed list below. Three of these single team observations were added by the high school teams. The timing of this year’s event in relation to the fall weather systems found us a little bit in between seasons. Many late fall and winter species, including various ducks, coots, and gulls, plus species like Golden-crowned Kinglets and Blue-headed Vireos, were not “in” yet. In contrast, some herons and egrets, and most terns, swallows, and warblers were already gone. There were no “write-in” species. The Brant seen by two parties were birds lingering at Jamaica Bay from the summer. Common Eider, and Black and White-winged Scoters were seen by two parties. The Ring-necked Pheasant seen by two parties was from Kissena Park/Corridor—one of the last strongholds for this species on LI. Northern Bobwhite was missed. Philadelphia Vireo was seen by three parties. Illustrating the uncertainty of birding, and the irregularity of this sometimes-taken-for-granted species, the Chickadee managed to elude the Chickadee Chasers! Pteam Ptarmigeddon won the competition with an impressive 105 species, followed by the William T. Hornadays with 97, and the Captree Counters with 96. The top high school team was Team Mennecke with 30 species. These are the official species totals, reported according to the stringent rules and regulations of the contest. Two omissions were noticed only after the fact. Pteam Ptarmigeddon forgot to add Swamp Sparrow and would have come in at 106, an oversight that hardly mattered given their commanding lead over the other teams. But the Captree Counters’ miscalculation of the number of unshared species they had remaining had more serious consequences. They left off American Goldfinch, not realizing the mistake until compiling the count two weeks later. This would have put them at 97, tying them for second place with the William T. Hornadays. But worse, it deprived the Chickadee Chasers of their deserved Third Place position! Notable species: Eurasian Wigeon (Pteam Ptarmigeddon) Redhead (Chickadee Chasers) Ring-necked Duck (Moss Piglets) Greater Scaup (Pt Pt) Red-breasted Merganser (Moss Piglets) Northern Gannet (Captree Counters) Great Cormorant (Captree Counters) Wild Turkey (Team Mennecke) Bald Eagle (Chickadee Chasers) Clapper Rail (Pt Pt) Am. Golden-Plover (Four Harbors Herons) Piping Plover (WT Hornadays) Spotted Sandpiper (WT Hornadays) Pectoral Sandpiper (Captree Counters) Semipalmated Sandpiper (Captree Counters) Long-billed Dowitcher (Pt Pt) Great Horned Owl (Four Harbors Herons) Monk Parakeet (WT Hornadays) Willow Flycatcher (Origins Nighthawks) Blue-headed Vireo (Pt Pt) Red-breasted Nuthatch (Four Harbors Herons) Marsh Wren (Captree Counters) Veery (Chickadee Chasers) Golden-winged Warbler (Captree Counters) Nashville Warbler (WT Hornadays) Nelson’s Sparrow (Captree Counters) Saltmarsh Sparrow (Pt Pt) Seaside Sparrow (Captree Counters) Lincoln’s Sparrow (Chickadee Chasers) More information about this event, including a link to a photo of the winning team and a comprehensive spreadsheet of the compilation can be found at: https://www.seatuck.org/index.php/2015-birding-challenge-results - see hyperlink at bottom: "Click here for a full compilation of the results." We hope to see even more teams signing up for the Challenge next year! Thanks to all who participated and thanks to the Seatuck folks for hosting this exciting event. Looking forward to next year’s competition! Patricia Lindsay and Shai Mitra Bay Shore -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES 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://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
