I did my first Muckrace this year with Team Shutterbirds, comprising members from east, west, north, and south of Montezuma. For the added challenge, we only counted birds we could photograph (or in a few cases, audio record), and ended up with 88 species, with which I personally was impressed.
I've posted the 67 species I photographed here: https://plus.google.com/photos/110006686407707110487/albums/5922866813782365345 not all of which we counted in our tally because we didn't have time to review our photos to confirm some of the IDs. Of particular note are the cliff swallow (flying around the visitor center) and the olive-sided flycatcher on Howland Island which we found thanks to a tip from another team (so it wouldn't've counted if we'd been in the competitive category). Highlight for me personally was hearing a sora serenade from the wildlife drive which seemed to emanate from just 10 feet away, just behind the reeds, multiple individuals peeping and squeaking and singing away -- such that we paid little heed to all the marsh wrens bouncing about uncharacteristically in the open. Finally, after the long drive back to Ithaca I plopped my weary self onto bed ready for a good night's sleep when from outside my window a Great Horned Owl started hooting away. Half of me tried to enjoy the moment, the other half just wanted that darn thing to shut up! :-D Suan I guess it's worth repeating that it's not too late to donate: http://friendsofmontezuma.org/muck_race.html -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
