Check out team reports submitted by the captains of Big Sit! circles around the world.
Aberrant Passerines at MN Valley NWR
Circle Captain: Maggie O'connell
Circle Location: Rapids Lake Visitor, Minnesota (United States)
With the first snow of the season on Saturday and more expected on Sunday, we didn't get a lot of participation from either birds or people. Unusually cold, even for Minnesota. No ducks on the river; not even the usually ubiquitous bald eagles...
Acer saccharum
Circle Captain: John Triana
Circle Location: Hamden/Woodbridge, Connecticut (United States)
Great weather. Perched on cliff above Konold's Pond. Hundreds of Blue Jays migration through. Peregrine stooping in front of the cliff. Watching raptors at eye-level.
Alligator River NWR
Circle Captain: Cindy Heffley
Circle Location: East Lake, North Carolina (United States)
We were fortunate to see at least seven different Black Bears one of which walked right past our truck. It was so close that we could hear it breathing.
B.W. Surf Scopers
Circle Captain: Frank Gallo
Circle Location: Milford, Connecticut (United States)
We were hoping to break our all-time CT record (101 set in 2007), but fell a little short. Even so, it was a fun time with old (and new) birding friends. It was great to be on site nearly 15 hours to watch the beautiful sunrise, the full tidal cycle and all the birds that it brings, then to watch an equally great sunset...
Bald Eagle SP Storm Birds
Circle Captain: Bob Snyder
Circle Location: Bald Eagle State Par, Pennsylvania (United States)
This is the third year we have done the Big Sit at Bald Eagle State Park and we were able to add five new species that were not seen or heard in the previous two years: common merganser, white-breasted nuthatch, eastern towhee, chipping sparrow, and northern cardinal...
Bentsen Green Beam
Circle Captain: Jose Uribe
Circle Location: Mission, Texas (United States)
Bill & Claudia in Cerro Azul
Circle Captain: William Ahrens
Circle Location: Los Altos del Cerro, Other (Panama)
Had an incredible day with warm temperatures in the mid 70s. Clear sky with some distant cumulus clouds. No rain after about 7AM. What a great day!
Birding on Broadmeade
Circle Captain: Mikael Behrens
Circle Location: Austin, Texas (United States)
See my blog entry here.
BIRDRANGER
Circle Captain: Brian Bockhahn
Circle Location: Wake Forest, North Carolina (United States)
Pre Dawn flight calls heard: 37 Swainsons Thrush, 24 Veery, 3 Gray-cheeked Thrush. Record smashing high of 80 species, with 20 species not seen in previous five years of sits.
Black Bayou Birders
Circle Captain: Joan Brown
Circle Location: Monroe, Louisiana (United States)
The day was overcast, cold, misty and miserable. In general, not a good day for birds! We were hoping to beat our record from last year, but considering the weather conditions, we thought we did pretty good!
Blind Birders
Circle Captain: Michael Zerr
Circle Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota (United States)
Bobolinks
Circle Captain: Robert Dixon
Circle Location: Sterling, Connecticut (United States)
Clear night followed by breezy(nw)day provided great birding. My best total (58 species) in 15 yrs of participating in the Big Sit! Topped my previous record (47) by 11 species. Added 4 new species {Green Heron, Swainson's Thrush...
Border Birders
Circle Captain: Gisela Chapa
Circle Location: Alamo, Texas (United States)
Brumbaugh Birders
Circle Captain: Chuck Mcclaugherty
Circle Location: Alliance, Ohio (United States)
Big surprise was northern Harrier Large number of bluebirds
Chambers Lake Early Birders
Circle Captain: Larry Lewis
Circle Location: Coatesville, Pennsylvania (United States)
Chunkos
Circle Captain: Al Ahlgrim
Circle Location: Oregon City, Oregon (United States)
A cold, gusty north wind likely held our count down; but, we still had fun!
Clyde Shepherd
Circle Captain: Woody Hickcox
Circle Location: Decatur, Georgia (United States)
Location may be everything, but advertising gets the people out. Disappointing lack of warblers at a site that's usually good for them. Very few small songbirds compared to previous weeks. Fortunately there were sufficient raptor moments to keep me on my toes...
Cold Springs NWR
Circle Captain: June Whitten
Circle Location: Hermiston, Oregon (United States)
Various species continued to come in or pass through during the a.m. Activity seemed to end after noon.
Columbia NWR
Circle Captain: Randy Hill
Circle Location: Othello, Washington (United States)
First flock of northern migrant geese of the fall; Sandhill Cranes passing by on their way south; a Belted Kingfisher wanted to land on the bridge adjacent to our circle. Generally few migrants had arrived
Covert Operations
Circle Captain: Donald And Lillian Stokes
Circle Location: Hancock, New Hampshire (United States)
Cooperative weather brought birds in. Front moved through, with clearing during the day. Still morning air allowed us to hear many birds. Then the winds picked up and many raptors moved through. Some highlights: an unexpected Pied-billed Grebe, rare for inland NH; while watching a male Northern Harrier in flight, a Ruffed Grouse flew through the same binocular view; seeing Bald Eagles three times.
Dead Wood Birders
Circle Captain: Joe Sebastiani
Circle Location: Avondale, Pennsylvania (United States)
DeSoto's Gooseless Wonders
Circle Captain: Sue Mcdonald
Circle Location: Missouri Valley, Iowa (United States)
We moved our Big Sit circle from a nearby nature trail to the Visitor Center. Not only was this much more comfortable for the birders it gave us an opportunity to speak to the public about what we were doing...
DFO Insaniacs
Circle Captain: Joey Kellner
Circle Location: Littleton, Colorado (United States)
This was the fourth year in a row where the weather was either cold, rainy or both. But the birds were good. With 7 years in a row of Big Sits, we tied our best year with 71 species this year! State Parks even supplied breakfast muffins, donuts, bottled water and later in the day some needed hot chocolate and hot cider!! Thanks Colorado State Parks!
Eagle Eyes Squaw Creek NWR
Circle Captain: James "jimmie" Voltz
Circle Location: Mound City, Missouri (United States)
Midland Empire Audubon Society (MEAS), Saint Joseph, Missouri, held their 2009 "Big Sit" at Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge (Mound City, Missouri) on Sunday, October 11th. Six MEAS members were in attendance...
Fallon Feathers
Circle Captain: Susan Sawyer
Circle Location: Fallon, Nevada (United States)
Members of the Lahontan Audubon Soc.(Reno/Carson City area), the refuge friends group "Spring Wings", along with FWS staff showed up for airboat tours of the marsh, as well as a driving tour of the refuge sanctuary zone...
FAMI whoopers
Circle Captain: Barbara Bruns
Circle Location: Aransas NWR, Texas (United States)
No break in the weather would give us an advantage from the 'top of tower' view. Flocks of ducks cruised by along the shoreline but never settled down. Hundreds of swallows migrating through all day...
FBMP Migrants
Circle Captain: Noel Cutright
Circle Location: Town of Belgium, Wisconsin (United States)
40 species - nothing unusual
Friends of Anahuac Refuge
Circle Captain: David Sarkozi
Circle Location: Anahuac, Texas (United States)
Gerg-birds
Circle Captain: Greg Davis
Circle Location: New Baltimore, Virginia (United States)
A Sharp-shinned hawk was mobbed by Crows and Flickers as I started the sit in the morning. He then tried tailing into a swallow (which turned out to be a female martin). She outwitted him and returned to a tree in my yard...
Gilsland Gulls
Circle Captain: Turk Duddy
Circle Location: Falmouth, Maine (United States)
This was our third year doing the Big Sit & our lowest count. We didn't have the large number of sparrows as in past years. We missed a couple that we had in both the prior years. A Dickcissel was found at the Sit site a couple days after the sit...
Grassy Hill
Circle Captain: Richard Chyinski
Circle Location: East Lyme, Connecticut (United States)
Great Salt Plains
Circle Captain: Ron Shepperd
Circle Location: Jet, Oklahoma (United States)
Grosbreasted Rosebeaks
Circle Captain: Paul Fank
Circle Location: Dassel, Minnesota (United States)
First, THANK YOU to all who participated at our 5th Big Sit. We had a good time watching for the birds to pass by or stop and visit. The yard and surrounding area was very active with birds, considering we had 1 inch of snow the night before and temperatures being very cool...
Gulls Galore
Circle Captain: June Whitten
Circle Location: Umatilla, Oregon (United States)
This area was too cold for a longer "sit" so these participants joined another circle at Cold Springs National Wildlife Refuge where the weather was more acceptable.
HAS Big Sit
Circle Captain: Jay Kaplan
Circle Location: South Windsor, Connecticut (United States)
Nothing better than sitting in that marsh just before dawn with wood ducks all around us. The morning was a little slow, although American Woodcock,Common Raven and Gray-cheeked Thrush were new to the Sit...
HBMO Hawks
Circle Captain: Justin Bosler
Circle Location: Amherstburg, Ontario (Canada)
Write-up forthcoming.
HMANA Yard Raptors
Circle Captain: Joe Wojtanowski
Circle Location: Poquonock, Connecticut (United States)
Weather: thru 16.1C. Visiblity fair (haze). Of all the Big Sits I have done in CT & MA who would have guess I would have the most species (49) from my driveway.
Humrbirds
Circle Captain: Kelly Hill
Circle Location: Magnolia, Texas (United States)
It seemed that the birds knew right before it was going to rain. They would flock in to eat and then when the rain came, all would flee to their sheltering hiding places. The hummers didn't seem to mind the rain as much as they took advantage of it in order to bathe...
Indy Birders
Circle Captain: Don Gorney
Circle Location: Indianapolis, Indiana (United States)
Since this was our inaugural Big Sit we had no comparisons but were hoping for 50 species. The site was chosen because it was next to the newly opened Ornithology Center at Eagle Creek Park, a designated Important Bird Area...
Juniata Juncos
Circle Captain: Chad Kauffman
Circle Location: Mifflintown, Pennsylvania (United States)
Nice day, but boy do you get tired doing a whole lot of nothing.
Kentish Plovers
Circle Captain: Walter Ellison
Circle Location: Rock Hall, Maryland (United States)
Nancy and I were at the viewing platform at the end of the Tubby Cove Boardwalk from 6:35 AM to 3:05 PM today (11 Oct '09). We had 70 species, a new record for us. We had 15 waterfowl species including 7 Blue-winged Teal, 4 shovelers, both scaup, 9 American Wigeon, a Cackling Goose (Richardson's), 2 Gadwall, and, the highlight of the day, a single BRANT with the Canada Geese for the last two hours at the mouths of Calfpasture and Tubby coves...
Killingworth Yard
Circle Captain: John Himmelman
Circle Location: Killingworth, Connecticut (United States)
Some people add butterflies and dragonflies to their observations. Thought I'd include the singing insects (Ensifera). Their songs were with us night and day: True Katydids, Carinate Katydids, Fall Field Crickets, Allards Ground Crickets, Tinkling Ground Crickets, Carolina Ground Crickets, 2-spotted Tree Crickets, Jumping Bush Crickets
Kunkletown Kingbirds
Circle Captain: Corey Husic
Circle Location: Kunkletown, Pennsylvania (United States)
Great day for Sharp-shinned Hawks; several hundred flew past. Birds were scattered unlike recent days, where the sparrows and warblers have flocked up.
Lakeside Willows
Circle Captain: Doug Overacker
Circle Location: Springfield, Ohio (United States)
It was a very pleasant day but there wasn't a lot of bird activity. Through the middle of the day we saw very little. Even the large flock of Killdeer that we saw in the morning left us. Two immature Bald Eagles flew over at about 12:20 PM and we saw one again at about 6:00 PM.
Lenoir Lunatics
Circle Captain: Michael Bochnik
Circle Location: Yonkers, New York (United States)
2000 Blue jays migrating, 8 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers,
Lk Pine Gray Gooses
Circle Captain: Maggie Thomas
Circle Location: Medford, New Jersey (United States)
First time venture - quite an experience, which I nicknamed "The Little Big Sit!" Heard in the darkness: Black-crowned Night Heron, 2 (count 'em - 2!) Great Horned Owls, Green Heron, 1 Grackle and some others...
Loony Tuners
Circle Captain: Jim Flynn
Circle Location: Oak Harbor, Washington (United States)
I had a very limited time at the site this year 🙁 Only about 1.5 hours in the afternoon. Still, I was very happy to see two Ancient Murrelets close to shore - not something I see very often and the first I've seen reported in Washington this fall.
Lower Columbia Birders
Circle Captain: Mike Patterson
Circle Location: Seaside, Oregon (United States)
Maricopa Audubon's Katheryn F. Anderson Granite Reef Asterisk's Big Sit!
Circle Captain: Herbert Fibel
Circle Location: Mesa, Arizona (United States)
It was a little warm, but an otherwise clear day with just a slight breeze. Our ace spotter, and fellow participant on all 13 prior Big Sits!, Pete Moulton, didn’t arrive until about 7:30 a...
MECKBIRDERS
Circle Captain: David Lovett
Circle Location: huntersville, North Carolina (United States)
It was a lovely day and we heard two of the three possible owls at dawn. Winds were from the west - not good for land bird migration- and winter sparrows and other winter species had not arrived in any numbers as yet...
Memorial Park Lawn Chair Birders
Circle Captain: Steve Garr
Circle Location: Jefferson City, Missouri (United States)
The Big Sit at Memorial Park this year was VERY cold compared to last year ( we were in shorts & t-shirts last year- - in coats and hats & gloves this year!). Again this year, the Sit was to raise money for a community Wild Bird Garden , this time specifically for signs and more plants...
Metro Munchers
Circle Captain: Tom Heatley
Circle Location: Harrison Township, Michigan (United States)
We had a few species we normally don't get every year and it turned into a really good hawk day.
Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary
Circle Captain: Jim Dolan
Circle Location: Canfield, Ohio (United States)
It was a cold, windy day, but everyone had a good time. We had a good group of birders.
Montgomery County Sitting Ducks
Circle Captain: Chuck Parker
Circle Location: Boyds, Maryland (United States)
Total species count (55) is attached in an Excel spreadsheet as well as several photos of the day’s events. Highlights of the day were a Lincoln’s Sparrow, Widgeon, N. Shoveler and Yellow Bellied Sapsucker...
Mosquito Fodder
Circle Captain: Chris Barrigar
Circle Location: Dorena, Missouri (United States)
Earlier the previous week, two big storm fronts moved through the area from the WNW which in one 24 hour period 4.5 inches of rain was recorded. These fronts brought with them cooler temps than in previous two years at this location - see weather notes above...
N Houston Birders
Circle Captain: Bill And Mavis Townsley
Circle Location: Brazoria, Texas (United States)
Bad conditions for a lot of birds and windy. Mosquitos horrible also. Only had 2 species we couldn't identify. Not enough features to tell.
Nature Center at Shaker Lakes
Circle Captain: Julie West
Circle Location: Cleveland, Ohio (United States)
Our lowest count(37) to date. Added one species: Rusty blackbird. Nice show by Cooper's hawk which moved from perch to perch around the circle area during the first hour of daylight.
NAZARETHBIRDER
Circle Captain: Joanne Corpora
Circle Location: NAZARETH, Pennsylvania (United States)
A small flock of Blue Jays flew overhead (10 or more). Saw the 1st Junco of the Fall/Winter Season eat seed on my patio! Beautiful purple finch perched for a long time on top of feeder pole catching the sun...
NMBS dingbats
Circle Captain: Jeanie Joppru
Circle Location: Thief River Falls, Minnesota (United States)
NOCO Wrenegades
Circle Captain: Connie Kogler
Circle Location: Loveland, Colorado (United States)
Surprise bird was a flyover by a Greater Yellowlegs. Easy misses were Downy Woodpecker, American Goldfinch, Red-tailed Hawk, Common Raven.
NOTSLAR PTB
Circle Captain: Norwood Frederick
Circle Location: Ralston, Pennsylvania (United States)
Still some migrating hawks. Nice arial display of 2 Ravens enjoying the Fall breeze.
NW Audubon
Circle Captain: Pam Steinhaus
Circle Location: Savanna, Illinois (United States)
Patuxent Migratory Robins
Circle Captain: Chandler Robbins
Circle Location: Laurel, Maryland (United States)
Twenty-five species identified before sunrise. Except for Common Grackle, Wood Duck was the most abundant species, with at least 150 individuals. The bird most actively migrating was Blue Jay.
Patuxent Research Refuge Vicious Chickadees
Circle Captain: Paul Baicich
Circle Location: Laurel, Maryland (United States)
Pea Island NWR
Circle Captain: Jeff Lewis
Circle Location: Pea Island NWR, North Carolina (United States)
Pickens Picidae
Circle Captain: Scott Stegenga
Circle Location: Pickens, South Carolina (United States)
Counted 17 species by 9:15am; only 7 more added the rest of the day. Tied for lowest count at this circle. Did not count any migrant winter residents for this area.
Pineywoods Audubon
Circle Captain: Ruth Heino
Circle Location: Nacogdoches, Texas (United States)
Pishing in the Wind
Circle Captain: Jim Royer
Circle Location: Los Osos, California (United States)
Twenty-one birders gathered at the Elfin Forest Bush Lupine Point for our 13th annual sit at this location. Starting at 5:30 AM, we birded by shifts from this overlook of the Morro Bay Estuary. From our vantage point we had a panoramic view of most of the bay, the sand spit which separates the bay from the ocean, the hills and pastureland of Morro Bay State Park, the coastal scrub of the Elfin Forest and some of the adjoining residential part of Los Osos...
Pondicherry NWR Marsh Hawks
Circle Captain: David Govatski
Circle Location: Pondicherry NWR, New Hampshire (United States)
A surprisingly good day with 40 species observed from a 17 foot circle especially after the passage of the cold front. We saw 10 new species this year not observed in the previous two years. No real surprises or rarities...
QVAS Bird Buddies
Circle Captain: Eric Eichorn
Circle Location: Meriden, Connecticut (United States)
One 3rdyear Bald Eagle cataching a large trout and eating it in front of our circle, while fending off another 3rd year Bald Eagle. Mallards in mass coming ashore at duck to devour acorns. Mute Swans - the noise made by the wings as two flew close by, then the loud slapping as it pattled for a landing on the water later in the day...
RCBNC
Circle Captain: Barbara Duerksen
Circle Location: Lone Rock, Wisconsin (United States)
Habitat: Cruson Slough (marsh and open water), bottomland woods, upland shrubs Large flocks of grackles (>800) and blackbirds (>400) Sound of crows mobbing something was followed by Red-shouldered Hawk calls...
Rio Salado Sitters
Circle Captain: Thomas Gaskill
Circle Location: Phoenix, Arizona (United States)
Because of the failed summer rains, seed crops were poor and invasive creeping watercress had covered much of the open water. Hence, there were few sparrows and even fewer water & shore birds. On the other hand, the maturing vegetation on the shore draws more warblers every year, and there was a wealth of icterids (including large flocks of yellow-headed blackbirds).
roxys birders
Circle Captain: Tom Dilts
Circle Location: midlothian, Virginia (United States)
We had a death in the family and I was only able to do the big sit off my back deck in short time intervals. It was a good stress releaser and although I was not able to spend much time, it was again worth the effort...
Santee Storks
Circle Captain: Susan Heisey
Circle Location: Summerton, South Carolina (United States)
sarcelle soucrourou
Circle Captain: Patrick Brisse
Circle Location: Tucker, Georgia (United States)
Nothing exceptional, but a good day to be watching bird. This is the first time that I got 49 species around my yard in one day. My previous big sit record was 43 species. We were short on warblers - only 4 species...
SCASbirders
Circle Captain: Renee Davis
Circle Location: Wurtsboro, New York (United States)
4 Bald Eagles seen flying south above the mountain; 3 flocks of migrating C Geese (30, 60, 85); 3 Hermit Thrushes; 1 Harrier over the marsh, the last species of the day. We saw 1 adult and 1 dead young snake together (water snake?); and only 2 mammals: a gray squirrel and a chipmunk...
Scrub J-oakers
Circle Captain: Hugh Kingery
Circle Location: Franktown, Colorado (United States)
Our scouts saw three species we couldn't see from the roof: Northern Bobwhite, Chipping & White-crowned Sparrows.
Segerstads fyr
Circle Captain: Christian Cederroth
Circle Location: Segerstad, Oland isl, Other (Sweden)
Great passage of seabirds, 50000+ but obviously hard with raptors and fine calls... The late season have driven all songbirds and most waders away but again excellent migration.
Seminole Sitters
Circle Captain: Faith Jones
Circle Location: Sanford, Florida (United States)
When a few of our Observers took a break and left our circle a limpkin came and visited the remaining Seminole Sitters.
SF feeder complex
Circle Captain: Mick Zerr
Circle Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota (United States)
Silver Sands Sitters
Circle Captain: Stacy Hanks
Circle Location: Milford, Connecticut (United States)
Missed a some obvious species like Morning Dove, Blk-capped Chickadee and Titmouse. But a Beautiful Day and a great time with friends. And the usual food fare of beef jerky,banana bread, brownies, grilled hot dogs and mulled cider.
South Meadowlarks
Circle Captain: Neil Zimmerman
Circle Location: Seattle, Washington (United States)
We were on a bluff that has a view of the Puget Sound, a meadow in the park and nearby woods. We had an early start to see the Barn Owl hunting the meadow. The Puget Sound gave us three species of grebes along with scoters, cormorants,and Pigeon Guillemots...
St. Marks Spotters
Circle Captain: Robin Will
Circle Location: St. Marks Lighthouse, Florida (United States)
Weather conditions and drought seemed to have hurt our efforts--there were far less shorebirds than last year's count, and the weather was more like summer than fall. Marsh to the east of lighthouse was very dry, with few birds.
Staunton River Sitters
Circle Captain: Mary Foster
Circle Location: Scottsburg, Virginia (United States)
Stone Mtn Hawkeyes
Circle Captain: Trudy Kyler
Circle Location: Huntingdon, Pennsylvania (United States)
Team Balcones
Circle Captain: Laurie Foss
Circle Location: Liberty Hill, Texas (United States)
We observed a family group of American Kestrels throughout the day across the road from us as they flew and fussed, chased each other and caught prey items. In the gloom of the rain a male Northern Cardinal appeared to glow! We got wet in the first prolonged shower, then John went to the ranch house and brought back a tent shelter for us...
Team Merlin
Circle Captain: Tim Hajda
Circle Location: Berwyn, Nebraska (United States)
Despite the miserable weather, I tallied 30 species for my first The Big Sit! The usual plethora of sparrows bottomed-out on me, with several that have been previously abundant not appearing at all. Many other "should-have-been-easy" birds were impossible to find...
Team Pack Monadnock
Circle Captain: Lance Tanino
Circle Location: Peterborough, New Hampshire (United States)
The (No) Bull-sittas
Circle Captain: Tom Reed
Circle Location: Cape May Point, New Jersey (United States)
A special day in Cape May. Nearly 40 species were recorded before dawn, including nocturnal migrants such as Seaside Sparrow, Barn Owl and Bicknell's Thrush. A large morning flight ensued, dominated by approx...
The Bear Bottom Sitters
Circle Captain: Betsy Beneke
Circle Location: Brigham City, Utah (United States)
Most interesting birds of the day were two LATE migrant Lazuli Buntings. Flocks of gulls, blackbirds and starlings flew overhead all day. Betsy grills a great burger and Brian's chili heated us up!
The Fledglings
Circle Captain: Madeline Yancey
Circle Location: Stevinson, California (United States)
This was the first time participating in the Big Sit! for our group. We hope to get our orgnizational efforts started earlier next year so our circle is "manned" for a longer period of time and more group members are able to participate...
The Pulpit Peregrines
Circle Captain: Alex Lamoreaux
Circle Location: Fort Loudon, Pennsylvania (United States)
the Slob-O-Links
Circle Captain: Joshua Rose
Circle Location: Ware, Massachusetts (United States)
Numbers of American Pipits were impressive early on. One of the Common Loons broke into yodeling through the morning fog at one point. Nearly all of our species (39 of 42) were recorded before noon...
The Woodbinoculars
Circle Captain: Rick Sussman
Circle Location: Woodbine, Maryland (United States)
We had an amazing day for our 1st sit at this location. 40 species will be hard to beat, as we saw almost all local birds and almost all migrants possible, including Blue-headed Vireo, and Yellow-rumped Warbler, 2 Bald Eagles, A...
toogoodoo
Circle Captain: Bruce Krucke
Circle Location: Yonges island, South Carolina (United States)
It was the weakest Big Sit I've ever had. There were simply no birds around. Nearly all my sightings were of single birds except for crows, cardinals, and doves. Lots of my regulars didn't even appear...
Tower Tattlers
Circle Captain: Edgar Bristow
Circle Location: Oceanville, New Jersey (United States)
A gorgeous day to enjoy birding at its best - good weather, good company. A number of visitors to the refuge stopped to chat and a few to participate for varying amounts of time. Missed a number of shorebirds and waterfowl that were out of even telescope range including our visiting Roseate spoonbill...
Tradewinds Park Merlins
Circle Captain: Russ Titus
Circle Location: Coconut Creek, Florida (United States)
Not a migration day other than two Broad-wings and a flock of 10 DC Cormorants headed south. Only winter resident warblers. Great view of the landfill to east but not one gull there, and few vultures...
TREES
Circle Captain: Douglas Wood
Circle Location: Tishomingo, Oklahoma (United States)
Huge numbers or N. Rough-winged Swallows and Barn Swallows. A. Kestrel catching and eating a dragonfly a bonus. Cold, drizzly, cloudy, windy = bad conditions for humans, but great for birds! High water levels in Cumberland Pool gave us our highest count year yet at 72 species...
turkeyfeathrs
Circle Captain: Caroline Stafford
Circle Location: Rapid City, South Dakota (United States)
Feeders were busy, weather was cold and snowy, saw most of the usual winter feeder birds. I installed the birdbath heater today, we have had 2 record lows, in the past 2 days. Missed the sandhill cranes this year, I saw them Saturday afternoon...
Twitching Talons
Circle Captain: Derek Stoner
Circle Location: Hockessin, Delaware (United States)
A great 17 hours of birding effort today combined with ideal migration conditions helped to establish a new record for the Big Sit at the Ashland Hawk Watch. A dedicated team of “Twitching Talons†enthusiasts showed that there is much, much more than raptors to count at a hawk watch site...
Under the Bridge
Circle Captain: Ray Scory
Circle Location: Port Orange, Florida (United States)
When John Carr and Ray Scory do THE BIG SIT at the Dunlawton Bridge, it's more about seeing through the obstructions than to moving slowly and whispering quietly (Yikes, don' slam the car door) to find their avian quarry...
Utah Lakers
Circle Captain: Eric Huish
Circle Location: Provo, Utah (United States)
The Utah Lake Sit Circle was covered from 6:10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and again from 5:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. This was our 8th year participating on the big sit.  We didn't have the mudflats we've had in past years so our shorebird list was low but we got a higher than average duck list...
UUFC Youth
Circle Captain: Patricia Voelker
Circle Location: Columbia, South Carolina (United States)
Introductory event for children. Most were highly engaged in listening, watching, and identifying birds. Several then drew pictures of birds seen or heard. Only 3 were not actively engaged throughout...
Vansbest
Circle Captain: Kathleen Van Orsdel
Circle Location: Talbott, Tennessee (United States)
Surprised this year that I was missing some of our common visitors, but shouldn't be - the boys next door started shooting the birds with their BB guns this summer. I quit putting feed out - didn't want to bring in the birds so they could target practice! I was pleased with my low count anyway.
Waccamaw Audubon Soc
Circle Captain: Richard Moore
Circle Location: Murrells Inlet, South Carolina (United States)
We moved our location this year to get away from the traffic. While we were not afforded a direct view of the slat marsh, and may have missed several shorebirds because of this, we did have good views of freshwater and brackish marshes and mudflats as well as wooded areas that contributed to several new species for our Big Sit list: Roseate Spoonbills, Black-throated blue warbler, and American Avocets...
Waiting For Woodpecker
Circle Captain: Kathie Gifford
Circle Location: Linglestown, Pennsylvania (United States)
I'd been wondering how many species of birds have been frequenting my quarter acre of certified wildlife habitat this summer. The plants in the habitat have grown dramatically over the last few years and have created so much cover for the birds that I only breifly see them coming and going and I haven't taken out the binoculars to confirm their identities...
Walkwood Watchers
Circle Captain: Andy Gibb
Circle Location: Redditch, Other (United Kingdom)
A good thing I included four feet of dining room within the circle: drizzle lasted until mid-afternoon.
Warbler Woodland Watchers
Circle Captain: Paulette Scherr
Circle Location: Arrowwood NWR, North Dakota (United States)
Fairly quiet. No surprises, but many misses of common birds in the area.
Washtenaw Wingnuts
Circle Captain: Don Chalfant
Circle Location: Whitmore Lake, Michigan (United States)
Highlihgts: a literal chorus of owls calling simultaneously, at least five Great Horned and three Screech. Harmoniously!!!!!
Weslaco RedCrowns
Circle Captain: John Yochum
Circle Location: Weslaco, Texas (United States)
Big miss was Least Grebe, which are usually very plentiful! Semi-expected Fulvous Whistling-Ducks, Bobwhites, Greater Yellowlegs and Green Kingfisher didn't materialize, but best bird was certainly the Short-Tailed Hawk, whose details were submitted to the Texas Bird Record Committee by team member Mary Gustafson.
Wheeler NWR Wingers
Circle Captain: Dwight Cooley
Circle Location: Wheeler NWR, Alabama (United States)
Raw and damp during the morning, becoming pleasant in the afternoon. Moderate nocturnal migration before sunrise. Impressive Blue Jay and Northern Flicker migration throughout the day. The most memorable events were the intense bird activity before and two hours after sunrise; the 230 American White Pelicans in three flocks moving leisurely to the southeast; and, a dark ibis (probably Glossy) moving downstream followed two hours later by three adult White Ibis following the same path...
Whipple Bird Club
Circle Captain: Bill Thompson, Iii
Circle Location: Whipple, Ohio (United States)
A few surprises among the birds: saw-whet owl, osprey, indigo bunting, the warblers, the vireos. And a few surprisingly painful misses: kestrel, ruby-crowned kinglet, house sparrow, great blue heron, red-breasted nuthatch...
Wing Nuts
Circle Captain: Angie Holt
Circle Location: Norman, Oklahoma (United States)
The inaugural Wing Nuts Big Sit was a huge success! We managed to identify 47 species. Most numerous birds were Northern Rough-winged Swallows and Barn Swallows by the hundreds, and Franklin's Gulls by the thousands...
Wings Over Wastewater
Circle Captain: Ted Drozdowski
Circle Location: Arlington, Texas (United States)
The weather was damp and mostly unpleasant for the birders but great for the birds. We never expected anywhere near 95 species we finished up with, especially after all the rain over the last month. All the ponds were full and subsequently we had no mud near our circle...
