Check out team reports submitted by the captains of Big Sit! circles around the world.
Acer saccharum
Circle Captain: John Triana
Circle Location: Prospect, Connecticut (United States)
Had two birds on Sit! day that I usually do not get in my backyard - 4 House Finches were on a feeder when I started in the morning. Also had Red-breasted Nuthatch on two occaisions during the day. Big miss was with the hawks - didn't see a single one all day...
Allegheny Front Accipiters
Circle Captain: Alex Lamoreaux
Circle Location: Central City, Pennsylvania (United States)
Slow raptor flight, but nice variety. Disapointing number of warbler species. Nice surprises like Ruffed Grouse. Captured and banded 23 Northern Saw-whet Owls.
Alligator River NWR
Circle Captain: Cindy Heffley
Circle Location: East Lake, North Carolina (United States)
Once again we had many visitors stop by to ask what we were doing and if we had seen any Black Bears. Just one bear was spotted during the day.
Ankeny NWR
Circle Captain: Lowell Spring
Circle Location: Jefferson, Oregon (United States)
For 8 of the 9 hour sit, an adult Peregrine was perched on a snag near viewing circle. It was joined briefly by an immature Peregrine. Enormus numbers of Canada and Cackling Geese in the afternoon. Single Snow Goose mixed in with Canadas.
ar-bird-retums
Circle Captain: Jay Adams
Circle Location: Augusta, Maine (United States)
This was our first time doing the big sit, both as a location (Viles Arboretum) and as individuals. The date is late in this part of Maine for much variety but most of the birds one might have expected showed up...
Aransas NWR whoopers
Circle Captain: Barbara Bruns
Circle Location: Aransas NWR, Austwel, Texas (United States)
This was our 4th year to participate in the Big Sit at the Refuge. Ended with the best tally yet of 52 species. Thanks go to the early a.m. team for getting 42 species & those who squeezed out the remaining 10 til after sunset...
B.W. Surf Scopers
Circle Captain: Frank Gallo
Circle Location: Milford, Connecticut (United States)
10-11-2010: 04:45-7:25 PM (Pat & Jim Dugan, Frank Gallo, Tina Green, Frank Mantlik all day, with food visits by Wendy Knothe, Vanessa Mickan, Sara Zagorski, and support from Lori Stopka. 107 sp. 2010 - Sunrise 7am; set 6:19pm...
Bald Eagle SP Storm Birds
Circle Captain: Diane Bierly
Circle Location: Bald Eagle State Par, Pennsylvania (United States)
This is the fourth year we have done the Big Sit at Bald Eagle State Park and we set a new high of record species. We added eight new species were not seen or heard in the previous three years: green-winged teal, common loon, green heron, merlin, greater yellowlegs, spotted sandpiper, Bonaparte’s gull, barred owl, and white-throated sparrow...
Baton Rouge Birders
Circle Captain: Jane Patterson
Circle Location: near Baton Rouge, Louisiana (United States)
Big Sit 2010 conducted at new observation platform in the middle of the impoundments at Sherburne Wildlife Mgt Area South Farm near Ramah/Maringuoin (just north of I-10 on the east levee of the Atchafalaya basin)...
Bear River Birding Brigade
Circle Captain: Jason St Sauver
Circle Location: Brigham City, Utah (United States)
didn't realize we didn't need to count each bird - so we have individual species totals, too - but good info. for the Refuge. Was great fun as part of National Wildlife Refuge Week. Got to see Kestrel having lunch, migrating cranes and Harrier fight.
Bill & Claudia in Cerro Azul
Circle Captain: William Ahrens
Circle Location: Los Altos del Cerro, Other (Panama)
Birding on Broadmeade
Circle Captain: Mikael Behrens
Circle Location: Austin, Texas (United States)
Our most interesting bird observations were White-faced Ibis and Brown Thrasher. We also watched an adult Cooper's Hawk take down a White-winged Dove, but the dove hid in a nearby bush and eventually escaped! Non-bird observations included a Blotched Water Snake and many White-tailed Deer...
BIRDRANGER
Circle Captain: Brian Bockhahn
Circle Location: Wake Forest, North Carolina (United States)
Good numbers of thrush night calls pre dawn 15 Veery 50 Swainsons Thrush 4 Gray-cheeked Thrush 1 Hermit Thrush 2 Wood Thrush 13 species new to cumulative big sit list now totaling 114. No major misses...
Black Bayou Birders
Circle Captain: Joan Brown
Circle Location: Monroe, Louisiana (United States)
The weather was good for the count: cool in the morning to hot during the day, cooling down again in the late afternoon. There was a light westerly wind. Many of the birds observed were actively feeding on Virginia Creeper and Pepper Vine berries.
Cardinals
Circle Captain: Larry Bausher
Circle Location: New Haven, Connecticut (United States)
This was my seventh BIG SIT dating back to 2001, and 30 species was an all time record for this circle. First time birds: Dark-eyed Junco, Hermit Thrush, Ruby-crowned Kinglet Other notables: Common Raven, Swamp Sparrow, Wood Duck
CCES
Circle Captain: Natalie Dorrler
Circle Location: Mequon, Wisconsin (United States)
Fairly slow during this time. I haven't had other results submitted to me up to this point, so I may have been the only observer within the 24-hr period... 🙁
Chambers Lake Early Birders
Circle Captain: Larry Lewis
Circle Location: Coatesville, Pennsylvania (United States)
Clapphill Rails
Circle Captain: James P. Smith
Circle Location: Gill, Massachusetts (United States)
First bird noted at 0615hrs with White-throated Sparrow. From there several 'pulses' of activity at dawn, and then again just after sunrise. Some migration noted with Yellow-rumped, Palm and Blackpoll Warblers moving and later, Sharp-shinned Hawks (22)...
Coastal VA Wildlife Observatory
Circle Captain: Brian Taber
Circle Location: Northampton County, Virginia (United States)
88 species was a record high for the CVWO count, and included 6 new species for the cumulative count list of 153 species since 1999: Northen Gannet, American Bittern, Ruddy Duck, Pileated Woodpecker, White-eyed Vireo, and Blue Grosbeak...
Cold Springs NWR
Circle Captain: June Whitten
Circle Location: Hermiston, Oregon (United States)
The Ruff was observed on October 9, 10, and ll, the first ever in Umatilla County, Oregon!
Crumby's Scanners
Circle Captain: Ethan Gyllenhaal
Circle Location: Zion, Illinois (United States)
Not a big hawk day, but lots of sparrows and a few ducks. The best bird was a LeConte's Sparrow, which was only heard in the circle, but seen a few feet outside of it.
Dead Wood Birders
Circle Captain: Joe Sebastiani
Circle Location: Avondale, Pennsylvania (United States)
25 total. Joe Sebastiani and William Ryan Captains
DeSoto's Gooseless Wonders
Circle Captain: Jim Hartman
Circle Location: Missouri Valley, Iowa (United States)
DFO Insaniacs
Circle Captain: Joey Kellner
Circle Location: Littleton, Colorado (United States)
24 people braved the weather (again...5 years in a row of bad weather out of 8 years of running The Big Sit! at this location)!
Eagle Eyes Squaw Creek NWR
Circle Captain: James Voltz
Circle Location: Mound City, Missouri (United States)
8 MEAS MEMBERS MANNED THE CIRCLE AT VARIOUS TIMES DURING THE DAY....(THANKS A HEAP TO BRENT G. FOR SHOWING UP BEFORE DAYLIGHT)....17 VISITORS STOPPED BY THE OBSERVATION POST. The 36 species observed missed last year's count by 1 (37), and it was a big difference from the highest count of 61 species in 2006...
Fallon Feathers
Circle Captain: Susan Sawyer
Circle Location: Fallon, Nevada (United States)
LOTS of blackbirds in huge flocks coming in from hayfields; as day warmed, weed-control goat herd moved closer, which brought the swallows in hordes diving after the insects the goats kicked up; very entertaining to watch!
FBMP Migrants
Circle Captain: Noel Cutright
Circle Location: Town of Belgium, Wisconsin (United States)
Highlight was a Short-eared Owl that appeared at 6:35. Total of 50 species is excellent for this location at this time of year. We observed 22 species that we didn't see on the 2009 Big Sit and "missed" 12 species sighted last year.
Finley NWR Flyers
Circle Captain: Molly Monroe
Circle Location: Corvallis, Oregon (United States)
A soggy morning kept regular sitters away but we had an awning of just the right size to cover our circle. Clearing in the afternoon brought a few friends out to help round out the list. Highlights were an entertaining Red-shouldered hawk (very vocal throughout the day and flew out a few times to harass a bald eagle and chase a raven), and great looks at a merlin and cooper's hawk flying right over us...
Four Oaks
Circle Captain: Jean Driggers
Circle Location: Jackson, Georgia (United States)
Frog Waller
Circle Captain: Donna Finnegan
Circle Location: Spotsylvania County, Virginia (United States)
Missing bluebirds, mourning doves, geese and ducks that we would have expected. Flock of Robins is unusual and the RB Nuthatches are a treat.
Gilsland Gulls
Circle Captain: Turk Duddy
Circle Location: Falmouth, Maine (United States)
Eric started things off before 5:00 am with a rail that flushed when he arrived at the site. Unfortunately, he didn't get a good enough look at it to determine which one it was, unidentified species are not counted...
GMAS ACE BIRDERS
Circle Captain: Gary Cowell Jr.
Circle Location: Wooster, Ohio (United States)
Also noted 14 spcs. of butterflies during the sit.
Great Salt Plains
Circle Captain: Ron Shepperd
Circle Location: Jet, Oklahoma (United States)
Greenies
Circle Captain: Valerie Barnes
Circle Location: Fayetteville, Pennsylvania (United States)
Grosbreasted Rosebeaks
Circle Captain: Paul Fank
Circle Location: Dassel, Minnesota (United States)
With the weather being very nice, this made it nice to be outside in the Tower to observe the birds. Besides the ususal birds that we have in our yard, there were lots of gulls flying, a few migrants passing through, not as many as we have had in the past and the Hawks were flying high...
Gulls Galore
Circle Captain: June Whitten
Circle Location: Umatilla, Oregon (United States)
22 Wilcon's Snipe rested on a grassy/rocky outcropping for a half hour before moving on.
Hawk Sitters
Circle Captain: David Rankin
Circle Location: Montclair, New Jersey (United States)
Highlight being a late Philadelphia Vireo. Good hawk flight with all expected hawk seen. Hundreds of warblers in before 9am, mostly yellow-rumps, flew by mostly without stopping, heading inland (west)...
Horseshoe Bend
Circle Captain: Z Duenzl
Circle Location: Horseshoe Bend, Weat, Texas (United States)
Of course...there were way fewer birds than even yesterday!! But did see the Great Crested Flycatcher take a bath! Had never seen that before. And the Lark Sparrows were nice to see.
Junco in the trunco
Circle Captain: Matt Nichols
Circle Location: Winchester, Virginia (United States)
Not a bad day for our backyard. We got 25 of the total of 33 birds seen on our yard list for the last 3 years. A few birds slipped by unidentified. I vow to get more warblers next year. A couple got away as well as a Hawk, probably Cooper's and a oriole or evening grosbeak sort of bird flying overhead...
Juniata Juncos
Circle Captain: Chad Kauffman
Circle Location: Mifflintown, Pennsylvania (United States)
the feeders were busy and the highlight was a group of eastern screech owls at night and morning and a flyby hummingbird species that was a passerby and didn't show up again at the feeders. Another great time of food, friends and birding.
Katy Prairie 1
Circle Captain: Bob Honig
Circle Location: Waller County, Texas (United States)
Keen Eye Birders
Circle Captain: Toby Burke
Circle Location: Kenai NWR, Alaska (United States)
One lone moose across the lake. Spruce Grouse, Northern Goshawk, Great Horned Owl, and Red-breasted Nuthatch seen nearby but not from the count circle, alas. Expected to tally 30 species but weather was abnormally sunny, windless, and warm...
Kentish Plovers
Circle Captain: Walter Ellison
Circle Location: Rock Hall, Maryland (United States)
Best sightings: Red-thr. Loon flew by leading a flock of Canada Geese (oddly enough). It was in juvenile plumage with gray shawl across side of neck and base of throat and white chin, feet barely projecting behind, gray upperparts, and rapid wingbeat...
Kings River Raptors
Circle Captain: Ellen Davies
Circle Location: Reedley, California (United States)
I was pleased to hear the Great Horned Owl on my first try. We heared one at dawn and dusk too. The Sharp-shinned Hawk was my suprize raptor for the day. I saw an Osprey and a White-tailed Kite on Friday and Thursday...
Las Vegas National Wildlife Refuge
Circle Captain: Ranger Chris Leeser
Circle Location: Las Vegas NWR, New Mexico (United States)
High water in Melton Pond resulted in few wading species. Sparrows had already begun migration south and were not abundant or sighted from circle. Northern Harrier put on quite a show in the afternoon, returning twice to "harry" the pond.
Lenoir Lunatics
Circle Captain: Michael Bochnik
Circle Location: Yonkers, New York (United States)
Great beutiful day. We had the second most species we've seen in ten years. Somehow we missed Double-crested Cormorant - it's always some common bird that you miss! Large numbers of Canada Geese, Blue Jays and American Robins were seen migrating in the early morning...
Litchfield Hills Audubon, CT
Circle Captain: David Tripp Jr.
Circle Location: Litchfield, Connecticut (United States)
Little Orange Team
Circle Captain: Kelly Buehler
Circle Location: Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
It was white-breasted nuthatch day here. Although we went out front and suggested to our mourning dove that it should get to the back yard, it did not comply. A day earlier and we would have had a winter wren and an Eastern phoebe.
Loony Tuners
Circle Captain: Jim Flynn
Circle Location: Oak Harbor, Washington (United States)
Hearing passerines was tough due to the surf noise. Some speceis in good numbers include Heerman's Gulls (~500) and Double-crested Cormorant. Dabblers were scarcer than normal.
Lower Columbia Birders
Circle Captain: Mike Patterson
Circle Location: Seaside, Oregon (United States)
Disappointing passerine number; poor visibility early in the morning during seawatches
Maricopa Audubon's Katheryn F. Anderson Granite Reef Asterisk's Big Sit!
Circle Captain: Herbert Fibel
Circle Location: Mesa, Arizona (United States)
We performed our usual circle-creating ritual, but this year we used organic unbleached flour to highlight the circle. Our first birds of the day were Western Screech Owl and Great Horned Owl. The baklava tradition ended and the Bosa Donut tradition started with this, our 15 th Big Sit! at this location...
Marlboro Flaming County Seaters
Circle Captain: Fred Shaffer
Circle Location: Upper Marlboro, Maryland (United States)
The weather was perfect, with clear skies and low humidity. It became breezy in the afternoon. Large numbers of flyover raptors including 10 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks, 5 Red-shouldered Hawks, 1 Red-tailed Hawk, 5 Bald Eagles, 2 Kestrels, and 1 Merlin...
MECKBIRDERS
Circle Captain: David Lovett
Circle Location: huntersville, North Carolina (United States)
Good raptor fow but winds no good for fall migrants and too early/ warm for winter arrivals. Tied all time high but believe 70 species may be possible. Had Excellant turnout AND PARTICIPATION.
Memorial Park Lawn Chair Birders
Circle Captain: Steve Garr
Circle Location: Jefferson City, Missouri (United States)
We counted 31 different species and we got 28 of those by 10:00 am. We still saw many birds most of the day, however no new species after 12:40 pm. Best Sighting was an Eastern Towhee, Brown Creeper, and White-throated sparrow all showing up at the same time to the "Bubbler" feature of the park's Wild Bird Garden!
Metro Munchers
Circle Captain: Tom Heatley
Circle Location: Harrison Township, Michigan (United States)
We added one new species for the circle since we started participating in the Big Sit! which was a Red-eyed Vireo. That brings the overall total to 131 since 1996.
Middle River Merlins
Circle Captain: Russ Titus
Circle Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida (United States)
A few nocturnal migrants, fair hawk flight after 930 but few other species involved (1 Barn Swallow, no Wood Storks). Afternoon was very slow.
Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary
Circle Captain: Jim Dolan
Circle Location: Canfield, Ohio (United States)
We had 17 participants joining us this year. It was a beautiful day. We also ate well.
Monte Mucho Audubon Society
Circle Captain: Susan Foster
Circle Location: Laredo, Texas (United States)
Best show was watching an Osprey eating a fish sitting atop a phone pole.
Mosquito Fodder
Circle Captain: Chris Barrigar
Circle Location: Dorena, Missouri (United States)
Sunday's Big Sit results were a bit less than stellar, but we had a great time in good company with each other. Temperatures climbed quickly and maxed out at around 90 degrees here in the southeast...
No Bull-sittas
Circle Captain: Tom Reed
Circle Location: Cape May Point, New Jersey (United States)
Decent nocturnal flight, highlighted by Nelson's Sparrow, Veery and Blue Grosbeak. Excellent movement of birds during first half of morning, with some huge dry spells during the afternoon. Total of 139 the second highest ever recorded at site...
North Beach nuthatches
Circle Captain: Lisa Garrett
Circle Location: North Beach, Maryland (United States)
We saw lots of migrating hawks and bald eagles, ABOUT 30 in just about 2 hours in our backyard. After we cleared some branches and brush we saw that many other birds were winging by. If we had filled the feeders our count for yard birds would have been much higher...
Notason
Circle Captain: Marcel Gauthier
Circle Location: Saint-Jean-sur-Riche, Quebec (Canada)
Eastern-Screech Owl was called at 21h00... answer after 2 minutes!
NOTSLAR PTB
Circle Captain: Norwood Frederick
Circle Location: Ralston, Pennsylvania (United States)
Immature BE, first of year Goshawk.
Orchard Orioles
Circle Captain: Pam Hunt
Circle Location: Concord, New Hampshire (United States)
Lots of Canada Geese moving today (500+). Most common songbirds were Yellow-rumped Warbler and American Robin. <40 hawks seen for hawk watch component. Field and White-crowned Sparrows seen in brushy area ~100 yards away, but not on big-sit proper.
Oxford Natural History Club
Circle Captain: Nick Lund
Circle Location: Oxford, Mississippi (United States)
Patuxent Migratory Robbins
Circle Captain: Chandler Robbins
Circle Location: Laurel, Maryland (United States)
Patuxent Research Refuge Vicious Chickadees
Circle Captain: Paul Baicich
Circle Location: Laurel, Maryland (United States)
We had a few more species than last year. Nice comparative looks at Accipiters: Coopers and Sharpies. Surprising misses: Carolina Wren, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle.
Pea Island NWR
Circle Captain: Jeff Lewis
Circle Location: Pea Island NWR, North Carolina (United States)
Nice flight of accipiters (approx 50) also 3 - 4 Peregrines and 2 or 3 Merlin; also several Osprey moving south; fairly good movement of passerine moving south in a.m. and then northward in p.m., with some overlap...
PeregriNATION
Circle Captain: Forrest Rowland
Circle Location: Cape Henlopen State , Delaware (United States)
108 species - a new record for Delaware and the State Park! Few raptors were moving, but, as always, many species were represented during the course of the day. Waterfowl diversity was lower than past years, but had all three species of Scoter and several dabbler species, including a first for the Cape Henlopen Circle - Mallard...
Petrels In Panama
Circle Captain: Leslie Lieurance
Circle Location: Los Altos de Cerro A, Other (Panama)
Video at: http://birdpanama.blogspot.com/2010/10/sit-sightings.html It turned out to be a pretty good day to stay home and watch the activity in the yard. We had a strong start (Canada Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler and Bay-breasted Warbler!), slowed during the morning, and languished throughout the afternoon...
Pickens Picidae
Circle Captain: Scott Stegenga
Circle Location: Pickens, South Carolina (United States)
Counted 30 species by 9:15am; only 4 more added in the afternoon after a break for church.
Pondicherry NWR Marsh Hawks
Circle Captain: David Govatski
Circle Location: Pondicherry NWR, New Hampshire (United States)
Quail Creek
Circle Captain: Darlene Hoar
Circle Location: Oxford, Mississippi (United States)
Also observed in the past couple days, but not during the Big Sit: mourning doves, parulas, black-throated green warblers, brown thrasher, rose-breasted grosbeak
QVAS Bird Buddies
Circle Captain: Eric Eichorn
Circle Location: Meriden, Connecticut (United States)
Pied billed Grebes for the first time. We watched plenty of fish being caught by Eagles, Osprey, Cormorants, Great Blue Heron and Belted Kingfisher
RCBNC
Circle Captain: Barbara Duerksen
Circle Location: Lone Rock, Wisconsin (United States)
duck hunters on sloughs to east, coming and going at boat landing
Regal Eagle Seagulls
Circle Captain: Don Gorney
Circle Location: Indianapolis, Indiana (United States)
A beautiful fall day brought out dozens of birders at Eagle Creek Park's Ornithology Center. The group was hoping to surpass the 56 species seen during the inaugural Big Sit in 2009. Despite a great effort, we fell a few species short...
Resting Birders
Circle Captain: Randy Hill
Circle Location: Ridgefield, Washington (United States)
Large flocks of Cackling Geese, a few white-fronts and Sandhill Cranes, and numerous scattered ducks enjoyed the dining at Rest Lake. Seven species of shorebirds and as many species of raptors to keep them on the move, including three different peregrines...
Rio Salado Sitters
Circle Captain: Thomas Gaskill
Circle Location: Phoenix, Arizona (United States)
Thomas Gaskill: "The number and variety of birds was way down this year. The low water in both the channel and ADOT Wash was probably partly responsible. It was, though, a very good morning for birds of prey...
Riverbend
Circle Captain: John Callow
Circle Location: Great Falls, Virginia (United States)
Beautiful day! Lots of visitors stopped by to ask questions. This was our highest count for the Big Sit.
Rydell National Wildlife Refuge
Circle Captain: Juancarlos Giese
Circle Location: Erskine, Minnesota (United States)
San Saba Bird & Nature Club
Circle Captain: Jimma Byrd
Circle Location: San Saba, Texas (United States)
The Red-tailed Hawk going into a stoop from about 60 ft up to settle on a snag in huge pecan tree was a highlight. Kettle of 50 Turkey vultures rising up into the air in late afternoon was nice. Hungry little Lincoln's Sparrow feeding on bristle grass in the morning was also lovely.
Santee National Wildlife Refuge
Circle Captain: Susan Heisey
Circle Location: Summerton, South Carolina (United States)
Seminole Sitters
Circle Captain: Faith Jones
Circle Location: Sanford, Florida (United States)
Our "best" bird might have been the short-tails hawk (dark morph) who sat in the top of a tree long enough for all present to get a good look at him (or her). Of course, the northern rough-winged swallows were pretty cooperative also...
Seney Sitters
Circle Captain: Sara Hollerich
Circle Location: Seney, Michigan (United States)
Most of our migration of warblers had already passed, there just wasn't a lot of bird action out there. September 10th would have been a lot better for us at this latitude than October 10th.
Sevilleta NWR
Circle Captain: Dennis Prichard
Circle Location: San Acacia, New Mexico (United States)
An osprey was surprising. Also surprising was common species that did not show up.
SF feeder complex
Circle Captain: Mick Zerr
Circle Location: Sioux Falls, South Dakota (United States)
Shadow Mountain Sharp-shins
Circle Captain: Corey Husic
Circle Location: Kunkletown, Pennsylvania (United States)
What a great day! Pre-dawn birding was slow, but we managed to get a few flight calls and three owl species. After the sun came up, lots of birds were flying over, including American Robins, Blue Jays, and Purple Finches...
Shavers Creek
Circle Captain: Joshua Potter
Circle Location: Petersburg, Pennsylvania (United States)
Silver Sands Sitters
Circle Captain: Stacy Hanks
Circle Location: Milford, Connecticut (United States)
Beautiful Day with a chilly start. Turning windy in the afternoon, making it impossible to hear bird calls in the distance. Had a great time with good friends!
Silvio O. Conte, Nulhegen Basin
Circle Captain: Thomas Berriman
Circle Location: Brunswick, Vermont (United States)
Great weather though a little chilly at 6:30 a.m. (26) to start the day but warmed upicly by 10:00 a.m. to a high of 58 degrees. Very little wind for morning hours but slight breeze began in early afternoon...
Sonatina
Circle Captain: Caroline Eastman
Circle Location: Old Bennington, Vermont (United States)
South Meadowlarks
Circle Captain: Neil Zimmerman
Circle Location: Seattle, Washington (United States)
Heavy rain in the morning put a damper on the birding but not our spirits. As the rain let up, the woodland birds started showing themselves. A Pileated Woodpecker flew by a couple of times and Evening Grosbeaks called from the tree tops...
St. Marks Spotters/ St. Marks NWR
Circle Captain: Robin Will
Circle Location: St. Marks Lighthouse, Florida (United States)
We observed from low tide to high tide, and saw many shorebirds. A Peregrine Falcon swooped in and scared off the shorebird flock temporarily, but didn't catch anyone that we could see. A Reddish Egret was dancing in the salt marsh in the fog...
Swan Sitters
Circle Captain: Doris Fitchett
Circle Location: Sumner, Missouri (United States)
Huge numbers of Swallows and Blackbirds. High water in the lake. No Pelicans, Cormorants, Greater White-fronted Geese, or Franklin's Gulls this year. Watched Bald Eagles trying to get Carp that were to large to carry off...
Team Balcones
Circle Captain: Laurie Foss
Circle Location: Liberty Hill, Texas (United States)
We were surprised by the number of visitors to the Refuge. We counted around 35 people came to hike the trails.
The Chris Ellison All-Stars
Circle Captain: Joshua Rose
Circle Location: Plum Island, Massachusetts (United States)
When we first arrived there were numerous flocks of Canada Geese and Double-crested Cormorants cruising overhead; I soon abandoned my hopes of keeping track of bird numbers as well as species. There were also many flocks of birds over the ocean, mostly White-winged Scoter but also several of Brant among other species...
The Dean Clan
Circle Captain: Patricia Dean
Circle Location: Prospect, Ohio (United States)
This was a fantastic day! The Circle has a new record, 31 species. Two species were new to yard list: magnolia warbler and pileated woodpecker.
The Lakers
Circle Captain: Carolyn Fischer
Circle Location: Clear Lake, Iowa (United States)
very quiet day. A interesting note. Last year it was 23 degrees very windy. This year too warm! temp of 77!
The Mangrove Cuckoos
Circle Captain: Karen Hillier
Circle Location: Big Pine Key, Florida (United States)
Clear skies & lots of bird activity. Strong winds died down 2 days before the sit & many migrants not seen on day of sit.
The open sky
Circle Captain: Matthew Mills
Circle Location: Dundas, Ontario (Canada)
Some passerine migration overhead - a few Purple Finches, Pipits, a Horned Lark, some Red-winged Blackbirds. Late in the day a few Kettles of Vultures came into the valley and milled around before going to roost (about 40 birds)...
The Oxbow Meadowlarks
Circle Captain: John Mcmahan
Circle Location: Columbus, Georgia (United States)
Almost all the species expected were seen, except notable absences were Anhinga ('their' pond separated from the Sit circle by trees); Blue-gray Gnatcatcher were curiously absent; Eastern Towhee was missed(I figured the locals had already left for points south before being replaced by their northern counterparts)...
The Recurvebills
Circle Captain: Nickilas Paulson
Circle Location: Upton, Massachusetts (United States)
Good hawk movements in the middle of the day. Great morning, most birds seen early save for hawks. The afternoon was quiet and no new birds after 3pm. We were birding from my porch before, during and after my grandfathers 97th birthday...
The Riverbend Redstarts
Circle Captain: Dwayne Martin
Circle Location: Conover, North Carolina (United States)
Best bird was Merlin. Big misses for us was Pine Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Canada Goose, and Double-crested Cormorant.
The Woodbinoculars
Circle Captain: Rick Sussman
Circle Location: Woodbine, Maryland (United States)
Besides the birds we saw many late migrating Monarchs , a very large Wheel Bug, and a new (for us) species of biting fly (like a deer fly, sort of).
TREES
Circle Captain: Douglas Wood
Circle Location: Tishomingo, Oklahoma (United States)
Slow year, very warm, few waterfowl and shorebirds moving through.
Trinity River Refuge
Circle Captain: Stuart Marcus
Circle Location: Dayton, Texas (United States)
Champion Lake was very low leaving many mudflats usually not seen. We had 14 new birds never seen in the third year of this count.
Under the Bridgers
Circle Captain: Ray Scory
Circle Location: Port Orange, Florida (United States)
Observed a Northern Harrier flying north very low over the Halifax River followed close behind by a lone Roseate Spoonbill. Observed over 1500 White Ibis and over 2000 Laughing Gulls occupying the oyster bars and spoil islands especially during the early morning low tide.
Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge Winona District Big River Big Sit
Circle Captain: Edward Lagace
Circle Location: Winona, Minnesota (United States)
There were many many yellow rump and Robins over all it was a quiet observation day no real odd sightings.
Utah Lakers
Circle Captain: Eric Huish
Circle Location: Provo, Utah (United States)
The Utah Lake Provo Airport Dike Sit Circle was covered from 6:00 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. This was our 9th year participating on the big sit. Best birds were a Peregrine Falcon in the morning and a Barn Owl, our last bird of the day, at 7:30 pm...
uvaldecooks birds
Circle Captain: Bob Rasa
Circle Location: Uvalde, Texas (United States)
BIG SIT…UVALDE, TX COOK’S SLOUGH Bob Rasa, Uvalde 10/10/10 I set up camp at the wetlands pavilion on Saturday 10/9/10 at 3:48. Lots of butterflies to photo…simply a beautiful day…88 Monarchs recorded flying by…...
uwharries
Circle Captain: Ruth Ann Grissom
Circle Location: asheboro, North Carolina (United States)
Vansbest
Circle Captain: Kathleen Van Orsdel
Circle Location: Talbott, Tennessee (United States)
Disappointed in those birds I didn't see. Expected a larger count.
Warbler Woodland Watchers
Circle Captain: Paulette Scherr
Circle Location: Arrowwood NWR, North Dakota (United States)
Weather perfect for watchers, too nice for birds. Very little bird activity, no birds migrating or just moving around. New species this year were sanderlings, cedar waxwings and sharp-tailed grouse.
Washtenaw Wingnuts
Circle Captain: Don Chalfant
Circle Location: Whitmore Lake, Michigan (United States)
Weslaco RedCrowns
Circle Captain: Huck Hutchens
Circle Location: Weslaco, Texas (United States)
Big misses: Ani, no grebes, BlueGray Gnatcatcher, RedTailed & Broad-winged Hawks, Osprey, Wood Stork, White Ibis, Green Kingfisher, Coot, Red-crowned Parrot (our namesake!), House Wren, Lark Sparrow, Clay-colored Thrush, Painted Bunting, NO OWLS!
WestJack's Birdspot
Circle Captain: Lorna West
Circle Location: Opelika, Alabama (United States)
We enjoyed this is the first Big Sit! from Opelika, Alabama. Beautiful weather but a bit warm in the afternoon.
Wheeler NWR Wingers
Circle Captain: Dwight Cooley
Circle Location: Wheeler NWR, Alabama (United States)
A beautiful, sunny day, though quite warm in the afternoon. Limited nocturnal migration. The most memorable events were the intense bird activity before and two hours after sunrise and an immature Cooper's Hawk exploding from the tree line and nailing a Swamp Sparrow in a small clump of saplings within 20 feet of the circle...
wildbunch
Circle Captain: Jane Watson
Circle Location: maple shade, New Jersey (United States)
At least 10 goldfinches at one time, both male and female. Male and female cardinals. Male and female red bellied woodpeckers. At least 10 sparrows on the fence and in the rose hedge with the hawk present and pursueing them into the hedge...
Wing Nuts
Circle Captain: Angie Holt
Circle Location: Norman, Oklahoma (United States)
The numbers: 17 hours, 22 people, 2 dogs, and 59 species of birds. 1st bird of the day was a Great Horned Owl and the last bird, a Merlin. Highlights included a kettle of Swainson's Hawks, Turkey Vultures, and 2 Black Vultures (rare for Cleveland County); a flyover by a flock of 9 Wood Ducks; the single Black-throated Green Warbler who brought great satisfaction to the listers amongst us due to its rarity this far west; and the truly wonderful camaraderie...
Wings Over Wastewater
Circle Captain: Ted Drozdowski
Circle Location: Arlington, Texas (United States)
Going into this year’s big sit, we didn’t have high aspirations after Tropical Storm Hermine came through last month and filled up the drying beds with water and sent all the shorebirds south...
WordBirds
Circle Captain: Amy Peck
Circle Location: West Haven, Connecticut (United States)
Most of the usual suspects were absent: no common backyard/feeder birds such as Northern cardinal, Tufted titmouse, Downy or Hairy Woodpecker, House finch, etc. They all showed up bright and early the day after...
