Tern Ballet 1 — The Christie family wins Ken Quong's photo for Most Money Raised for Bird Conservation.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our Bird Day Challenge, and to everyone who generously donated prizes. Here are the prize winners…
Beginning Birder: Beth Morris, in Albuquerque, NM. Beth, with help from her friend Christianne Hinks, identified 48 species of birds and raised $1000 for conservation. She is the only contestant we know of who raised funds in Indian Rupees. Beth's prize is a framed Calliope Hummingbird photgraph by Tony Battiste (see photo below on left). Tony runs Battiste's Bed Breakfast and Birds in Hereford, AZ.
Group award: The Lemmonheads from Tucson Audubon! The Lemmonheads are Matt Brooks, Matt Griffiths, Aleck MacKinnin and Vivian MacKinnon. Their fossil-fuel-free Birdathon took place in the Catalina Mountains (including Mt. Lemmon) and adjacent desert areas near Tucson, Arizona. They had a very successful day (and dare we say it, the biggest fossil fuel-free Birdathon ever in Arizona!), with 116 species in 24 hours. They each cycled at least 30 miles—and Matt Griffiths rode 77. Their prize is a framed, limited-edition bird print by internationally-acclaimed artist Robert Bateman.
Youth birder prizes (18 & under): We have 2 winners: Ted Stiritz (14) from Arkansas and Neil Gilbert (15) from southern California. Each wins a copy of "Arctic Wings"
Most unusual bird: the winner is Chris Borg from Tallahassee, Florida. He describes his most notable bird—"a St. Marks Trans-Gulf rarity likely blown in via the day’s strong westerly winds. A stunning male Golden-winged Warbler! This beautiful warbler is declining throughout its range due largely to loss of breeding habitat, cowbird parasitism, and hybridization with the more common Blue-winged Warbler. It is truly incredible that a songbird, such as the tiny golden-winged, attempt such a huge flight of faith across the Gulf of Mexico." Chris wins the "thrair" of Ivory-billed Socks that Ken Madsen knit (photo upper left). Ken's socks have been presented to Prime MInisters, Premiers and conservation leaders in recognition of outstanding habitat preservation (and to Kirsten and Polly in recognition of being outstanding daughters).
Yard Day or Big Sit: Tony and Julie Battiste win the Yard Day competition. During their yard day 52 species visited their beautiful garden in Hereford, AZ - close to their record of 53. Their efforts raised about $300 for bird conservation! Their prize is one year's subscription to WildBird.
Most species seen: Dick Cannings, Francis Iredale, Ruth Joy and Tanya Luszcz counted 128 species on their bicycle birdathon in BC's Okanagan valley. (They also rode 117 km, just short of the 123 km ridden by Matt Griffiths of the Lemmonheads.) Their prize is a bird photograph by Malkolm Boothroyd taken during Bird Year (they can choose a bird photo from Malkolm's Bird List)
Most money raised for bird conservation: The Christie family from Orlando, Florida did a successful Bird Day Challenge, rowing around a lake near their home, identifying 13 species and raising $2,000 for bird conservation! They win the beautiful photo "Tern Ballet 1" (see upper right) by award-winning photographer Ken Quong. (Ken is a Yukon photographer who won best fauna photograph in the 2006 Canadian Geographic photo contest).
Most money raised for bird conservation in Canada: Helmut Grunberg not only traditionally raises at least $1000 for Yukon bird conservation during the Yukon Birdathon, this year he donated the same amount that he spent on gas during the year to a special conservation fund on behalf of Malkolm's Bird Year. Helmut wins a $200 Gift Certificate from Mountain Equipment Co-op.
Great Horned Owlet by Peter Mather — Family Birding Prize
Family birding category: the winners are Gina, Todd, Avia and Esmé Loewen/Babiak from Edmonton, Alberta. Gina writes"Avia had a great time running everywhere. She was well prepared, with extensive knowledge of the chickadee song and
an acute familiarity of the magpie. She did, however, mistake a gull for a stork....It was interesting birding with our girls. I was excited following a rare (as I imagined it) bird but it had to be abandoned in order to prevent Avia from falling into the ravine." Their prize is the Great Horned Owlet photo by well-known Yukon Photographer Peter Mather.
Best short description of a bird seen that could be migrating to the Arctic Refuge: In the pond at the Albuquerque Nature Center pond Christianne Hinks identified Northern Shovellers,Green Winged Teals, Gadwalls, American Wigeons Buffleheads and Canada Geese. These species are also found in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. She wins the qiviut hat shown in the left margin. Qiviut is the thick "wool" that insulates muskoxen from the bitter Arctic cold. Wendy, Ken and Malkolm collected the quviut on the Arctic Tundra.
Best use of car-pooling :"All Tuckered Out" - 6 birders from Tallahassee - carpooled on April 19 to count birds and raise money for Apalachee Audubon. Mike Tucker,
Elizabeth Platt (president of Apalachee Audubon), Fred Dietrich, Pam Flynn, Fran Rutkovsky, and Tracee Strohman each win a copy of the video "Being Caribou." All Tuckered Out travelled 140 miles in a 1987 VW van which gets 18 mpg.
They used 7.7 gallons of fuel, which is 1.28 gallons per birder-day and 14.4 birds per gallon.
Most innovative alternative transport: Ann Wiley from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida is an innovative cyclist, weaving and bobbing through her hometown streets with aplomb. She guided us in an unsuccessful journey in search of the elusive Smooth-billed Ani, so we have first-hand knowledge of her cycling style. Her prize is a Red-throated loon photo by Ken Madsen.
Best short description of an incident during your Bird Day Challenge: We have two winners in the short description category:both these enthusiastic writers live in British Columbia. Suzanne Crawford from Burnaby winsa signed copy of Bedside Book of Birds by author/birder Graeme Gibson. Chris McKenzie from Coquitlam wins The Journals of Susanna Moodie by Margaret Atwood/Charles Pachter.
Youngest birder: Kalia Graham (aged 2) from Whitehorse, Yukon joined her parents and 13 other friends at a Bird Year BDC in the Yukon. The group raised $173 for bird conservation. Her father Joseph won the day's "Most suspect/dubious bird day sighting" with his sighting of a California Condor. Kalia wins a copy of the Malkolm the Birder Boy DVD.
Oldest birder: Katy Madsen from Victoria, BC was born in 1921. She counted the birds that visited her "Birdy Buffet." Her prize is a Bluethroat photo by her grandson, Malkolm Boothroyd.
