The Big Sit! Wrap-Up

The morning started before the "crack of dawn". I wanted to be on site for a 7 a.m. start. Laura needed the car for the day, so that meant she had to shuttle me up to Durand Eastman Park. It was early for her, but she willing to get up to help me out. When we arrived, not a sole was around as expected. We shuttled my gear to the spot, and I was birding.

The moon still had a few hours before it was to set. However, the morning sun was coming up to chase it away. Luckily there weren't too many cars and dogs to chase away my birds. I saw 85% of my birds before 10 a.m. The morning was cold, in the forties. I had on a knit cap, gloves, and multiple layers. I didn't sit much, trying to stay in as much sunshine as I could and keep moving. The morning was beautiful though.


You see a lot of strange people this early on a Sunday morning. One guy pulled up his white truck the parking area, pulled out his golf bag, and hit golf balls into the lake for a good fifteen minutes. What a loser. I enjoyed watching the birds on the lake in the morning though, before the armada of boats hit the water, I saw a large flock of cormorants diving for fish, and the gulls would surround them to get any scraps, it was exciting birding.


The sun started to hit my seventeen foot circle, and I was able to take off some layers. The people and dogs started to arrive as well, and the birds started to take cover. I think I saw more species of dog then I did birds. I couldn't find anyone I knew who had a scope I could borrow, so I resorted to using my telescope. I called it my "poor man's scope." A passerby asked me if it was a cannon. It had 15x magnification though, while my binoculars are only 7x. It did help bring in some birds on the lake and across the road for positive ID's. I'm glad I brought it along.


Another observation was the changing light. Photographers always talk about this, and if you have never sat in the same spot all day long, you don't fully understand this. When birds are backlit, you can't tell what it is very well. So certain trees weren't worth looking into at some times of days, while others were lit up with sun and fall colors and were great. Its all about angles I guess.


The afternoon brought out sailboats and visitors. Dom and Mary stopped by for a chat and a walk on the beach. A pack of my letterboxing friends showed up to offer their support, enjoy the weather, and collect the stamp I carved for the event. I also got a call from Connie wishing me good luck. It was great to have all these visitors, because there wasn't much bird activity. After this bunch left, Laura stopped by for the rest afternoon with me.


Laura sneaked in a nap in the chair, but this gave me long enough to get my last bird of the day, an Osprey. I watched it as it soared by with its fresh sunfish catch in its talons. Laura awoke and we together tried as we could for one more bird, but it wasn't to be. I finished the day with 21 species, a respectable number, but a few shy of what I had hoped. Where were the robins, cardinals, starlings....I didn't even get a house sparrow! None the less, I'm sure I got some species I wouldn't have got in my backyard. Special thanks to Laura for being a good sport about crazy ideas like this, and for being willing to help me out with them. I couldn't have done it with out you!

The Official List: (in order of sighting)
American Crow
Mallard
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Double Breasted Cormorant
Song Sparrow
Mute Swan
Red-winged Blackbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Black-capped Chicadee
Hairy Woodpecker
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Bonaparte Gull
Blue Jay
Red-tailed Hawk
Turkey Vulture
Osprey

The Big Sit! Official 2006 Results