2023 Winter Bird Challenge Results!

Written By Golden Eagle Audubon Society

2023 Winter Bird Challenge

A record number of people participated in the 2023 Winter Bird Challenge. Some people were just getting started birding while others were very experienced. Participants had special motivation to bird through wintery January and they had good company. More than one participant saw one or more birds they had never seen before.

Read more about the Challenge experience in the new Rewarding Winter Bird Challenge blog.

Thank You!

A huge thanks to the Winter Bird Challenge Coordinator, Louisa Evers. Louisa provided essential organizing, support and results tracking and she led all the field trips. Thanks also to D&B Supply for donating a gift card for an award. Thanks to each participant for donating to Golden Eagle Audubon Society. More than $1,000 was raised.

Kent Kleman, Cherylyn Murphy, Dondi Black. Photos by Shannan Brimmer

The Winners Are…

Thirty-one people participated in the Winter Bird Challenge, and we think each one is a winner. Way to go! Each participant was required to keep a bird list on eBird and share it with Louisa. Louisa was able to determine the overall number of species seen or heard, the number of photos taken and recordings made.

Kent Kleman finished January with the biggest bird list in three categories, General, Photography and Audio. He saw 130 bird species, took photos of 120 bird species and recorded 38 bird species. It was a pleasure having Kent on field trips, at our Zoom social hours and at the Awards Party. Jim James was 2nd in the General category and Dondi Black was 3rd. Glen Hush was 2nd in the Photography category with 84 photos and is the winner of a gift card because no one received more than one prize. Erika Hush was 3rd.

Dondi Black out-birded seven other participants in the Backyard Birder category seeing 28 species. Jim Lyons was 2nd and Daniel Salemi was third.

Cherylyn Murphy took first in the Weekend Warrior category (total of any 10 days in January) with a whopping 99 birds. Shannan Brimmer was a close 2nd with 91 birds and Jeff Black was 3rd.

Congratulations to our winners and to everyone who participated. We look forward to seeing you again in 2024.

General

Backyard Birder

Weekend Warrior (10 days total)

 

Photography Results

 

Audio Results

 
“....while it is hard to compete with the seasons of migration for sheer diversity and excitement, winter birding has a charm of its own, and, I would wager, may be the season many of us value the most. Perhaps not for what birds the winter brings, but for what birding brings to winter.”
— Brodie Cass Talbott
 
Golden Eagle Audubon Society https://www.goldeneagleaudubon.org
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