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Weather: Mostley Sunny,Cool 6:00 a.m.low to 11:00 a.m.high, calm - a.m. then light breeze during the afternoon, no precipitation

Location: Dossin Beach on Hanover Pond, Meriden CT

Time At Location: Eric-15hrs, Cathy-14 1/4hrs, Loretta 7 1/4hrs, Melissa 6hrs, Jim 3hrs, Joe 30min. Start-4:45a.m. Finish-7:45p.m.

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. Spotted Sandpiper only a few feet away. Perfect look.

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First time - "Big Sitter" it was awesome and will do it again. Four moons of Jupiter early evening. Thanks to a great team!

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Weather: cool 40'2 cloudy

Location: Huston Brumbaugh Nature Center, Minerva, OH

Time At Location: 515 am until 830 pm

Big surprise was northern Harrier Large number of bluebirds

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Weather: Cold and windy most of the day. 39-56 degrees

Location: Mill Creek Wildlife Sanctuary, Canfield, Ohio

Time At Location: 5am-4pm

It was a cold, windy day, but everyone had a good time. We had a good group of birders.

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Weather: clear and 48F at 4:30am

Location: backyard of house--Chesterfield county, Virginia

Time At Location: started at 4:30am

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.It was such a quite time at 4:30am and I could hear the slightest sound including the barred owl. However at 4:45am until 5:15am a dog a few houses down barked the whole time and blocked any other bird calls that were there. It must have distrubed the whole cul-de-sac I live on. In any case the bird count was a little low but it is what it is and I was glad to just be part of the big sit it again.

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Weather: 45 to 70 degrees F. windless to NW at 2-5 mph, mix of high cirrus and lower cumulostratus and mostly sunny.

Location: Tubby Cove viewing platform, Eastern Neck NWR, Rock Hall, MD

Time At Location: 6:35 AM to 3:05 PM

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. We had 11 raptors species (counting vultures as raptors) including 18 Sharp-shinned Hawks, a Red-shouldered Hawk, 2 late immature Broad-winged Hawks, 5 Osprey (non-locals), and 11 Bald Eagles (one immature neatly pirated a fish from a Caspian Tern catching the falling prize in the air). We also had a late Spotted Sandpiper, and 2 Royal Terns. Four Brown-headed Nuthatches put on a great show for about an hour from 10:45 to noon, caching seeds in neighboring pines.

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Weather: Overcast and cool

Location: Observation deck at Ornithology Center, Eagle Creek Park, Indianapolis

Time At Location: 8am to 6:30pm

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. The site provides a good view of water, tree tops, open sky and forest. There were even very distant mud flats and thanks to experienced observers, five shorebird species were tallied. The highlight of the day were the Franklin's Gulls, quite uncommon in Indiana, but which had been present for several days at the site. A Red-breasted Nuthatch was a nice pickup for just one sharp-eyed observer. Our oddest sighting was of a Song Sparrow on an island in the water at a distance of at least 250 meters. Thank goodness for scopes! We were calling it quits at about 6:30pm when one person returned to the site to retrieve a water bottle and noticed a few Herring Gulls coming in for the night. They were our 55th species for the event. It was a wonderful day and dozens of birders were able to participate.

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Weather: Clear to partly cloudy with wind in the afternoon

Location: Maine Audubon's Gilsland Farm Sanctuary, Falmouth, ME

Time At Location: 12 hrs.

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. We only had one sandpiper & no plovers. Well maybe next year will be better.

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Weather: Start: 30 degress,calm & cloudy, changing to WNW wind @ 5-10 with a high of 43. Ending with 35 degrees,calm & cloudy.

Location: Orchard Hill Birding Tower, Fank residence,Dassel,MN

Time At Location: 7:00 am to 7:00 pm - 12 hrs.

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. Started the day out with a Great Horned Owl and ended with a Merlin chasing a Cedar Waxwing. We noticed lots of migrating Robins and Blue Jays, but with the weather conditions, very few Raptors were migrating.

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The high point of the day was being able to see the 2 Trumpeter Swans, that had been in the wetlands most of the morning, take flight to the Southeast.

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Weather: L 32 H 60 sun/clouds/breezy

Location: 179 Main St. Sterling, Ct.

Time At Location: 14 hrs.

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. Pileated Woodpecker, Northern Parula} to my overall sit list which now stands at 84 species.A very enjoyable Big Sit!

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Weather: Cold 50 F, drizzling, windy, 100% cloud cover

Location: Observation tower at Tishomingo NWR

Time At Location: 07:00 CST

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.

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Weather: 31 F at 0620, light frost, calm winds and overcast skies. 0800 rain showers. 1000 hail storm. Winds WNW 12-15 mph gusts 25 mph.

Location: Pondicherry NWR in Jefferson, NH at Tudor Richards Viewing Platform.

Time At Location: 0620-1835.

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. Notable misses were great blue heron, osprey, ruffed grouse, belted kingfisher and common yellowthroat. Flower of the day were several nodding ladies tresses orchids on the trail in to Cherry Pond. Snow above 4,500 feet in the Presidential Range. Moose, otter and beaver seen. Bat seen on walk out.

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Looking through a spotting scope and seeing a cow moose, common loon and a bald eagle in the same view.

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Weather: 50, rain early, sun in late am, cloudy afternoon and evening

Location: Bunkhouse RV pad, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah

Time At Location: 16 hours

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!

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Weather: Sunny! The morning started with rain but quickly cleared.

Location: Altos de Torreon, Los Altos de Cerro Azul, Panama

Time At Location: 24 hours

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!

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Weather: Mostly sunny, west winds

Location: Lenoir Nature Preserve

Time At Location: 6:30 AM - 6:15 PM

2000 Blue jays migrating, 8 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers,

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Weather: Cool, mostly clear, calm

Location: Indigo Hill birding tower, southeastern Ohio

Time At Location: About 21 hours

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. But all-in-all a great day of birding. Our second highest total ever! But of course we wanted to break the site record of 69 species.

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It was neat to communicate with other Big Sits around the country via Twitter and Facebook.

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Weather: 24-31F, 1 inch of snow on the ground, North wind 0-11mph; overcast much of the day

Location: Chatfield State Park at the old Heronry Overlook

Time At Location: 5:30am to 7:10pm

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!

Anecdotes:

Several flock of Sandhill Cranes flew overhead through the course of the day. A number of us were treated to an Osprey catching a trout RIGHT in front of us! Cool! The most unexpected bird: We were all watching a flock of Long-billed Dowitchers flying by when another larger bird came into view. Funny how we all abandoned the Dowitcher flock and followed this one bird...a White-winged Scoter!! That's a pretty rare bird for a land-locked Colorado, especially this early in October!

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Weather: Beautiful Autumn day 70s with little wind and no precipitation

Location: Cowans Ford Wildlife Refuge Viewing Platform IBA Huntersville,NC

Time At Location: 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM 5/6 of species recorded by 10AM

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. Raptor migration was good . We only missed peregrine falcon and broad ings which were pretty much already past. Huge numbers of DC Cormorants, blue jays and even red headed woodpeckers going past. A flock of 12 great egrets winging south was highly unusual. Warbler movement was limited and only resident mallard and wood ducks were on the ponds. Wilson snipe had arrived but no other shorebirds. Participation was great in spite of a local pro football game on the same day. This, our fourth year, has evolved into a "birder tailgate party" for our local group.

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Weather: Cloudy with light drizzle at times.

Location: Corner of Sawyer Lake and Milltail Roads, Alligator River NWR

Time At Location: 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

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.

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Weather: Cold (never got above 57 degrees), raining most of the day, foggy

Location: Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, Doeskin Ranch, Pond Trail

Time At Location: 7:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (9 hours)

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. After that at least we didn't get any wetter.

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Weather: continuous light snow, temperatures from 21-23*, SE wind 5 mph

Location: Pinewood Drive, Rapid City, SD 44N 103W

Time At Location: 6:30 am till 5:00 pm, absent 1-4pm

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. Please note that the budgerigars on my list are Metro and .Com, who happen to live within the 17'circle of my back deck, I counted mostly from inside the window, not outside.

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There definitely is a conspiracy. The Weather gods, Zeus, Boreas and Aeolus,(I looked it up)checked to see where would be the best place to dump a bit of cold and snow today and selected the Black Hills of South Dakota. This is the second year in a row that they have so favored me. Given that I would have turned into permanent, frozen garden statuary had I actually sat outside, this was an inside endeavor this year. I left feeder watching to go see feathers of a different sort this afternoon. This weekend is the annual He Sapa Wacipi, the Black Hills Pow Wow, in Rapid City. My daughter and I spent several hours watching, listening and appreciating the rich culture of our Native American neighbors. The dancers are awesome. Feathers of many kinds decorate their regalia and are part of honoring ceremonies and dances. Traditional male dancers of the northern Plains tribes mimic the actions of the native gallinaceous birds of the region in many of their dance steps. The women gracefully use feather fans to punctuate their movements in time with the drum. This year's pow wow re-introduced what is known as the Chicken Dance, or Prairie Chicken Dance to its schedule. It is a very ancient men's dance that is making a resurgence at pow wows, energetic and beautiful. We returned home to continue watching the wild birds till dark, as they made their last trips to the feeder before seeking shelter for the night. All in all, a day of feuding Flickers, squabbling Sparrows, drowsy Collared-doves and boisterous Blue Jays, cold, snow and culture.

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Weather: cloudy, moderate wind

Location: "Carraige Path" at Huntington Beach State Park, Georgetown Co SC

Time At Location: 7:30 AM - 6 PM

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. The spoon bills had been around since early July and we were hoping they'd stay a few extra days (or weeks) so we might see them during the Big Sit. Even though we didn't have an owl. The participants agreed that this year's "Big Sit" was a hoot.

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We moved our location slightly this year to get away from the automotive traffic on the park's causeway, but wound up contending with a different type of traffic - we were located close to several gator crawls and in both the early morning (we moved our start time from 6 AM to 7:30 to be sure we had enough light not to see the gators) and throughout the afternoon alligators were crossing back and forth between the freshwater marsh to the south and the brackish pond to the north. Before noon we had 15 alligator crossings, with at least as many more that afternoon.

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Weather: Cool and Cloudy 70F

Location: Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park

Time At Location: 5am through 10pm

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Weather: HOT! Mid-90s

Location: Lake Jesup Wilderness Area Park & Boat Ramp

Time At Location: 7:00 AM - 2:00 PM

When a few of our Observers took a break and left our circle a limpkin came and visited the remaining Seminole Sitters.

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In addition to the Big Sit! circle, Seminole Audubon Society celebrated an "All About Birds" day in another part of the park. There were guided walks, Bird ID lessons, children's nature activities and door prizes. Even with the record breaking heat, a good time was had by all!

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Weather: 27-34 degrees F, 4-8 mph w/gust to 16, Mostly cloudy

Location: Arrowwood NWR Warbler Woodland

Time At Location: 7am - 7pm.

Fairly quiet. No surprises, but many misses of common birds in the area.

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Weather: Clear weather, low 40 high 57

Location: Black Hill Regional Park Montgomery County, MD

Time At Location: 7AM till 1PM (total 6 Hours)

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. The most impressive sight of the day came when two soaring Red Tails locked talons and engaged in a freefall spin that last more than ten seconds.

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Weather: warm 70° and cloudy followed by hot 90° and sunny. light breeae

Location: 7352 toogoodoo rd, yonges island sc

Time At Location: about 8 hours with some breaks here and there

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. It must have been the unusally hot weather, because earlier in the week was so much better.

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Today would have been better--very cold for October.

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Weather: Started off cold & breezy , in the mid 30s. Overcast until sun broke through late afternoon and temps rose to low 40s.

Location: Jefferson City, MO . South East corner of Memorial Park , at the edge of the woods near the NEW Memorial Park Wild Bird Garden.

Time At Location: 7:10 am to 7:00 pm

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. We saw our first bird at 7:17 am (American Robin) and our last bird at 6:55 pm (Common Nighthawk). Stand out species were: Blue-headed Vireo, Ruby -crowned & Golden -crowned Kinglets, Brown Creeper, and a Summer Tanager that used the new "Bubbler" addition to the bird garden to take a bath just like we had hoped the birds would do when the idea for the "Memorial Park Wild Bird Garden" was first conceived! Eighteen "sitters" joined us off & on all day and all brought terrific snacks! We got 33 species, and several people saw birds that were new to them.

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Weather: overcast, chilly

Location: wooded area adjacent to 153 Scenic View Drive, Talbott, TN

Time At Location: 6 hr

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.

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Weather: Partly Cloudy, 41F-63F, 5-10 WNW

Location: Chambers Lake Dike

Time At Location: Midnight - 7pm

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Weather: Overcast with mist all day. Temperature was in the 60's with a strong breeze

Location: Black Bayou Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Time At Location: 9 hours

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!

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Weather: Mostly sunny Temp range 35 to 60 light winds

Location: Pigeon Hill East Lyme CT.

Time At Location: 7 hours

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Weather: Overcast and cold (40 degrees F) with a moderate breeze all day

Location: An observation deck at main entrance to Squaw Creek NWR, Mound City, Missouri

Time At Location: Ten (10) hours, from 6:30 AM until 4:30 PM

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. * 34 people dropped by our location, stayed a few minutes and then went on around the refuge on the ten mile auto tour loop. Our visitor who's home was the most distant was from Alaska! Temperature held around 40 degrees F and we experinced a moderate breeze throughout the day. 37 Species were recorded: Greater White-fronted Goose Snow Goose Canada Goose Gadwall American Wigeon Mallard Blue-winged Teal Northern Shoveler Northern Pintail Green-winged Teal Pied-billed Grebe American White Pelican Double-crested Cormorant Great Blue Heron Turkey Vulture Bald Eagle Northern Harrier Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk American Kestrel Merlin American Coot Sandhill Crane - 3 Wilson's Snipe Mourning Dove Red-headed Woodpecker Red-bellied Woodpecker Northern Flicker American Crow Tree Swallow (1000's) Barn Swallow American Robin Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Red-winged Blackbird American Goldfinch Our Seventeen Foot Diameter Circle for the count is the Observation Deck at the main entrance to Squaw Creek NWR. We may have to change the location to a place where there are more diversified habitats. The present location does not present us with very many woodland birds. It is a little disconcerting not to be able to tally a Northern Cardinal, Bluejay, etc. for the count!

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I believe the highlights (for most observers) were the three (3) Sandhill Cranes and the Merlin.

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Weather: 31-51 degrees F, 7-15 MPH WNW winds, partly sunny

Location: Metro Beach Metropark overlooking Point Rosa Marsh, Lake St. Clair and Nature Woods.

Time At Location: 7:15 am to 7:15 pm, total of 12 hours

We had a few species we normally don't get every year and it turned into a really good hawk day.

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We birded and ate well having our traditional bratwurst, hot dogs, potato salad, potato chips and lots of cookies. A good time was had by all!

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Weather: cold - 32 to start; had snowed the day before with more expected

Location: Rapids Lake Visitor Center at MN Valley NWR

Time At Location: 7:00 am to 10:00 am

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.

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Sunrise over the Minnesota River Valley was quite nice. Having an actual birder on hand would have been useful. I'm sure there were more birds hiding from me and talking about me in the bushes, including a sparrow-y looking thing that I never quite got a good look at.

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Weather: Rainy, NE winds 15-20

Location: North Pond SW observation platform

Time At Location: 630 am until 330 pm

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Weather: cool morning, mid 30's, clear, light breeze; warming to mid-60's and all sunshiney nice

Location: Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge, east of Fallon, NV - Stillwater Point Reservoir

Time At Location: 7:30am - 4pm

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. Many new visitors to the refuge stopped by the primary circle for information, maps and suggestions on birding spots. Some kayaked the upper part of the refuge in quiet solitude. Beautiful weather and good birding made for a great outing!

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although the airboats were noisy, they got us into areas of the marsh we hadn't seen before, so we observed a barn owl hunting mid-morning, muskrats working on their 'winter retreats', pair bonding in grebes, and imm. golden eagle cruising overhead. This was a great lead-in for kicking off National Wildlife Refuge Week, handed out posters, keyrings, hot coffee and homemade oatmeal cookies to all who stopped by!

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Weather: Mostly sunny, moderate NW winds

Location: Stone Mountain Hawkwatch, Huntingdon County

Time At Location: Start time 6:30AM End Time 5:30 PM

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Weather: Cold, humid, showery, with 18 to 24 mph winds. 60 to 70 degrees F.

Location: Aransas National Wildlife Refuge - Austwell, TX

Time At Location: 7 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

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. Peregrine Falcon showed up for the first sitters and an American Oystercatcher at the end of tally as the showers started to roll in.

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A big THANKS go out to the diehards who managed to stick it out and give the first day of National Wildlife Refuge Week a welcome at Aransas NWR.

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Weather: Overcast, some mist and rain, Mid 50's to low 60's, 5-8 NNE

Location: Village Creek Drying Beds, Arlington, TX

Time At Location: 0400-1850

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. We anticipated low shorebird and wader numbers but still picked off 8 flyby shorebird species and most of the waders including a small egret (sp?) taken by an adult Bald Eagle. We had alot of migrants come through: a couple of hundred each of American White Pelicans, DC Cormorants, Franklin's Gulls, plus some Greater White-fronted Geese, Common Nighthawks, and lots of hawks including several dozen Swainson's, two late Broad-wings and a late Mississippi Kite. Thirteen species of hawks and falcons on the day. A dozen or so Soras were vocal and kept things lively for us. Our big miss? - A Sedge Wren which was seen the day before and somewhat dictated the exact placement of our circle.

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Another crazy day of big sit birding at the drying beds! We didn't have as many observers as last year due to the unpleasant weather, but we had a good team and a good migration day with light winds from the NNE. We were serenaded right before dawn by the local coyotes which got the Soras going and together it sounded like many things were being killed. We spent a good part of the afternoon watching hawks migrating through and I brought plenty of junk food to keep most people awake. We had hundreds of ducks and thousands of swallows (mostly barns) in the main big pond which provided the backdrop to a very birdy day. This was a day to remember. **It turns out that two of the best birds at VCDB on this day were unseen and thus uncounted by our team from the circle: A Crested Caracara and a White-tailed Kite!

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Weather: Brrr! And threatening clouds, but no rain (it waited until Tuesday.)

Location: Columbia NWR; Royal Lake Overlook

Time At Location: 8 am until noon

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

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Next time I'll set the hours after rather than during church services! I wound up moving the circle from its originally intended location because I forgot to bring chairs to sit on.

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Weather: Cloudy. High of 60 F.

Location: Provo Airport, Utah Lake.

Time At Location: 8 hours and 50 minutes

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.   We were able to see or hear 54 species from our circle.  Our record is 58 species in one day and our 8 year (8 day) Big Sit Life List is now at 105 species.  We added one Big Sit Lifer this year - Eurasian Collared-Dove.

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Weather: mostly clear, sunny and blue skies, 45-63 F, windy NW 5-10mph > W 15-20+.

Location: CT, Milford, Milford Point (outermost observation platform) – coastal dune, spartina salt marsh, LI Sound

Time At Location: 4:15am – 7:00pm (EDT)

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. Some birder friends came by early afternoon with some much-needed hot coffee.

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Highlights included red-throated & common loons, Am. Bittern, an Am. black duck sporting a radio transmitter (state DEP study), Am. Wigeons, northern shoveler, northern pintail, all three scoters, red-breasted merganser, 10 species of raptors including 6+ bald eagles and 2-3 peregrine falcons, 10 species of shorebirds including 2 white-rumped sandpipers, Bonaparte’s gull, chimney swift (late), three species of thrushes (gray-cheeked, Swainson’s, hermit) heard calling overhead predawn, vesper sparrow, Nelson’s & salt marsh sparrows, eastern meadowlarks, rusty blackbird, and a few pine siskins.

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Weather: Sunny, slight breeze, Temp. 43-58

Location: Edwin B. Forsythe NWR, Gull Pond Tower

Time At Location: 14 hours

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.

Anecdotes:

One of our visitors was a young man of about 8-9 years old, who was asking about what we had seen. Then proceeded to inform us how much he liked birds and proceeded to name all his life birds for the day. Makes the heart sing to see kids getting into the game at a young age.

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Weather: Clear and calm in the morning with a few passing clouds in the afternoon and winds increasing to approximately 10 mph.

Location: Bald Eagle State Park, Approximately: Lat. 41.028656 N, Long. 77.648720 W

Time At Location: 12 hours (5 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

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. We also had two “nemesis” birds which were seen by members of the bird-watching crew when they were outside the limits of the circle. One was a yellow-bellied sapsucker that was seen at two different times during the day by two different birdwatchers and would have been a first for this Big Sit location and the other was a small flock of European starlings which is the only bird that was on the list in our previous two years but cannot be included this year.

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Weather: cold overnight, foggy in the morning and clear in the day.

Location: Mifflintown, southeast side of the Juniata River below the Port Royal river bridge

Time At Location: 6pm sat. night to 4 pm sunday evening

Nice day, but boy do you get tired doing a whole lot of nothing.

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What can we eat next?

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Weather: Cold and wet all day, intermittent rain and heavy mist, never got above 60 degrees.

Location: Austin, TX

Time At Location: 6:10 AM to 5:20 PM

See my blog entry here.

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Weather: Cloudy with drizzling rain most of the time

Location: Kelly Hill's Yard/House

Time At Location: All of it/24 hours

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. I was a little disappointed that the cool front didn't bring in a Broad-tailed or Rufous Hummer or even a new migrant.

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No stories to share as I was usually by myself in this endeavor.

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Weather: Overcast during the morning, partly to mostly cloudy during the afternoon; temperature 57 to 71 degrees F; winds NNE 0-10 mph.

Location: Wheeler NWR near Decatur, Alabama - White Springs/Ferry Dike Roads

Time At Location: 13 hours; 4:30 am to 5:30 pm CDT

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. Fourteen new species recorded after noon.

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Weather: Mid-forties to high sixties, mostly calm, high overcast for most of the day but good visibility

Location: Elfin Forest Bush Lupine Overlook, Los Osos, CA

Time At Location: 5:30 AM - 7:00 PM and a little evening owling

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. Even without the birds this would be a very pleasing place to sit and pass the day. We have observed a total of 172 species at this location over the years of this annual one day count. Variables which have affected our number of species include the tide, the weather (wind or fog - we have never had rain), and the flight of migrating birds for count day. The tides for this years count fluctuated minimally and we started with high overcast which cleared somewhat in the afternoon - visibility was good for the entire count. Our only handicaps were the lack of much tidal movement and the lack of passerine migration -this limited our variety of species. Our tally of 97 species by noon was about ten shy of our usual pace. We had as many as twelve birders and eight scopes at a time searching in all directions for species, but it was a slow day despite our enthusiastic efforts. For the first time, we had no new species for the count. Nevertheless we had close looks at Merlin, Peregrine, and Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks as they cruised by our elevated perch, catching the thermals off the slope below us. We had more distant looks at a couple of Osprey and a group of three Golden Eagles. We worked hard to find land birds in the very dry scrub, but usual species such as Oak Titmouse and Savannah Sparrow were nowhere to be seen. Eurasian Wigeon, Clark's Grebe, Red-breasted Merganser and Common Loon were species we usually see in the bay, but which were not present this day. The final total was 107 species - only slightly less than average due to some great efforts by the counters.

Anecdotes:

Our big sit is more than a bird count. Most of the counters(and others) brought scrumptious food ranging from fresh strawberries, to pita chips and hummus, to homegrown grapes and tomatoes from Fresno. The Julia Wilds award goes to Brad's organic brownies and the Davies' solar baked macaroons - both were delicious and "green". The golden feather award,for the best bird find, goes to Brad Schram for the Golden Eagles he found soaring between peaks to our east (tiny specks to the unaided eye). We also used the "sit" to spread the word to others who happen to be at the Elfin Forest, about the great diversity of habitat and bird species present here. Several non-birders visiting the Elfin Forest stopped to look through a scope and peruse our board of bird sightings. Last, this was (to a small extent) a fund raiser for S.W.A.P., the group which preserved and manages this scenic and species-important piece of nature. We finished at sunset with sparkling wine and a toast to our beautiful coast.

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Weather: Temperatures 26-30° F; light freezing rain; 5" of snow still on the ground.

Location: 5 miles southeast of Broken Bow.

Time At Location: 6:25-10:05 AM; 3:00-5:55 PM.

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. Highlights include: breathtaking looks at a flyover Prairie Falcon; a 'Red' Fox Sparrow; seven Greater Prairie-Chickens; Brewer's Blackbirds; and good numbers of American Pipits.

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Weather: calm winds and pleasant. Sunny during the day.

Location: Bucktoe Creek Preserve, Avondale, PA

Time At Location: 4:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Anecdotes:

The inaugural Big Sit at Bucktoe Creek Preserve turned out to be a fun day with several surprising birds. Highligt moment..."filling" the vulture feeder with a recently road-killed deer. The "Dead Wood Birders" managed to find 66 species in 14 and a half hours. Starting at 4:30 a.m., hundreds of thrush were heard migrating overhead in the pre-dawn hours, mostly Swainson's Thrush. Great Horned Owls and Screech-owls were heard. The few hours around dawn were very exciting, starting with a fly-by American Woodcock in the dim light. Birds that would not re-appear later in the day included Winter Wren, Eastern Towhee, Hermit Thrush, both Kinglets, Cedar Waxwing, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Field Sparrow, and Pileated Woodpecker. Other nice additions later in the morning included my first Dark-eyed Junco of the season, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, a diving Merlin, a flock of 4 Horned Lark, and a few Rough-winged Swallows. Mid-day produced few new species but included Bald Eagle, Snow Geese, and a Peregrine Falcon. As the day went on, birding really slowed. New additions to the list were very difficult to get, but we pressed on, renewed by arriving rested visitors late day. As dusk settled in, a Great Blue Heron and Northern Harrier finally decided to make a showing. Thanks to Tom Brokaw for making the delicious food available, William Ryan for prepping the site, Carol Majors and Andrew Homsey for taking birding shifts, and and all the visitors who showed up just across the Delaware border. We will see you next year at Bucktoe. Joe Sebastiani Delaware Nature Society

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Weather: 4:30am = ~41 degrees, clear skies ENE wind @ ~5mph; High of ~60 degrees @ 12:30pm, variable cloudy/sunny NNE winds @ ~8-13 mph.

Location: Big Oak Tree State Park, Dorena, Missouri

Time At Location: 12 hrs, 45 minutes (4:30am-5:15pm)

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. We didn't see the accipiter/woodpecker show that we had been graced with the previous two years where multiple accipiters chased and were being chased by multiple woodpeckers out over the water in the tops of the Bald Cypress Trees. Most species listed were seen by 10:30am (50); as expected, the last 11 species were slow in coming. A colorful Merlin flew in and perched atop one Cypress Tree and was probably the highlight of the day. Once the temps warmed up a bit, it was a glorious day to be out and the birds were moving nicely early on!

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Weather: Partly cloudy, winds 5-10 mph, sunny and warm in afternoon, low 70's

Location: Woodbine, southern Carroll County, MD

Time At Location: 6AM-1PM

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. Kestrel, Chimney Swift, N. Rough-winged Swallows, and 4 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers. Just after dawn a pair of hot air balloons flew by the horizon too, looking very cool in the early morning sunlight!

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40 species in mid-October is fantastic for the yard, considering we were tied to our deck. My highest single day count is only 50 species, in early May!

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Weather: Gray, overcast, little sunshine.

Location: Older, residential neighborhood, with large diverse trees. Circle in open yard area within sight of one feeder & 10+ trees.

Time At Location: 11 AM to 1:00 PM

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. Had to share 10 pair of binoculars due to unexpected number of children.

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A 4 year old in his mother's arms was first to see the Turkey Vulture and point it out to us. First bird seen was a small flock of American Crows which got their attention and motivated kids. Several recognized Blue Jays by call. The Big Sit was another part of our attempt to encourage birding within the congregation as several Audubon members and active birders are members of our UU Fellowship.

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Weather: Clear and Cold, 28 degrees at start, warming to 46, winds calm all night, 5-10 at 11AM

Location: Independence Lake, Washtenaw County, Michigan

Time At Location: 4:10AM to 3:40PM

Highlihgts: a literal chorus of owls calling simultaneously, at least five Great Horned and three Screech. Harmoniously!!!!!

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Weather: Cloudy early, partly cloudy by afternoon. Low: 58 High: 76

Location: Table Rock State Park

Time At Location: 3 hours between 7:30am and 11:59pm

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.

Anecdotes:

Did not get the earlier start I had anticipated - may have missed some species as a result. Had to complete some early tasks at work and forgot about starting the count! Started at 7:30am. Dissapointing but made up for it in the end as I added the eastern screech owl just in the nick of time - heard it call less than 30 seconds before 12am, Oct 12!

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Weather: High 84 degrees; Low 62 degrees; clear, very light breeze

Location: Arizona, northeast of Mesa, in the Tonto National Forest in a mesquite bosque

Time At Location: 5:45 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. (9 1/4 hours)

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.m., missing out on the all-important morning chorus. He left for home about 1:00 p.m., sidelined by nausea and an ongoing headache. At 5:45 a.m. the three of us, who were on hand, Tom Partel, Phyllis Martin, and I, set up the official circle, jumped in, and started counting.

The cattails are now obscuring our view of much of the reservoir to the east and west of our Big Sit! site, but they were there last year, too, and it wasn’t a problem, as we tallied 71 species, an all-time record for this particular circle. I believe that the late onset of colder weather this fall both here and to the north of us, slowed the arrival of many of our usual waterfowl as well as the arrival of quite a few of our regular wintering passerines. It was a bit sad to note, too, that in 2008 each of us had his or her ‘significant other’ in attendance, while for various reasons none of us did this year. But enough gloom and doom! It was another great Big Sit!

We tallied 51 species, just a little below our historical average, will end up raising about $1,500 for the conservation work of Maricopa Audubon Society, indulged in eating our traditional baclava, enjoyed a beautiful day, had great interaction with one another, and added one new species, Clapper Rail, to our cumulative list, which now stands at 129, for the 14 years that we have been doing our Big Sit! at this particular location.

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Weather: Overcast with light rain in the morning, clearing to mostly cloudy 60-68 degrees, light winds

Location: Sandling Beach Recreation Area Swim Beach, 100' east of lifejacket stand

Time At Location: 0600-1430 and 1800-1930

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.

Anecdotes:

10 butterfly species: Common Buckeye, Red Admiral, Monarch, Cabbage White, Fiery Skipper, Question Mark, Eufalas Skipper, Clouded Skipper, Viceroy, Red-spotted Purple. 1 Mammal: Gray Squirrel. 2 Herps: Six-lined Racerunner, Yellow-bellied Slider. 6 moth species: Two-spotted Looper, Harnessed Tiger Moth, Comman Tan Wave Moth, Black-dotted Ruddy Moth, Large Lace Border Moth, Maple Spanworm Moth. 1 Dragonfly species: Black Saddlebags. 5 airlines: Southwest, US Airways, Continental, Jet Blue, Air Bus

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Weather: 31 degrees at 8am - 41 degrees at 3pm

Location: Spring Lake Unit, Uppper Miss NWFR

Time At Location: 8am - 3 pm

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Weather: Sunny and cool with slight northwest winds

Location: Buck Creek State Park at northeast corner of lake

Time At Location: 6:56 AM to 7:20 PM

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.

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We did see some Turkey Vultures migrate through in the afternoon. A flock of about 20 came through and a little later a flock of over 30 moved through. We had a beautiful sunset but the birds were quiet except for the Red-winged Blackbirds coming to roost in the marsh.

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Weather: overcast calm in AM, scattered clouds light wind in PM, temp in 60s

Location: Clyde Shepherd Nature Center observing platform

Time At Location: 7:40 to 10:30 AM and 1:30 to 3:30 PM

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.

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It was an uncommonly slow day, both people and birds, yet I found that I was very content to sit there and enjoy nature as it presented itself to me. Beats professional football any day as a centering mechanism. Mosquitos finally did me in. If there had been more birds, or more people, I could have stayed the entire afternoon but there were beers to drink in the frig at home... I was asked to register the Sit by two birdwatching friends. Neither showed up. One was out of state to marry off her daughter, and I suspect the other went with her. Time will tell. I'm looking forward to doing it again next year with a lot more lead time and enough advertising to fill the platform. A wonderful way to waste a day.

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Weather: 37 degrees no wind snow toward sunset

Location: Sioux Falls sd

Time At Location: 5 hrs

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Weather: 29 degrees, no wind, mostly cloudy

Location: Dewey Gevik Nature Area Wall Lake, SD

Time At Location: 4 hrs

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Weather: mostly clear, 68-95 degrees winds E 0-5

Location: Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Area (Central Ave bridge area)

Time At Location: 10 hrs

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).

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Highlights of the day were a Forster's tern at dawn, a northern parula (previously found only in spring at Rio Salado), and (for Arizona) a very rare pine warbler (a first for Rio Salado).

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Weather: Sunny & windy

Location: home

Time At Location: 14 hours

A cold, gusty north wind likely held our count down; but, we still had fun!

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Weather: 45-60 dgrees Sunny, Breezy

Location: Silver Sands State Park, Milford, CT

Time At Location: 9 hrs

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.

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Weather: cool (60 degrees), calm and sunny

Location: Cold Springs NWR near Hermiston, OR

Time At Location: 7:30 to 1:30

Various species continued to come in or pass through during the a.m. Activity seemed to end after noon.

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Weather: Extremely windy and cold.

Location: Columbia River near McNary Dam

Time At Location: 2 hours

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.

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Weather: Partly cloudy to cloudy, 40's, moderate wind

Location: Nature Center at Shaker Lakes Boardwalk

Time At Location: Midnight - 7:00 P.M (19 hours)

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.

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Weather: Partly Cloudy

Location: Ralston, Pennsylvania

Time At Location: 6 Hours

Still some migrating hawks. Nice arial display of 2 Ravens enjoying the Fall breeze.

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Weather: low of 24, high of 35, mostly sunny, light WNW winds 5-7 MPH

Location: Forest Beach Migratory preserve in town of Belgium, Ozaukee Co., WI

Time At Location: 6:15am - 1"15 pm

40 species - nothing unusual

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Overall, nice count with some good friends

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Weather: Cloudy and cold (50) little to no winds

Location: Salt Plains NWR, Sand Creek Bay observation Platform.

Time At Location: @ 6 hours

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Weather: from 64 to 75 degrees, clear, sunny, mild 5mph North wind

Location: Estero Llano Grande State Park's front deck in Weslaco, Texas

Time At Location: 3am to 8pm

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.

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Weather: Party sunny, southwest/west winds, 49-53F

Location: Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory, Miller State Park, Peterborough, NH

Time At Location: 9:30AM to 5:00PM

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Weather: Cloudy, Temp 25, winds nw 5-10 mph

Location: North Viewing Gallery DeSoto Visitor Center

Time At Location: 7:00 AM - 4:00 PM

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. About 50 visitors stopped by our circle.

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Weather: 50-70s, clear skies, bright day

Location: Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, MD, overlooking field, with woods on one dies and two ponds in the distance.

Time At Location: 7:45am to 2:30pm

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We were locat4ed a couple of hundred yards from the Visitors Center. A number of parents and their kids dropped by - a few for a long time - the USFWS staff had activities ready for the kids. We all had a great time!

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Weather: Terrible! ESE 14 m/s, heavy showers, 8/8, +9°C

Location: Top of Segerstads fyr lighthouse, island Öland, Sweden

Time At Location: 07-19

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.

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Had to fuel up with "glögg" (hot, spicy wine) in the afternoon!

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Weather: Mostly sunny; wind SE 5mph; temp 40-50

Location: Seltzer Park, the Cove, Seaside, OR

Time At Location: 6 hours

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Weather: 12AM-0630 clear and cool, 1st frost of Fall 2009. 0630-1830 cloud cover 1-80-1%, Wind S-SW-WSW-W-WNW-NW-WNW @ 0-10 mph. Temp 2.2

Location: Driveway in yard.

Time At Location: Joe 12AM- 1830 (17.5 hours), John 0400-0915,1100-1700 (11.25 hours)

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.

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It took WAY TO LONG to submit this years checklist. My checklist is out of order, I was lost the checklist page 5 times and had to resubmit many species.

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Weather: clear, sunny, 40 - 72F, with winds from the North

Location: Ashland Hawk Watch in Hockessin, DE

Time At Location: 17 hours

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. The pre-dawn provided an awesome array of flight calls and chip notes, most wisely left identified. We heard a lot of distinctive Swainson’s Thrush calls(like a Spring Peeper’s call) and even watched birds flying across the face of the moon through the eyepiece of a spotting scope. The calls of migrating Snow Geese, Great Blue Herons, and Killdeer were most distinct and unmistakable! Flocks of sparrows chipped in the bushes under the bright light of the moon. An unidentified sparrow made a kamikaze flight right between Bill, Tom and me, nearly hitting Bill‘s hand. As the birds rushed around in a migration frenzy, it was close-contact birding! After a typical strong morning start(reaching 50 species by 8:00am), we kept chipping away at species all day long. However, the one major holdout waited to be recorded after dusk fell. A recalcitrant Barred Owl finally gave up its whereabouts and declared the day a done deal. Time to give back the night to the birds. Or team surpassed the previous high tally from the 2007 Big Sit, which was also a perfect day for migration. I feel a total of 82 is fairly solid for our section of Piedmont territory. Highlights of today’s effort included all the expected thrush species(except for Bicknell’s!), American Woodcock, Golden Eagle, Lincoln’s Sparrow, and Purple Finch. The nearly 140 visitors included 30 youth birders, many of them taking part in the Delaware Dunlins youth birding club’s monthly field trip. The kids got to enjoy a great bird show. Notable numbers of White-throated Sparrows(100+), Yellow-bellied Sapsucker(6), Palm Warblers(12) and Yellow-rumped Warblers(30) showed what a difference a day can make in migration season. Yesterday they just weren’t here. The birds definitely were around today, and just waiting to be counted. From inside one little 17-foot circle…

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Weather: hot (85-92 F), no clouds at first then about 70% cumulus. light wind by noon

Location: Tradewinds Park North - first picnic table to west of parking lot

Time At Location: 0800-1200

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. First year at this site; last year's deck list from 8 miles to the south was 39 spp for a full day.

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other species observed: brown anole, knight anole, basalisk, green iguana; gray squirrel; large orange sulphur, zebra, ruddy daggerwing (many), monarch, white peacock, cloudless sulphur, giant swallowtail

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Weather: cloudy, ~70

Location: Santee National Wildlife Refuge visitor center deck

Time At Location: 7:00 am - 11:00 am and 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

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Weather: Upper 30's at 6 am, up in the 50's by afternoon. Rare clear Oct day for the NW

Location: South Meadow, Discovery Park, Seattle WA

Time At Location: 5:30 am to 6 pm

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. The woods had a Townsend's Warbler and a Varied Thrush. Hunting the meadow was a Nothern Shrike. Biggest suprise of the day was a soaring Short-eared Owl. They are rare in the park. We think it thought it was a raptor by the way it was soaring over the bluff. We ended up with 44 species.

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We had a woman asked us "what are you looking at, whales?" We replied that we were birdwatching. It wasn't 30 seconds later when we saw a pod of 12 Killer Whales passing by right in front of us. We quickly spread the word to local walkers and shared our scopes with them. Viewing conditions were great and we all enjoyed them as they surfaced and slapped their tails. There was one other circle in the park who along with us, were probably the only Big Sit circles with Killer Whales. They capped off a fun day for us all.

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Weather: Sunny, 50's

Location: Deception Pass St. Park, WA

Time At Location: 2:30 to 4:00 PM

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.

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Weather: Start: N winds, 5mph. Clear and cold. NW winds 5-10 during the day, high temp. around 70; mostly sunny. End: light NW winds.

Location: Cape May Bird Observatory Hawk Watch Site, Cape May Point State Park, Cape May Point, NJ

Time At Location: 12:00am - 10:00pm (22 hours)

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. 5000 Yellow-rumped Warblers. A Black-billed Cuckoo hung out nearby for a while, and a decent hawk flight developed. A late-morning tally brought us to 125 species. After a few slow hours, the afternoon lull abruptly ended when Michael O'Brien picked out a Sabine's Gull flying by offshore. A stampede to the nearest dune crossover eventually revealed the bird on the water, where it stayed for a few minutes before continuing south toward Delaware. The last few hours of daylight brought some excellent birds and allowed us to clean up on a few misses: Caspian Tern, Red-throated Loon, Carolina Chickadee, Dark-eyed Junco, Nashville Warbler. At dusk, Don Freiday spied a Least Bittern circling up behind the Cape May Lighthouse. It gained altitude and shot off across the bay to Delaware. A few more American Bitterns were visible and audible as they took off for the night, another Barn Owl flew past, and at least 2 or 3 Common Nighthawks patrolled the treelines. The last bird of the day came at 7:45pm, in the form of an American Redstart. As always, a huge thank-you to everybody in attendance. A huger thank-you to Michael O'Brien, who came up with some sweet birds all day (and all night) long. And the hugest thank-you to everyone who stopped by to root for us, feed us and otherwise make our day a blast.

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If you've never seen five grown men snoozing in sleeping bags on a hawk watch deck, then come visit the Cape May Hawkwatch at 3am on big sit day. We gave Dave Hedeen just one objective during the day: to find a Gray Catbird. He succeeded. Three different birders all called the same flying woodpecker something different. Their names will not be revealed here. O'Brien's Sabine's Gull set a new record for the shortest amount of time required to completely empty the Cape May Hawkwatch: 23.6 seconds.

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Weather: 38F around midnight, mid 60s by noon; foggy in morning, clearing around 9:30; partly cloudy for the rest of the day

Location: Shadow Mountain Farm, Kunkletown, Pennsylvania

Time At Location: midnight-9pm

Great day for Sharp-shinned Hawks; several hundred flew past. Birds were scattered unlike recent days, where the sparrows and warblers have flocked up.

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I had a great start to the day with 12 species before 2am, and 22 species before sunrise. The biggest surprise was an AMERICAN BITTERN that called as it flew over. Owls were great, with 7 each of Great Horned and Barred, 3 Eastern Screech, and a single, unexpected Saw-whet making the drawn-out whistle call. The morning was slow because of the fog, but between ten and noon birds were everywhere... lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, sparrows, and raptors. Some highlights during the day were: -A Lincoln's Sparrow SINGING from an Eastern Redcedar -Two immature White-crowned Sparrow -Fly-over American Pipits -a Northern Goshawk

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Weather: Foggy and cool in the morning, sunny in the afternoon

Location: the top of my driveway in Tucker Georgia USA

Time At Location: from 6:40AM until 7:00 PM with a couple hours stop in the afternoon

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.

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Weather: 20-35 degres, cloudy to clear

Location: Roof of our house

Time At Location: 6:30 - 18:00

Our scouts saw three species we couldn't see from the roof: Northern Bobwhite, Chipping & White-crowned Sparrows.

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Weather: 60's

Location: Upper porch

Time At Location: 9+hours

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. I added five species to my backyard list during the sit including two warblers and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. My wife and daughter abandoned me early on.

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This was the most species I had ever seen in my yard in one day - of course, I had never sat all day watching birds before!

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Weather: 40s to 50s; 15mph NE wind; 100% cloud cover

Location: North Sentinel Park, Lake Thunderbird, Norman, Oklahoma

Time At Location: 12 hours- 7 AM to 7 PM

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. One of the highlights of the day was a direct flyover by at least 500 American White Pelicans, so close we could hear the wind through their feathers. The day started with a Great Horned Owl calling and ended with Common Nighthawks. Bird's seen the previous day that did not bother to show up when it counted included Snowy Egrets, a Bald Eagle, and an Eastern Meadowlark. Of note was the absence of the usual townies (Starlings, House Sparrows, Grackles etc.). Goal for next year-learn more songs and flight calls!

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Other highlights included superb conversation, homemade blueberry muffins (thanks to Jennifer), homemade venison chili (thanks to Dick), homemade beverages (thanks to Brian), the best steaks ever eaten (thanks to Ben) and a 10 minute rendition of "The Song That Never Ends" (thanks to Carmela and Amelie).

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Weather: cloudy, low of 66 and highs of 73

Location: Tree tower, Santa Ana NWR

Time At Location: 4 hours

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Weather: 28 degrees, cloudy, COLD all day.

Location: 4778 Hay Wagon Ct. Loveland, CO.

Time At Location: 7 hours.

Surprise bird was a flyover by a Greater Yellowlegs. Easy misses were Downy Woodpecker, American Goldfinch, Red-tailed Hawk, Common Raven.

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It was unseasonably cold today. Heard my first bird from my bed: Great Horned Owl. Got up, dressed, went out to my cirle at 6:30 and heard the bird there. After 7+ hours we were froze out and disbanded. I hit the circle several more times but no new species.

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Weather: cloudy and misty

Location: Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge near Freeport Tx

Time At Location: 8:30 AM until about 9:15 AM

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.

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Weather: cool,very cloudy, mist at times, rain after 3:00

Location: Alazan Wildlife Management Area

Time At Location: 7:15-12:15, 2:00-3:00

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3 hunters stopped by to ask what we were doing and we had a nice chat with each. One was very interested in identifying birds and said he was going to buy a field guide which we recommended. We may have a convert!

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Weather: mostly cloudy, 30-40 degrees, 6-12 mph WSW winds

Location: The deck at our house: 16269 160th St NE, Thief River Falls, MN

Time At Location: 11.5 hours

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Weather: Heavy Overcast, light rain, breezy

Location: Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, "The Willows" Parking area

Time At Location: 7:10 am to 3 pm

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Weather: partly cloudy, winds fome the WNW, temperature averaged around 10 Celsius

Location: Tuscarora Summit Hawk Watch, Franklin/Fulton Counties, PA

Time At Location: 1:00am - 5:00pm

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Weather: Clear to mostly cloudy skies with NW to WNW winds at 2 to 10 mph in the AM, shifting to the W and SW by noon. Temps. 3 to 9.5 C.

Location: Holiday Beach Conservation Area, Amherstburg, ON (Essex Co.)

Time At Location: From 5:30 AM to 6:30 PM EDT.

Write-up forthcoming.

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Could have used a better passerine flight and cooperation from a few of the local, year-round residents.

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Weather: Sunny, Hot, Humid

Location: Dunlawton Bridge, Port Orange, Florida

Time At Location: 12:30 hours 5:30AM to 6:00PM

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. Sitting next to a boat ramp parking lot in a 17 foot cirlce under a bridge on a busy Sunday in sweltering heat for 12 hours, when most boats in Port Orange take to the Halifax River for a sunny day of cruising, doesn't elicit a picture of a pristine birding experience dripping in Nature's splendor.

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Boats up and down the river are many: a huge bridge overhead blocks half the sky, but Rock Pigeons roost there and once in a while a raptor will scatter the slumbering flock. Sunday a Merlin did. Boats up and down the river, some exceedingly noisy and fast, scatter waterbirds from the oyster and sand bars, but Caspian and Royal terns, A. Oystercatchers, Willets, Gulls and many shore birds use these wonderful resting and feeding areas. We didn't count the Bald Eagle because the bridge was in the way. Also, we didn't list the 3 N. Cardinals because our scope doesn't see through a line of cars. Yes, we do have many obstructions to getting a clear view of birds, but that is the fun of it - to identify all the birds you can see and hear from a 17 foot circle. Isn't that THE BIG SIT way? This year 38 species of birds came to the bridge to be included on our list. Next year the bridge will host us again.

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Weather: Clear, sunny, periodic slight breeze, temps in the 70s.

Location: Stevinson Ranch Golf Course, Stevinson, California

Time At Location: 6 hours.

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. For those of us participating this time, it was the first occasion birding from one location. It is important for birders to realize that even though birds may be scared away when the birder first spproaches, if one will sit and stay awhile, one never knows what one may see! The Fledglings hope this was the first of many Big Sits!

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Weather: Clear to prtly cloudy, light winds 5 mph or less, 22F at beginning, 43F high

Location: Lone Rock Wildlife Area, ~3 miles west of Lone Rock, WI

Time At Location: 6.5 hours: 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m. to 12 noon, 2 pm to 4 p.m.

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. After about 10 minutes, the RSHA flew directly overhead, calling.

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Weather: clearing, 30 degrees, still in am, 50 degrees, strong west winds in pm

Location: Hancock, New Hampshire

Time At Location: 6:30 am to 10:30 pm

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.

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Rich showed up at 8am with home-made muffins, thanks!! It was a beautiful day with great birds and we had lots of fun on our first Big Sit!

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Weather: 40-60, light to mod wind, mostly sunny

Location: West Rock Ridge SP, Hamden/Woodbridge, CT

Time At Location: 3.5 hours

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.

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Weather: Cloudy, occasional light rain

Location: Staunton River SP, parking lot overlooking river behind green boat house

Time At Location: 1 1/2 hours

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Weather: Drizzly

Location: Redditch, UK

Time At Location: On and off throughout day

A good thing I included four feet of dining room within the circle: drizzle lasted until mid-afternoon.

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The local magpies took exception to our last bird, a buzzard, and at one stage four of them were trying to see it off. One persisted much longer than the others and at times I thought I would witness one of those moments photographed recently of the bird riding on the buzzard’s back. It didn't happen.

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Weather: 38-64 degrees; sun/pc

Location: Lake Pine, Medford, NJ

Time At Location: Midnight until 10PM

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. With an Irish coffee to start, a mini-martini to end and lots of diet coke in-between, I was dragged off the dock at 10PM (It didn't take much effort.)

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Food-wise, it was scrambled eggs with blue cheese and a wheat bagel in the AM, Herr's Kettle-cooked 40% less fat chips and salsa slaw for lunch and snackies, then andouille turkey sausage on wheat rolls in the evening (and hubby did the cooking - excellent). Strangest get? Probably the in-the-darkness flyover grackle: I was expecting many later, but that turned out to be the only one...

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Weather: mcloudy to pcloudy, 36 to 56 degrees, variable breeze

Location: Bashakill Wildlife Management Area, Main parking lot off Haven Road

Time At Location: 6 am to 4:30 pm

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. Several visitors stopped in and were interested.

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Congenial birders and relaxed pace. Renee set up a grill and made great chili and hot dogs. Everyone enjoyed the big sit!!

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Weather: Delightful, mostly sunny, 44-65 F., wind SW, 0-5 mph gusting to 10 mph,

Location: Knowles Marsh 1 spillway, Patuxent Research Refuge, Laurel, MD.

Time At Location: 05:20 to 18:20, 13 hours

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.

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Weather: AM foggy, calm clear skies, cold; PM cloudy, windy, cold

Location: Winsor Dam at the Quabbin Reservoir

Time At Location: 6:30 AM to 6:30 PM

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. After noon the wind picked up sharply; it became nearly impossible to hear birds, and most species took cover other than gulls, raptors, and waterfowl. However, two of the last three species were probably the two most exciting birds of the day, the Bonaparte's Gull and Red-throated Loon, neither of which is commonly found on the Quabbin.

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My efforts to drum up either teammates or competition via the MassBird e-mail list were mostly fruitless, with the exception of my one teammate Chris (whom I had never met before this Sit). However, several local birders did drop by briefly during our vigil to say hello. Dozens more passers-by asked us about Bald Eagles, the one bird for which Quabbin is famous.

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Weather: Clear - from the 40's to the 70s and back to the 40s

Location: Deck overlooking yard

Time At Location: Off and on from midnight to 5PM

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

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Weather: SUNNY, FROST, CHILLY, LIGHT WIND

Location: NAZARETH, PA - BACKYARD

Time At Location: 11 HOURS

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. There was frost on the backyard lawn. Feeding station has activity in spurts. Not sure if I have another hawk luring around in the treeline? Wish we would see a Cedar Waxwing...I have three dwarf crabapple trees loaded with fruit!

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Had a cooper hawk catch a dove at the bottom of my feeding station.

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Weather: Mostly sunny, mild breeze, extremely warm for October

Location: observation platform beside St. Marks Lighthouse

Time At Location: 7 AM to 1:30 PM

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.

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Bald Eagles were courting, Reddish Egrets were dancing, raccoons were playing.

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Weather: Am clear cold & calm with temps in low 30's at 6 AM. In PM, breezy, partly cloudy, temps ranging to high 50s.

Location: Staion 43 Marsh, South Windsor, CT

Time At Location: 5:45 AM - 4:45 PM

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. An adult Pied-billed Grebe with a much smaller (young?) bird trailing it was interesting as this species is not known to breed in this area. In the afternoon, the breeze picked up and raptors along with it. The final bird for the day was Hairy Woodpecker.

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When Brian got out of his car prior to 6 AM, he flushed a Great Horned Owl from a tree right next to us. It never called......and certainly startled Brian. There were hundreds of warblers this day, but not one of them was anything other than a yellow-rumped.

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Weather: partly cloudy, but adequate amounts of sun

Location: Linglestown, Pennsylvania

Time At Location: 7:00 am - 5:30 pm

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. Too many gardening chores have held my attention. Now it's Fall and the chores have decreased. Since it's felt like there are a greater number of birds and bird species than previous years, I decided that this year I would do The Big Sit! in my own backyard and "scope" out "my" birds. At 7:00 am in light fog and 43 degrees I settled into a sleeping bag that I'd draped on a lounge chair and with a heavy winter jacket and a hat under its hood, in jeans and sweatshirt, I managed to stay warm. By 10:00 am it was a mostly clear blue sky with sunshine, but a cool breeze kept the temp at about 55. I had logged in 14 species and was enjoying my study of the immatures, knowing that many of them had fledged right there in my little corner of the world. There was lots of bird activity, but many of the same species came and went and by 2:30 pm I'd logged in only 4 more species. At 3:00 pm I got tired of the same old, same old, so I left the circle and turned compost in the back corner of the property for a half hour. I returned in a more positive mood, but had to wait 45 minutes until, "My gosh, it's a grackle!" I don't remember seeing one in the yard since early Spring. And a little later, "Finally, it's the Carolina wren!" And at 5:02 pm, the bird I'd been waiting for, "our" brown thrasher - a bird new to our area this year. It showed itself in our neighbor's yard and later walked 10 feet behind my chair. When I left the circle at 5:30 pm, I had identified 21 species - not bad for my small suburban back yard with no attraction for water birds and little chance of seeing raptors. Also, I'm lousy at identifying warblers; I haven't the patience. I think I met by objective - determining that I'm seeing more species of birds in my habitat. It was a good Big Sit!