World Series of Birding

Norm Saunders (osprey@ARI.Net)
Mon, 11 May 1998 05:02:40 -0500


Dear folks,

Well, Saturday turned out to be the worst weather ever documented for 
the World Series of Birding since its inception, this according to 
the guru Pete Dunne.  Also according to Pete Dunne: "Before you leave 
the banquet this morning, be sure to get a look at the MD 
Yellowthroat team hats!  They are kick ass!"

Anyway, it was raining at midnight when the Yellowthroats began 
birding and it really didn't stop for more than 5-10 minutes at a 
time for the remaining 24 hours.  Hal, Lynn, and Mark tallied 153 
species, placed 11th out of 32 teams (overall standings) and either 
3rd or 4th in the Single County group.  Leading them were the 
Canadians (the fearsome Kowa team who decided this year to only do 
Cape May County), with 176 species, closely followed by expatriate 
Michael O'Brien's team, the Leica Nighthawks, with 173 species.

Fran and I were thrilled at the opportunity to be birding on the same 
ground as all these phenoms and we managed to tally 93 species during 
about 8 hours of very WET birding ourselves, including a life Piping 
Plover on the beach off the Cape May Meadows.

As of right now, the pledge total has climbed to $8.30 and donations 
to $1,090.  We have 5 offical team hats we will be auctioning at the 
upcoming MOS Annual Meeting, as well as 5 really spiffy WSB T-shirts. 
See y'all at Wisp!

Once again, to all of you who supported our efforts this 
year--THANKS!

Best,
Norm

===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net