The Vermont 2011 County Birding Quest is cruising! Half of our 14 counties have topped the 100 species mark, birders have tallied a total of 176 species statewide (157 in April alone), and a staggering 7,370 eBird checklists have been submitted! For context, in March of 2010 Vermont eBirders submitted 1,058 checklists and recorded 125 species. Last month, the number of species was identical (125), but 2,270 eBird checklists were submitted. Numerically so far in 2011, Snow Geese claim top honors with 44,000 individuals reported (followed by Canada Goose at 6,800), while American Crows appeared on the greatest number of checklists at 1,118 (Black-capped Chickadee was second at 997). Check it out for yourself at http://ebird.org/ebird/vt/eBirdReports. Several County Quest sponsors have stepped up with some nice awards, which you can view at http://www.vtecostudies.org/quest/rules.html. This spring, Birds & Beans coffee is offering a challenge to all you java-sipping birders: for each county, the eBirder who initially reports the local arrival of Birds & Bean's iconic species -- Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Chestnut-sided Warbler and Baltimore Oriole -- will receive a corresponding 12-oz bag of Smithsonian independently certified Bird FriendlyŽ coffee. Birds & Beans has provided each county captain (see the list at http://www.vtecostudies.org/quest/countycaptains.html) with these 12-oz bags of coffee, and they will be distributed to the first eBirder reporting each of the 4 signature species. All should be moving north from their Neotropical wintering grounds now, so get out there and be the first in your county to intercept them. Good birding, and promote good conservation by drinking Birds & Beans coffee! Which county will be the first to hit 150?? Chris -- Chris Rimmer Vermont Center for Ecostudies P.O. Box 420 Norwich, VT 05055 802-649-1431 ext. 1 http://www.vtecostudies.org **************************************************************** To post messages, send e-mail to: [log in to unmask] Set your e-mail application to PLAIN TEXT ONLY to post messages. To contact the list owner: [log in to unmask] ---------------------------------------------------------------- Web based archives and subscription management are available at: http://listserv.dartmouth.edu/Archives/uv-birders.html ****************************************************************