From the drop of the ball on January 1st to the stare from the yellow eyes of a Snowy Owl on December 31st, hundreds of Vermont birders scoured fields and fens, mountains and meadows, lakes and lawns to discover as many species as possible during a single calendar year. In 2013, the 3rd annual Vermont County Birding Quest pitted county versus county, birder against birder — all engaged in a friendly rivalry for top honors of the highest species count. The main idea behind the year-long Quest is simply to get people out birding, promote camaraderie, and better document bird life across the state, using Vermont eBird. With over 29,000 eBird checklists submitted and over 2.4 million individual birds tallied, there is no doubt it was another banner year for Vermont birders.

Read more at http://ebird.org/content/vt/news/champions-crowned-for-3rd-annual-vermont-county-bird-quest/