Needless to say, my visit to Bunche was a very rewarding time. As I am want to do, I continued to photograph the wildlife in very low light conditions. The second to the last and last image presented were photographed at 2500 ISO at 1/80th and 1/125th second, five and six minutes after sunset, respectively. Wildlife enthusiast Tom Obrock reported to me that he had observed Long-billed Curlew at Bunche Beach on the morning of 11 July, but I failed to see the species. The thirty or so flight images of Roseate Spoonbill I captured at sunset are unacceptable due to their lack of definition. I have been entertained reading reports of the June "challenge" which is highlighted after the last image in this article. From his blog, please be sure to read Artie Morris' top 10 bird photography tips.
Please see: Sun Exposes Itself At Bunche Beach Article I
Thanks to Rex for taking the time to compile all the numbers, and to Becky and
the other Alachua birders for coming up with such a wonderful way to get by the
doldrums of summer. For those of us here in Dade County, we now can't wait for
spring migration to be over so we can get to the serious birding in June! When
else can you find yourself saying 'Ring-billed Gull, yes!" In addition to the
fun, we are learning a lot more about our birds and where and when they can be
found. Each June brings new surprises (Common Eider in Pinellas!), and birds
that we take for granted at other times of the year can be really exciting.
Congrats to all who participated this year. I look forward to the results of
many Junes to come.
Roberto "Toe" Torres
Miami-Dade
rtorres@tnc.org
________________________________________
From: Birdbrains - Florida Birds/Natural History [BRDBRAIN@LISTSERV.ADMIN.USF.EDU]
on behalf of Rex Rowan [rexrowan@GMAIL.COM]
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2013 3:01 PM
To: BRDBRAIN@LISTSERV.ADMIN.USF.EDU
Subject: [BRDBRAIN] Results of The June Challenge 2013
Results kept trickling in, so I held off publishing the final totals until
today.
If anyone asked me - and nobody has, so far - I'd say the chief aim of The June
Challenge is to encourage intramural competition among birders within a given
county. Not for the sake of competition itself, but because competition often
drives birders into the field with the thought, "I need one more bird to stay
ahead of that annoying poser [fill in name here]." So they go out, and while
they're looking at a Least Bittern they discover, let's say, the first U.S.
record of Rufous-necked Wood-Rail
(this wasn't, strictly speaking, connected to the Challenge, but birders who do
the Challange can tell plenty of similar stories). The competition isn't the
point. The discovery of good birds is the point. But the discovery of good birds
requires birders to be in the field - and in June, birders often need motivation
to get in the field. That's the rationale for framing it as a competition.
So the list that follows is a little bit beside the point. The highest
individual total in the state, the highest cumulative county total in the state
- they're goals worth pursuing, and victories worth celebrating - but the
by-products are the important part: the time spent outdoors looking at birds;
the expanding awareness of what's present in your home county at this time of
year and what's not, what's common and what's not; and the unexpected
discoveries. I hope everyone had a good time doing the Challenge, and is making
plans to do it again - and to invite more birding buddies - next year.
On to the results.
Rocky Milburn of Hillsborough County turned in the highest individual total, 142
("Glad it's over. Got up early every morning and went after work til late"). Ron
Smith of Pinellas came in second with 137. Michael Brothers of Volusia was third
with 132, edging out Toe Torres of Miami-Dade, who came in fourth with 131. Sue
Tavaglione of Pinellas was fifth with 127.
Some counties compiled a cumulative list of all species recorded by all birders.
Miami-Dade came in first with 176 species (151 ABA-countable, 25 not). Pinellas
was second with 150, all ABA countable. Hillsborough might have given them a run
for their money, had they compiled a cumulative list, since Rocky Milburn by
himself put them in third place with 142. Palm Beach came in fourth, with 138
(134 ABA-countable, 4 not), and Michael Brothers's personal list of 132 put
Volusia in fifth place.
The June Challenge continues to grow, here and elsewhere. In Florida we had 136+
entries from 29 counties. Alachua County, home of the Challenge, had the
greatest number of participants, 49. Pinellas was second with 28, the 13 highest
of which are shown below. Lee County was third, with 9. We had 30 submissions
from outside Florida: 1 from Norfolk, England, 1 from California, 4 from
Colorado, 4 from Delaware, 2 from Georgia, 1 from New Mexico, and 17 from Texas.
Jay Keller of San Diego County, California, submitted the largest list in the
history of The June Challenge, with a mind-bending 227 species. Chris Bennett of
Kent County, Delaware, was second with 151. Our own Rocky Milburn was third with
142. Let me also call your attention to a submission from Tony Galluci, a birder
in the Texas Hill Country, whose Kerr County list includes not only birds, but
mammals native and exotic, herps, fish, and insects. I've supplied hyperlinks
for a handful of these out of state lists so that you can look them over
yourself and start making travel plans.
Thanks for playing! See you next year.
Rex Rowan
Gainesville
FLORIDA
ALACHUA 126 (123/3)
Jonathan Mays 116 (114/2)
Rex Rowan 114 (112/2)
Howard Adams 113 (111/2)
Lloyd Davis 113 (111/2)
Adam Zions 113 (111/2)
Barbara Mollison 112 (110/2)
Ron Robinson 110 (108/2)
Anne Kendall 109 (107/2)
Marie Zeglen 109 (107/2)
Frank Goodwin 105 (103/2)
Danny Shehee 105 (103/2)
Chris Cattau 104 (102/2)
Maralee Joos 103 (101/2)
Ria Leonard 103 (101/2)
John Martin 102 (100/2)
Anne Barkdoll 102 (99/3)
Barbara Shea 101 (99/2)
Samuel Ewing 97 (96/1)
Dean Ewing 96 (95/1)
Bob Carroll 96 (94/2)
Irma Harris 91 (91/0)
Phil Laipis 91 (91/0)
Felicia Lee 90 (89/1)
Helen Warren 89 (87/2)
Sharon Kuchinski 88 (87/1)
Becky Enneis 88 (86/2)
Judy Bryan 87 (87/0)
Tina Greenberg 86 (85/1)
Elizabeth Martin 84 (84/0)
John Hintermister 83 (83/0)
Steven Goodman 83 (82/1)
Conrad Burkholder 82 (80/2)
Erin Kalinowski 81 (78/3)
Matt Kalinowski 81 (78/3)
Ignacio Rodriguez 80 (78/2)
Debbie Segal 79 (79/0)
Barbara Woodmansee 76 (75/1)
Francisco Jiminez 72 (70/2)
Geoff Parks 67 (65/2)
Mary Landsman 65 (65/0)
Nora Parks 65 (63/2)
Bob Knight 64 (64/0)
Emily Schwartz 64 (64/0)
Sidney Wade 63 (61/2)
Carol Huang 61 (59/2)
Angel Kwolek-Folland 53 (53/0)
Owen Parks 44 (42/2)
Bill Enneis 42 (42/0)
Kathy Fanning 34 (34/0)
BAKER
Bob Richter 94 (91/3)
BREVARD 112 (110/2)
Jim Eager 66 (65/1)
BROWARD
Alan Seelye-James 71 (68/3)
CLAY
Martha Fethe 47 (47/0)
Jan Morgan 43 (43/0)
Debbie Cusick 43 (41/2)
COLLIER
Monica Higgins 107 (106/1)
DUVAL
Thomas Rohtsalu 121 (119/2)
Carly Wainwright 100 (99/1)
Laura Johannsen 99 (97/2)
Martha Fethe 50 (50/0)
FLAGLER
Amber Bobbitt 50 (50/0)
GLADES
Ann Starck 60 (59/1)
HENDRY
Kim Willis 80 (80/0)
HERNANDO
Stephen Mann 105 (105/0)
HILLSBOROUGH
Rocky Milburn 142 (142/0)
Ken Allen 104 (104/0)
Brenda Marcischak 101 (101/0)
INDIAN RIVER 83
Marion Conley 59 (59/0)
LAKE
Leann Streeper 76 (76/0)
Bob Streeper 69 (69/0)
Nadia Streeper 58 (58/0)
LEE
David McQuade 105 (105/0)
Tammy McQuade 105 (105/0)
Marie Di Rosa 104 (104/0)
Bob Hargrave 104 (101/3)
Vince McGrath 93 (93/0)
Alicia Lusk 87 (87/0)
Dave Lusk 87 (87/0)
Jose Padilla 57 (57/0)
France Paulson 53 (53/0)
MANATEE 128 (125/3)
Billie Knight 124 (121/3)
Jerry Knight 124 (121/3)
Deb Yodock 72 (71/1)
MARION
Alice Horst 98 (93/5)
MARTIN
Nancy Price 94 (91/3)
MIAMI-DADE 176 (155/21)
Roberto Torres 131 (119/12)
Larry, Christine, and Philip Manfredi 110 (107/3)
MONROE
Chelsea Barattini 62 (57/5)
ORANGE
Bob Sicolo 113 (105/8)
Ellen Rocco 105 (97/8)
Dick Smith 96 (88/8)
Sarah Linney 17 (17/0)
OSCEOLA
David Williams 98 (93/5)
Jean Williams 98 (93/5)
PALM BEACH 138 (134/4)
Marcello Gomes 101 (97/4)
Chuck Weber 97 (96/1)
Sue Young 88 (86/2)
Susan McKemy 72 (70/2)
PASCO
Ken Tracey 112 (112/0)
PINELLAS 150 (150/0)
Ron Smith 137 (137/0)
Sue Tavaglione 127 (127/0)
Rich Miller 126 (126/0)
Eric Plage 118 (118/0)
Kathy Duncan 117 (117/0)
Lori Smith 117 (117/0)
Mark Burns 115 (115/0)
Pete Plage 114 (114/0)
Troy Ploger 104 (104/0)
Travis Young 103 (103/0)
Jeff Miller 101 (101/0)
Tom Mast 100 (100/0)
Don Margeson 99 (96/3)
ST. JOHNS
Diane Reed 106 (105/1)
Susan Killeen 106 (104/2)
Chris Hooker 100 (98/2)
SARASOTA 124 (121/3)
Claire Herzog 118 (115/3)
Stu Wilson 118 (115/3)
Nancy Edmondson 114 (112/2)
SEMINOLE
Scott Simmons 96 (95/1)
VOLUSIA
Michael Brothers 132 (130/2)
Joyce Stefancic 88 (88/0)
UNITED KINGDOM
NORFOLK, ENGLAND
Sue Cooper and Kim Tarsey 121
CALIFORNIA
SAN DIEGO COUNTY
Jay Keller 227 (224/3)
(Jay posted some photos of significant June Challenge finds on his Flickr site
here.) 87 (86/1)
COLORADO
BOULDER COUNTY
Sam Fason 68
EL PASO COUNTY
Sam Fason 60
LARIMER COUNTY
Sam Fason 79
WELD COUNTY
Sam Fason 35
DELAWARE
KENT COUNTY
Chris Bennett 151
NEW CASTLE COUNTY
Sally O'Byrne 118
SUSSEX COUNTY
Sharon Lynn 129
Sue Gruver 125
GEORGIA
APPLING COUNTY
Linda Aycock 27 (27/0)
JEFF DAVIS COUNTY
Linda Aycock 14 (14/0)
NEW MEXICO
CHAVES COUNTY
Cameron Carver 74 (74/0)
TEXAS
BASTROP COUNTY
Carlos Ross 41
BEXAR COUNTY
Sheridan Coffey 84 (79/5)
BLANCO COUNTY
Sam Fason 71
BREWSTER COUNTY
Heidi Trudell 96 (96/0)
COLLIN COUNTY
Caleb Frome 95 (90/5)
HARRIS COUNTY
Bill Wright 50 (50/0)
HAYS COUNTY
Carlos Ross 13
KERR COUNTY
Tony Galluci 87 (86/1)
LUBBOCK COUNTY
Steve Collins 112 (109/3)
Cameron Carver 105 (102/3)
Anthony Hewetson 100 (100/0)
REAL COUNTY
Tony Galluci 28 (28/0)
ROCKWALL COUNTY
Brad Fields 50
SAN PATRICIO COUNTY
Richard Brittain 54
TARRANT COUNTY
Lulu Lee 49
TRAVIS COUNTY
Carlos Ross 100 (98/2)
Sam Fason 83
photo 15, 17, 19 en 30 are my favorites! But is is all very amazing. So beautiful! lovely pictures.
ReplyDeleteThanks you for sharing.
Maria