Tweeters, Friends, etc.

On Sunday, October 22, I will be conducting a "Big Sit" at Marymoor Park, and
I'D LOVE SOME HELP

"A What?"

A Big Sit is a for-fun one-day birding challenge. What challenge? To find as
many species of bird as possible from within a single 17 foot diameter circle!

The basic rules are as follows:

1) Observations can be made from any area within the state/country you live, or
wish to represent.
2) Observations can only be made from within a 17-foot (diameter) circle.
3) There's no limit to how many people can occupy one area (other than the
obvious spatial limitations). Bring some chairs. Have a picnic or barbeque.
Welcome passers-by and their contributions to your list.
4) If a bird is seen or heard from within the circle but is too distant to
identify, the circle can be left to get a closer look for confirmation.
However, any new bird seen or heard while confirming the original, can't be
counted unless it's seen from an "anchor" who stayed behind in your circle, or
when you return to your spot.
5) The Participants can work in shifts. No one person needs to be there
throughout the whole Sit. The area can be left and returned to as frequently as
desired, but you must be sure to return to the exact spot each time.
6) The same circle must be used for the entire Sit.
7) The BIG SIT will begin at midnight on October 22 and end 24 hours later.

Now, I can do this by myself, BUT it will be a lot MORE FUN if I have some
people to help out. I am not expecting ANYONE, not even myself, to be there
for the whole 24-hours. In fact, the hours of darkness will probably be
skipped completely or mostly (depending on whether I can get permission from
the KC Parks department, and whether anyone can be found who is *willing* to
bird in the black).

I would welcome anyone who can show up for a few hours and help spot birds. I
have chosen a circle location which provides views in several directions, each
of which can use someone to keep a watch for flying birds. I will provide some
lawn chairs, a tarp to protect us from rain if necessary, a ladder to allow
viewing over some of the bushes, and some food and drink.

IF YOU WANT TO HELP OUT, DROP ME AN EMAIL :) It's hard to have too many
people, since we can use scouts - we don't all need to cram into the 17-foot
circle.

Now, if you are wondering what birds might be at Marymoor on the 22nd, I have
seen/heard almost 90 species in 30+ visits to Marymoor in the last half of
October over the past few years. Of course, several of those I've only seen
once, but even discounting those, there's still nearly 70 species. Most of
those *could* be seen from the count circle. To get an idea of the list, look
at the birds seen in October as listed on http://www.scn.org/fomp/birdlist.htm.

Oh - and one of those one-time-only birds was Washington's fifth state record
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER last year on October 20...

So please, I'd love to have some company and assistance. For more information
on the Big Sit challenge, see http://members.aol.com/nhbirdclub/bigsit.htm

== Michael Hobbs
== Kirkland WA
== Hummer at isomedia.com
== http://www.scn.org/fomp/birding.htm