Well it's finally done. The first annual Central Basin Audubon Society
'Grant County Big Day' was completed on May 31st.

The county was divided into 5 areas and each team was assigned an area that
they must remain in until 12:00 noon. After noon teams were allowed to roam
at will.

Three teams participated. 103 species were identified and everyone seemed
happy and tired at the end of the day. No real rarities were identified, and
Area 1 went uncovered (northern Grant County) due to a family emergency. On
Monday two participants went on outings to Area 1 and pushed the species
count to 123 for the county for the weekend.

Ken Knittle's Grant County Checklist was used to tabulate and score points.
The best birds seen during the count included a Cassin's Finch, Tricolored
Blackbird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Prairie Falcon, Western & Mountain
Bluebirds.

Steve Frazier and Teri Pieper won the honor of being Grant County 'Big Day'
Champions with 86 species and 114 total points.

Many thanks to the teams and individuals that participated. We hope to see
you next year.

Doug Schonewald
Moses Lake, WA
dschone8 at bentonrea.com