Hi all -
The following was sent by Guy Monty, this year's organizer of the Brant
Festival Big Day. Sorry it is a bit long, but I believe you will find
it of interest - and maybe come up to participate next year!

Bruce Whittington
Ladysmith, BC
mailto: fieldnat at pacificcoast.net

Greetings birders,

Yesterday 9 teams of birders competed in the Parksville - Qualicum
area under a warm sunny sky on a beautiful day that began for most
under a glorius full moon hanging low over Mount Arrowsmith. A perfect
day to say the least. All teams agreed that the giant flock of diving
ducks off of Columbia Beach was the highlight of the day. 7 of the 9
teams were able to locate the male King Eider that has been present for
several weeks. This has to be the most ticked individual bird on
Vancouver Island for the last few years. In all, 135 species of birds
were reported by participants yesterday. A complete list will be posted
on the Brant Festival website in a week or so. www.brantfestival.bc.ca
Birds of interest seen yesterday included:
Yellow-billed Loon
Eared Grebe
Greater White-fronted Goose
American Black Duck
Blue Grouse
Surfbird
Iceland Gull
Glaucous Gull
Northern Pygmy-Owl
Hammond's Flycatcher
Cassin's Vireo
Townsend's Solitaire
Hermit Thrush
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Cliff Swallow
American Pipit
Townsend's Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Swamp Sparrow
American Goldfinch

Birds that are usually seen on the Brant Festival Big Day that were
missed yesterday included:
Western Screech-Owl
Barred Owl
Northern Saw-whet Owl
Rhinoceros Auklet
Barn Swallow
Evening Grosbeak

Individual team scores were as follows:
The Long and Short of It: 92 species
Northern Hurriers: 92 species
Violet-green Dream Team: 94
Not So Swifts: 103
Surf Scopers: 103
Old Country Twitchers: 103
Northern Sore-butts: 105
Indigos: 113
Lesser Scopes: 116

The prize for most species in the open category went to the Lesser
Scopes: Ed Pellizon, Nathan Hentze, Chris Saunders, and Jamie Fenneman.
The prize for the most species in the "green" category went to the
Northern Sore-butts who put on an astonishing 50+ kilometers and
actually came in third overall. Anne Nightingale, Laurie Savard, Rob
Gowan, and Guy Monty.
The Bird of the Day prize went to Guy Monty for finding a beautiful
Swamp Sparrow at the Englishman Estuary. Two teams enjoyed this
stunning rarity.
The award for biggest miss went to The Long and Short of It, who were
unable to locate a Belted Kingfisher.
The Tale of the Day award went to Anne Nightingale who regaled the
crowd with tales of river fordings, mechanical misadventures and aching
muscles.
The prize for the person who traveled the furthest to attend went to
Barbara Turner from Lynden, Washington U.S.A.
And the winner of the Bausch and Laumb Elite spotting scope, was Ed
Pellizon.

I hope that everyone reading this decides to enter next year, because
if you have never participated, you do not know what fun you are
missing out on!
Special thanks to Bushnell Performance Optics, The Backyard Wildbird
and Nature Store, Mulberry Bush Bookstore, The Victorian Birdhouse, and
The Qualicum Bay Resort, for donating great prizes for the awards.
A big thank you to Donna McKean, Lori Lynch, Richard Green, and Sandy
McRuer for helping out at the wrap-up. And a big thank you to Brenda
Paul, the Brant Festival organizer.
Hope to see you all at the Brant Festival Big Day Birding Competition
next year!
Guy L. Monty
Parksville, BC