Hi all,

?A BARN OWL in King County turns the race there into a 71-71 tie, while a new residential class entrant gives the unlikely neighborhood of Queen Anne bragging rights in Seattle. ?Meanwhile a 14 year-old propels team to a likely victory in Brier!

? ?Conventional wisdom might have it that YardBirdRace excitement would die down in late October, after the fall migration has ended and most yardlists have settled down for the year. ?But this is not the case! ?The high mobility of even ?nonmigratory? birds plus the informal YardBirdRace rules (entrants may register at any time throughout the year, so could sit on a list almost like a winning e-bay bid, and submit it in the last hour of the year) mean excitement actually builds as the deadline (midnight Dec. 31, a lowering ball on your tv set will commemorate the moment) approaches. ?It?s as though a team you didn?t know was in the league could beat the New York Yankees or the Seattle Storm in the final game of the season.
? ?This is what?s happening now. ?Residential Seattle class is now led by Don McVay of North Queen Anne with 55 species, the most recent one being a CHESTNUT BACKED CHICKADEE that was added only yesterday.
? ?The King County lead has become a tie, as was more or less predicted in the last press release, with Linda Davies of Sammamish picking up an exciting BARN OWL to tie Norma Larson of Tukwila, who has moved, at 71 each. Make sure you keep an eye peeled tomorrow, Linda!
? ?? A new entry that is likely headed for victory in Brier is 49 by the mother/daughter team of Liz and Tayler Brooks. ?Tayler, just 14 years of age, points to CALIFORNIA GULL as one of the most unusual birds on their great list.
?
? ?
? THE LEADERBOARD (with just over 24 hours till the deadline: Entries welcome until midnight December 31, 2004.)

#1 Overall: Eric & Laura Kraig. ? ? Thurston Co. near Nisqually Reach, ? ? 119

#1 ?Pierce County ?#1 Fircrest ?Ruth & Patrick Sullivan ?Fircrest, WA ? ? 84

#1 (tie) King County, #1 Tukwila ?: ? Norma Larson ? ? ? ?Tukwila ? ? ? ? 71

#1 (tie) ? King County #1 ? Sammamish : ?Linda Davey ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 71

#1 ?Bellevue ? Christy Anderson ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ? ? ? ?55

#1 ? ?Redmond ? Grace Olliver ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 55
#1 ? ?Eatonville ? ?Dawn Bailey ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 55
#1 ? ? Brier ? Liz & Tayler Brooks ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?49
#1 Seattle overall and #1 Class W ?(waterview, in Seattle) ? ?Denis DeSilvis ? ?Duwamish Turning Basin ? ? ? ? ? ?60

#2 Class W Jo Hoffman & Jeanne Marrazzo South Seattle ? ?57 ?(note: this entry highlights the ambiguity of the classes as the water is about a 1/4 mile away, arguing perhaps for more classes (?)).

#1 Class G (greenbelt Seattle) ? #1 West Seattle ? ?Lynne Darnell ? ?West Seattle ? ? ? 50
#1 Class R ? #1 North Queen Anne Don McVay ? ? ? ?55
#2 Class R ? #1 Mt. Baker ?(residential Seattle) ? ?Sandra (Sam) Wood ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 43
#3 ?Class R ? ? ?Georgia Conti ? ? West Seattle ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 41 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
#1 ? Phinney Ridge ?(Class R) ? ? ? ? ? Brett Wolfe ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?34
#1 ?South Queen Anne (Class R) ? ? ? ? ? ?Rachel Lawson ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?25

#1 Class M ?(multifamily Seattle) ?Patricia Lott ? ? ? ? ?Greenwood ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 26

Late entrants are still very welcome. ?Enter by emailing me your current total list, the whereabouts of your yard of less than 1.2 acres, and your phone number. ?Also try to include the name of your local neighborhood or town or region newspaper and possibly any local tv or radio that I wouldn?t know about. ? Entering constitutes a willingness to be publicized and talk to the media ?.

Entrants can pick up a door prize at my store, a box of 8 wildlife note cards and a shade coffee poster. ?

Yearbirds are defined as birds seen from the yard, and do not have to have been physically in the yard, from January 1 2004 through December 34, 2004.

The next press release should come out early in the first week of the new year and advertisements announcing the winners should follow.

Ed Newbold, residential Beacon Hill ?Seattle. newboldwildlife at netscape.net




__________________________________________________________________
Switch to Netscape Internet Service.
As low as $9.95 a month -- Sign up today at http://isp.netscape.com/register

Netscape. Just the Net You Need.

New! Netscape Toolbar for Internet Explorer
Search from anywhere on the Web and block those annoying pop-ups.
Download now at http://channels.netscape.com/ns/search/install.jsp