Hi all,

The First Annual Puget Sound Area Yard Bird Race, covering yard bird sightings from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004, has drawn entrants in all categories. In King County so far the leaders are within 3 species of each other, at 70 and 67, making this race far more exciting than the Baseball World Series at this moment. Perhaps lending even more excitement to these races is the possibility that someone who has been keeping a yard list to themselves might still enter at this point so no lead in this race is completely safe until December 31 when the results are certified. (Baseball lacks this intrinsic excitement-builder.) Anyone who is keeping a yard list in the Puget Sound Area is invited and encouraged to enter!

The current leaders are:

Overall: Eric & Laura Kraig. Unincorporated Thurston Co. near Nisqually Reach, 118

Class O #1 King County, outside Seattle: Norma Larson Tukwila 70

Class O King County Linda Davey #1 Sammamish 67

Class O King County Christy Anderson #1 Bellevue 55

Class O Dawn Bailey #1 Eatonville 54

#1 Class W (waterview, Seattle) Denis Da Silvas Duwamish Turning Basin 55

#1 Class G (greenbelt, Seattle) Lynne Darnell West Seattle 50

#2 Georgia Conti 38

Class R (residential, Seattle) Ed Newbold & Delia Scholes 45

Mt. Baker Sam Wood 38

Queen Anne Rachel Lawson 25

Class M & Greenwood Patricia Lott Greenwood 26

Notice that I have no breakdown for types of areas outside Seattle. This could get changed for the 2nd Annual race in 2005.

Notice the problem in Class R inside Seattle where the leader happens to have organized the contest. This is of course unacceptable, and I?m hoping a Seattle residential entrant will come in with a higher list, or the current leader will be scratched. Anyone with a list over 45 in Class R is especially invited to enter.

If prizes are some kind of a barrier, just specify ?no prizes? and we?ll pass them on to someone else. The only non-negotiable issue in this contest is a willingness to speak with the press or media, and the reality is that media interest is nowhere near a given, so this is probably no big deal.



(For anyone who missed all the long winded fine print about this race, here are all the rules and regulations. It began as an only inside Seattle event but now anyone in the Puget Sound Basin is invited and encouraged to enter.)

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

The entrant is willing to allow their phone number, optional email address, and general location of yard to be disclosed to the media in press releases, as well as the yard-list itself. The entrant would be willing to be interviewed by the press if the press were interested enough to call (by no means a given). This could be either after December 31 2004 when results would be official, or before.

Yard List Dates: This competition involves birds seen in or from your yard between and including January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2004.


TO ENTER (INSIDE SEATTLE):

The entrant should e-mail me at newboldwildlife at netscape.net or call me at 206 767 7169 with current list total (I?d love to see the list also, although they aren?t required at this point) plus class of entry (see below) and neighborhood as soon as possible. Send me the list of species seen to me if and when it?s needed.



Seattle Yards are divided into four classes:

Class W: yard with reasonably close salt or fresh water view

Class G: yard adjoining greenbelt

Class R: pure single family residential

Class M: condo or apartment in multifamily, commercial or industrial


Neighborhoods can have winners also, so don?t be reluctant to enter just because you think your yard list might be on the low side: it might be the highest in your neighborhood.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS OUTSIDE SEATTLE CITY LIMITS BUT IN THE PUGET SOUND BASIN
1. Yard must be 1.2 acres or less
1. The entrant is willing to allow their phone number, optional email address, and general location of yard to be disclosed to the media in press releases, as well as the species content of the yard-list itself. The entrant would be willing to be interviewed by the press if the press were interested enough to call (by no means a given). This could be either after December 31 2004 when results would be official, or before.

2. The entrant should try to include the name or names of the local, city or regional newspapers for their town or area. If there are local tv stations or radio stations that might cover this, please include them also if possible.

TO ENTER: email, call or send me the total number ASAP, along with the names of media that you know about. Be ready to send the species list if and when necessary.


PRIZES

PRIZE FOR ENTERING:

One box of 8 assorted Wildlife notecards (regular price $9.19) plus one 14 x 18? backed and wrapped Shade Coffee poster (regular price $16) from my store next to the newsstand at the market at First and Pike (#1 Economy Arcade). Sorry these are will call only?(you must pick it up at the store, any time in 2004 or 2005).


Winner?s Prizes:

Class O-- Your choice of Violet Green Swallow box from Chickadee Hut of Abbotsford BC/or the book Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest by Russell Link /or paid subscription to Washington Birder / or subscription to your local Audubon Society paper/ PLUS a $25 gift certificate to my store, (Ed Newbold Wildlife Artist) ; PLUS $75 gift to the Cascade Land Conservancy and a $75 gift to the Nisqually River Basin Land Trust in your name.


Class W -- Your choice of Violet Green Swallow box from Chickadee Hut of Abbotsford BC /or the book Landscaping for Wildlife in the Pacific Northwest by Russell Link /or paid subscription to Washington Birder / or subscription to Earthcare Northwest/ PLUS a $25 gift certificate to my store, (Ed Newbold Wildlife Artist) ; PLUS $150 gift to the International Bird Conservancy in your name

Class G-- same as prizes for Class W but the conservation gift is $75 gift to Skagit Land Conservancy and $75 to Inland Land Trust Reardon Pond acquisition effort in your name

Class R same as prizes for Class W but conservation gift is $75 gift to American Bird Conservancy, & $75 gift to Seattle Audubon Society in your name

Class M same as prizes for Class W but conservation gift is $75 gift to Rainforest Action Network, & $75 gift to Nature Conservany in your name

Top 5 Neighborhood winners but who are not class winners: free Swallow box or Landscaping Book

Top 5 city or region winners in Class O who don?t win overall: free swallow box or Landscaping book

More prizes are possible


Yardbird definition: any bird seen or heard from the yard. Thus if you heard or saw a bird while in your yard but had to walk several blocks away from your yard to identify it, that would count. A bird seen only one door away while you are headed home wouldn?t count, unless you could get to your yard and still see or hear it.
Please let any birders who keep a yard list but aren?t on Tweeters or who aren?t reading it every day know about this and contact me at 206 767 7169.


Thanks for considering entering this, and watch for Earthcare ad about it.


Ed Newbold tweeter by digest residential Beacon Hill between the fruit stand and Cleveland, last best yard birds Varied Thrush and Golden Crowned Kinglet newboldwildlife at netscape.net

























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