Hi all,

I thought it might interest some that the MARK OBERLE, featured on a piece on KUOW this morning who was caught in the Tsunami but survived it and stayed to help survivors in Phuket, Thailand is also an expert birder and the author of a Puerto Rico?s Birds in Photographs , a really great book that I love having even though I haven?t had a chance to get down there.

Really appreciated Cliff Swallow (Jane Hadley PI story) and Western Grebe posts recently and news about Green Lake heron, though sad.

The late report on the YardBirdRace is because I was in the bootheel of New Mexico doing Christmas Counts in the ?.RAIN! It was cold and wet and everybody was under-dressed and the bluebird numbers were way down but the sparrows were back thanks to last summers rains and that?s the bread and butter of birding down there in the winter, ask Bob Norton.

Anyway, here is the final press release for the YardBirdRace, sent to media today. Thanks very much to everyone who participated (prizes forthcoming), and there is already a 2005 entry of 19, so start counting!



PRESS RELEASE
The 1st Annual Greater SeattleYardBirdRace
Is now History!
Late entrants win Overall, Seattle Residential Class!
Point No Point resident Vic Nelson, entering on the last day of eligibility, has won the overall category of the 1st annual, 1st Ever Anywhere Greater Seattle YardBirdRace with a total of 133 species seen including the rarely-seen-Little Gull and the rarely-seen-from-shore Cassin?s Auklet. Nelson edged out Eric & Laura Kraig whose yard overlooks the Nisqually wildlife refuge and who had seemed a shoe-in all fall with an impressive 119 species including a Harris Sparrow, a bird more likely to show up in the Midwest than the Northwest.
Another late entrant, Don McVay, hailing from the north slope of Queen Anne, has won the key Residential Seattle Class with 55 species. McVay entered in the last week to edge out Sandra ?Sam? Woods of Mt. Baker and Georgia Conti of West Seattle.
After an excruciating fall with Sammamish resident Linda Davies slowly gaining on Tukwila resident Norma Larson, who had moved, the King County race finally ended in an anti-climactic 71-71 tie when a Barn Owl, unusual on County yardlists, showed up in Davies yard in late December. YardBirdRace officials only briefly entertained the notion of overtime and double overtime periods.
Well known birders Patrick and Ruth Sullivan walked away with the Pierce County win with a cool 84 species. The Sullivan?s list contains few waterbirds but reads like a who?s who of the songbirds that can occur in Western Washington.
Seattle M Class (multifamily) went to Patricia Lott whose 28 included a Thayer?s Gull. Thayer?s Gulls are not common in Seattle and often go unnoticed to boot.
A Mother & 14-year-old daughter team is #1 in Brier with 49 and in the process has won all of Snohomish County. YardBirdRace does not claim that no one in Snohomish had a higher list, merely that no one from Snohomish County entered the YardBirdRace with a higher list. YardBirdRace entrants have implicitly promised a willing interest in speaking with the media.
Seattle W (Waterview) was won by Denis DeSlivis from his working yard at the Turning Basin, with 60 species, holding off a South Seattle Challenge from Hofman/Marrazzo of 57.
Ties seemed to predominate in King County, with Bellevue and Redmond also tied at 55, by Christy Anderson and Grace Olliver respectively.
Greenbelt class in Seattle was won by West Seattle resident Lynne Darnell, who led G since the YardBirdRace was launched in late September and whose list boasts a very unusual White Breasted Nuthatch. (The commoner Nuthatch is the Red Breasted in Seattle).

Wildlife Artist Ed Newbold is trying to promote birds, birdwatching and wildlife-friendly landscaping of yards with the YardBirdRace. Yardbirds are defined as birds that are heard or seen from the house or yard of less than 1.2 acres, and then identified without the aid of a car.
Ed Newbold operates a small store at the entrance to the Pike Place Market at 1st & Pike in downtown Seattle. He publishes prints, posters and notecards of his paintings which include wildlife, birds Market and Northwest Scenes. He has been in business at the Market for 22 years.

YardBirdRace Final Results
#1 Overall: Vic Nelson
Kitsap Co. near Point No Point 133

#1 Thurston County: Eric & Laura Kraig.
Unincorporated Thurston Co. near Nisqually Reach 119

#1 Pierce Co #1 Fircrest Ruth & Patrick Sullivan Fircrest, WA 84

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


#1 (tie) King Co. Linda Davey Sammamish 71

#1 Snohomish Co. Liz & Tayler (age 14) Brooks Brier 49

#1 Bellevue Christy Anderson Bellevue 55

#1 Redmond Grace Olliver Redmond 55



#1 Eatonville Dawn Bailey Eatonville 55

#1 Class W (waterview, Seattle) Denis DeSilvis
Duwamish Turning Basin 60

#2 Class W #1 South Seattle Jo Hofman & Jeanne Marrazzo 57


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

#1 Class R Don McVay North Queen Anne 55


#1 Class M & Greenwood Patricia Lott Greenwood 26



#1 Mt Baker Sandra ?Sam? Woods 43



#1 West Seattle Georgia Conti 41



#1 Phinney Ridge (Class R) Brett Wolfe 34

#1 South Queen Anne (Class R) Rachel Lawson 25

#1 Mapleleaf (Class R) Simone Cook 41


#1 Union Hill (East of Redmond) Margaret St. Clair 29

I hope I didn?t forget anybody, and thanks again. Feedback is welcome.

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



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