Greetings All:
This year's competition: Rich Kostecke's Austin yard vs. Anthony Hewetson's
Lubbock yard. The rules: anything that can be seen from the yards (no
restrictions to yard 'airspace'), heard birds subject to review and
agreement, no eye gouging, and no birding below the belt.
Rich ended October with 78 species and November kicked out absolutely
nothing new, leaving him stranded at 78 species, so far, for 2016. He
didn't get to bird his yard much during the month but stated - and I can
believe it, given the weekend I spent visiting - that 'nothing was flying
over'. Nothing, in his case, is an endless, swirling mass of White-winged
Doves.
Anthony ended October with 85 species and the first four days of November
brought him overflights of American Crow, Brown-headed Cowbird, and
Brewer's Blackbird, bringing him up to 88 species, so far, for 2016. There
was nothing whatsoever new beyond the 4th of November, despite hours spent
working in the yard and scanning the skies.
Rich seems to think that Anthony has 'this contest in the bag' but I
wouldn't put it past him (given the list he rattled off of easy misses) to
rack up a few more before the year is over.
Anthony 'Fat Tony' Hewetson; Lubbock