Greetings All:
This year the competition will feature three competitors and their
counties (Brandon Best with Hill County, Anthony Hewetson with Floyd
County, and Rich Kostecke with Lee County).
Again, we will be weighting our county totals to eBird county totals
which, at the end of 2017, stood at 225 species in Floyd County, 230
species in Hill County, and 251 species in Lee County. Species
added to the counties during 2018 will not become a part of this weighting.
A change introduced this year - to make things fairer in terms of
people's work schedules - is that we only get two visits (to last no
longer than one day) to our counties per month.
The counties are close to each other in size and varieties of habitat
available with Hill County having the advantage of most permanent
water, Lee County having the advantage of a more southerly location,
and Floyd County having the advantage of a potentially better blend of
eastern and western species.
The results at the end of September: Anthony in the lead with 212
species (94.2222%), Rich in second (barely) with 220 species
(87.6494%), and Brandon in third (barely) with 201 species (87.3913%).
October, thanks mostly to the law of diminishing returns, was not the
bonanza hoped for by any of us but we all got some goodies.
Mr. Kostecke got the jump on things, hitting Lee County on 10/5/18 and
picking up three species (Magnolia Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler,
and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher) nudging his total up to 223 species
(88.8446%).
Mr. Hewetson was a bit pushed for time as he wrapped up his anatomy
class for the year and prepared for a trip to Australia so he hit
Floyd County on 10/6/18 and 10/7/18. His Saturday visit kicked out
three new species (Broad-winged Hawk, Green-tailed Towhee, and
Peregrine Falcon) bringing him up to 215 species (95.5556%) and his
Sunday visit kicked out six new species (Osprey, Double-crested
Cormorant, Red-naped Sapsucker, Long-billed Curlew, Golden Eagle, and
American Bittern) bringing him up to 221 species (98.2222%).
Mr. Best made his first October visit to Hill County on 10/11/18 and
racked up one really nifty new species (Pileated Woodpecker) bringing
him up to 202 species (87.8261%).
Rich, taking a chance to relax before the Australia trip, headed back
out to Lee County on 10/17/18 and adding but a single species to his
list (Northern Harrier) bringing it up to 224 species (89.2430%).
Brandon made his second Hill County visit on 10/27/18, possibly
wishing he was in Australia, and added three surprisingly unremarkable
species (Ruddy Duck, Herring Gull, Sandhill Crane) bringing his total
up to 205 species (89.1304%).
What was really interesting about our additions for the month is that,
for the most part, amazing species were not on the menu: almost
everything added to each list was pretty much a normal critter for the
respective region. In many cases, we were surprised that we had not
already picked them up (Ruddy Duck for Brandon Best, Double-crested
Cormorant for Anthony Hewetson, and Northern Harrier for Rich Kostecke
come to mind - really; we had to wait until October for these)
To sum up: at the end of October Anthony was still in the lead with
221 species (98.2222%), Rich was just barely ahead of Brandon with 224
species (89.2430%), and Brandon was just barely behind Rich with 205
species (89.1304%).
November is almost over and I know the boys have been getting out and
seeing things. I, on the other hand, had to take a break as I
returned from Australia with a truly amusing flu-like illness and I
made no November visits to my county.
The November report will be out soon and I think, at this point, all
of us are looking forward to December, getting our last visits in, and
taking breaks from our respective counties.
Anthony Hewetson; Lubbock
Edit your Freelists account settings for TEXBIRDS at
//www.freelists.org/list/texbirds
Reposting of traffic from TEXBIRDS is prohibited without seeking permission
from the List Owner
