CT Birders - Our community garden harvest competition is over and the results are in...!! Be it known to all that ***Allen's Meadows in Wilton*** is our winner, tallying 103 bird species during October! Bauer Farm, at 98 species, fell just short of that amazing number, and five other community garden hotspots each tallied 60 or more species!! Below are the final totals: Wilton - Allen’s Meadows - 103 Madison - Bauer Farm - 98 Woodbridge Community Gardens - 67 Mansfield Community Gardens - 66 Wallingford - Veteran’s Park - 63 Newington - Deming Young Farm - 61 West Hartford - Westmoor Park - 60 New Haven - Farnam Memorial Gardens and Yale Farm - 59 Litchfield - Thompson Preserve - 57 Vernon Community Gardens - 54 Redding Community Gardens - 52 Stratford Community Garden - 52 East Haddam - Harris Reserve and Municipal Area - 51 Ansonia Nature Center - 43 New Haven - Edgerton Park - 43 Bloomfield - Reservoir 2, Seabury - 42 Simsbury Community Gardens - 37 Killingworth - Parmelee Farm - 35 Sherman - Colonial Park - 31 To see what birds were found during October, click the hotspot links below: Ansonia Nature Center https://ebird.org/hotspot/L3572819/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Bloomfield - Reservoir 2, Seabury https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1564924/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec East Haddam - Harris Reserve and Municipal Area https://ebird.org/hotspot/L36996742/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Killingworth - Parmelee Farm https://ebird.org/hotspot/L4399349/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Litchfield - Thompson Preserve https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1341089/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Madison - Bauer Farm https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1793844/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Mansfield Community Gardens https://ebird.org/hotspot/L5039488/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec New Haven - Edgerton Park https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1458781/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec New Haven - Farnam Memorial Gardens and Yale Farm https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12546640/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Newington - Deming Young Farm https://ebird.org/hotspot/L13602860/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Redding Community Gardens and Municipal Area https://ebird.org/hotspot/L37061077/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Sherman - Colonial Park https://ebird.org/hotspot/L37009619/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Simsbury Community Gardens https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1297090/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Stratford Community Garden https://ebird.org/hotspot/L999829/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Vernon Community Gardens https://ebird.org/hotspot/L16550410/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Wallingford - Veteran’s Park https://ebird.org/hotspot/L471935/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec West Hartford - Westmoor Park https://ebird.org/hotspot/L198655/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Wilton - Allen’s Meadows https://ebird.org/hotspot/L464304/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec Woodbridge Community Gardens https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1290771/bird-list?yr=cur&m=10&rank=lrec At least 4 new eBird hotspots were added to our Connecticut hotspot list, thanks to the birders who participated in the contest. Several new patch birds were added to patch lists during the month as well. I hope that the birders who participated in the challenge will share any interesting experiences or what they learned or enjoyed along the way! Personally, the contest helped me focus on birding my local patch with extra intensity! It also paid off in the sense that I found a few species that were new to my patch list and some birds new to the patch itself. Shortly, I will post some of my checklists which include photos of birds seen during my visits. I hope that CT Birders will keep on birding these beautiful places going forward. Using eBird and keeping a patch list is fun and usually keeps your birding local - making it 'greener' than chasing birds. To find eBird hotspots near you, use the 'Explore Hotspots' tool in eBird: https://ebird.org/hotspots Good Birding, Chuck Imbergamo CT Birds Moderator Madison