Thank you Chuck for coming up with a clever way of getting people out to bird their local community gardens. I of course have the luxury of having Allen’s Meadow in my backyard and October is without a doubt the best month of the year to bird Allen’s. Between the pollinator meadow I’m working on, my community garden plot, and obviously birding, I’m at Allen’s most days but this friendly challenge inspired me to catch many sunrises there and enjoy late afternoons sitting back in my Adirondack chair searching the skies. I found some good birds but perhaps the biggest surprise for me was a flyover flock of 58 Brandt- a first for me at Allen’s thanks to this challenge! Joe Bear Wilton Sent from my iPhone Go GATORS! "In every walk in nature one receives far more than one seeks." -John Muir Message: 4 Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2024 02:06:49 +0000 From: "imbercj@comcast.net" <imbercj@comcast.net> Subject: [CT Birds] Community garden harvest - Final results To: CT Birds <ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> Message-ID: <LV8PR22MB5013F4DA9586A4948AD2BF16FE562@LV8PR22MB5013. namprd22.prod.outlook.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="Windows-1252" 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 ------------------------------ Subject: Digest Footer This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For list rules and subscription information visit: https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/ Email CTBirds mailing list submissions to: ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org To subscribe or unsubscribe visit: https://lists.ctbirding.org/list/ctbirds.lists.ctbirding.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via email, send an email with just "join" or "leave" in the subject or body to: ctbirds-request@lists.ctbirding.org You can email the person managing the list at: ctbirds-owner@lists.ctbirding.org ------------------------------ End of CTBirds Digest, Vol 6368, Issue 1 ****************************************

Thank you again, Chuck for challenging us to get out there and do some fun birding! I was only able to get out to one of the gardens (it felt like a sparrow-palooza that day, so many birds!), but already looking forward to visiting more next season. :)\ \ I do have a request for anyone who participated - if you took photos during the Community Garden Harvest Challenge and would be willing to have them shared to the Connecticut Ornithological Association’s social media (Facebook, Instagram, website) please let me know. I’d love to highlight these fun spaces across the state! You can send photos to me here: instagram@ctbirding.org. Could be photos of the birds you saw, the gardens themselves, or even a photo of you out there birding in those spaces. Happy Birding! Corey Leamy\ *Connecticut Ornithological Association IT*\ Chester --- Joe Bear wrote: > Thank you Chuck for coming up with a clever way of getting people out to bird their local community gardens. I of course have the luxury of having Allen’s Meadow in my backyard and October is without a doubt the best month of the year to bird Allen’s. Between the pollinator meadow I’m working on, my community garden plot, and obviously birding, I’m at Allen’s most days but this friendly challenge inspired me to catch many sunrises there and enjoy late afternoons sitting back in my Adirondack chair searching the skies. I found some good birds but perhaps the biggest surprise for me was a flyover flock of 58 Brandt- a first for me at Allen’s thanks to this challenge! > Joe Bear > Wilton > Sent from my iPhone > Go GATORS! > > "In every walk in nature one receives far more than one seeks." > \-John Muir