Bird's-Eye View: Consider it a tailgate party for bird lovers

Birders can be a competitive lot. Count the most birds in a day, in a year or on a Christmas Bird Count. Who has the longest list of species in their yard? Even the Great Backyard Bird Count has expanded into competition among cities and counties to outdo each other in lists submitted and species found. On Oct. 12, The Big Sit offers a noncompetitive and laid-back alternative for seeing a lot of local birds.

The Big Sit is held by Birder's Digest magazine and the New Haven Bird Club, which started it about 10 years ago. The idea is to count the birds you see or hear from a circle that is 17 feet in diameter. People bring binoculars, spotting scopes, lawn chairs and plenty of food, and simply enjoy what has been described as "a tailgate party for birders." Most groups choose an active bird area in a local park or natural area, but perhaps you just want to invite friends to your back porch or deck.

I don't know how the Connecticut birders arrived at 17 feet, but that is one of the rules. There are just a few others:

Before Oct. 12, register your circle at www.birdersdigest.com/site/funbirds/bigsit.

Boasting rights at stake

Birds must be seen or heard by someone located inside the circle. There is no limit to the number of people you can try to fit within the 17-foot area.

If no one in the circle can identify a particular bird, someone can take a closer look and report back.

If that person sees or hears another species from outside the circle, it does not count unless someone also observes it from the circle.

The count period is 24 hours and starts at midnight (owl lovers take note).

Participants can work in shifts; no one has to be there the entire time.

Post the results at the Web site. Comments and photos are welcome, too.

They are calling this a noncompetitive ocassion, but they do extend bragging rights to the circle and the state with the most species. There also is a Golden Bird award of $500. The magazine and club are randomly selecting a bird. All circles that report that species are entered into a drawing for the prize.

Last year, about 200 circles took part. Most were in North America, but circles were also formed in Europe, Asia and Latin America. Circles in Cape May, N.J., and Los Osos, Calif., took honors with 115 species. In North Carolina, a group at Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge on the Outer Banks finished sixth with 99. The worldwide species count was 876, with 415 of those in North America.

Locally, we do not have the habitat to support the variety of waders, shorebirds, terns and ducks that can be seen at such places as Pea Island. But the Audubon Society of Forsyth County has been participating in The Big Sit since 2003, and its high count of recorded species is a respectable 39. In 2007, we were only two short of that, despite drought conditions that turned the Tanglewood Park wetland into a prairie and sent ducks and shorebirds flying elsewhere for relief.

This year, the chapter is moving its circle to the edge of Lake Katharine at Reynolda Gardens. The site offers a varied habitat of marsh, tall trees and open lawns. The lake area provides food and shelter for hawks, woodpeckers, flycatchers, bluebirds, robins, cedar waxwings, nuthatches and more. There should be a warbler or two, and perhaps even something unusual.

The Tanglewood wetland is a great place to see birds, but it is isolated from other public activities. With a more visible location at Lake Katharine, the chapter invites individuals and families to stop by, satisfy any curiosity about what this strange-looking group is doing, and have a talk about birds, habitat or whatever. Sitters will have extra binoculars and scopes to share. The Big Sit is not just another birding gathering, but it also is a chance to learn, socialize and have fun.

Do you want to be a Big Sitter? For information about taking part in the Forsyth Audubon Big Sit, contact Susan Jones at 768-9151, sljones@triad.rr.com.

■ Bird's-Eye View is a joint column by Ron Morris and Phil Dickinson. Today's column was written by Dickinson. Dickinson is a legal writer. He has been an active birder for 15 years, and is a past president of the Audubon Society of Forsyth County and heads the conservation committee. Morris retired after 24 years as curator at the N.C. Zoo. He has studied birds around the world and is currently the vice president of the Audubon Society of Forsyth County. If you have a birding question or story idea, write to Bird's-Eye View in care of Features, Winston-Salem Journal, P.O. Box 3159, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27101-3159, or send an e-mail to birding@wsjournal.com. Please type "birds" in the subject line.