Birding Cup 2014 – Support Shaver’s Creek and the Nemesis Birders!

Northern Parula (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Northern Parulas, like this male, will hopefully be plentiful this weekend in central PA! (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

For the third year in a row, the Nemesis Birders are competing in central Pennsylvania’s Birding Cup! This annual birding contest is run by Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center as a fundraiser for their environmental education programs. We are hoping to defend our 1st place title for the third year in a row, and shooting to see at least 150 species throughout the 24 hour period. This year’s team consists of Alex Lamoreaux, Ian Gardner, Matt Sabatine, and Mark Mizak. We are hoping that some of our faithful readers will help us raise money for this great cause!

The competition starts at 7:00pm on Friday May 2nd, an early date which may decrease the number of warblers moving through and cause us to miss later migrants such as thrushes and flycatchers. We will pick up as many species as we can before it gets dark on Friday and then hunt for nocturnal speceis throughout the night. Saturday morning we plan to get out to warbler and migrant passerine hotspots before sunrise, then work our way around Centre and Huntingdon Counties throughout the rest of the day. We are counting on the weather to be excellent for migration, hopefully some light to moderate south winds and maybe just a little precipitation early Saturday. The best case scenario would be to see perfect, widespread migration conditions from the Gulf Coast north, bringing lots of new migrants through the area.

Contributions may be made as outright gifts to support The Birding Cup, or donations can be made “per bird species.” In other words, you may pledge a given amount for each bird identified, so that a $0.10 per bird pledge would equal $15 if we reach our goal. You can make secure, online donations at this link. Make sure you note our team, the Nemesis Birders, in the “Additional Information” box at the bottom of the donation page! Contact Alex at aslamoreaux@gmail.com if you are interested in sponsoring us by species.

We have been lucky to see one American Bittern each of the past two years for the Birding Cup, here's to making it three! (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

We have been lucky to see one American Bittern each of the past two years for the Birding Cup, here’s to making it three! (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)