Thursday, February 23, 2012

Paulios surges in front!

A quick trip to Lower Mud Lake last night netted me a number of new species for the year. With Daniel's Costa Rica excursions keeping him from his BIGBY, I've now surged into the lead! The only real question now is who will end up in second place?

Andy P.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Another BIGBY dream story

Hello Everyone!

I'm Max Witynski, like Jesse a new member of this group from Madison.  I must admit that BIGBYing is particularly easy for me because I'm a high school student (at Madison West) with no car!  I tried a BIGBY last year for the first time in Dane County and had a lot of fun, ending up with 153 species.  My highlights included Stilt Sandpiper, Kentucky Warbler and Caspian Tern.  This year is off to a bit of a slow start, but I'm looking forward to being a member of this group and keeping up with others as the year progresses!

Last night I had my first dream involving BIGBYing.  I was on my bike down along University Bay in Madison (which looked slightly different than it does usually) when I spotted a Eurasian Cuckoo in one of the bushes!  I then looked out onto Lake Mendota and saw a solitary Tundra Swan and two coots.  After a bit of scanning I noticed a small fishing boat, and flying over it were two Arctic Terns!  Three other birders then approached.  I asked them what they were doing and they answered in one voice that they were also doing a BIGBY, I told them to keep an eye out for Arctic Terns and then continued down the trail on my bike!

I hope this dream is a foreshadowing of Arctic Terns on Lake Mendota!  If not, Black Terns would be a nice enough find for me!

Good luck to everyone, I hope to meet some of you in the field over the course of the year!

Max Witynski  (Madison, Dane)