Saturday, May 18, CENTURY RUN (NYS Region 8; all day)

Compiler: Larry Alden 518-495-6535 overlook@nycap.rr.com

This is the Club’s 78th consecutive Century Run, where teams of birders try to find as many species of birds as possible on count day within the eleven county NYS Region 8.

Each group must stay together and jointly identify species reported. The Century Run is not so much a field trip, but a challenge where you or your group tries to identify as many birds as possible within a set 24-hour period. A good Century Run (so named for the goal of reaching a “century”, or at least 100 species) calls for proper planning to hit a wide variety of habitats at the best time. Some groups try to cover the whole HMBC area; others limit themselves to a smaller geographic area – a single county, town, etc.

Also, there is nothing that says you can’t go out on your own and bird where you want and at your own pace to see what you can find. Groups informally compete for bragging rights, but the results do provide a good snapshot of what birds can be found in our area in a single day.

Reports should be emailed to the compiler by May 25th in order to be counted and published in “Feathers”, the Club newsletter. Reports should include the following: species identified, hours afield, team members, and geographical areas (counties) covered. Also, please send an e-mail to the HMBirds group (groups.io/g/hmbirds/messages) with the total number of species observed, and highlights for your group.