We had 'Little Big Day' last week on May 28th. Congratulations to the the team 'Dipperette’s' for seeing the most species seen ever recorded by a single team: 130 species! The Dipperette’s consisted of Gretchen W, Helga K, Jo Ellen F. and Wendy H. Well done! The closest year to them was in 2007, when a single team saw 128 species (seen by team ‘Stalkers 4’ which consisted of Cathy, Al, Art and Lois).
 
Together, all the teams this year saw 148 species, the 4th highest year recorded. There were 3 teams in total. The other 2 teams were the Three-toed Muskateers (Greg R, Jim H and Katrin P) and the Ruthless Birders (Ruth G, Lyle G, Dianne C, Emma B).
 
Little Big Day is a fun birding competition to see which team (up to 4 people) see the most birds (teams need to stay together and at least 2 people from each team need to see each species). Birding takes place between 6am and 6pm, although you can bird less if you want and you don't really need to 'compete'. It's all for fun. Teams contribute $25, which goes to a worthy nature related cause.

This year, the money is being donated to the 'Elizabeth Lake Shoreline Restoration Project’, being done by the Rocky Mountain Naturalists.
 
A combined list of what we saw:
Canada Goose
Trumpeter Swan
Wood Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Cinnamon Teal
Northern Shoveler
Gadwall
Eurasian Wigeon
American Wigeon
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Barrow's Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Ruffed Grouse
Pied-billed, Horned, Red-necked, and Eared Grebes
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Vaux's Swift
Black-chinned, Calliope, and Rufous Hummingbirds
Virginia Rail
Sora
American Coot
Black-necked Stilt
American Avocet
Killdeer
Long-billed Curlew
Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Phalarope
Spotted and Solitary Sandpipers
Bonaparte's and California Gulls
Black Tern
Common Loon
Great Blue Heron
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Red-naped Sapsucker
Lewis', American Three-toed, Downy, Hairy, and Pileated Woodpeckers
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Western Wood-pewee
Willow, Least, Hammonds, Dusky, and Pacific-slope Flycatchers
Say's Phoebe
Western Kingbird
Eastern Kingbird
Cassin's Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Stellar's Jay
Blue Jay
Black-billed Magpie
Clark's Nutcracker
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped and Mountain Chickadees
Northern Rough-winged, Tree, Violet-green, Bank, Barn, and Cliff Swallows Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets
Red-breasted, White-breasted and Pygmy Nuthatches
House, Pacific and Marsh Wrens
American Dipper
European Starling
Gray Catbird
Western and Mountain Bluebirds
Townsend's Solitaire
Swainson's and Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
American Pipit
Evening Grosbeak
House Finch
Cassin's Finch
Red and White-winged Crossbills
Pine Siskin
American Goldfinch
Dark-eyed Junco
Chipping, Clay-coloured, White-crowned, White-throated, Vesper, Savannah, Song and Lincoln's Sparrows
Spotted Towhee
Yellow-headed Blackbird
Bobolink
Western Meadowlark
Bullock's Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Northern Waterthrush
Orange-crowned, Nashville, and MacGillivray's Warblers
Common Yellowthroat
American Redstart
Yellow, Yellow-rumped, Townsend's, and Wilson's Warblers
Western Tanager
Lazuli Bunting

Another 'Little Big Day' has come and gone. boohoo.  Twelve hours of 'speed birding' to see which team can get the most species is so very much fun!

About the Date
This year was a little different because we held the day two weeks later than usual.  In the past, it was always held on the second weekend of May, around Mother's Day.

"Would not we get more songbird species if Little Big Day was a little later in the month?" some wondered. "Yes", we thought, but then we might miss late wintering species such as Rough-legged Hawk.  And also, if we changed the weekend then we wouldn't be able to compare the species list from year to year.

Well, this year, since some of the team leaders were not available on the usual weekend, we DID change the date; Little Big Day 2014 was held 24 May 2014 and, indeed, in those extra two weeks of spring, several migrant species were recorded which were rare on previous Days. Just off the top of my head, these include Lazuli Bunting, Gray Catbird, Lewis' Woodpecker, Least Flycatcher, American Redstart, Northern Waterthrush, and Bobolink, to name a few.  Yet we also got Rough-legged Hawk! So, go figure.

About the Participants
But it is not all about the birds, nor the competition between the teams. It is about sharing this experience and having fun.

This year we welcomed our first ever team from up the Valley! The Columbia Lakers, consisted of Elaine, Sandi, Peter, and Randy all from Fairmont. Yay!  And we had some first-time LBD'ers too! They were George, Audrey, Candace, and Helga. I hope we didn't blow them away with our awesome 'ear-birding' skills and I hope they had a really good time. (PS - a really good app I highly recommend for learning bird songs is Larkwire)

We missed terribly Lois, Art, and Dean - long-time LBD'ers who could not take part this year, and Tony, of course. This year, we also didn't have a 'biking' team, who have taken part in about the last three Little Big Days and had done very well for themselves. Some of them joined / returned to the gasoline-powered teams, and that is just fine! And we were happy to welcome back many of the regulars. Way to go, teams!

My Team and Our Day
We had a GREAT day! Not too hot, not too cold, no dead car batteries, no getting stuck in the mud or dust, no really short tempers, nor distracting injured Burrowing Owls needing rescue, yet lots of good species and really good company.

Ruth set out a really good plan, having scouted out some warblers earlier in the week up at the Nordic Trails at the Kimberley Ski Hill, so we went to get them first - and we got them all! PLUS we got what I consider my bird of the day - Hermit Thrush, and indeed, no other team got it. We just heard it, didn't see it, but such a beautiful bird and song. A couple of species we dipped on were Long-billed Curlew and Calliope Hummingbird, if you can believe that. (shakes her head). The Sage Thrasher spotted earlier in the month has not been seen since.

Count-up Dinner
The count-up dinner this year was held at The Heritage Inn, Cranbrook, BC.  The dining room was comfortable, pre-ordered menu items meant our dinners were prompt in arriving - something well appreciated after a long day, and the food and service were great!

Here, I COULD put a list of all of the amazing, whopping, outrageously fantastic 139 species all the teams saw; or I could just give you the link to the document online. Yes, you read that right - one-hundred and thirty-nine (man we're good).

Team Results:
Friends of a Feather - 112 sp
Dianne, Ruth, Lyle, George

Deaf & Dumb - 107 sp
Peter, Audrey, John

Birding Trio - 103 sp
Alan, Kathy, and Candace

Columbia Lakers - 95 sp
Elaine, Sandi, Peter, Randy

Merlin Wantab's - 95 sp
Greg, Sue, Glenda, Helga
_

Extra photos
It can be lonely out there in the dry fields, but the pickin's are good.

I wasn't too attentive at the count-up dinner after 13 hours of driving or birding and missed writing down everyone's following:

How was your Day?  What was your Best Bird? Biggest 'dip'? Leave a comment!

Photo credits: Lyle Grisedale and Greg Ross

Blog post by Dianne C.