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2009 Competition and Registration

***The Cache River Nature Fest web site is currently under construction.***
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Join us for the 8th Annual Birding Blitz Competition to be held on Saturday, April 25th! The Birding Blitz is an event where teams compete to see and hear the most species of birds in a 24-hour period while raising money for conservation in southernmost Illinois. Teams can search for birds throughout the area of southernmost Illinois, from Jackson, Williamson, Saline, and Gallatin counties south through Union, Johnson, Pope, Hardin, Alexander, Pulaski, and Massac counties. This area includes cypress swamps, upland forests, grasslands, and big rivers. Public lands in the area include Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Giant City State Park, Trail of Tears State Forest, Cypress Creek National Wildlife Refuge, the Cache River State Natural Area, and Mermet Lake and Horseshoe Lake Conservation Areas, and the Shawnee National Forest. Birds counted along the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers must be no further than half way across the river when seen or heard.

Check out the 2009 Birding Blitz winners and a composite list of species located in southernmost Illinois during the past Birding Blitz competitions, which includes Common and Scientific names and order as per the Illinois Ornithological Society. To view the species list, click here.  For a list of last year's winners, click here.

All teams must follow the American Birding Association's Big Day Count rules, a copy of which will be provided upon registration and can be reviewed at http://americanbirding.org/bigday/index.html. With the exception of category "Open B," teams may make observations as early as 12:01 a.m. on April 25th and continue until as late as 12:00 p.m. that night.

There are five categories. Teams must have a minimum of 2 members.

• Open A - This category is the true Big Day challenge, within the competition boundaries.
   
• Open B / Dawn to Dusk - It mirrors category Open A with the exception that participants in this category may start no sooner than an hour before sunrise and must quit no later than an hour after sunset. Starting time will be 5:00 a.m. Ending time will be 8:45 p.m.
   
• County Big Day - Teams restrict their Big Day to one selected county of their choice within the competition boundary; enticing birders to more intensely explore previously under-birded areas.
   
• Senior - Follows the true Big Day rules but all team members must be 55 years of age or older.
   
• Muscle-powered - Teams cannot use any motorized form of transportation in their pursuit of a Big Day.

The registration fee to compete is $25 per team members ($10 each for students). Prizes will be awarded to the winning team in each of the five categories. All team members will receive a 2009 Nature Fest t-shirt.

Teams are required to raise a minimum of $100 in the form of pledges. These pledges will be used to support habitat restoration in the Cache River Watershed. Prizes will be awarded to the team collecting the most in pledge dollars. For a printable pledge form, click here (it will open in a new window). Teams that do not secure the minimum $100 in pledges are welcome to participate but will not qualify for prizes.

This year winning teams will be announced and prizes awarded at a brunch on Sunday, April 26th, at the Cache River Wetlands Center.

Birding Blitz Registration

Registrations must be postmarked by April 18, 2009 to avoid a late registration fee. Click here for a printable registration form (it will open in a new window). Complete this form then forward it to:

Birding Blitz Registration
c/o Southern Illinois Audubon Society
P.O. Box 222
Carbondale, IL 62903-0222

For more information, contact: Joe Merkelbach at lapin4623@aol.com or Rhonda Rothrock at woodthrusheola@hotmail.com / 618.684.6605.

Downloads

• Birding Blitz Registration Form 
• Birding Blitz Pledge Form

 
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