The Big Sit! is a nationwide birding event held every year. It is brought to us by Bird Watcher’s Digest and sponsored by our favorite optics company, Swarovski Optik.
The Big Sit! is a simple event in which birders stay in one spot (a pre-determined 17-foot diameter circle) and observe all the bird species they can from 12:00am midnight to the following midnight.
The Big Sit! this year is Sunday, October 10th and since the Birdfreak Team is split in to states we will be participating in drastically different locations (and not for a full 24 hours).
In Illinois, Eddie is leading the charge at Deer Run Forest Preserve, a place diverse in habitat types and usually loaded with birds. The minimum goal is 30 species and a visit this week showed great potential. Much of it depends on flyovers, but we have a great view of the sky and have improved our spec-spotting skills from the Rock Cut State Park hawk watch.
In Ohio, Dakota and Jennie will be joining the Ohio Young Birders at the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Northwest Ohio on their Big Sit Fundraiser for Conservation. We hope to beat the the 2007 count of 58 species by using an arsenal of sharp-eyed young birders. The weather looks good (always a plus!): near 70 degrees by afternoon and sunny.
Past Big Sits
- 2009: Jennie and Dakota in Missouri 29 species
- 2008: Rock Cut State Park 42 species
- 2007: Rock Cut State Park 29 species
- 2006: Rock Cut State Park 30 species
Register your own circle, read the rules, and find all kinds of info about the Big Sit! at Bird Watcher’s Digest.
