Beverly Shores 2014 Big Year
This is our second year using our website to promote the Beverly Shores Big Year. A Big Year is an informal competition among birders to see who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year and within a specific geographical area. A big year may be done within a single US state, a Canadian province, within the lower 48 continental U.S. states, or within the official American Birding Association Area. So, why not Beverly Shores? The only difference is ours will be collaborative.
Starting on January 1st, ABSR members can click on a website link “Record Your Bird Sighting” and that will automatically take your to the Bird Sightings Forum. Click on “Enter Forum Comments”, and follow directions. Please enter date, approximate time, and proximity of the sighting. Once I see the posting to the forum, I will add an image of the bird on a website photo page with the appropriate information.
If you have never read the book or watched the movie The Big Year, they are fun and the basis of our own Beverly Shores Big Year. The book The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession was written in 2004 by Mark Obmascik; and the comedy film starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson was released on October 14, 2011. The Big Year competitors of 1998 were the subject of a book. Three birders, Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, chased Komito's prior record of 721 birds. In the end Komito kept the record, listing 745 species birds plus 3 submitted in 1998 and later accepted by state committees for a revised total of 748.
January 1st, let the competition begin! Whether you are a novice, amateur, or professional birder, let’s have fun and see how many unique bird species we can record for 2014 in Beverly Shores.