The second annual Big Atlas Weekend was a success with 360 atlasers in NY documenting 190 species and submitting 1501 checklists the weekend of June 24-26! We held several challenges in different categories and randomly selected from eligible checklists to choose winners. Winners received a free course of their choosing from the Cornell Lab’s Bird Academy. Congratulations to Doug for confirming a species he had not confirmed before (in the current New York atlas)!
Name
Douglas Kibbe
Hometown or county
Littleton, Colorado
How you started birding
I started birding while stationed in Texas in 1969.
Favorite bird
The rails, warblers, and owls.
Motivation to atlas
I am a certified wildlife biologist and have been deeply involved in breeding bird atlasing projects since 1975.
I was the American Birds Regional Editor when the Vermont Institute of Natural Science began an atlas in 1975. At their request, I served as advisor and co-editor of the Vermont atlas, which was the first one completed and published in North America. In 1981, I co-organized the Northeastern Breeding Bird Atlas Conference, and in 1982, I co-authored a paper in American Birds entitled “Atlasing the distribution of the breeding birds of North America.” [PDF Download]
After completing the Vermont atlas, I assisted several other states (i.e., NY, NJ, VA, TN, PA, WV, and CO) on their atlas projects. While working on the Colorado atlas, my partner, Mackenzie Goldthwait, and I completed 125 atlas blocks. In Colorado, I have been referred to as the “atlas junkie” (although “atlas addict” is my preferred term). At loose ends when the Colorado atlas ended, we decided to assist on the Minnesota atlas, then in its final year, then we went on to the Wisconsin atlas for several years, and most recently on the Virginia breeding bird atlas.
Due to the fact that I now live in Colorado and the intervention of Covid restrictions on travel, June 2022 was the first time I was able to enter breeding data on the third NY BBA.
Favorite atlasing area
Anywhere that I have never birded before.
Most rewarding part of atlasing
Learning more about bird behavior and distribution.
Favorite atlasing discovery
Every new confirmation.
Advice for someone “on the fence” about participating
Working on the breeding bird atlas is the most rewarding birding activity in which a new or experienced birdwatcher can participate. You will learn more about local bird behavior and become more skilled at habitat analysis while atlasing than you ever will simply being spoon fed birds on listing trips led by others. Try it, you’ll like it!