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 Suan for submitting a checklist in a new block!
Name
Suan Yong
Hometown or county
Ithaca, Tompkins County
How you started birding
I was “shamed” into birding on a trip to the Galapagos in 2007 by some birder friends when they learned that I had moved to Ithaca close to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Favorite bird
Hooded merganser
Motivation to atlas
It makes it fun to bird during the summer months after the rush of spring migration.
Favorite atlasing area
Six-mile creek next to where I live, even though it is not a priority block. I get to see the Louisiana Waterthrushes foraging and feeding their young, often coming close enough that I don’t need binoculars.
Most rewarding part of atlasing
Confirming breeding of a species in a block where it hasn’t yet been confirmed.
Favorite atlasing discovery
An unexpected Orchard Oriole nest at a cemetery in Odessa.
Advice for someone “on the fence” about participating
If you love being out and about anyways, might as well learn to listen for “begging noises,” and get a closer look at even common birds to see if they’re carrying nesting material, food, or a fecal sac.