New record for The Big Sit

Gordon and Travis arrived before dawn at Wharton Point on Sunday, October 11 and immediately started recording species. Soon other birders joined in, some staying most of the day and others for an hour or two. Comfortable temperatures, cloudy skies and water like glass made for ideal conditions. By 10 am, 67 species had been seen or heard. Our record was 70 so it was looking exceptionally good to surpass it. We had a final tally of 82 species. The last was a hooded merganser that flew in after the board was put away.
Highlights for the day were a late-migrating female bobolink found by Lauren, an interior (Hudson Bay) sub-species Nelson's sparrow spotted by Travis, Alex's eagle eyes identified a Swainson's hawk and an American golden plover hung out by the boat ramp for a bit.
Thank you to everyone who joined and contributed to our count.

The ebird checklist can be viewed at https://ebird.org/checklist/S402301312

Frequency color code: Black is 4+, red is first, blue is second and green is third sighting.