Date: 3/7/25 8:09 pm From: Richard Littauer <richard.littauer...> Subject: Re: [VTBIRD] Lamoille Birders Win 14th Annual Vermont eBird County Quest
Good for Lamoille! One of the hardest counties to bird.
Thank you for keeping this going for years, Kent! It was a pleasure to take place in this, and the weighted scores made it useful and fun - I didn't have to drive to Champlain to participate, for which I am grateful.
Here's to another 14 years of eBird quests of one type of another in the future. :)
Richard
> On Mar 8, 2025, at 12:08, Kent McFarland <kmcfarland...> wrote:
>
> Vermont's birding community took part in the 14th and last Vermont eBird
> County Quest in 2024. The annual year-long contest pits county versus
> county, birder against birder, all engaged in a friendly rivalry for top
> birding honors. The main idea behind the County Quest is simply to get
> people out birding, promote camaraderie, and better document bird life
> across the state using eBird Vermont. Lamoille County captured the gold
> medal for the first time in 2024.
>
> *Read more about the Quest awards and eBird Vermont in this story at the
> VCE Blog - https://vtecostudies.org/blog/14th-annual-ebird-county-quest/ > <https://vtecostudies.org/blog/14th-annual-ebird-county-quest/>* > ______________________________________________________
>
>
> *Vermont eBird County Quest Ends 14 Year Run*
> For 14 years, Vermont birders had a friendly cross-county competition. We
> all competed in the Vermont County eBirding Quest. Each county challenged
> one another to identify as many species as possible during the calendar
> year.
>
> Part discovery, part conservation, but mostly fun, this year-long quest
> gave us all a welcome excuse to head outdoors and go birding. From the
> common to the rare, a diverse and fascinating array of birds resides in or
> passes through Vermont each year. Each county sought to document that
> diversity, with the added incentive of vying for the top honor of maximum
> species count. Vermont eBird provided the tool for that documentation.
>
> I hatched the idea as a challenge to get people out birding, promote
> camaraderie, and better document Vermont’s bird life using eBird Vermont.
> After 14 years in 14 counties in the 14th state, the Vermont eBird County
> Quest has run its course. Some elements live on by popular demand at eBird
> Vermont: the County 150 Club (see
> https://ebird.org/region/US-VT/partners/vermont-ebird-150-club) and the
> Vermont 250 Club (
> https://ebird.org/region/US-VT/partners/ebird-vermont-250-club) will continue
> to record remarkable birdwatcher feats across the state.
>
> Thanks to all of you that have and do contribute to eBird Vermont, and
> joined the Quest each year with such passion. Since eBird Vermont began in
> 2003, we've added more than 9 million bird records to the database from
> across the state, a treasure trove of data for science and conservation.
> Let's keep going!
>
> Thanks,
> Kent
>
> ____________________________
>
> Kent McFarland (he/him)
> Vermont Center for Ecostudies
> PO Box 420 | Norwich, Vermont 05055
>
> <http://val.vtecostudies.org/>
