Date: 11/9/26 4:28 am From: Pam Hunt <biodiva63...> Subject: [NHBirds] County November Challenge update #1
Greetings all!
The first quarter is over and time for an update to the county standings for 2026. The table below doesn't show the actual gains from November 1, but most counties added 15-30 species in the last week, with Cheshire well ahead of the pack at +40. Using the traditional scoring system (Rank A), things didn't change significantly in the rankings, with Belknap and Sullivan in the lead (but switched) and northern counties at the bottom. Merrimack and Rockingham dropped, as typically happens early in the game, while other counties shifted around in between. If you use the alternative scoring system (Rank B), based on the average species totals over the last five years, things have started to get interesting. Now Merrimack and Cheshire are on top, Belknap dropped four spots, and other counties were at their traditional rank or within one of it. It's probably that Merrimack's gains are due to the record 94 species tallied during the Concord November Challenge, and obviously Cheshire had a good week as well. As the contest continues, however, those two counties will have fewer "easy adds," so it'll be interesting to see how things shake down at halftime.
