Big Year #2!  The premise is that in a calendar year a birder tries to identify as many species as possible.  There are approximately 950 species of birds in North America with the winner of a big year identifying about 750.  So lets have a little fun and have one here in Virginia Beach with a few modifications.  We will limit the territory to make it available to everyone and also have a few different classes.  Since we are on the Atlantic flyway I would think that one could identify between 175 and 275 different species in a year.  So here are the rules.

1. Modified Calendar year—January 1 through December 1, 2014

2. Birding Area - within 100 miles of Virginia Beach.  See the map below.

3. Categories

   • Unlimited - Total Species seen anywhere in the 100 mile radius

   • Limited - Total species seen only within the City of Virginia Beach

   • Special - Total species seen with the least amount of field trips

4. Submissions will require the following information:

   • Date

   • Name

   • Species

   • Location

   • # number of birds seen

   • ebird logs will be accepted

5. Submissions are via email to bigyear@vbaudubon.org.

6. Tracking will take place on this website and on this page.  There will be two tables - one tracking the individuals and a second tracking the species and where they have been seen

7. This event is open to all birders in the region.

8. Winners will be announced at the VB Audubon's Annual Holiday Dinner in December.  There will be multiple winners in all categories.  Prizes will be determined later this year.

As mentioned above a copy of the map is located here.  Click here to pull the map up on another screen.