On Thursday, November 18th, our Community Engagement Coordinator Parker Flickinger and field trip volunteer Kath Giel, undertook the monthly eBird birding challenge. Their goal was to go birding at 3 different parks, all on the same day!

To help promote the Birding By Bus program, Kath and Parker chose to explore three different parks featured on the Birding By Bus map; Rancho San Rafael, Virginia Lake and Wingfield Park. This was an interesting time to go birding as many of the migrating species had already traveled through Nevada, and mainly resident species remain. Nevertheless, Kath and Parker did indeed manage to capture 29 different species across the parks.

Kath and Parker also had their cameras along with them, and were able to capture footage of their adventure, and the birds they observed. Their footage was compiled into a video, now featured on the Lahontan Audubon Society YouTube Channel. Watch it below.

​If you would like to go on your own birding adventure, feel free to check out the Birding By Bus Map and see some of the many public birding parks in the Reno/Sparks metro area. Also feel free to check out a PDF of the complete list of birds Kath and Parker observed on their challenge.

We are excited to announce a new bird watching activity challenge hosted by eBird. Birdwatchers who submit 3 separate eBird checklists in a single day will be entered into a raffle to win a pair of Ziess 8x42 binoculars. These checklists can be from the same location at 3 different times or multiple locations throughout the day. The contest is open throughout the month of November. Click the button below to learn about the eBird November Challenge.

"How do I find locations to bird for this challenge?" you ask. This is where our Birding By Bus map is here to help you. Our Birding by Bus map contains a full list of parks and nature areas within the Reno/Sparks metro area. The Cormorant photo above was taken at Virginia Lake, one of the parks featured in our map. Our map contains additional information about each park, such as what birds are currently seen there or which RTC ride bus stop serves it. Our map uses the Google Maps engine, and therefore can give you directions to the parks through your smartphone. The link to our Birding to Bus map is below. If you would like to learn more about the local public transit service, visit rtcwashoe.com.

"I would love to participate, but I do not have an eBird account," you say. Have no fear. We also have an eBird tutorial webinar available. Our Community Engagement Coordinator, Parker Flickinger, and ornithologist Ben Sonnenberg hosted this webinar last month. Parker and Ben are both eBird enthusiasts and covered the basics of how to register for then use eBird to keep track of the birds you observe in your lifetime. This webinar was recorded and available always on our YouTube Channel (linked below).

As always, if you have any other questions about birdwatching in our community, Birding By Bus or using eBird, don't hesitate to contact us. We would love to hear from you.

Good luck on your birdwatching adventure!