Now that our Prescott Audubon Society chapter is back to a complete schedule of meetings, field trips, and other events, we want to fully reestablish the annual Birdathon that has always been a major fund-raising event.
The PAS Birdathon has a long history of supporting our education initiatives.
Our chapter would like to fully fund our $1,000.00 Environmental Scholarship for a deserving college student. Other education funding is used to purchase Audubon Adventures teaching kits for elementary school classrooms, and to send a young birder to the annual Arizona Field Ornithologist meeting. The IBA signage around Willow and Watson lakes is another education effort, and some signs need refurbishing or replacement.
A Birdathon is like a walkathon except we count birds instead of miles. Supporters donate a flat amount per team or per-bird seen by their sponsored team. Each team must stay within its county (Mojave or Yavapai) and must complete its count within 24 hours. Some teams have been in the field from pre-dawn until after dusk, and totals could reach 130+ species. A typical count is around 60 species.
Teams will go out the weekend of May 3-6, the idea being that everyone has an even chance birding the same time frame. Teams planning to participate this year are the Monday Women, the classic Sullivan Count, The Lookout, and the First Saturday Watson Woods bird walk.
Please consider this an invitation to form a team if you have a group of birding friends who could do so! Use the information in this article to send in your team's donations. Also, please send in a complete bird list for use in a follow-up article to birdathon@prescottaudubon.org.
Contributions to support the Birdathon may be sent to Prescott Audubon Society, P. O. Box 4156, Prescott, AZ. 86302. Please write "Birdathon" and the name of the team you are sponsoring on the memo line of your check.
Alternatively, you can donate via Pay Pal at prescottaudubon.org. Just click on the "Donate to PAS" tile, which is near the bottom of the home page. You do not need a PayPal account to do this.
A summary of the Birdathon will be posted letting you know the results of these birding outings, noting unusual sightings and the number of species sighted. Past results have been very interesting.
Thanks for caring!
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