The Green Birding Challenge is my favorite Urban Ecology Center program for so many reasons. Here are a few:

• Riling up the Young Scientists and creating a friendly rivalry to get them excited to beat the "bird experts".
• Sharing my bird geekery with "non-experts" and finding them new "life-birds".
• Reveling in the magnificent bird song which returns for a few short months and teaching teammates a new bird song or two.
• Seeing everyone's early morning pre-challenge faces and then their post-challenge smiles.
• Passing competing teams in the field and playfully taunting them about the species they have yet to find.
• Lamenting when the weather starts to turn bad and rejoicing when the sun breaks through the clouds for a beautiful half hour.
• Anticipating finding a new species and trying to determine the best place to find others.
• Anxiously waiting for the final tally of the teams' species counts.
• Seeing the satisfaction when a participant takes home a bird-themed door prize.

I appreciate all of the friends and family that support our abnormal obsession with birds. Thanks so much to our volunteers willing to wake up at 5 AM and follow us around with cameras, food, spreadsheets, etc. It was gratifying to see the mix of ages, cultural backgrounds, and skill levels that came together early on a Saturday morning in support of the Research and Community Science Department. I am thankful for the money the participants helped us raise for community science and the fun they were willing to share. Three cheers for the wonderful group of people that helped to make our 3rd Annual Green Birding Challenge the best ever!