The second wave of COVID-19 has restricted the majority of us to stay indoors. Just like last year, many birders took up the challenge of exploring birds at or around their homes, uploading their lists in eBird.
Here is the breakup of eBirding in the country in April 2021 (with the previous month in brackets):
No. of birders: 2,816 (3,549)
Number of observations: 4.6 lakh (6.6 lakh)
Number of lists (all types): 25,238 (36,611)
Number of species: 1,038
April Challenge:
The challenge for April was to upload a minimum of 30 eligible lists, and 5 out of 30 should have one or more audio recordings.
A total of 39 birders met the target. (These are excluding group accounts and those with no identifiable name):
Ajay Sarvagnam, Amrit Raha, Angeline Mano, Ashok Agarwal, Ashwin Viswanathan, Chitra Shanker, Claudia Pinheiro, Deepak Gujar, Dibyendu Ash, Garima Bhatia, GOVIND GIRIJA, Hakimuddin F Saify, Irshad Theba, JISHNU K, Kalpana Jayaraman, Lakshmikant Neve, Manju Sinha, Nosherwan Sethna, Novelkumar M S, Praveen Bennur, Prem Prakash Garg, Rahul Pereira, Rajesh Radhakrishnan, Ramesh Shenai, Sahana M, Sandeep Kumar Reddy Gangasani, Sandip Das, Sanjiv Khanna, Sharad Apte, Shilpa Gadgil, Shino Jacob Koottanad, Shyamkumar Puravankara, Siddharth Biniwale, Sreekumar Chirukandoth, Steffin Babu, Subhadra Devi, Vidhya Swaminathan, Vijaya Lakshmi, Vivek Sudhakaran.
From these 39 names, one was drawn using a computer-generated random number. This person is Novelkumar M S who receives a copy of The Wonderful Mr. Willughby: The First True Ornithologist, by Tim Birkhead as a small gift in appreciation.
Novelkumar has uploaded more than 27 checklists with audio and a special shout to Shilpa Gadgil for uploading 60 checklists with audio!!
Are you birding towards the target for May (lists with breeding code)? And of course, there are also the yearlong challenges for 2021!
Header Image: Grey-hooded Warbler Phylloscopus xanthoschistos by Carlos Bocos/ Macaulay Library
