Farther down the river, the trio counted two green-winged teals floating along with several mallard ducks and an elusive American dipper bobbing in and out of the frigid water. The idea was to count and observe birds rather than eat them or hunt them for identification. I got a pretty good photo of a Chukar there and stopped in to visit the World Center for Birds of Prey which is right there. The loudmouth chachalaca's voice sounds "as if Ethel Merman had swallowed a rusty trombone." Can you see him? Bokram said in a hushed tone. The nest has moved a little ways upriver now, but Tekce said the eagles still come here to fish. Membership benefits include one year of Audubon magazineand the latest on birds and their habitats. It looks like a great cast has been chosen to play the birders in the book. After a quiet stop outside the house, the birders headed on to the nature park. There were three of us who did it that year, Levantin said. Levantin's real-life big year started with watching birds from skis on the Snowmass Ski Area. Yikes! It was started in England, and all the royalty would go out on a huge hunt, Larson said. Sandy had 4 weeks on Attu in 1998. Contingency plans ahead of time just save time during the course of the year. These were three guys, middle-aged and older. Where Are You Birding This First Weekend of October 2008? Photo: Greg Miller The birding Big Year may be familiar to persons outside of birding if for no other reason than the 2011 movie starring Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin based on veteran birder . C: What advice do you have for a hypothetical birder contemplating a North American (or even a state-wide) big year? Their competitive quests are documented in the 2004 non-fiction . The Aspen Center for Environmental Studies ( ACES ), is a great resource for tours and info on finding juncos, sharp-shinned hawks, and other Aspen fliers. In my opinion, the real superstars were the first-time participants who didn't balk at the very cold day that Mother Nature provided. On Dec. 18, another group of birders with Roaring Fork Audubon gathered outside the Third Street Center in Carbondale for their annual count. To this day Im sorry I didnt get a picture of the lion, but needless to say I wasnt thinking of pictures at that time. Levantin may not have won the competition, but it hasnt stopped him from counting birds. Results > This is Larsons fifth or sixth Christmas Bird Count. Obmascik tracks three competitors through their Big Year: Sandy Komito, retired from the construction business in New Jersey, is a previous Big Year winner and he is trying to replicate his earlier win. The Big Year of 1998 was the subject of a book of the same name by Mark Obmascik. The film version of this story has bloggers and web pages that can be monitored with something I couldnt have imagined a decade agosmartphones. The only thing the men have in common is birds, and the obsession to count more of them in North America in a single "Big Year" than anyone else. Do you have any local birding hotspots that may be yet unknown to other birders that you would be willing to share with us? Unless otherwise noted all images are copyrighted by the author of the post and they retain all rights to their images. Komito actually "won" the competition with 745 species, still the United States record. Fellow birder Allen Levantin also started birding as a kid growing up in the Bronx, a borough in New York City. There has been some online discussion among the birding community about the optics used in the movie. A short moment later, Robertson, the biologist, spotted a nuthatch shimmying down a tree trunk. They've merely taken the science, the avocation, the passion -- whatever -- of birding to a whole new level. The idea was to count and observe birds rather than eat them or hunt them for identification. The main difference between 1 and 2 is range. Bokram was able to identify the woodpecker as male because of the small red tuft near the crown of his head. He said the way to contend with lions on the trail was to make ourselves big, just as you say. mso-page-orientation: portrait; Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller had the time of their lives racing to break the North American birding record, and I had the time of my life recounting their tale. A Year of Birding in Costa Rica- Highlights and a Few Birds Missed, Casa Tangara dowii, Costa Rica: to claim our feathery gold. PublishedDecember 29, 2021 at 5:50 PM MST. They could not have been nicer to us, he said about the film crew, which included director David Frankel. One suspects that Levantin, a self-made man who can claim success in a number of careers (he was yanked out of retirement three times but now remains happily unemployed), didnt find his life had changed all that dramatically because of his own big year and/or the book of the same name. Aspen Public Radio. As enjoyably chronicled by Obmascik, all three went to punishing lengths to tally the highest number of bird species encountered for the year. What is your relationship today with Mark Obmascik, Sandy Komito, and Al Levantin? Non-birding readers can surely begin to imagine how our feathered friends can invite such affection and awe. . This book chronicles three competitors and their attempts at Birdwatching glory: Sandy Komito (the hardcore favorite, record-holding former construction worker), Greg Miller (the longshot computer programmer, working with limited resources) and Al Levantin (the rich, passionate retired chemical company tycoon). Was it really that intense? The group spotted 42 species for the Christmas Bird Count in a single day. She has been doing the Christmas Bird Count in the valley for about 13 years now. Greg Miller, a recently divorced, low-on-money man from Amish country in Ohio, finished with 715 and Al Levantin, an Aspen, Colo., CEO, tallied 711 in that best Big Year ever. Legal Notices Privacy Policy Contact Us, Type in your search and hit Enter on desktop or hit Go on mobile device, Northern Pygmy Owl. Dick Filby and Al Levantin counted 98 Canada geese in the Roaring Fork River near Aspen Glen on Dec. 18. This is Larsons fifth or sixth Christmas Bird Count. Greg is currently on many bird-related boards and committees and has been instrumental in decisions on listing and conservation. It is a book about birds and birding and Arjan's attempts to raise awareness for critically endangered species, but it is . Christmas Bird Counts have been going on since 1900, when ornithologist and early Audubon friend Frank Chapman helped organize a non-lethal counterpart to popular brutal "side hunt" competitions of the day. Contrary to the movie The Big Year it was Gregs father that got him into birding at that early age. Accompanying the red-tailed hawk, there's a bunch of American crows and black-billed magpies, Filby said. Face to face at last, they come clean on their totals, and the story turns again. That may all change with next years release of a movie that promises to spotlight some of these distant bird havens in Alaska, Arizona, Texas and even northern Minnesota. When my husband and I were hiking on Mt. Welcome to 10,000 Birds, the worlds favorite birding blog! C: Ive seen contradictory reports about which actor is playing which birder. Every year around Christmas time, local residents join tens of thousands of people across the Western Hemisphere to record all the birds they see or hear within a 15-mile radius. Pruddens friend Ann Larson peered through her binoculars just a few feet away and smiled at the memory. You start at 70 and it's hard! And, as in any good tale of adventure, each player has a potentially fatal flaw: Komito his ego, Levantin his chronic seasickness, Miller his empty pockets. They even had trained Norwegian rats scamper, on cue, through the barracks from one actor to another. This was a chance to write about people I actually liked. Skip to primary content. ), An interesting chat with Al here. @Murr: Just remember, you dont have to be faster than the mountain lion, just faster than your slowest companion. In 2004, Mark Obmascik suddenly burst onto the birding scene with the release of his first book, The Big Yearand his fame escalated when Hollywood made it into a movie in 2011. . According to Fuller, this years downvalley count was a success. Registration and Cancellation Mary Harris, RFAs chair, took me under her wing, and I found my flock of wonderful birders and birds. The Audubon Societys Christmas Bird Count started in the 1900s and has been going on for more than 120 years. Weve been good friends ever since. For Roaring Fork Audubon organizer Mark Fuller, it was another great day of birding in the books. It was unbelievable. Second, Al Levantin, a bird-watching hobbyist who waited 40 years for the perfect time to take a year off and try for a Big Year. A: My advice to anyone planning a big year is to do lots of studying and working out the logistics, since you need to be in my places during the migration period. But there was competition. Wildside Nature Tours The first Bicknells I ever saw was in Central Park and I saw another subsequently in the park. For decades, this area known as the Eagle buffer zone was protected habitat for bald eagles, but after the nest moved upstream, the Aspen Glen Golf Company, which owns some of the land in the buffer area, requested that the protections be lifted for residential development. Neither man is aware of the existence of contestant No. Learn more about our site, Mike, Corey, or our awesome team of Beat Writers. At first, I started comparing the book to the movie. Outside of birding, what are your other interests or hobbies? Au contraire. . A lot. A "Big Year" is a birding term meaning that a birder is going to try to see as many bird species as possible in a given year. Fellow birder and wildlife biologist Ted Robertson keeps track of the total count using a birding app called eBird, which was developed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. So, up in the tree up there, there's a red-tailed hawk and there's a raven flying past it, said Dick Filby, a local birder who leads winter bird outings in the Snowmass Ski Area. The actual men were Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, who were chasing Komito's prior record. She has been doing the Christmas Bird Count in the valley for about 13 years now. First bird Levantin saw? The Big Year Mark Obmascik 2011-09-27 Follows the 1998 Big Year competition between Sandy Komito, Al Levantin, and Greg Miller, during which the three rivals risked their lives to set a new North American birding record. Levantin would never say this, but according to his fellow birders, hes kind of a big deal. Many birders know Mr. Levantin from the book The Big Year, in which his quest to see a record number of species in North America was chronicled. Please nominatethat person by sending me an, The Birders Handbook: A Field Guide to the Natural History of North American Birds, Birdfinder: A Birders Guide to Planning North American Birding Trips. 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