JBNHS ULSTER COUNTY BIG SIT

JBNHS’ 10th annual Big Sit is also our BIG fundraiser for the year (that’s why we do ours in May) but serves too as a friendly competition between the established sits. Do you have a birdy back deck or favorite patch and a cause worth birding for? Why not join the challenge and see how many species you can identify from a 17’ diameter circle and get friends and family to pledge to your effort. In the past money has been raised to help worthy endeavors like numerous enhancements at SGNWR, support the wonderful New York State Young Birders Club, help the important NYS Breeding Bird Atlas, installation of Where to Bird in Ulster County panels now located at four locations about the county, create Naturalist’s Backpacks for area libraries to lend out, and aid Annie Mardiney’s important educational and rehabilitation work at Wild Mountain Birds.

Bird Homestead Sit
Team Nature Club This 17’ circle will encourage participation of our youngest set to join this special event. Offering art activities, board games, snacks, and other science based exploration to help create some excitement during the midday doldrums, this even sounds appealing to all of us who will just be birding all day long!!! Nature Club will be birding to help stock the bird feeders at Galeville and also providing support for our favorite rehabilitator/educator Annie Mardiney (Wild Mountain Birds). Please contact Kali Bird (kalicbird@gmail.com ) if your young birder would like to join in the fun.

Bowdery’ Homestead Sit
Lynn and Allan and extended family will bird their yard with hopes of a good feeder bird to pad our cumulative list and raise the most money we can to distribute in June to important environmental and conservation concerns in the region.

Galeville (SGNWR) Sit
Spend some time on the observation deck at Galeville (SGNWR) looking and listening for those ever important (and harder to find) grassland species. Team Shawangunk Redemption could have another Sandhill Crane up their sleeves. Pledges raised in recent years have been used to install a bench on the new observation platform, a new refuge sign, and supplies for the pollinator garden. This year the Shawangunk Redemption will bird to install a new updated “Where to Bird in Ulster County” panel on the Galeville Gazebo and to support our friend (and JBNHS trustee) Annie Mardiney and her important work in bird rehabilitation and education with Wild Mountain Birds. Please contact Debbie Carney (deb.carney@gmail.com ) or Evelyn Leigh (evelynleigh11@gmail.com ) to plan and schedule your shift.

Great Vly Sit
Team Bobcat will again be birding Fradon Marsh from a pressure treated tower and greatly helping our cumulative JBNHS Big Sit total with all those wonderful marsh birds and maybe a surprise like another Black Tern. Support in 2022 allowed for the assembly and installation of over 30 Wood Duck boxes in the Vly! In 2023 the Bobcats worked the same magic for the Wood Ducks in Tivoli Bays. This year they’ll be birding to help send young master birder Zade Pacetti to the renowned Camp Chiricahua for youth birding in Arizona.

Hayes’ Homestead Sit
Morgan Hill Misfits Dave and Tracey will bird their yard and do so for as good a cause as you could find, Wild Mountain Birds and JBNHS trustee Annie Mardiney’s awesome work.

Kingston Point Sit
Team CoCo Puffs will bird from Harrison Point looking out over Kingston Point Lagoon, the mouth of the Rondout, and down river while tallying new spring arrivals and doing so with a vengeance. Aside from hoping to regain bragging rights the CoCo Puffs will also bird to help one of our favorite young birders, Zade Pacetti to attend Camp Chiricahua for youth birding in Arizona.

Normann Homestead Sit Normann Conquerors
William the Conqueror may not be in Dafne and Steve’s backyard but our western most sit location is in habitat we’d all be jealous of. The conquerors will not occupy England but rather bird to create Naturalists Backpacks for libraries in Pine Hill and Phoenicia.

Nyquist-Harcourt Sit
The Oxbow Oddballs will appropriately bird for our friends at the WVLT and the wonderful work they do. This is a birdy location and the more eyes and ears the better so please contact Sara DeAngelis (saradeangelis@me.com ) or Deb Welstch (dweltsch13@gmail.com ) to help or to pledge support.

Thorn Preserve Sit Thorn Thrashers
Please contact Dixon Onderdonk (dixononderdonk@gmail.com ) if you’d like to help. The Thorn Thrashers will bird to purchase specially designed binoculars for young birders and to be used on JBNHS field trips. The Thrashers efforts in the past provided the assembly of Naturalist Backpacks for last year’s recipient the Olive Free Library and the preserve’s kestrel box.

New Location for a Sit?
Please contact Mark DeDea (forsythnature@aol.com) with any questions and to let us know about a new sit for promotional/ fundraising sake.

Donations can be based on a pledge per species (specific sit or cumulative) or flat donation.

To Donate by Check:
Please make checks payable to JBNHS and note desired sit you’d like to support. Send in donations to the Treasurer
Mary T. Moxham CPA PLLC
PO Box 4223
Kingston NY, 12402

To Donate Online:
Visit our Make a Donation page. After clicking on the Donate button select Big Sit Fundraising from the Use this donation for dropdown. When prompted to Write a note add the name of the location you want your donation to be directed to.