San Mateo County, California
The Big SIT 2019! October 13, 2019, Pescadero
Read the Final Report for the Big Sit 2018!
Chris Hayward and Chris O'Connell led the 4th Annual Big Ride on October 14th, 2018.
Here is Chris O'Connell's final report of that day's activities.
The BIG day…not quite as you've heard it described before!
You report birds, AND you decide how!
You can bird all day long without having to move much…
Or, You could get stay fit as you bike the hills and dales of the San Mateo coastline.
The NINTH ANNUAL BIG SIT!,
and
FIFTH ANNUAL BIG (Easy) RIDE!
The Big SIT! Sunday October 13, 2019, at Pescadero State Beach and Marsh, atop the hill overlooking the North Pond, accessed using the bridge that Sequoia helped to fund. Officially the day begins at 8:00 am – contact Jennifer Rycenga for more information for early bird birders! We go until at least 5:00, sometimes 6:00 pm. Bring layers, snacks, and a fun attitude. If you've got a scope, bring that, too. The Big SIT! is an annual celebration now for Sequoia Audubon, the birding equivalent of tail-gating, as we search for as many species as we can see from a 17.5 foot diameter circle. We've seen, on average, over 85 species each year we've done this – and found migrants, created memories, and eaten some really delicious food!
On the morning of Sunday October 13, 2019, the Big (Easy) RIDE! takes place. This starts at 7:30 am at the Gazos Creek Beach Access parking lot, and is done around 2:00, when participants can join the Big SIT! if they want (even gloating about seeing more species than those on the hillside did), or go home to well-deserved rest. The Big RIDE! covers from Gazos Creek, then along Cloverdale Road, through Pescadero Town and down to Pescadero State Beach and Marsh. Like the Big SIT!, the idea is to accumulate as many species as possible
These twin BIG events are pledge fund-raisers. You can pledge a flat amount as a donation, or you can choose to pledge an amount per species seen (i.e. .10 cents/species, if the Big SIT! team saw 90 species, would equal a $9.00 pledge). Both the pledge options can be accessed using the buttons below or at the Sequoia donation page.
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING SEQUOIA AUDUBON SOCIETY!
You may use these Donate buttons to fulfill your pledge. You may enter a flat amount or an amount equal to species-pledge times number-of-bird-species seen by the SASsy Seawatchers Big Sit team.
Please, enter the name of the person who solicited your pledge on the PayPal donation form. Thank you!
Thank you for your donation!
PDF Downloads:
The Big Sit is an all-day birding event, in which bird-watchers try to see as many species as possible from one designated spot. Each year Sequoia Audubon Society fields an open-ended team of birders — dubbed the SASsy Seawatchers — for this international event. Our chosen spot is typically the observation area at the top of the hill overlooking the North Pond at Pescadero State Beach. This hill can be accessed using the new bridge that SAS helped purchase and install. The SASsy Seawatchers — a team of friendly, skilled, and fun-loving birders, including (we hope) YOU — will be on the hillside all day, spotting bird species and having a grand rollicking time doing so. There will be a table with food and drink, and radios to listen to football and baseball playoff games, lots of people with cameras to take pictures of the birds and the birders. Be there! You can show up at any hour, and you can stay for as long or as short as you like.
Anyone, of any skill level, can participate. You can be a part of the bird-watching team, helping to accumulate a high team species total for the day. You can also pledge an amount per species seen; e.g., if you pledge $1.00 per species, and the team sees sixty species over the course of the day, your pledge would equal $60.00. Third, you can help collect pledges towards the event's total. You can do any combination of these three activities, too, even all three of them! Enthusiastic participation is encouraged: let's help the birds we love!
All the funds raised in this pledge drive stay right here in San Mateo county, to aid in Sequoia Audubon's mission: protecting native birds and other wildlife and their ecosystems by engaging people of all ages in conservation, education, advocacy and enjoyment.
More on the Big Sit! This is an event in which birders detect as many species as possible from within a 17.5 foot diameter circle. Described as "the equivalent of a tail-gating party for birders," the Big Sit not only creates birding camaraderie, but it also helps us to learn one location very very well! See Bird Watcher's Digest for past results, the rules, photos, and the light-hearted dimensions of the event. Enjoy the fun, be a part of the SASsy Seawatchers, and help Sequoia Audubon Society to help the birds.
The Big Sit!™ is hosted by Bird Watcher's Digest and New Haven Bird Club and is sponsored by SWAROVSKI OPTIK.
The Big Sit! is a registered trademark of the New Haven Bird Club, Inc.
JOIN US IN 2019 and be a part of sedentary ornithological history!
Great Blue Heron
2016 SASsy Seawatchers looking around.
The 2016 Big Ride Team