Audubon Society of Greater Cleveland

CRBQ a great success!

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We sponsored our first team birding event, the Chagrin River Bird Quest, this past weekend, October 9th and 10th. The weather was cool but sunny, a perfect day for birding!

Nine teams participated, and included family groups, adult couples and groups of friends, and two teams of teenagers.

Teams checked in at Look About Lodge in the South Chagrin Reservation on Friday evening to pick up their complementary t-shirts, bird checklists, and maps. Then several teams joined the “Owl Prowl,” an optional bird walk offered by the Cleveland Metroparks in the North Chagrin Reservation. Four other bird walks were offered throughout the day on Saturday. Teams looked for birds in various locations, from the Audubon Aurora Sanctuary to LaDue Reservoir to their own backyards.

After a busy and beautiful day of birding, teams returned to Look About Lodge on Saturday for an awards celebration, socializing, and a generous spread of meal-worthy appetizers from A Dab of Class Catering. In addition to the food, we provided awards certificates to the winning teams, and Audubon Plush Birds to all the children and young people participating (and to some of the adults!). The top three winning teams were:

  • 3rd Place—Team Maddie Cope (39 species)
  • 2nd Place—The Moebius Mob (45 species)
  • 1st Place—Two Wings (51 species)

Congratulations to all the teams! It was a fun day for everyone.

The Chagrin River Bird Quest was designed for families and friends to enjoy the outdoors together, whether they were experienced birders or never birded before. It was also intended to raise awareness of the importance of the Chagrin River Watershed and IBA (Important Bird Area), and kick off a new ASGC initiative to rally protection for this critical tract of varied habitat and migration pathways.

We would like to thank Stan Searles for his time and talent as the event’s emcee; Mary Salomon and Jenn Clark who judged our teams’ efforts; and especially the Cleveland Metroparks who provided invaluable promotional support and hosted the evening’s festivities at Look About Lodge.

Look for next year’s Chagrin River Bird Quest, sure to be even bigger and better!