2000 Taverner Cup

Tel: (514) 486-4943
Email: dha@videotron.ca

This year 73 participants in 18 teams, 6 competitive, and 12 recreational, competed in the 4th Annual Taverner Cup Birding Competition. This corporate-sponsored birding competition was held in eastern Ontario and western Quebec over a 24 hour period on Saturday May 27th. The temperatures were in the low 20s, overcast to sunny with light winds which picked up in the afternoon. Despite cool temperatures, especially in the north, which somewhat dampened the dawn chorus, a dearth of passerines at the migrant traps, and few migrant waterfowl, a record total of 220 species were seen

The "Lee Valley Sawbills", captained by Mike Runtz, of Arprior, with fellow birders Colin Jones, Don Sutherland, Peter Burke and driver Murray Borer won the Taverner Cup with a total of 183 species. Last year's winner, the The "Bushnell Nighthawks", captained by Ottawa native Bruce DiLabio was a close second with 181 species. "Focus Scientific Merlins", captained by Tony Beck of Ottawa, placed third with 163 species. Other competitors included the Wild Birds Unlimited "Great Gray Owls" (Ottawa) which placed fourth with 159, Our Natural World's "Goatsuckers" (Pembroke) with 147, and City of Aylmer's "Outaouais" (Hull, Quebec), who only birded in Quebec, with 130. The Sawbills counted 83% of all birds recorded on their list.

"The Barrie Mightly Ducks", captained by Judy Randall and fellow birders Rob Copeland and Jen Simms, won the recreational category, and the Fothergill Trophy, with a total of 148 species. "The Motherflickers", captained by Chris Lewis of Ottawa, placed second with 140 species. They won the Judith Wilks Trophy. "The Flying Dodos", captained by Rob Pinilla (Ottawa) came third with 131 species. Teams came from as far away as Fredericton, N.B., Chatham, Barrie and Toronto.

The winning team's strategy included a full 24 hours in the field starting with accipters on nests, owls, and marsh birds in the Peterboro area, then in order, Carden Alvar, Algonquin Provincial Park, Springbrook Alvar, Presqu'ile Provincial Park, Chaffey's Lock, north of Kingston, a very brief visit to the Ottawa area, and finally the sewage lagoons in far eastern Ontario. The next three competitive teams started in Ottawa then went to Algonquin and from that point followed a route similar to Mikes.

About 100 people, including participants, their sponsors, and invited guests, attended the Awards Banquet held in Ottawa on Sunday morning May 28th. The event was hosted by the Ottawa Field Naturalists and the Fletcher Wildlife Garden. Steve Wendt, Director of the Migratory Birds Conservation Divison of the Canadian Wildlife Service, proved an artful Master of Ceremonies. The banquet was catered by Dave Smith of "The Place Next Door". Mike Runtz and his team were presented with the Taverner Cup by Steve Wendt. The Fothergill Trophy was presented to Judy Randall by Eleanor Zurbrigg, President of the Ottawa Field-Naturalists. Team captain, Joan Molnar of the "Jaywalkers", a close friend of Judith Wilks, presented the Wilks Trophy to Chris Lewis.

There were many birding highlights including: Red-throated Loon, Great Egret, Black Scoter, Red-necked Phalarope, Stilt, Red Knot, and Orchard Oriole at Presqu'ile Provincial Park and Spruce Grouse, Black-backed Woodpecker, a Three-toed Woodpecker with chick, Gray Jay, Common Raven, Boreal Chickadee, Orange-crowned Warbler, Lincoln's Sparrow and Junco at Algonquin Provincial Park. The Springbrook and Newburgh alvars provided fine birding with similar birds such as Shrike, Black-billed Cuckoo, Upland Sandpiper, Grasshopper and Clay-coloured Sparrows. A nesting Raven, Yellow-throated Verio, Golden-winged and Cerulean Warblers, Louisiana Waterthrush and Gnatcatcher were a few of the many significant birds recorded in what may be Ontario's finest non-migrant trap birding site, Chaffey's Lock.

Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Arctic Tern, four species of owl, Red-headed Woodpecker, Mockingbird, Pipit and Yellow-breasted Chat were recorded in the Ottawa area.The Alfred Sewage Lagoons, arguably the best in Ontario once again provided sterling birding. The long list of birds recorded over the course of the day included White-winged Scoter (flying over), Sora Rail, Marbled Godwit, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Golden Plover, Pintail, Shoveler, Gadwall, Wigeon, Redhead, and Ruddy Duck.

Other records of interest included the Mountain Bluebird at Hilton, Blue-winged Warbler at Springbrook, increased numbers of Sedge Wrens, widespread sightings of Wild Turkeys especially north of Brighton, and increasing numbers of nesting merlins and coopers hawks within the City of Ottawa. Lingering migrants of note were a Rough-legged Hawk near Portland and a White-crowned Sparrow at Presqu'ile. Perhaps the most interesting experience of the day belongs to Judy Randall. Immediately after her imitation of a Screech Owl, her team was buzzed by a Short-eared Owl at 1:00 AM in Presqu'ile Provincial Park! Sandhill Cranes, while known to nest in various wetlands such as the Alfred Bog, were not recorded on the day.

Widespread scouting in traditional and new areas, and the sharing of information about uncommon birds, one of the cornerstones of the Taverner Cup competition, is having a very positive effect on team totals and better route selection. The organizers feel that the next time the competition coincides with a strong passerine migration, experienced teams will have a legitimate shot at 200 species in a day.

The final team results for 2000 are as follows:

Competitive
Team Name	Captain	Residences of Team Members	Corporate Sponsor	Species Total
Sawbills	Runtz	Arnprior-Peterboro	Lee Valley Tools	183
Nighthawks	Dilabio	Ottawa-Toronto	Bushnell Sports Optics	181
Merlins	Beck	Ottawa	Focus Scientific	163
Great Gray Owls	Harrison	Mont-Ott-Tor.-Lon.	Wild Birds Unlimited	159
Goatsuckers	Michener	Pembroke-Hawkes.	Our Natural World	147
Outaouais	St.-Hilaire	Hull, Quebec	City of Aylmer (Que)	130

Recreational:
Team Name	Captain	Residences of Team Members	Species Total
Barrie Mighty Ducks	Judy Randall	Barrie	148
The Motherflickers	Chris Lewis	Ottawa	140
The Flying Dodos	Rob Pinilla	Ottawa-Toronto	131
The Redneck Phalaropes	Martha Robinson	Brighton-Toronto	124
Harlequins	Christine Cornell	Fredericton-Ottawa	122
Birdbrains	Tim Brophy	Ottawa	122
The Roadrunners	Brett Groves	Chatham	118
Tweachers	Janet Castle	Ottawa	115
Outaouais Buteos	Garry McNulty	Aylmer-Hull-Gat.	106
Pileated Flycatchers	Phill Atwood	Embrun-Lanark	96
The Counting Crows	Stephane Guillot	Gatineau-Ottawa	69
Jaywalkers	Joan Molnar	Ottawa	62

The purpose of the Taverner Cup is to raise money for environmental projects and to raise awareness of the great diversity and richness of wildlife habitats in eastern Ontario and western Quebec. Plans are afoot to create an eco-tourism-related Birding Trail which would run through eastern Ontario. The Trail is intended to tie together the growing awareness of the premier birding sites of eastern Ontario through the Taverner Cup competition with the explosion of birding and wildlife festivals in the area.The Trail is also intended to identify and introduce visitors to the many seasonal wildlife viewing sites throughout.

The co-ordinator offers a special thanks to all our sponsors whose support has made the Taverner Cup possible. They deserve our support and patronage. A big thanks also to the birders who participated this year. Thanks are also extended to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada for providing the space for the banquet, Ken Allison who designed the artwork for our T-shirt, Chris Michener of Lifer Bird Gear of Golden Lake, Martha Robinson of Brighton, and the Ottawa Field-Naturalists for providing prizes at the banquet, and finally to Christine Hanrahan, Greg Kelly. Eve Ticknor and Judy Hall who helped out with the species collation and at the banquet.

Next year the Taverner Cup will take place on Saturday May 26th. We hope to have an information session in Ottawa a few days before featuring Bruce DiLabio. Why not mark the date on your calendar and plan on participating?

Further details including fact sheet, entry categories, rules and sponsor details available from our website at www.web-nat.com/taverner/

Specific questions should be sent directly to the co-ordinator.

Hope to see you next year!

Jeff Harrison
Coordinator

For Ontario birding information go to the Ontario Birding Home Page.

For Canadian birding information go to the Birding in Canada website