BirdsCaribbean is excited to finally announce all of our Global Big Day 2020 prize winners! It was an action-packed day with so many unique adventures unfolding around the world. To everyone that participated — thank you, and we hope you had a great time!
Without further ado, let’s give a big congratulations to the following individuals:
MOST SPECIES OBSERVED – ACROSS ALL TEAMS
1st Place: Miguel Garcia Cruz (114) — Flying Pintails
2nd Place: Daniel Hernandez (113) — President’s Perch
3rd Place: Hugo Santa Cruz (105) — Spoonbills Dream Team
MOST SPECIES OBSERVED – BY TEAM
Catbirds and Dogbirds
1st Place: Andy Forbes (60)
2nd Place: Jennifer Mercer (29)
3rd Place: Ann Tanona (18)
Cayman Birders
1st Place: Peter Davey (30)
2nd Place: Kelsey Rae-Smith (21)
3rd Place: Christine Rose-Smith (16)
Far Flung Flock
1st Place: David Winkler & David Bridge (75)
2nd Place: Natasha Atkins (61)
3rd Place: Erik Wing (50)
Flying Pintails
1st Place: Miguel Garcia Cruz (114)
2nd Place: Sharon Hull (92)
3rd Place: Steve Brezinski (91)
Dark-eyed Junkies
1st Place: Jen Mortensen & Brett DeGregorio (74)
2nd Place: Mitchell Pruitt (68)
3rd Place: Mike Slay and Christy Melhart Slay (59)
President’s Perch
1st Place: Daniel Hernandez (113)
2nd Place: Nigel Hacking (90)
3rd Place: Steve Cutting (88)
Spoonbills Dream Team
1st Place: Hugo Santa Cruz (105)
2nd Place: John Hannan (100)
3rd Place: L. Khil (96)
PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS
Best Bird Photo: Michiel Oversteegen — 3 Common Ground Doves, Aruba
Second Best Bird Photo: Adrianne Tossas — West-Indian Whistling-Ducks, Puerto Rico
Third Best Bird Photo: Susan Davis — Yellow-shouldered Parrot, Bonaire
Best Staying-at-home Bird Photo: Beny Wilson — Ruddy Ground Dove, Panama City, Panama
Best From-the-garden Bird Photo: (1) Erika Gates — Green Heron, The Bahamas, & (2) Emma Lewis — Loggerhead Kingbird, Jamaica
Best Selfie: (1) Jessica and Maydiel Cañizares — Massachusetts, USA, & (2) Jen Mortensen, Ozarks, USA
Most Beautiful Landscape: (1) Peter Hopkins — East Devon coast, UK, (2) Joanne Smith — Bermuda , & (3) Catriona Leven — Canada
Best Birding Location: Nigel Hacking — Burnt Balls(!), New Forest, England
Best “Camouflage”: Jeff Gerbracht — hair and beard blend in perfectly with the snowy backdrop, Finger Lakes, NY, USA
Best Smile: John and Sonia Webster — Barbados
Best Looking Coffee: Marisol Mata and Justin Proctor — Sanibel Island, FL, USA
Most Delicious Looking Adult Beverage: Mark Hulme — Trinidad
GBDer bundled up in the most layers while surviving the most miserable weather: Charles Duncan, photo by Laura Blutstein — Massachusetts, USA
Youngest GBDer: (1) Adam Spottiswood — South Africa, (2) Holly Mace — New Zealand, & (3) Maeson Gaymes — St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Most Enthusiastic First-time Birder (first eBird checklist ever submitted): (1) Linda Showalter — North Carolina, USA, (2) Beth Mortensen — Stevens Point, WI, USA, & (3) Nicole McHale — Sanibel Island, FL, USA
Most Determined Dawn-to-Dusk Birder: John Hannon — every corner of New York State, USA
Best GBD Virtual Experience: Leno Davis — The Bahamas – here’s his backyard birding video, complete with bird calls.
Prizes!
The following prizes* have been graciously donated and will be delivered to a few of the top winners in the time it takes for a Wood Stork to fly from our warehouse to your home! (i.e., please be patient)
- Free 1-year membership to BC which includes a 1-year subscription to Birds of the World: donated by BirdsCaribbean
- All publication fees waived for one manuscript submitted to Journal of Caribbean Ornithology (offer never expires): donated by JCO
- A personalized voicemail greeting for your phone recorded by President Andrew Dobson using his best English accent: donated by “friends” of Andrew Dobson
- An adorable, handmade plush Black-capped Petrel chick: donated by Jennifer Wheeler
- A one-of-a-kind crocheted Solenodon: donated by Kate Wallace
- A coupon for 25% off the BirdsCaribbean conference registration fee for Trinidad 2021: donated by BirdsCaribbean
- BirdsCaribbean Swag, including buff, chicobag, and hat: donated by BirdsCaribbean
- New Endemic Birds of the Caribbean Coloring Book: donated by BirdsCaribbean
- Custom-made BirdsCaribbean logo binocular harness: donated by Jessica and Maydiel Canizares
*Prize(s) awarded to eligible winners are likely to elicit extreme jealousy from friends, family, and neighbors. BirdsCaribbean is not responsible for prizes that suddenly go missing.
A big congratulations to all of our winners!
And thank you to everyone, everywhere, for participating in our Global Big Day campaign, and for making it such an awesome experience!
P.S. If you haven’t yet watched our BC Global Big Day wrap-up video, please do!
To learn more about our Global Big Day results and how it connected us during a time of social isolation, check out these articles:
BirdsCaribbean Takes Global Big Day by Storm, Despite COVID-19
Brought Together by Birding—Virtually: Global Big Day Connects Us in the Caribbean and Beyond
To view photos in the gallery, click on a photo and then advance through the images. Hover over a photo to see the captions.
