NEKKED JAYBIRDS BIRDATHON IS COMPLETE! 

The Nekked Jaybirds would like to thank you for sponsoring our 2022 Birdathon team. With your help the Jaybirds raised just over $2000 for Tucson Audubon. Your dollars will support the great work Tucson Audubon does to protect birds and their habitat, and to inspire others to enjoy and protect birds.

You can watch a 5 minute video about our birdathon day here: https://youtu.be/7knE599qQ74

Don'f forget to check and friend our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100079205584294

 

We completed our big Birdathon day Monday, April 25^th. We began searching for owls at 3:30 am, birded our way up and down Mt. Lemmon and across the Tucson Valley, finishing up at Sweetwater Wetlands at 5:15 pm. In total we spotted exactly 100 species of birds! (Well, 101 if we include a couple of tricky little flycatchers from the genus Empidonax that we couldn’t ID to species.)

 

We had several fun challenges from our sponsors. Here are the ones we completed:

· Identify butterflies (16 species)

· Find a turtle (1 Red-eared Slider at Sweetwater)

· Find owls (1 Great Horned Owl, 1 Elf Owl)

· Find hummingbirds (4 species, 16 total)

· Find Painted Redstarts (1 in Middle Bear Canyon)

 

You can find the complete list of birds we observed, butterflies we ID’d, and places we went by clicking on this link to our eBird Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/50469

 

Thanks again for making our Birdathon a success! Wishing you peace, love, and birds,

Sincerely,

Holly Kleindienst

Mary Backus

Mike Judd

George Kleindienst

Kendall Kroesen

Richard Parent-Johnson

Jay

 

WELCOME TO THE NEKKED JAYBIRDS BIRDATHON 2022 FUNDRAISER PAGE!  WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT RAISING FUNDS FOR THE TUCSON AUDUBON SOCIETY BY DOING SOMETHING WE LOVE! 

TYPE: Traditional Big Day

WHEN: Monday, April 25th, 2022

WHERE: Bird our way up and down Mt. Lemmon, from the wee hours of the morning until mid-afternoon.  Then, bird the Tucson Valley for species we missed on the mountain until dark, or until we’ve had enough of each other. :)

SPECIES GOAL: 100-125 species.

FUNDRAISING GOAL: $1500-$2000. We’re so grateful for flat donations and Per Species donations.  We can’t wait to see what kinds of Challenge Pledges you have in store! Perhaps you’d like to make a donation for every jaybird we spot? (To make a Per Species Pledge and/or give us a crazy challenge choose the blue Pledge Now button below.  To make a flat donation use the blue Donate button.)  

FOLLOW US!    Facebook: Nekked Jaybirds.   Instagram: @nekkedjaybirds

MEET THE TEAM:

This is our first Bird-A-Thon as a team, and we’re so excited! Four of us are brand new to Birdathon.

Holly Kleindienst - Team Captain. Holly likes to plan, organize, dot i’s, cross t’s, and follow plans to completion.  She can get a bit bossy when others stray from the plan, earning her the nickname, “Queen Bee”.  Holly likes to lead field trips for Tucson Audubon, the Verde Valley Birding & Nature Festival and the Southeast Arizona Bird Festival. She also loves to teach workshops on eBird and other mobile birding apps, and do Christmas Bird Counts and other bird surveys. This is her first Birdathon.

 

 

 

Kendall Kroesen - Code Names: K2 and Double K.  Kendall, a true naturalist, brings a wealth of knowledge of the habitats and wildlife of the desert southwest to our team. He is the longest Tucson resident of our group, and a veteran of many Bird-A-Thons. He’s as sharp as a tack, and as kind as Mr. Rodgers. Kendall worked many years for Tucson Audubon Society in communications, rural habitat restoration and creation of the Habitat at Home program. He now works as Community Outreach Coordinator at Mission Garden. Kendall is the compiler for the Santa Catalina Christmas Bird Count. He enjoys gardening, birding and walking dogs with his wife Mary Beth Tyndall.

 

 

Mike Judd - sometimes dubbed “The Judge” because, you know, Judd… Judge...  Mike came to birding through herping. Now he swears he can tell a bird from a snake 9 times out of 10.  He keeps the team mentally acute as he speaks in riddles and obscure references to esoteric knowledge.  He’ll tell you he’s just ballast for the boat, but he’s got a sharp eye, especially when reviewing our checklists. He and his wife Cheri are now full time residents of Tucson, but still travel extensively in Mexico in the winter months.

 

 

 

Richard Parent-Johnson - aka The Professor/ Dr. J / RPJ.  Richard is a semi-retired professor of sociology, and the “Mayor” of our team. You want an outgoing guy that makes contact with all the good birders? He’s the guy.  He never met a birder he didn’t like, and gets us the low-down on the best birds.  Richard moved to Tucson in 2018 with his wife Wendy, another professor!  They share their home in west Tucson with several dogs, including foster dogs with special needs, and a yard full of javelina and Great Horned Owls.

 

 

 

George Kleindienst - “Eagle Eye”. His forté? Spotting the bird everyone else didn’t notice. His byline is, “Hey! This is something different!” There are no sweeter words for this team. George retired from work as a wildland firefighter and fire manager over 20 years ago.  He’d been casually bird watching with Holly for many years, but on Jan. 1 2020, when he agreed to drive Holly around for a Pima County Big Day, he caught the birding bug.

 

 

 

 

Mary Backus.  Mary is the newest member of the team, but arguably the most experienced birder.  She is a driven and unapologetic “Lister”. She consistently ranks as one of the top eBirders in Pima County, a fact made even more remarkable as she splits her year between Arizona and Wisconsin.  Her “no nonsense” style of birding will help balance our team as Lord knows we have plenty of nonsense!

 

 

 

 

Jay is a jaybird of uncertain species.  He’s the only one of us Jaybirds that will actually be birding nekked in his birthday plumage! His call is a repeated “pledge pledge pledge.” Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see more of Jay in the month ahead!

 

WISHING YOU PEACE, LOVE & BIRDS!  :)

 

 

 

Pledges:

• Marcia Grand: $10/species; $5 for every active nest (building, eggs, sitting, etc); $10 for every species of identified snake; $5 for every species of identified butterfly; $50 for a turtle; an extra $100 if you ID 5 or more hummingbird species; $500 for one eagle
• George  Kleindienst: $0.50/species and an additional $10 for every Roadrunner
• Kay Hawklee: $1/species and an additional $5/owl
• Peggy Steffens: $0.10/species and an additional $5/Painted Redstart
• Ellen McAlister: $0.25/species
• Whit Manter: $1/species and an additional $10 for Crested Caracara
• Amy Glicken: $1/species and an extra $1 for every hummingbird you see

Birds have a unique, special, and different meaning to each of us. So, too, is each of our connection with Tucson Audubon Society personal and distinct. During Birdathon, we combine the love of bird watching during spring migration with support for bird conservation.

Birdathoners are birders and social fundraisers, joining together to make a difference for the birds and habitats of Southeast Arizona. Birdathoners continue a tradition that has held strong for over 30 years! 

Each Birdathoner's personal network of supporters is what helps makes Birdathon possible. 

Birdathon donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Tucson Audubon Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Supporting a team by writing a check?

• Make checks payable to: Tucson Audubon Society
• Write the team name on memo line
• Mail to: 
  Tucson Audubon Society
  PO Box 91770
  Tucson, AZ 85752

REGISTER YOUR OWN TEAM HERE
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