(by Grace McCulloch)

Each year, the most dedicated birders brave the cold to compete in the Superbowl of Birding, an event hosted by Mass Audubon. We are thrilled to bring you the results of NH Audubon’s team. This exciting contest challenges teams to spot as many bird species as possible during a 12-hour period in Rockingham County, NH, and/or Essex County, MA. Some teams compete for the coveted Townie Award—given to the team that finds the most species in a single town.

The Twitchers out of the Rye, led by team captain Becky Suomala, took on the challenge once again, enduring frigid temperatures to compete and raise funds for New Hampshire Bird Records and NH Audubon’s Conservation Department.

A Cold, but Rewarding Day
by Team Captain, Rebecca Suomala

The Twitchers out of the Rye had a great day on Saturday (1/25/25) and did really well considering the cold January we’ve been having. Our team was the same four as last year, Becky Suomala (captain), Susan Wrisley (driver), Jenna Rosen (navigator), and Kathryn Frieden (chronicler). We focused entirely on Hampton, NH, hoping the birds we scouted in advance would still be there. Read the full report here.

Highlights

The highlight was definitely the American Bittern that Susan Wrisley spotted while we were out scouting a few days before. It took us four tries to find it the day of the Superbowl, and a push from another team whose report made us look extra hard for the bird. It is a five-point species and a first for the Twitchers. Our second five-pointer was American Pipit, a new species for Hampton. We missed the three-point bonus because we weren’t the first to call it in (a requirement for all 5-pointers). How silly of me to think we should wait for sunrise to look for the pipits!

Other highlights were Barred and Great Horned Owl, Razorbill and Black Guillemot (a new species for Hampton), all three “expected” shorebird species (only the second time the Twitchers have had all three), two Lapland Longspurs with the Horned Larks and Snow Buntings at Hampton Beach State Park (absent when we scouted), all the winter seabirds expected from shore, and a Winter Wren (a new species for Hampton).

Final Results

Total species: 65 (one short of our Hampton record of 66)
Total points: 109 (Hampton high 119)

That was enough to win the Townie Award, bringing it back to New Hampshire after a team from Massachusetts won it last year!

Biggest Disappointments

• The Peregrine Falcon that flew up to its perch on the Hampton water tower at 5:03 pm – just three minutes after the end of the competition.

• Missing the 5-point Chipping Sparrow in Hampton despite four visits (although I don’t know of any team that found it).

Misses

• Wood Duck – scouted bird still present on January 23 (I don’t think anyone else found it.)
• Cooper’s Hawk
• Hairy Woodpecker
• Pileated Woodpecker (seen while scouting in days leading up to event)
• Brown Creeper
• Red-winged Blackbird (seen while scouting in days leading up to event)

Support the Twitchers!

A huge thank-you to everyone who has already donated! If you’d like to support our efforts, you can visit our donation page here. Birding is exciting—especially when it supports a great cause.