- San Blas registered 266 birds during a game played by professional birdwatchers where they register as many birds as each team sees or hears during a contiguous 24-hour period.
Every year the American Birding Association (ABA) receives reports from
the “Big Day,” which brings together professional birdwatchers that strive to
count the most birds possible during a 24-hour period.
This year, Francisco García and Mark Stackhouse, ecotourism guides
specialized in bird watching within the areas of San Blas, teamed up and took
on this challenge on March 3rd, setting a new record with 266 birds
and beating last year’s record by six, which was set in Oaxaca by Jorge Montejo
and Amy McAndrews.
“It’s like an honor-based professional game among bird watchers,”
explained García. “There are a series of rules to follow: they all have to hear
and see the birds without any help outside the team.”
The event begins at 12:01 a.m. and runs through 11:59 p.m. The
communities they visited included San Blas, La Tovara, Cerro de San Juan,
Jalcocotán, La Bajada, La Palma, Tecuitata, El Cora, El Cuarenteño, La Noria,
Tepetiltic lagoon and Chapalilla, among others.
“Mark Stackhouse is world-renowned with a high level of credibility,”
remarked Francisco García. “That goes for myself, as well. It’s my profession
and I would never lie in that regard.”
During the 2013 competition they were only able to register 238; on this
occasion they saw 28 more. According to what Stackhouse published
on his social media accounts, it will be a hard record to beat.
“From my perspective, it was a very Big Day; in fact,
it was the biggest day of birding I've ever had in my life… The 266 species of
birds that Francisco and I found might even be enough to make it the biggest
day of birding ever in Mexico; I don't know,” wrote Mark on his Facebook page.
This
event confirms the importance on the world stage of San Blas with respect to
migratory and endemic birds. The Riviera Nayarit Convention and Visitors Bureau
congratulates this team of professionals for their incredible passion.
Click here for the official registry of the ABA published on the
Internet: http://listing.aba.org/lists/#bigday/All/All/4.0.0.0.0.0.
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