My favorite annual birding event is The Big Sit, held traditionally on the second Sunday of October, all over the world. Here's how the Big Sit works: Find a birdy spot. Mark off a 17-foot diameter circle, register your team and circle on the Big Sit website. Then sit inside your circle from midnight to midnight (or for as much of that 24-hour period as you can handle) on the second Sunday in October and count birds. Easy, right? And lots of fun!The Big Sit concept has been around for a long time, but it was a handful of members of the New Haven (CT) Bird Club that conducted the first organized Big Sit in the early 1990s. They liked it so much that they trademarked the name The Big Sit!™
Being a one-day event, and having that one day be a Sunday, the Big Sit has always had some participants, or would-be participants, who could not fit the Sit into their schedules due to church, family obligations, etc. And I'm sure that fewer Big Sitters stayed up all the way until midnight on Sunday night since the next day (for most of us) is a school/work day.
After several requests from participants, and a bit of internal discussion, the NHBC decided to open the dates for future Big Sits to include both Saturday and Sunday on the second weekend of October. For the 2012 Big Sit, sitters can choose to sit on either Saturday, October 13 or on Sunday October 14. Or you can choose to sit on both days and pick the best one to record for your Sit circle.
The Big Sit is a non-competitive event (although I compete with myself every year to top our Sit site record for number of species). Anyone can participate—it's free—and you don't HAVE to register, but we appreciate it if you do. Mainly the Big Sit is FUN! It's like a tailgate party for birders. I'm already looking forward to sitting for parts of both days. And if Saturday is rained out, well there's always Sunday!
Happy sitting whenever and wherever you do it!