Canada

Please join us in congratulating Alexander Skevington of Constance Bay, Ontario, winner of the October 2014 eBird Challenge, sponsored by Carl Zeiss Sports Optic. Alexander’s name was drawn randomly from the more than 4300 people who submitted a stationary count of at least 1 hour duration in October. Alexander will receive new ZEISS Conquest HD 8×42 binoculars and a selection of books from Princeton University Press. View Alexander’s winning checklist from Australia here. We asked Alexander to tell us a little more about himself, his use of eBird, and his love of birds below.

My name is Alexander Skevington and I am from Constance Bay in Ontario, Canada, which is near Ottawa.  I am 10 years old and probably first started birding when I was a baby. My parents are birders and we have a lot of bird feeders at my house, but I really started getting into it over the past 4 to 5 years.

I started submitting eBird checklists when I was 7 years old. I like eBird because I can see how many birds I have seen and when and where I’ve seen them. My first bird was probably a Pileated Woodpecker or a Blue Jay because they are two of the most regular birds at our feeders.

My family travels a lot, so I get to know a lot of birders and see lots of birds. I am in Australia for six months because my dad is doing research on flies here. In Australia, I love waking up and listening to all of the bird songs and trying to identify them. I have had lots of cool experiences with birds in Australia.

Eastern Yellow Robin. Photo by Alexander Skevington.

I have already seen 1176 species of birds. My favorite Australian bird is probably Scarlet-chested Parrot, and my favorite North American bird is likely Boreal Owl, but it is really hard to tell with so many thousands of birds out there. My most wanted bird to see is Boreal Chickadee. I can’t believe that I am missing the invasion of them that seems to be starting in my home area this winter! My favorite bird experience was when a Red Crossbill flew into a tree at my school and my whole class got awesome looks.

Thank you for the Zeiss binoculars and the books from Princeton University Press. I can’t wait to use them!

Brown Cuckoo-Dove. Photo by Alexander Skevington.