We now have tallies through October for the folks involved in the Meadowlands Big Year competition.

Congrats to all for competing. This will be the last monthly total count until year's end, just to build the suspense.

Congratulations to the two birders who now have seen more than 200 species in the Meadowlands this year. Not too shabby!

The leader board as of Oct. 31 follows below (just to heighten the suspense).  Also posting the standings as of Sept. 30 …

1. Chris Takacs:  202  (lives in district; counting birds within district boundaries, not district towns)
1a. Mike Newhouse 202 (NJMC naturalist, setting a target number for competitors)
3. Ray Duffy:  172 (in district) 
4. Ramon Gomez 162 (out of district)
4a. Julie McCall: 162 species  (in district)
6. Doug Morel: 158 (out of district)
7. Jim Wright: 153 (NJMC staff; had forgotten to include Losen Slote totals on eBird until now.)
8. Dennis Cheeseman: 143  (out of district)
9. Roy Woodford: 126 (out of district)
10.  Rob Fanning: 121 (out of district)
11. Lillian Rivera: 116 (out of district)

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1. Chris Takacs:  189  (lives in district; counting birds within district boundaries, not district towns)

2. Mike Newhouse 188 (NJMC naturalist, setting a target number for competitors)
3. Ray Duffy:  167 (lives in district)  
4. Doug Morel: 154 (out of district)
5. Ramon Gomez 150 (out of district)
6. Julie McCall: 147 species  (lives in district)
7. Dennis Cheeseman: 132  (out of district)
8.  Jim Wright: 132 (NJMC staff)
9. Roy Woodford: 119 (out of district)
10.Rob Fanning: 113 (out of district)
10a. Lillian Rivera: 113 (out of district)