Thrashers are often quite secretive and less apt to be singing during the fall, so you may need to work a little harder to add one, such as this such as this California Thrasher, to your October Big Day lists (photo by Paul Konrad). Two lucky Big Day birders will win Zeiss Victory SF32 Binoculars.

This month’s eBirder of the Month challenge, sponsored by Carl Zeiss Sports Optics, emphasizes participating in the October Big Day on October 17. This month Zeiss has generously doubled the prizes to help celebrate October Big Day and to encourage birders to try to set a new record for the number of people participating in this worldwide citizen-science birding event. Two winners will each receive a pair of new Zeiss Victory SF32 Binoculars with the winners drawn from a pool of participants who submit 5 or more eBird checklists on October 17th – October Big Day!

Last year, during October Big Day 2019, more than 20,000 participants submitted 42,700 checklists. Join Zeiss on October 17th as birders try to set a new record of 25,000 Big Day participants. It doesn’t matter where you are or how many species you report – every eBird checklist counts and provides valuable information. So have fun, stay safe, enjoy the birds you find, and share your observations on eBird. Zeiss binocular winners will be notified by November 10th.

Each month Zeiss features a new eBird challenge and set of selection criteria to win Zeiss binoculars in cooperation with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; see https://ebird.org/news/october-ebirder-of-the-month-challenge-2020

Carl Zeiss Sports Optics is a proven leader in birding optics, especially binoculars and spotting scopes, and Zeiss is the official optics sponsor for eBird. “We are thrilled to continue our partnership with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and support the vital scientific data being collected by dedicated eBirders,” said Richard Moncrief, Birding and Nature Observation Segment Manager at Zeiss. For more information see https://www.zeiss.com/consumer-products/int/home/website/nature-observation/more-discoveries.html?vaURL=www.zeiss.com/morediscoveries