17 Teams for BRRRRdathon 2026!
SEVENTEEN (!) teams participated in this year’s BRRRRdathon—World’s Coldest Birdathon
This is more teams than we’ve had in recent years. Some braved Minus-9ºF with a minus-20 WCF on Day One but the wind died down and temps actually got just into the double digits on Day Two.
WINTERGREEN NON-MOTORIZED DIVISION
We will excuse Team Philosoraptors for arriving late to the compilation dinner since they walked a RECORD 14.5 MILES(!) to get there. From Duluth’s Indian Point to WLSSD to Park Point they not only tallied 24 species and tied their 2024 WINTERGREEN RECORD 50 points, but they also recorded TWO NEW SPECIES for the entire history of the BRRRRdathon! A Short-eared Owl fluttered past them at dusk on Park Point and they saw a very small duck with the Mallards at WLSSD…a teal species!
Not to be outdone on the human-powered thing, Stephen Gebhart and Megan Hogfeldt of Team Fowling at the Moon pedaled an astonishing 37.2 miles from Two Harbors to our compilation dinner at Clyde Iron Works in Duluth’s Lincoln Park. Wow!
TWO-DAY BRRRRDATHON
For the 13th time in 16 Birdathons, The Grousing Twitchers won the division with 47 species and 102 points, TWICE the number of points as the runner-up Team Probably Caws (great name!). Nine-year-old Blake and his mom made a valiant attempt at second place but just fell 5 point short.
ONE-DAY BRRRRDATHON
With EIGHT teams, this division was the most competitive it has been in many years. Aiden and Ezra of Team Roseau County Fan Club (thought they did not go to Roseau County) tallied 30 species and 63 points to clear the second place team, Frozen-rumped Warblers, by 16 points even though they missed Blue Jay!
There were some other great bird pun team names that need a mention, including the White-tailed See Eagles (works on multiple levels!), Team SawWhat?, Chickabrrrrrdee, and Team Pish Off!
AVIAN HIGHLIGHTS
FOUR new species were added to the Master List bringing our all-time composite list total to 126: Short-eared Owl, teal species, Mountain Bluebird, and Golden Eagle (over Canal Park by The Grousing Twitchers). Fortunately the Harlequin Duck, Greater Scaup and Bufflehead lingered in the Duluth Harbor. FIVE owl species were tallied including the afore mentioned first record Short-eared Owl, Northern Hawk Owl in Sax-Zim, and Snowy Owls in Superior’s Bong Airport. Grand Marais, Minnesota yielded the long-standing Mountain Bluebird (though Sparky couldn’t find it on Friday), American Wigeon, Townsend’s Solitaire, and many Bohemian Waxwings in the campground fruit trees. The Seiferts of Emily & The Crow Wingers had a Common Grackle at their feeder, but Steady-as-she-Goes/Bird Brains’ Eurasian Collared-Dove was not as cooperative and did not show at the feeder during the event (This would have been a new record for the BRRRRdathon).
Steve and Diane Millard of Team “Common Olden Guys” birded for two-days in Otter Tail County and tallied 24 species including an amazing 1300 Trumpeter Swans(!), the only Rough-legged Hawk and a late-lingering Yellow-bellied Sapsucker!
Our composite list for this year’s event was a paltry 63 species, our lowest since 2019 and well below our record 81 species in 2024. Thankfully there were some very nice rarities around for teams to chase.
This BRRRRdathon was held in memory of two icons of this event: Tim Bates of UMD was the catalyst for the Wintergreen division and was a constant cheerleader for the event. John Ellis loved the BRRRRdathon and was our number one fundraiser, often garnering over $1,000 each event. His daughter Anna Ellis participated and was very appreciative of the event. She raised a whopping $2,600 for this year’s event!
We had a fun and raucous time at Clyde Iron Works Saturday night for the compilation dinner. Everyone in attendance received an “I survived the World’s Coldest Birdathon” mug, stickers and magnets. This event is gaining momentum! We hope you can be one of the few, the brave, the foolhardy who will join us next year!
