We Have Winners! Backyard Birds Edition...

Wow!  What a lot of great backyard birders and photographers we have in the Trinity family!  Below are the winners of our First Annual (And Probably Only) Trinity Backyard Bird Contest!  Every winner gets a copy of one of my favorite bird photos and the top entries also get an Audubon poster.  Congratulations to all!

For spotting the largest number of birds and wildlife:  Will Van Camp!  Will actually observed 9 of the 12 birds on the contest instruction sheet, plus he added observations of Osprey, Geese and Starling as well as Squirrel and Deer.  Wow!  Will is a fierce hunter!  He is “almost” six years old and I say he has a great future in wildlife observation.  Congratulations to Will!

For the most beautiful photo:  Professor Lawrence Levin!

Ever the amazing photographer, Professor Lawrence Levin captured these Carolina wrens, above, building their nest on a bridge post on Roosevelt Island.  Fabulous!

For capturing a neighborhood visitor so well:  Patrick Kellogg!

Chief Development Officer Patrick Kellogg captured this beautiful robin (above) on his walk in Alexandria.  Beautiful!

Dr. Elizabeth Child also reported her observations of a red cardinal family nesting in her front yard.  No photo, but still, very nice!

Oneeka Gregory also captured a red cardinal between the trees:  Nicely done!

Campus Minister Sr. Ann Howard is very observant of the wild things all around us.  She captured a great photo of very hard-to-get pileated woodpeckers on a tree on Connecticut Avenue — I’m jealous that you could get them!!  Great!

And this pair of mourning doves on a wire in Hyattsville:

Nursing Student Shelda Summons says that she loves wildlife photography and her large portfolio of wonderful “wild things” is a great testament to her talent… below are her many photos:

And “Katie the Moodle Lady” Wanschura was on the hunt in her backyard and she captured some very nice blue jays, robins and squirrels:

Major Gifts Officer Barbara Golliday reports that her husband, a St. Louis Cardinals fan, was on the lookout for his favorite bird and found one:

Professor Carlos Cardenas sent in this lovely mourning dove nesting on his porch:

Nursing Adjunct Professor Maureen Origoni sent in these very healthy looking turkeys in Poolesville, MD:

And while we don’t have photos, Trinity Trustee Jack Leary reports that he has seen a great blue heron and a wild turkey in his very backyard!  His yard has a beautiful waterfall and stream, no wonder…!!  And in nearby Rock Creek Park, he’s also seen a fox and even a river otter.  Nature is all around us!

And right here at our very Trinity campus, I watched this hawk sitting on the cross on top of Main Hall last week as a crow flew by:

Wild things.  They are everywhere!

Thanks to everyone for your joyful participation in our excursions into backyard birding!  Keep up the great work!

Our next challenge:  The Trinity Cookbook!  Send me your photos of your favorite dishes and recipes as well so we can make a virtual cookbook to share with others — What’s Cookin’ at Trinity?  Let’s do this!  Send entries to me on email president@trinitydc.edu