CT Birders - Yesterday marked week three of our community garden harvest competition. Plenty of new birds were found, with five or more species being added to several garden lists last week. A real standout was the Redding Community Gardens which added 13 species to their list! I noted that many birders recorded the first Purple Finches, and Vesper Sparrows were seen in multiple community gardens around the state last week. Below are the new totals as of yesterday, sorted by the greatest numbers of species found: Wilton - Allen’s Meadows - 98 Madison - Bauer Farm - 93 Mansfield Community Gardens - 64 Woodbridge Community Gardens - 64 West Hartford - Westmoor Park - 60 Wallingford - Veteran’s Park - 57 Litchfield - Thompson Preserve - 55 Newington - Deming Young Farm - 55 New Haven - Farnham Memorial Gardens and Yale Farm - 54 Redding Community Gardens - 51 Stratford Community Garden - 49 Vernon Community Gardens - 46 East Haddam - Harris Reserve and Municipal Area - 45 Ansonia Nature Center - 43 Bloomfield - Reservoir 2, Seabury - 42 New Haven - Edgerton Park - 38 Simsbury Community Gardens - 35 Killingworth - Parmelee Farm - 33 Sherman - Colonial Park - 31 The hotspot list is below, sorted by town. To see what birds were found last week, click the link for each hotspot. Ansonia Nature Center https://ebird.org/hotspot/L3572819/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Bloomfield - Reservoir 2, Seabury https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1564924/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec East Haddam - Harris Reserve and Municipal Area https://ebird.org/hotspot/L36996742/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Killingworth - Parmelee Farm https://ebird.org/hotspot/L4399349/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Litchfield - Thompson Preserve https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1341089/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Madison - Bauer Farm https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1793844/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Mansfield Community Gardens https://ebird.org/hotspot/L5039488/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec New Haven - Edgerton Park https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1458781/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec New Haven - Farnham Memorial Gardens and Yale Farm https://ebird.org/hotspot/L12546640/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Newington - Deming Young Farm https://ebird.org/hotspot/L13602860/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Redding Community Gardens and Municipal Area https://ebird.org/hotspot/L37061077/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Sherman - Colonial Park https://ebird.org/hotspot/L37009619/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Simsbury Community Gardens https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1297090/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Stratford Community Garden https://ebird.org/hotspot/L999829/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Vernon Community Gardens https://ebird.org/hotspot/L16550410/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Wallingford - Veteran’s Park https://ebird.org/hotspot/L471935/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec West Hartford - Westmoor Park https://ebird.org/hotspot/L198655/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Wilton - Allen’s Meadows https://ebird.org/hotspot/L464304/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec Woodbridge Community Gardens https://ebird.org/hotspot/L1290771/bird-list?yr=curM&rank=lrec A few community gardens had no new checklists last week. Don’t despair if your garden isn’t near the top of the list - fall birding is fun and you never know what you will find. The weather is excellent and we have over a week to go to harvest some more birds! Chuck Imbergamo CT Birds Moderator Madison