On May 12^th, Birdathon 2011 wrapped up with a highly successful awards dinner at the Brazilian Room in Tilden Park.  Guests filled the spectacular room to capacity and enjoyed a wonderful dinner catered by 269 The Arlington, wines by Rock Wall Wines, And great beer from Lagunitas Brewery.

Top Birdathon awards went to Bob Lewis as Top Fundraising Trip Leader and Glen Tepke as top individual fundraiser.  Winners received donated getaways including a stay at the historic Tallman Hotel in Clear Lake along with a tour of the Six Sigma Winery there, and a four day stay in the mountains near the Stanislaus River at Dorrington.  Second place individual fundraiser went to Chris Bard and trip leaders Eddie Bartley and Noreen Weeden.

Avid bird-sighting awards went to: The Dippers for most bird species sighted within 24 hours.  Team members were Glen Tepke, Pat Bacchetti, Carol Chetkovich, Mark Rauzon, and Martijn Verdoes.  The top birders in the 4 hour category were the Contra Costa Song Chasers, Denise Wight and Kitty O’Neill.

And topping the evening, Eddie Bartley and Noreen Weeden swept the Best Bird Awards with their sightings of a Baltimore Oriole in San Francisco and a Black Vented Oriole in Texas.

Our thanks to Premiere Sponsors, Scope City San Francisco, KTVU Fox 2 TV, and REI, Inc.  as well as to our top sponsor, the Oakland Airport.  Thank you also to Lozeau Drury LLP, iBird, New Resource Bank, the law offices of Andrew Packard and Jackson Tuerck Attorneys at Law, Scientific Certification Systems, Emergency Management and Safety Solutions and the many outstanding donors of wonderful auction items and prizes, including Lowepro, stunning jewelry from Melissa Joy Manning, and Pentax.