Results are in for the John Stott Memorial Birding Day!

On 8 May teams around the world took part in the John Stott Memorial Birding Day, a one-day event run by A Rocha to commemorate and celebrate the legacy of our great friend and supporter John Stott as a theologian, pastor and birdwatcher in his centenary year. Some took part in a bird-themed spiritual retreat, others entered a photography competition and 181 participants across 21 countries together spotted 1089 species in our bird race.

The John Stott Memorial Birding Day Facebook group was a hive of activity, with lots of positive feedback suggesting that a great day was had by all:

In South Africa: ‘an awesome day spent birding in the rain at Kuzuko A Rocha Memorial Bird Hide in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Thank you for this great initiative. 108 species counted.’ Others spotted so many snakes they considered changing the name of the day.

In Sussex, UK: ‘Hatfield Old Boys got 63 species all in walking distance of the campsite at Alfriston in the Sussex Downs. Bird of the day was Cattle Egret.’

From Florida, US: ‘Happy John Stott Memorial Birding Day from our team, with the many egrets, ibises, osprey, herons, gallinules, Brown Pelicans, Bonaparte’s Gulls, and other species we saw here at the beautiful Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge/Canaveral National Seashore!’

And the colourful birds spotted in Australia made John Stott birders in other countries jealous!

A Rocha is therefore excited to announce we will be running the John Stott Memorial Birding Day again in May 2022.

Next year you will be able to choose one 24-hour slot over a three-day period to take part in the Bird Race. And we will be working towards a combined total of 2500 species, John Stott’s life list.

Two booted early birds (David Nussbaumer) – winner of the photo competition category for evidence of commitment