Neil Bennett Autumn Birding Classic 2023

Each autumn for the last 29 years, Island Nature Trust and Nature PEI have joined forces in a team event for birds and nature. The Neil Bennett Autumn Birding Classic is both a fundraiser and an important citizen science event.

To make it a success, we need you to simply make a pledge or, better still, form a birding team (it can be a backyard bird count team with friends or a field team) and collect pledges for the great work being done on natural areas conservation!

Saturday, September 30th, 2023
(Weather Date: October 1st) 

REGISTERING AS A TEAM LEADER OR PARTICIPANT:

If you are registering multiple individuals to your team, use this registration page to input each member and make your own donation. Each team member must supply an email address.
Payment can be made immediately online with a credit card or later by cheque, cash or e-transfer.

If you are registering as an individual, simply fill in the same fields as above without adding extra participants.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COLLECTING PLEDGES:

Share the following online pledge form with your friends and family to gather donations for your team. Don’t forget to share your Team Name if you have created one.

https://islandnaturetrust.ca/pledge

Use the 'Tell a Friend' button on the registration confirmation screen to share the event with your contacts and ask for pledges directly.

When asking for pledges, the following messages may be helpful: 

• Sponsored bird counts used as fund raisers have been of fundamental importance in supporting nature conservation in Canada.
• The Neil Bennett Autumn Birding Classic Fund Raiser has raised $59,070 for natural areas acquisition and conservation. Each dollar raised levers at least two more dollars. 
• The Neil Bennett Autumn Birding Classic is conducted under American Birding Association Big Day Rules to ensure fairness and conservation. 
• The birding information collected will be published in Nature PEI’s Island Naturalist newsletter so that new editions of the Field Checklist of Birds of Prince Edward Island are more accurate. The information is also accessible to scientists exploring research on bird migration and other areas. 
• Once pledges are received, tax receipts will be issued for all amounts of $10 or more or upon request. 

Good luck, birders!