The players gathered on this foggy morning in west Houston at Fiorenza Park. The tension was palpable as each player eyed a potential rival. The Gridiron Goatsuckers broke the ice and swayed some participants when their coach emerged with 2 dozen fresh donuts for all. The coach of the Superb Owls wanted to call a technical foul (or fowl) but got no support. Players were divided up into their prospective teams and at 10AM sharp the eBird lists were started.
The goatsuckers were quickly on the scoreboard with shovelers and coots but the owls were equally racking up points as they spotted warblers and gnatcatchers. Both teams played hard and put down almost 3 miles of steps each as the species list grew. At the end both teams made it to the parking lot on time to log their lists at high noon.
All were a bit anxious as the species were called out. In the end the official score was Owls 55, Goatsuckers 54. The owls hooted and hollered in glory as the goatsuckers just sort of peeanted. Sadly the coach of the goatsuckers realized about 10 minutes later that she had forgotten to log a singing House Finch on their list that was spotted and heard by a reliable player. She reported this mistake to the owls coach but agreed that rules are rules and the owls had the winning list at noon. Rumor has it she is already planning for the goatsucker revenge next year and will live to rectify her mistake.
