The National Wildlife Visitor Center hosted the Annual Big Sit! held on October 12^th, 2008 from 8AM - 2PM. The Big Sit! is a non-competitive birding event and has been adopted by the National Wildlife Refuge System as part of National Wildlife Refuge Week celebrations. The object is to tally as many bird species as can be seen or heard from a 17-foot diameter circle. This year's event was led by USFWS staff, Maggie O'Connell, and assisted by Patuxent Research Refuge staff and volunteers. Twenty two different bird species were identified by Refuge volunteer naturalists. Participants identified birds, used field guides and joined bird related discussions and children's activities which included: pine cone bird feeders, origami and bird related games. This was a successful event and participants had a great time!