A team of bird-watchers from the Kansas University Natural History Museum last week missed a record they set last year for the number of birds spotted in a day.

The three-member team spotted 225 birds during a day in 2002, a record in Kansas. This year they saw 220 when they watched birds May 13 near Manhattan, the Baker Wetlands, Leavenworth Bottoms, Clinton Lake, Junction City, Cheyenne Bottoms, Wilson Reservoir and Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.

Team members were Mark Robbins, collection manager at the museum; Roger McNeill, a Kansas City, Mo., resident who works for Sprint; and Mike Rader of Wilson, who works for Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks. They covered 568 miles during the trip, which began at midnight and concluded around 9 p.m.

The team was competing in the annual Bird-a-Thon sponsored by the American Birding Assn.