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| Yay! The Black Skimmers are back! |
If anything proves the adage, "The competition is so fierce because the rewards are so small," it is the World Series of Birding. Hundreds of people running around the state ticking off birds, trying to win in a myriad of categories. If no one remembers who wins, I guess that's all right--it's really about raising money for NJ Audubon.
Unlike Christmas counts, which you can persuade yourself have some scientific value, the WSB is birding at its most basic and boring: See bird--or more likely hear bird--tick bird. That's it. In a place like Brig you don't even have to scout. If you're doing the whole state or even a county, then planning the route is probably the most skillful aspect of the day, but at Brig, it's just loop after loop after loopy loop. By lunch we had well over 80 species. After that it seems like diminishing returns.
Not that there weren't positives in the day--I added six year birds including one common rarity (White-faced Ibis) and one family fave (Black Skimmer). However, a typical good day this time of the year would yield the same results.
Probably the highlight of the day for me was not just seeing the Blackpoll Warbler that Mike found along the Gull Pond road, but hearing the Blackpoll Warbler sing. That's how close we were to it--my ears could bring in the thin buzz of a Blackpoll.
Another happy sound was the "fitz-bew" of a Willow Flycatcher. I was even happier when we saw one. And if was good to get White-rumped Sandpiper on the list. This is a bird I'd be reluctant to even look for in the thousands of peeps on the mudflats, but Pete and Mike are better at picking out the slightly larger birds with the longer wings than I am, so, if there was any bird that was my reward for over 16 hours of intensive birding, it is the Whie-rumped. As I said, the rewards are so small.
Our team, in various configurations, racked up 112 species for the day, not bad for a "Century Run." Out of all the birds listed, the only one I regret not getting is Saltmarsh Sparrow, but that will eventually be added.
We started the day at Leed's Point and Mott's Creek getting Whip-poor-will and Chuck and ended the day with nice looks at the Peregrine Falcon. Here's everything I'm willing to list:
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Wood Duck
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Green-winged Teal
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White- faced Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Clapper Rail
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Spotted Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
White-rumped Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Forster's Tern
Black Skimmer
Mourning Dove
Chuck-will's-widow
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Peregrine Falcon
Willow Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
Cedar Waxwing
Ovenbird
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Seaside Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Scarlet Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
House Finch
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