Tuesday, May 14, 2019


2019 BIRDATHON




Dickcissel.

That’s a funny word. Say it ten times fast and try not laughing.

Dickcissel may not have been the last bird we counted but it was the last word on the 2019 Birdathon.  After hours of chasing birds across the beaches and wildlife preserves in Cape May and Brigantine, NJ, it was the Dickcissel we spent the most time trying to identify from Eric’s photo when we returned to our hosts house. No matter how old one is (15, 55, or 75,) some words bring out the sophomore in all of us. I forget how we concluded this little bird is a Dickcissel, but it is the last box that we checked on the American Birding Association official bird checklist.


You could ask what are we doing and why, and the explanation is simple. We are birders and last weekend we counted birds to raise funds for the 39th Annual Bloomn Birdathon for Audubon Naturalist Society in Chevy Chase, MD.


The rules of play are to count as many birds (or wildflower species) in a 24-hour time frame and to have fun while doing so. There are lots of highlights, but I will limit myself to Mikes original question when the weekend was over: What were your three favorite birds? And I said:


One. The little Common Yellowthroat.


He throws back his head and then sings his heart out! Witchy-witchy-witch


Two. The Juvenile Hawk

Poor little thing looked like he was screaming MOM, the crows wont leave me alone!

Three. The Laughing Gulls.


It is hard to believe that these regular gulls can be interesting but they are. They return to Cape May in March marking the start of Spring.  By mid-May, they flock in the tens of thousands to feast on horse shoe crab eggs along the shoreline.  Put this all together and it is what I call phenomena – Thousands of birds (or any species for that matter,) congregating and behaving according to their biological heritage.

Unbeknownst to me, the second Saturday in May is the World Series of Birding sponsored by the New Jersey Audubon. Everywhere we went, we met people doing the same thing we were - raising funds to support Birds.

At Coral Beach we ran into Vince and his gang who were in the middle of a Big Stay which started at 4 in the morning.  The premise is if you stay in one place long enough, all the birds will eventually fly to you. Apparently, they did because by 2PM, Vince and his gang counted 138 species including the Chuck-wills-Widow calling in the pre-dawn hours.  Thanks to Vince, our team saw the Northern Gannet and Mississippi Kite during our 20-Minute Stay. 

At Higbee Beach we picked up Arthur who confirmed via the bird interweb that Mike really did see the Swallow-tailed Kite that flew overhead during the 15 minutes we all got separated.

When Eric made an unintentional turn onto the Ocean City causeway, we decided to stop at the visitor center where we ran into a group of Happy Campers who flew in specially to participate in the World Series. It was here that we saw these Yellow-crowned Night-Herons building their nest.



I asked my fellow teammates what were their favorite birds and here is what they said:

KELLY



It’s hard for me to pick just one…
but I’m always delighted to see and hear Indigo Buntings, and we saw so many!







Also, I loved the flock of Skimmers standing facing the rain and wind, and flying en masse then suddenly a few would break off and do their skimming thing.

MIKE


I love Indigo Buntings and seeing their rust-colored wing against his iridescent blue body.





Second was watching the Field Sparrow sing with his whole body that 
his tail feathers were quivering.



And I really liked seeing the Otter take off with a fish in his mouth, BUT
if has to be a bird, then it was the Clapper Rail skulking around the mud flats.  


ERIC
Tree swallow peeking out from nesting box!

Starting Saturday, May 11 at 11AM to Sunday, May 12, 11AM, we snagged 95 birds breaking our first record of 87 species in 2018. We were hoping to spot 100 of course but that just means we have even more incentive next year to learn our Warbler songs before we get out and count! 

If you haven’t already donated to the 2019 Bloomn Birdathon for Audubon Naturalist Society then I invite you to do so. Just follow this link and be sure to mention our team name: THIS ONES FOR JANE HUFF – who was an extraordinary birder and naturalist herself and my beloved mentor.  Here’s the link: https://anshome.org/birdathon-sponsor/?_sf_s=Birdathon 


For more photo out-takes like Mikes Otter,



visit: http://www.voit.org/pic-x/Birdathon2019/index.html You will be glad did!

And now for the List of Birds which are grouped by name and phylogenic sequence according to the American Birding Association.  They are all there – count them!

DUCK, GEESE, SWANS
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Gadwall
American Wigeon
Mallard
American Black Duck

PIGEONS & DOVES
Rock Dove
Mounring Dove       

SWIFT & HUMMINGBIRD
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird

RAILS, GALLINULE & COOT
Clapper Rail

OYSTERCATCHER & STILT
American Oystercatcher

PLOVERS & LAPWINGS
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer

SANDPIPERS, PHALAROPES
Whimbrel
Ruddy Turnstone
Curlew Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
White-rumped Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Long-billed Dowitcher
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Greater Yellowlegs

GULLS, TERNS & SKIMMERS
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Common Tern
Forsters Tern
Black Skimmer

LOONS
Common Loon

BOOBBIES & GANNETS
Northern Gannet

CORMORANTS
Double-crested Cormorant

BITTERNS & HERONS
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night Heron

IBIS
Glossy Ibis

VULTURES
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture

OSPREY, KITES, EAGLES & HAWKS
Osprey
Swallow-tailed Kite
Mississippi Kite
Bald Eagle
Broad Winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk

WOODPECKERS
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker

TYRANT FLYCATCHERS
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern King Bird

JAY & CROWS
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow

SWALLOWS
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow

CHICKADEES & TITMOUSE
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse

NUTHATCHES & CREEPER
White-breasted Nuthatch

WRENS
Carolina Wren
Marsh Wren

GNATCATCHERS & GNAT WRENS
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

THRUSHES
American Robin

MOCKINGBIRDS & THRASHERS
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird

SHRIKE & STARLING
European Starling

OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrows

FINCHES
House Finch


TOWHEES & SPARROWS
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow


BLACKBIRDS & ORIOLES
Bobolink
Orchard Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Grackle

WARBLERS
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Palm Warbler

CARDINALS, (GROSBEAKS) & TANAGERS
Northern Cardinal
Blue Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel

For more photo out-takes visit: http://www.voit.org/pic-x/Birdathon2019/index.html You will be glad did!