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 39^th 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!