That burning question is finally and authoritatively answered... That's right, the one I know many of you have - nagging and begging, demanding attention, pleading for a coherent answer!
Exactly what does an official World Series of Birding Check List look like?
Today's your lucky day! Here is ours from 2008... enjoy!
All Loons are home safe and sound after another exciting World Series of Birding. More tales and photos to post later, but we had a blast despite a snafu during the prime morning hours that forced us to cut part of our planned route.
We had fun, raised money for and awareness of The Nature Conservancy, and managed to place in the top 10. So all in all, it was a great success and we are already looking forward to next year!
Scouting is wrapping up for the week as we get ready for the big day on Saturday.
A traditional "swap meet" was held up North where tall tales and tips were shared. It sounded like everyone had enjoyed a great week out in the field.
My highlights today included excellent looks at a male Cape May Warbler, watching and filming a Brown Creeper enter it's amazing nest (a short clip below - check it out!), meeting the team from Spain, and getting to enjoy more birding in the field with some of the countries best birders.
Thanks again for your support!
Another great day in the field - weather was beautiful, and the birds cooperative.
The picture below is a shot from scouting today at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, where The Loons will start their big day on Saturday. Highlights included great looks at a very seldom seen bird, the American Bittern. Jeremiah Trimble, member of the Bushnell team and Curator of Birds at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology called in Virginia Rails by the 6-pack with an amazing technique involving a kissing sound on the back of his hand. Really, it was something quite remarkable.
So a great day, and now it's time to rest before our last full day of scouting. A special thanks to the "Sub-adult Skuas" team for the ride down to the swamp today!
P.S. - The Nature Conservancy has posted a story about our efforts here.
A swarm of crazed loons is scouting the State of New Jersey with many of the birding world's finest as we prepare for the big day on Saturday! It is an exciting opportunity for all of us to see many of the most scenic parts of New Jersey during the peak of Spring migration, and to bird side-by-side with some amazing ornithologists. Speaking for myself, I always learn so much during the week leading up to the big day, and that's because of the insane level of skills (some amateur, some "semi-pro", some scholarly) many of the teams have deployed in the field this week. And everyone's here in the name of conservation! Very cool.
You might notice our website has been spruced up a bit - please check out the new pictures link on the right to get some visuals as to what it's like out here, and if you want to get a feel for the mad pace of scouting up North, check out the "Tweets" link up on the top right to follow my scouting notes real time.
Here's the team for 2008! Pictured from left to right:
Bill Reaume, Art McMorris, Connie Goldman, and Scott Fraser
2008 World Series of Birding here we come!!!
Yes indeed it's that time of the year again, when The Loons get ready to conquer the birding world (well OK, maybe just aim for the top ten) and raise piles of cash for one of our favorite conservations organizations, The Nature Conservancy. This will be the teams 11th year doing the event!
For 2008 we are excited to welcome a new loon, Connie Goldman. Other returning Loons this year are Art McMorris, Bill Reaume, and yours truly. Mike Lyman has decided to take a break from "competitive birding" as he balances life, work, and a severe digiscoping addiction.
As some of you know (or we like to think you know), The Loons have been steadily chipping away at our allotted 15 minutes of fame in a quest to raise awareness of the importance of conservation and organizations like The Nature Conservancy.
There was the time the Reuters reporter rode along with us (surely you remember THAT story? The year I crash landed our van in the swamp?) The surprise call from MSNBC looking for pictures for their coverage of our team's efforts. The story on nature.org. Last year we rubbed shoulders with some of National Geographic's finest. (This last story is really excellent - our friends Team Bristlehead are featured in the picture).
But honestly folks, I have been saving the best for last. See, this one time... well, we were on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show". That year the team was myself (Scott Fraser), Bill, Mike Tanis, and Justin Coppa. You can us fleeing from a harassing Steve Carell at the "8:41 AM" point in the clip. (1:44 into the clip). To see us in higher rez glory go to Comedy Central's website here.
Dear Friend of the Loons,
Thank you for your support of our efforts in the World Series of Birding this year. All funds collected will go to The Nature Conservancy’s Migratory Bird Fund. We thank you for helping to support this fine organization. Our final count of 197 birds represents a significant leap up from our previous high count of 175 birds. This result is a product of countless hours scouting and planning. I hope you enjoy the following account of our day. On the left is a copy of our checklist.
Once again, our “day” began in the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. We got to the marsh around 11:30 to scout around a bit and found ourselves parked on the roadside along with about eight other teams. Coffee and conversation was exchanged right up until 11:55 when many of us proceeded to the edge of the woods. Once there, the DVOC team began whistling for a Screech Owl. Hearing the bird respond was a true test of our abilities to listen deeply into the woods. Eventually, we all heard it and so began a wild adventure through the state of Jersey. By the time we left Great Swamp around 2:00, we had checked off Yellow and Black-billed cuckoos, American Bittern, Least Bittern, Barred Owl, Grey-cheeked and Swainson’s Thrushes, American Woodcock, Sora, Virginia Rail and a few others.
We started our pre-dawn birding earlier than ever in the grasslands of northwest New Jersey climbing up a long hill through farm fields. The real target birds here were the Vesper, Savannah, and Grasshopper sparrows that Scott and I had scouted during the week. All three (plus an American Pipit) sang for us by 5:10am and we were off on our crazy morning run.
After the grasslands, we ripped through High Point State Park and Stokes State Forest picking up many difficult to find species such as Ruffed Grouse, Canada Warbler and 5 birds of prey that we had scouted on nest. After having missed Great Horned Owl at Great Swamp, we figured we didn’t have a chance for that bird until Cape May County at night. Nice surprise for us when one started singing at 9:30am near our stop for Nashville Warbler. On top of the GHO singing there, we picked up a bonus Hairy Woodpecker calling on the hill behind us. We ended up crossing over I-80 at 10:40 with 128 birds checked off. On the way south, we stopped in at Florence where we saw Great Cormorants sitting on a channel marker, Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the water, a Peregrine Falcon on the bridge and a surprise Cedar Waxwing in a park. The scouted Northern Bobwhite called as soon as we arrived and the American Coot was sitting pretty at its scouted location. It is always nice to be able to make a two-minute stop and have the birds show up right away like they did.
We had considerable good fortune with a couple notoriously difficult birds in Salem and Cumberland Counties. While pulled over on the side of the road to see Horned Lark, we heard a Yellow-breasted Chat singing from a hedgerow. Blue Grosbeak decided to sing at our White-eyed Vireo stop and Summer Tanager was heard at our second stop for it. Along with the good fortune came some tough misses such as Yellow-throated Warbler and Kentucky Warbler (had three spots scouted for each, but couldn’t get the birds). Birding in the afternoon can be pretty tough, but overall, our scouted birds came through for us and we entered Cape May County later than we wanted to, but with a solid number of species found.
In Cape May County we zipped from stop to stop as fast as possible. We needed to cut a lot of stops due to being behind schedule, so we tried to hit spots with more than one new species expected… Heislerville for Bonaparte’s Gull, Curlew Sandpiper, Red Knot and Red-breasted Merganser…Beaver Dam Road for Eagle, Prothonotary Warbler, Carolina Chickadee and Gull-billed Tern…Cape May Point for Gannet and Purple Sandpiper… Nummy Island (between North Wildwood and Stone Harbor) where we got a fly-over Whimbrel along with several other needed species. We ended our daylight birding in Avalon watching Yellow-Crowned Night Heron on the bay side. We then quickly made our way to a small cemetery where Mike had scouted both Whip-poor-will and Chuck-will’s-widow. After thirty minutes of waiting, we finally heard the Chucks but no Whip. We raced over to Jakes Landing where we unsuccessfully tried to pick up the Whip-poor-will, but did get Seaside Sparrow singing at night. Back to Stone Harbor for our final bird of the day - Green-winged Teal by silhouette (we listed as “Teal Species” just to be safe). We were hoping to hear the Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows sing here, but rain came in hard so we called it a day – a very good day indeed.
We must mention Delaware Valley Ornithological Club team’s constant assistance and support leading into this event. They have actively promoted a climate of cooperation and sharing which has made the event very friendly and enjoyable for all. They came in with a total of 227 species and we are happy for their success. Thanks also to the numerous landowners in the north who generously gave us access to their properties during this event. The biggest thanks go to you folks reading this note. Thank you so much for your support. You are helping a wonderful organization do important work that will help preserve vital habitat for many species.
Bill Reaume (Captain of the Four Loons)
I have uploaded some of my pictures from this year's World Series of Birding.
Hope you enjoy! (Click on the picture below to view)
Posted by Scott Fraser
The Loons hard work payed off, providing us with a very respectable 197 species on the big day. This was sweet redemption after last year's events involving a van, a swamp, and a breakdown in the middle of the night.
In terms of how we performed in the field, 197 placed us in the top 10 highest scoring teams! We were 9th on the Finish Line Results - not too shabby considering that the top teams in this event are many of the best and brightest birders and ornithologists in the country. It is always a privilege to scout and bird with them, and to put together a respectable big day count was an added thrill.
So much to tell you about! But that will have to wait... I need to catch up on some sleep! Check back soon - I plan to post pictures and stories from the big day. Like about the owl we got at 9:30 AM - when the sun is up! Or the lifer bird I had on the Delaware bay shore. Or the surreal nature of having National Geographic photographers following you around in a swamp photographing your every move.
The Loons are already planning for next year - how can we break the magic 200 mark? What birding skills do we need to continue to hone? And most importantly... how can we help raise even MORE money for The Nature Conservancy?
If you want to support The Loons by making a donation to The Nature Conservancy, you can go to our story here, click on the Donate Now button, and make your pledge.
Again... thanks to all of you for your support, and please check back here later this week when I can get some stories and pictures posted.
Posted by Scott Fraser
