WORLD SERIES OF BIRDING
LEVEL III
YOUTH DIVISION
PHOTOS AND ESSAYS
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ESSAYS AND PHOTOS
Centreville
Middle School
The
Big Day
On
May 10, 2001, at 6 o’clock in the morning, the Centreville
Middle School Birding Group hopped in cars and headed to Cape
May, New Jersey, to participate it the 18th annual World Series
of Birding. The actual event was not until Saturday, May 12, but
the group of young birders, grades 6-8 had to do scouting to
find where the birds are for the “Big Day”.
The
World Series of Birding is an international birding competition
that has been raising money for nature conservation efforts
since 1984. In this year’s event, 61 teams were participating.
Two of the teams were from CMS. The CMS Night-Herons members
were Jim, Jessica, Zach W, Kristen, Olivia, Chris, and Jarred.
On the CMS Creepers were Zach B, Ben, Brad, Jessey, Megan, and
Ayana. Each team had two support persons, to keep track of
species seen and organize the sightings. Support for the
Night-herons was Selby and Melissa, and for the Creepers, Will
and Libby.
Most people wouldn’t know what a Night-Heron or Creeper
is, but these students had to learn to identify the many species
they would see in Cape May.
In
the 2 days before Saturday the groups went scouting for places
to find the birds. They traveled all around Cape May County,
visiting the many hotspots like Belleplain State Forest, Stone
Harbor Point, Jake’s Landing, Nummy’s Island, and many more.
On the night before, the group sat down to put an itinerary
together for the next day.
At
3 AM Saturday, May 12, the CMS Birding Group got up, got ready,
and jumped in their parent-driven cars. Their “Big Day” had
begun!
Their first stop was Jake's Landing, a forest and marsh
habitat where they would listen for night birds and rails.
The groups quickly picked up a Great Horned Owl and a
Virginia Rail, a hard to see marsh bird. By the time they left,
the group had a picked up several other species and felt like
they were off to a sound start.
Next
they headed for Belleplain State Forest, a great spot to hear
warblers.
On the way there, the Night-Herons heard one sound they
hadn’t counted on—a large thud as their mini-van hit one of
the many guinea fowl that roamed the area.
This was not the way to get birds.
Worse yet, we couldn’t count it because it was a
domesticated species.
The
morning continued, and the group visited other spots including
the CMBO (Cape May Bird Observatory), Reed’s Beach and a Wawa,
for a necessary pit stop. By
10 AM, the groups were down at Cape May Point Island.
The first stop there was alongside a field, where they
hoped to hear a Bobolink. Unfortunately,
they did not hear any.
After
that disappointment it was on to Higbee Beach.
When scouting the day before, they had heard and seen a
Black-billed Cuckoo, an uncommon bird.
Sure enough, both groups saw the bird there again, almost
in the same place as the day before.
Scouting does pay off!
After finishing birding at Higbee, the group moved on to
Hidden Valley, a nature area.
Here the Creepers found a rare Red-headed Woodpecker, and
the Night-Herons got a good view of a
Rose-breasted Grosbeak.
Next
stop was the Cape May Point State Park, followed by the Cape May
Bird Observatory where they stopped to eat lunch.
By lunchtime the groups had accumulated over one hundred
species, breaking last year’s score of eighty-one.
After lunch it was off to the Cape May Meadows and then
the Beanery. The Beanery is a private property.
It is farm area accessible to the World Series
participants.
Here we found our nineteenth warbler species, the
Northern Waterthrush.
 During
the rest of the afternoon, the groups went up and down the
coast, searching for shorebirds. We found Whimbrels, both
species of loons, the rare Piping Plover, and finally a Black
Skimmer. Then, at around 8:30 PM, they returned to the Cape May
Meadows. It was getting darker outside by the minute, but the
meadow was supposed to be a good spot to find the American
Woodcock. Sure enough, after a short wait, they heard the
distinctive, short, throaty, nasal “eenk” call. The Creepers
even saw the bird as it flew by.
When
they left the meadows, it was totally dark out and starting to
drizzle, but their big day was not yet over.
They headed back to the Beanery for one last stop to
listen for owls. The group had Ayana imitate a Screech Owl call,
hoping to get an owl to reply.
The first response was from a cow!
Finally, a Barred Owl did reply, our 126th
species of the day.
After
that, the Big Day was pretty much over except for check-in.
At the check-in point, the groups tallied up their bird
species seen.
For the final count, the Creepers had 126 and the
Night-Herons had 124.
The counts were good enough to give the CMS teams first
and second place in the Youth K-8 Category.
Getting
to participate in the World Series of Birding was an experience
that none of the CMS students will ever forget.
- Jim
A
Teacher's Perspective
Getting
students interested in birding at a young age is a most
difficult task because it requires personal skills that most of
us don't acquire until later in life: long attention span,
perseverance through the learning process, being unafraid to
look like a fool while learning, and showing interest in
something that is stereotypically not a youth interest.
But they also have qualities that make them well
qualified. They
have a passion to learn, a natural interest in nature, and much
better hearing and eyesight than many of us.
How do you overcome those other obstacles and light the
fire that sets them on their way?
And how did this all happen in a big way in our middle
school on the Eastern Shore?
I
have taught for 30 years and have always tried to kindle a love
of nature in students. Birds
are such a vital part of that natural world that we want to
expose students to. I
am still, however, an amateur, and that has its advantages.
There is too much temptation to simply say, "There's
a Common Yellowthroat."
That does two things.
First, it kills all curiosity that any student might have
about the call. Second,
it makes everyone else feel stupid because they didn't know
that. So I feel
that my ignorance is ironically an advantage.
I ask questions.
But
you can't always "make a horse drink."
It has to want to drink, and that comes from within, not
from the teacher. For years Centreville Middle School has always had an Ecology
Corps that has built trails, monitored water quality, created
wetlands, and attracted and monitored bird species. Teachers
sometimes get too much credit for things students do.
The best thing we can do is empower them and remove
roadblocks to their success.
They have the energy to move mountains.
Each
year a new group of students would come along, and the process
of learning would begin anew.
Two things changed that made birding the centerpiece of a
continuing program. One
of our students went to Cape May, and heard about the World
Series of Birding, an almost 2-decade old event put on by the
New Jersey Audubon Society. This presented an element of competition to what we already
did. Competition is
often frowned about in education, but students thrive on it,
even with all its pitfalls.
It is a large part of the reason that sports predominates
in most children's lives. Why
not add it into the academic world?
But
a teacher can't set the ball rolling.
If it were my idea, it would be dead in its tracks.
An idea must come from within the student(s).
This time there was a small core of students with the
interest and perseverance.
And the program and momentum built on their shoulders.
Parent support was needed to keep the program on the
track. Without that
strong parent support, there are enough distractions in a
child's life to derail the process.
That first year (2000) the students got organized and
found some success (81 species).
But with their experience they saw how to better train,
the importance of scouting, and the importance of learning the
"total bird": field marks, call, behavior, and
habitat. The goal
of beating that total of 81 drove them to heights to which I
never could have pushed them.
A
year later they are a different group.
Warblers are no longer that impossible frustration, and
the students now pick up behavioral clues that were overlooked
before. They
delight in identifying birds better than the old man can in some
cases. Most importantly they have the confidence they lacked before.
But they realize how much hard work it took to get to
that confidence level. How
many groups would not have that stamina to get to that level?
The
World Series of Birding is a great event, and the Cape May Area
is a spectacular area. New Jersey Audubon needs to be commended
for putting on a class event and for making the students feel
like VIPs.
The
group now has a website that they have put up and maintain.
See: http://www.qacps.k12.md.us/cms/sci/corpbird.HTM.
At Centreville Middle School the birding is extending to
other students and becoming an all-year activity.
The group sponsored a County Feederwatch last spring,
involving many others. We'd
love to see other Maryland Youth Groups and Schools get
involved. No area
has as much to offer as our own state.
What a great way to get students from different areas of
the State to interact, share, and show off the feathered jewels
of their area.
-George
Radcliffe, teacher
Student
Memories
"We
were standing in the dark at Jake's Landing.
It was almost pitch black and silent except for the
occasional sound of mosquitoes being swatted.
In the distance a Great Horned Owl hooted faintly.
Suddenly out in the marsh a red-winged blackbird called.
Then another began.
Around us on all sides the marsh was starting to come to
life. On the horizon the sky was just starting to lighten.
Seaside Sparrows started to call, and rails clapped.
As the sky continued to brighten, the marsh erupted with
sound. Our Big Day
had begun."
-
Jessica
"It
was a little before lunch, the sun was high in the sky, but many
of the birds were still singing. The group was at the Cape May Point State Park, following a
trail through scrub brush and wetland areas behind the dunes.
We were on a platform overlooking a pond.
Directly across the pond there was a Wood Duck box poking
up through the Phragmites. Poking out through the hole was a silent and motionless blob.
This was the same blob seen the day before while
scouting. It
couldn't be alive. But
then 'It moved! It
moved!' someone shouted. Now
all eyes were focused on it looking for some field marks.
It turned out to be a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron.
It just goes to show that it pays to look at something
carefully."
- Jim
"It
was late in the evening, and the teams were showing signs of
exhaustion. We had
been up for 18 hours of continuous birding at this point.
Our teams had hoped to see at least 100 species, and by
now our totals had exceeded 120.
So we had surpassed our wildest expectations.
What was one more species?
But we sucked it in and went back out into Cape May
Meadows to find that last rare species.
Here we hoped on seeing an American Woodcock, which
neither team had expected to see. Our scouting had told us that there was a chance of seeing
one here after dusk. The
two teams split, and our team decided to sit in the open field
next to the woods. Fifteen
minutes of sitting, and we hadn't seen our Woodcock.
Then a stubby bird burst straight toward us, but because
of the lack of light, I was the only one that could positively
identify it. We
couldn't count it! It
seemed like our time and energy had been wasted.
Should we get up and leave.
It was getting late.
Then from the edge of the woods came a loud nasal "einck",
music to our ears. All
heard and saw it this time as it went through its incredible
display. Our
patience had paid off once again."
-
Zach
The Junior
Sharpies
The
2001 World Series of Birding was a great experience
for everyone involved with the Aircast/Cape May Bird Observatory
“Junior Sharpies”. I feel both proud and honored to be a
member of the “Sharpies”. On May 12th, 2001, at 2:30am,
Mark, Eva, Jessie, and I started on a twenty-hour quest to find
as many species of birds as we possibly could in southern New
Jersey. Before I go on, let me tell a little bit about each
member of the “Sharpies”.
Mark
is great at calling in Eastern Screech-Owls, and he specializes
in the identification of waterfowl and raptors. Eva is very good
at calling in Barred Owls, and her favorite birds are owls and
other nocturnal birds. Jessie is especially talented at
identifying birds by song and call, and her favorite birds are
the warblers. I really can’t say much for myself, other than I
eat, sleep, and live birds every day. My favorite birds are
definitely the warblers, probably because they can be the most
challenging to actually focus your binoculars on!
Now
that we’ve introduced all the players, let’s get to the
game. Actually, let’s go deep into this game of endurance and
skill. We were at the Edwin B. Forsythe (Brigantine) National
Wildlife Refuge, under
a
threatening late-afternoon sky.
After several hard-earned birds (one identified by
silhouette), we desperately searched for our one hundred
fiftieth species of the day. We were reaching the end of the
eight-mile
driving loop, and stopped the red minivan
in
some field habitat. Mark suddenly saw a very quick, odd bird zip
past and disappear into the nearby forest. What could it be?
Being
that we had time to spare, we hoped that the bird would
reappear. After several minutes of staring at the trees, a
grayish, falcon-shaped bird with a deep, stiff flap zoomed out
from the trees. A Common Nighthawk, the white mark on the wing
and gray coloration clearly evident, even in the fading evening
light, put on a show none of us will soon forget. It also was
our one hundred fiftieth species of the day!
Then,
another bird joined the original bird, and as we left, three
Nighthawks were putting on an incredible show in an overcast
twilight sky. We soon added an Eastern Bluebird and an American
Woodcock, but strong winds prevented us from tallying any more
species during the day, which had now turned to night. Our one
hundred fifty-two species total was good enough to tie for first
place in Division Two of the Youth Category, and was also
thirty-four more species than we found last year. Win or lose,
we already knew we were winners. Five full months of hard work
had finally paid off, and in a big way. Of course, we’re
already planning for next year……(!)
-
Tom
The Twin State Tanagers
tie with Junior Sharpies for number of species
The
Twin State Tanagers did it again! While their victory this year
was not quite so decisive (it was a tie with the local Cape May
Bird Observatory Junior Sharpies), the team had their best
"big day" yet. Starting at midnight the Tanagers began
a marathon day of birding, racking up a total of 152 species for
the day. There were many highlights, which the team members
share below. For me, seeing their enthusiasm and passion for
birds and birding is well worth the lack of sleep, countless
miles driven and roadside diet of fast food! Good job Tanagers!
-Chip
Darmstadt, VINS North Branch Nature Center
It
was 10:25 at night on Friday, May 11th.
The moon contrasted sharply against the dark sky yet was
hardly noticed due to the street lamps and car headlights
illuminating Cape May, New Jersey; the community was as active
late at night as much of Vermont is at midday.
While the New Jersey night life was carrying on, inside
the Blue Amber Motel we, the Twin State Tanagers, were
attempting to sleep in preparation for waking at 11:30 PM and
going off in search of a very different kind of night life; that
of the birds.
Starting
out in the field at midnight, we birded for 20 hours straight.
This was a feat I was more than a little skeptical about
actually achieving, yet somehow I (although not everyone)
managed to stay at least mostly awake the entire time.
The Big Day went by in a blur: the sleep deprivation, the
teamwork, the big, white "Thrifty" van, and, of
course, the reason we were all there in the first place; the
birds.
As
the least experienced birder on the team, southern New Jersey
was home to a wealth of birds I had never seen before.
In fact, a quarter of the birds seen during the trip were
lifers for me! Being
around so many new and beautiful birds was definitely worth any
lack of sleep or regular meals I may have experienced during the
event. There is no
way for me to single out one favorite bird or experience;
everything simply culminated to create an incredible trip where
I learned a lot and had a fantastic time-and tying for first
place in the youth division was a very exciting added bonus!
-
Alyssa
It
was mid-morning on Friday, our scouting day, when I spotted it.
We were on our way to scout Lily Pond and then Cape May Point.
Since the "beanery", a good spot for hawks at this
time of year, was right on our way we were going to stop there
also.
About
a 1/4 mile from the beanery I was scanning for hawks when all of
a sudden I caught about a millisecond long glimpse through the
trees of a long, pointy winged, falcon shaped raptor flying low.
I yelled "FALCON! STOP!" then I yelled
"BAIL!" as I jumped out of the not quite stopped van
(I hope no police are reading this). I ran back to a small gap
in the trees, with everybody following me, shouting "There
it is! Look! Quick!" Everyone saw it, but not everybody got
a good enough look to tell what it was, since it all happened so
quickly.
Luckily,
Phred, Will and I got good enough looks to tell that it had a
very light colored head and it was not flying like a falcon. But
Mississippi Kites look very falcon-like and have light heads so
we were starting to get excited because one had been seen in the
area a few days ago. Then someone yelled "Get the
Sibley!" (the name of the bird book we were using). So all
of a sudden I was diving back into the van to get the book! I'm
still not sure how I was able to get the book and extricate
myself from the van that fast without breaking something! We
checked the book and what do you know, it was a subadult
Mississippi Kite! It also shows that subadult Mississippi Kites
have a fine light brown line down the middle of the back of the
wing and a longer tail than falcons and I saw both of those
field marks. Will, Phred and I were positive it was the kite but
Chip and Stan didn't agree and Remy, Lexie and Alyssa hadn't
seen it very well. We jumped back in the van and drove down to
the beanery hoping it would be there.
I
jumped out of the van, did a quick scan, and in about 5 seconds
yelled "GOT IT! SCOPE, OVER HERE! NOW!" As I excitedly
pointed it out to everyone, Will got a scope on it and the rest
of us got our binoculars on it so we all got good looks at it.
And then as if to remove any doubt, it took a few flaps and we
could all see that ultimate identifying field mark: the short
first primary flight feathers of the Mississippi Kite! After we
all saw it and agreed that it was definitely a Mississippi Kite
we got back in the van. As we drove away, to continue our
scouting, I shouted our battle cry, "WE... ARE...
GOOD!!!!!!!"
And
by the way that was another lifer for me!
-
Ryan
I
love to compete in a competitive game that is challenging and
fun, and the World Series of Birding is one of them, beside
soccer. Birding itself is interesting and challenging.
Birding with people that have the same interests is
really fun. Even in
the World Series of Birding you have to hear or see a bird and
move on. I don't
mind that because it is a competition.
But I'm glad that the team has other time for birding so
we can a least stay and observe the birds.
I
had 3 life birds when I was in New Jersey this year.
A Mississippi Kite I saw through the scope flying away, A
Yellow Throated Vireo at Bear Swamp, and a Bobwhite running
across the road. The
most beautiful bird down there was the Prothonotary Warbler.
I could stay and observe the bird for hours, if IT would
only stay, but this bird has a lot of energy, duh, it's a
warbler.
The
'swap ' was a great time to meet other birders and the some of
the Junior Sharpies and share stories.
After the end of the Brunch, we went birding with one of
the Sharpies' members. It's a great time to add new birding
friends.
I
have enjoyed everyone on the team.
I can't believe we tied with the home team. The other
good part is I didn't have as many ticks on me this year.
-
Remy
On
my recent trip to New Jersey to compete in the World Series of
Birding the best experience was seeing a Mississippi Kite. A
Kite is a type of hawk that flies with pointed wings, and
reminded me of a lazy Peregrine Falcon. Ryan spotted the bird
first while we were driving in the van, and said falcon. It
didn't take us long to stop the van and get out. We all quickly
spotted the bird, which was large with a white head and pointed
wings. When I saw the white-headed falcon I first thought
Gyrfalcon, but knew that that was impossible so I didn't say
anything. After the bird in question disappeared behind some
trees we all looked at each other puzzled at what this bird
could be it was definitely not a Peregrine or anything we had
ever seen before. Then Will said it kind of flew like the
Mississippi Kite he had seen a few years ago. We then got the
field guides out started trying to turn the bird into a Kite,
but we couldn't quite turn it into a kite so we sped down to the
beanery where the Kite was headed. We got to the beanery just in
time to see the Kite fly overhead. We all got great views, and
it was definitely a Mississippi Kite, a life bird for all,
except Will. On the World Series we tried with out luck to
relocate the bird, but it was still the bird of the trip. I
would like to thank everyone who donated their money to help
send us to New Jersey and see the Kite plus many other cool
birds.
-
Phred
Dusk
was falling as our white 15-passenger van pulled into the
parking of the South Cape May Meadows.
The meadows is a familiar spot to New Jersey birders,
because of its large expanse of freshwater marshes and its
location near Cape May point, a world-renowned stopover for
migrating birds.
Dusk
is often the most stressful time during a Big Day, because the
species come in torturously slow, one or two at a time.
And this particular Big Day was no exception.
We
were at 150 species, only one behind our all-time record.
But this was the Meadows, and we were counting on it to
come through for us.
Our
first bird was a Green-winged Teal, which we found after what
seemed like hours of searching the many pools: a pair calmly
foraging along the dark edge of the cattails. Their actions were in seeming defiance of a Big Day, and the
deliberation in their movements could not be a more perfect
mockery of the suppressed frenzy in our minds.
There was probably some sort of lesson to be learned
here, but gosh, no time for that!
151 now. A
tie with two years ago. Maybe
a Loon up by the beach. Please
let there be a Loon, or a Gannet, or something.
But
there was no Loon by the beach.
No Gannet either. The mist was low over the water, making distant viewing
impossible. Even
had the mist been absent, it is unlikely that we would have seen
anything-for the beach was strangely silent.
A few sanderlings chased the waves, but other than that
there were no birds to be seen.
Now
the panic set in. In
my mind I had been counting on this all day, and I started
remembering all the times I had seen Loons and Gannets at this
same spot. Perhaps
there would be a Least Bittern by the path back through the
marsh, like there was the first year (when everything seemed so
much easier), but it was doubtful.
A Least Bittern would be great, but... unlikely.
We had no further idea of where another species would
come from. We walked on. There
was nothing we could do really, except hope.
Hope and watch, and look, and listen... and there they
were! Several
actually. Rough-winged swallows. 152
species.
What
a relief.
-
Will
The
night before the World Series Alyssa and I talked for hours, we
were so excited about the next twenty-four. When we finally
decided to go to sleep it was an hour and a half before we would
have to get up once again. What seemed like minutes later there
was a knock on the door. It was eleven-thirty at night, time to
get up.
The
ride to Cape May Meadows was so surreal, and I could barely keep
my eyes open. The hours passed slowly; 6:00am seemed like 10:00
in the morning, 1:00pm seemed like 5:00pm. I kept thinking about
how much time we had left to find the birds we had missed, and
then the daylight was gone.
At
around 10:30pm we arrived near the finish line. We were all
determined to win, but only Phred and Ryan had the energy to get
out of the van and search the beach for a Common Loon (which we
had still not seen). They returned with no luck but claimed that
if there had been one there they would have seen it. We drove to
the finish line and stayed for about half-hour. I wanted to stay
longer to see if we had won or not, but we all knew that we
should get some rest before the banquet in the morning.
-Lexie
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