Friday, May 15, 2009

World Series of Birding: Friday

For many years, WildBird has sponsored a team in the annual World Series of Birding. Within 24 hours, birders compete with each other to identify as many species as possible by sight and sound within New Jersey state lines.

Some teams, such as WildBird's team, restrict their scavenger hunt to a limited geographic area. Zen Zugunruhe, our four-man team, sticks to Cape Island, south of the Cape May canal at the bottom of the Jersey peninsula.


View Larger Map

The point of this exercise: raise funds for conservation groups by obtaining pledges per identified species. The teams might generate hundreds and thousands of dollars for the conservation groups of their choice.

I get to attend the event as a corporate sponsor. Zen Zugunruhe has their routine down, so I stay out of their way and do my own thing. This year, I enjoyed the company of a New York birder, Catherine Hamilton, also known as birdspot on Twitter.

Our visit to Cape May marked Catherine's first time to this migration mecca on the Atlantic flyway. I enjoyed introducing her to the various sites, such as

Cape May Point State Park

Concrete Ship at Sunset Beach

and The Beanery/Rea Farm





Our quick visits to these sites on Friday afternoon whet Catherine's appetite for Saturday's explorations. Already, she was talking about returning to Cape May in future months. Bwa-ha-ha-haaaa!

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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Award-winning bird photog's exhibit in Corpus Christi

Until May 29, birders can enjoy "The Birds of Corpus Christi" in the Kucera Gallery at The Art Center of Corpus Christi. Juan E. Bahamon showcases the beauty of birds along Texas' Gulf Coast, such as these Roseate Spoonbills.


The art center's address: 100 Shoreline Boulevard.

Bahamon won the grand prize in WildBird's 2004 photo contest with an image of a Bald Eagle in flight near Homer, Alaska. He also won second place in the backyard category of the 2005 photo contest for an image of a female Purple Martin bringing a plump dragonfly to her chicks.

Reminder: The deadline for the 2009 photo contest is this Friday, May 15.

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