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!
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!
Labels: World Series of Birding
posted by Amy at 2:25 PM
3 Comments:
Susan (Susan Gets Native), Kathi (Katdoc), Delia (Beginning to Bird)and Laura (Somewhere in NJ) met and birded at Cape May last October. What a blast. Your pictures brought back wonderful memories.
Once you acquire a taste for birding at Cape May, it's hard not to go back.
I trust the concrete ship was as reliable for Purple Sandpipers as it has been in the past.
Another World Series of Birding stalwart: the Snow Goose on Lily Pond, unable to fly, has "earned" thousands of dollars for the conservation coffers.
Post a Comment
<< Home