WSB ’15

By Rob and Lisa Ann Fanning

This year’s World Series was one for the history books.   Fog socked in the state to the south, so visibility and migration were nill.   Teams across the state struggled to add birds for their total. The wining team only saw 208 species (very low by most years’ standards.)

 

  

Our Team (The Sandy Hook Century Run Team) is a non-competitive team, who’s goal it is to see at least 100 species (usually around 125-140.)  We fell just short of that goal and ended up at 94 species for the day. 

The important part is that we are raising funds for New Jersey Audubon’s All Things Birds Initiative. As a team, we raised in excess of $4,500 for important education programs and conservation initiatives.  Thank you to those who contributed and made it possible. 

Rob and I arrived early to listen for nocturnal birds, and while we did not hear our main target (the Chuck-will’s-widow) one of our team members did.

We did, however see and hear some great birds all day. We birded from 5am until almost 7pm.    

Some of our personal highlights were: American Woodcock (heard), Black-bellied and Piping Plovers, Clapper Rail (in flight), Common and Least Terns, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Great Crested Flycatcher, Cedar Waxwing, White-eyed Vireo, Yellow Warblers, White-crowned Sparrow, and a brilliant Indigo Bunting to end the day.

A cumulative species list follows:  (note not all species were seen by all team members.)

NEW JERSEY AUDUBON’S WORLD SERIES OF BIRDING

17^TH ANNUAL SANDY HOOK CENTURY RUN

May 9, 2015 5:30 am to 7 pm

28 people, including leaders

 94 species total

Brant Canada Goose Mute Swan Wood Duck Gadwall American Black Duck Mallard Surf Scoter White-winged Scoter Black Scoter Red-breasted Merganser Red-throated Loon Common Loon Northern Gannet Double-crested Cormorant Least Bittern Great Egret Green Heron Black-crowned Night-Heron Glossy Ibis Turkey Vulture Osprey Cooper’s Hawk Clapper Rail American Oystercatcher Black-bellied Plover Semipalmated Plover Piping Plover Killdeer Greater Yellowlegs

Willet Lesser Yellowlegs  Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Least Sandpiper Short-billed Dowitcher American Woodcock Bonaparte’s Gull Laughing Gull Herring Gull Great Black-backed Gull Least Tern Common Tern Forster’s Tern Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Chuck-will’s-Widow Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird Merlin Great Crested Flycatcher Eastern Kingbird White-eyed Vireo Red-eyed Vireo Blue Jay American Crow Fish Crow Tree Swallow Barn Swallow Black-capped Chickadee House Wren

Carolina Wren Blue-gray Gnatcatcher American Robin  Gray Catbird Northern Mockingbird Brown Thrasher European Starling Cedar Waxwing Northern Waterthrush Common Yellowthroat American Redstart Northern Parula Magnolia Warbler Yellow Warbler Yellow-rumped Warbler Eastern Towhee Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Savannah Sparrow Seaside Sparrow  Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow White-throated Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow Northern Cardinal Indigo Bunting Red-winged Blackbird Common Grackle Boat-tailed Grackle Brown-headed Cowbird House Finch American Goldfinch House Sparrow

 

 

 

 

The next day, we recovered by doing what else? Birding!