Did You Know?

On May 18, 1929, a Song Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and House Wren made history as they sang. Their songs were captured in the first-ever audio recordings of North American birds. The Fox-Case Movietone Corporation preserved the songs on film using an optical technique to record sound waves, with help from Cornell Lab of Ornithology founder Arthur Allen and colleague Peter Paul Kellogg in Ithaca, New York's Stewart Park.

Read the full story and hear the songs at All About Birds.

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I Came, I Saw, I Scouted: Wrapping up the World Series

The World Series of Birding (WSB) is more than a birding competition. Well, at its basest level it is merely a contest to see which team can observe the most bird species in a single day within the state of New Jersey.

It's a small state, but I wouldn't want to paint it. Birding it is fine.
Map courtesy of Nations Online Project.

Dig deeper and it's a pretty daunting undertaking requiring stamina, knowledge, and more than a little strategery. Developing a strategy that allows you to find 220-plus species is mind bending, a task that employs all the little grey cells you possess. Managing your time diligently requires discipline envied by the most pious of Buddhist monks (if Buddhist monks were given to envy). The extended sleep deprivation and malnutrition would make David Blaine weep. And the skills to identify all of those birds, some by sounds less than a half-second long or by a profile on the edge of visibility, takes the eidetic memory of a Good Will Hunting. And in spite of, or because of, those factors, it really is fun.

I guess -- I didn't actually compete. When you work at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, a place with dozens of world-class birders, you can bet only the best of the best are invited to join the Sapsuckers. But I can tell you this: it's flattering to be asked to give up a few days of computer work to travel to the wilds of Jersey to help the team scout.

I'm not being facetious when I say "the wilds." Northwestern New Jersey
contradicts the strip-mall-covered and urbanized stereotypes from movies.

Scouting is an essential part of the competition. It turns out you can't just show up and expect to make a 200 species-plus run through the state. I mean, you can have that expectation, but it's a bit naive. You'd be fooling yourself. There is a lot of preparation involved in tracking every bird in the state and determining how to visit them all, or at least one of each species. It means studying New Jersey, committing to memory the variety of habitats throughout the state, then coupling that knowledge with a thorough understanding of which birds use those habitats. Then, couple that with the phenology of bird movements -- when are those birds are actually in Jersey? When do the snowbirds head north, when do the neotrops return? Oh, and remember, you only have a single 24-hour period, so you need to know the best time of day to find them.

Many Black-throated Blue Warblers pass through the state, but some breed.
You have to know where if you want to be sure to add them to your list.

That's why you scout. The mission, which I chose to accept: descend on New Jersey and stake out as many birds as you can.

So, what do you stake out? Ideally, everything. Some birds you simply shouldn't worry about. American Robin, drive by any lawn and there you go! American Crow? C'mon. They're everywhere. Northern Cardinal? Please, missing these guys is impossible, right?

Finding a Blue-headed Vireo nest may be the difference between
adding this species for the day or missing it altogether.

But there's a lesson many teams have learned over the years: take nothing for granted. What if it's pouring rain and no bird is calling? How do you efficiently find birds that were singing loudly a day or two before, but are hunkered down and silent? You don't have time to traipse through the woods looking for them, hoping to cross paths. You need to know precisely where to look. And even if it is amiable weather, you need to know what time to be at each location. Birds aren't signing all day; when does each species start? When do they quiet down? What locations are active early, which ones come alive late? It pays to know when the birds are most active, singing and calling without restraint.

Canada Warblers often return to New Jersey shortly before the Big Day.
Visiting their territories lets you know exactly when they return.

I had some specific tasks, I had some general assignments. The weather was a mixed bag. I listened for saw-whet owls in the pouring rain, I watched migrant warblers in a sunny park. I spent hours by myself, not coming in contact with another person. I fought traffic on the Jersey Turnpike and sought much-needed birds in the middle of Newark. I had some successes and some complete failures. All of that information, merged with reports from other scouts, was fed to the Sapsuckers who incorporated it into their Big Day strategy.

More on the day-to-day activities of a scout to come, but how did it all work out for the Sapsuckers? The "tweet" came in on Sunday morning at 12:07 AM (you know I was still up, anxiously awaiting the results): their final tally was 221 species. I'd have to wait until late Sunday morning to hear how that stacked up against the other teams. Pretty well, it turned out, but not well enough to win.

More to come . . . .

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Gone Birding: World Series of Birding

As of tomorrow I'll be out of the office, offline, and out of touch for a couple of days. My waking hours, and some sleeping hours, will be spent scouting for the Cornell Lab's "Sapsuckers" as they ready themselves for the 26^th annual World Series of Birding (yes, there's a Wikipedia entry for it, how mainstream!).

I scouted for the Sapsuckers between 2000 and 2004, always in the wilds of northern New Jersey, and I'm excited to be going back again. I'm not being facetious, the northwest corner is absolutely beautiful. I happily spent many (many, many) hours walking many (many, many) miles through High Point State Park, the Delaware Water Gap, and various unnamed areas trying to pick out a bit of everything: lingering winter species (Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow), returning breeding birds on territory (Canada Warbler, Black-throated Blue, Ceruleans . . . ), nests of any kind but especially species that are likely to be proverbially "too quiet" on the Big Day (raptors, woodpeckers, early-nesting songbirds like Blue-headed Vireo), habitat patches that look ready to host a flock of migrating songbirds, the timing of when the pheasant calls, the Vesper Sparrow sings, and so on and so on.

You know, the usual Big Day requirements.

Palm Warbler - will any be left in New Jersey on the Big Day?

It's always a challenge to describe what a big day is, particularly the Big Day, to non-birders -- for a f'rinstance, check out team-member Brian Sullivan's "World Series of What?" Birdscope article from a few years ago. Regardless of whether people "get it" or find it "quaint" (among other affectionate terms), I'm glad the contest has come to highlight conservation issues. The Cornell Lab takes pledges and the money raised is put towards conservation programs, such as atlas projects focusing on species like Cerulean and Golden-winged Warblers.

Blue-headed Vireos will certainly be present, but will they be counted?

If you care to pitch in, please visit my donation page, and thanks in advance for your contribution. And on the Big Day please throw some good vibes the Sapsucker's way, they're on target to raise $200K for conservation again this year. And if you're into the social networking scene, follow them on their Twitter page throughout the week and especially during the event.

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New at The Cornell Lab: Inside Birding and A New Neighbor

Something new on the revamped All About Birds website: Inside Birding, a video series hosted by renowned birders, and Cornell Lab staffers, Chris Wood and Jessie Barry.

Whether you’re new to birding or a seasoned expert, interested in sharpening your identification skills or wondering how to clean your binoculars, you’ve come to the right place.

On Inside Birding, hosts Chris Wood and Jessie Barry share all of the tools, tips, and techniques that will allow you to start birding like the pros. From where and when to find birds, to the clues that will help you identify them, Inside Birding provides the information that you need to make the most of your birding experience. So check it out and take your birding to the next level.

Check out the first few episodes on the Inside Birding website.

Jumping out the virtual world and back into the real one, we have new residents moving into the Sapsucker Woods neighborhood. A pair of Great Blue Herons spent much of today fashioning a stick nest in the middle of Sapsucker Woods. The snag sits in the middle of Sapsucker Woods Pond and often serves as a perch for Osprey, hawks, Red-winged Blackbirds . . . too many to list, really. It even hosted a Western Kingbird, nearly a decade ago when I first started working at the Lab.

Friday morning a pair of herons was observed "being amorous" on the snag, the male offering the female a long, multi-pronged branch, which she placed on the snag. Today, Monday, the birds were in full nest-building mode, it seemed the male flying in with a new stick every few minutes. He transferred them to the female who placed it on what seems as stable as a deck of cards: one wrong move, the whole thing comes tumbling down.

The male watches as the female places a stick. I'm no
architect, but I'm thinking vertical isn't the best orientation.

I spent a few minutes towards the end of the day watching what promises to be a fascinating breeding season. Here is a sequence of shots of a stick transfer, click on an image for a larger image to see the details.

The male heron arrives with a suitable stick for the nest. In the
background USAir flight 4685 arrives (early) from LaGuardia.

The male heron transfers the stick to the
female, who accepts it in a bowing posture.

The female heron places the stick in the nest as the male watches, then . . .

. . . the male is off to find yet another stick.

To be continued . . . .

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Where In the World? We're Headed to . . .

. . . the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, "Together we aspire, together we achieve."

That's right, we'll be enjoying a yet to be determined number of days and nights at the very bottom of the Lesser Antilles. Or off the coast of Venezuela, depending on how you look at it. My glass is double-full, I see both!

Map courtesy WorldAtlas.com

The quiz questions were designed to slowly help you narrow in on the single location that matched the suite of clues. OK, "designed" is a bit strong, let's just say it "worked out." Let's check out where I was hoping the questions would guide you. Each one should have cut out several possibilities, but I won't list all of them here.

First, remember I was planning to go somewhere "exotic." That should have pointed you away from the U.S., though you never really know: Big Bend in Texas, the Sonoran Desert . . . we live in a richly diverse country, with amazing habitats and exotic species, at least to this New Yorker. But here are the boundaries:

1. Climate
The average temperature in October is reported to be between 76* - 80*F, average rainfall in October is approximately 6.7 inches.

Hopefully this made you think sultry temperatures and fairly frequent rainfall. Probably somewhere tropical or subtropical.

2. Topography
The land is primarily mountains and plains. Naturally occurring wetlands include freshwater marshes, mangrove swamps, lagoons, and marine ecosystems.

Well, that seems to describe most tropical countries, but now we know there's a coast. Mangrove swamps? Clearly somewhere tropical or subtropical.

3. Geographic Location
We will not cross the equator.

That lops out a whole lot of locations, we can focus on tropical locations north of the equator. But I never did limit our destination to the western hemisphere, but that seemed to distract nobody.

4. Culture
The official language is English. We will need passports and to figure out the currency.

Cuts out many more countries, but there are several that require passports and have English as their official language - Jamaica and Belize are excellent deductions! As was T&T.

5. Economy
The infrastructure is excellent, including an international airport, an extensive network of paved roads, modern hospitals, and reliable utilities. At least in the cities.

I'm not sure that disqualifies anywhere at this point, does it? But at this point we know we're looking for an English-speaking, non-American location with a tropical/subtropical climate that boasts a coastline and mangroves lying north of the equator. A few Central American and Caribbean countries certainly qualify. There are probably some African or far eastern countries that fit (but I'm not sure which, and you all seemed to have figured out we're staying in the western hemisphere).

6. Climate
October is both in the wet season and the hurricane season, though we're not really worried about the latter. If we're lucky we won't worry much about the former, either.

In addition to being smack dab in the "Hurricane Belt," Puerto Rico is a US territory: no passport or currency exchange required. The Hurricane Belt factor also eliminates Jamaica, Belize, the U.S. Virgin Islands . . . well, everything except a small handful of islands in the very southern portion of the Caribbean. So, we're left with those choices and perhaps a few islands in the Pacific (that likely don't fit all of the previous criteria). By now you can safely surmise Trinidad and Tobago. All of the other Caribbean, Central American, or northern South American possibilities don't meet all the criteria.

7. Geology and Heritage
Geologically this country belongs to one region, but geographically it's considered part of a different region.

Trinidad and Tobago fits here: geologically part of the South American plate, but culturally considered part of the Caribbean Islands.

8. Flora and Fauna
There are over 400 bird species on the official checklist (466 to be precise). Only one is endemic.

There are a few other islands that have a single endemic, but not over 400 birds on their checklist. Not to mention they don't meet the other criteria.

A hearty congratulations to Nate of The Drinking Bird, not only for correctly pegging the location by the fourth clue, but naming the sole endemic I'll be targeting on our trip (among the other 465 birds, of course), the Trinidad Piping Guan. I hope to be posting about an encounter sometime in late October.

I didn't offer a prize at the outset - I'm not a big proponent of extrinsic motivation, so kudos and thanks to all who participated. But I feel I should offer something to the winner.

So, Nate, if you email me your mailing address I will happily send you one (1) postcard from the islands, replete with a personalized message written by me,* postmarked from T&T.

* Disclaimer: I may pawn off the actual writing of the message to my daughter. She may also choose the postcard. I will pay for the card and the postage.

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Where in the World? Is That Your Final Answer?

Earlier I mentioned we've chosen an exotic location to visit this fall, but instead of blatantly disclosing it I turned it into a guessing game.

We're five clues into the hunt and there have been some excellent deductions. For this last round of the contest I've added three more clues which may help identify the mystery location. Have a read through and either try a guess (if you haven't already), confirm what you wrote before, or make a last minute switch, as you see fit.

1. Climate
The average temperature in October is reported to be between 76* - 80*F, average rainfall in October is approximately 6.7 inches.

2. Topography
The land is primarily mountains and plains. Naturally occurring wetlands include freshwater marshes, mangrove swamps, lagoons, and marine ecosystems.

3. Geographic Location
We will not cross the equator.

4. Culture
The official language is English. We will need passports and to figure out the currency.

5. Economy
The infrastructure is excellent, including an international airport, an extensive network of paved roads, modern hospitals, and reliable utilities. At least in the cities.

6. Climate
October is both in the wet season and the hurricane season, though we're not really worried about the latter. If we're lucky we won't worry much about the former, either.

7. Geology and Heritage
Geologically this country belongs to one region, but geographically it's considered part of a different region.

8. Flora and Fauna
There are over 400 bird species on the official checklist (466 to be precise). Only one is endemic.

There it is. Call your lifeline, spin the wheel, and lock in your answer in the comments! Answer comes tomorrow.

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Earth Day Wrap-up

Earth Day 2009 turned out to be beautiful in the Southern Tier, at least how I remember it. Yes, I usually record the weather conditions when I am out birding. But on that particular morning I must have been in a more experiential and less data-driven mindset because I have no details. And too much has happened in between, too many other bird lists with weather conditions, so I can't remember a thing about that morning, other than I didn't get wet. It must not have rained.

I grabbed my coffee and headed outside for a few minutes of listening. I didn't expect it to be quiet, I expected birds, frogs, toads, dogs. Closing my eyes to deeply listen showed how much man-made machinery my brain tunes out. The steady hum of traffic from I-86, sirens and car horns from the town, someone running a generator nearby, neighbors heading off to work.

Northern Cardinals may duck out of sight, but
their calls are an unmistakable part of our yard.

The birds, thankfully, were at the forefront. Cardinals, titmice, chickadees, nuthatches - the usual suspects in full song. Recent arrivals augmenting the soundscape, Tree Swallows, Chipping Sparrows, phoebes, and blackbirds. Siskins still buzzing, there must be nests around. I'll be watching for fledglings in the weeks to come.

Pine Siskins are sticking around later than usual this
year, and in high numbers throughout the region.

And with promising migration weather rolling in for the weekend, the day list is sure to explode soon (hint: because I'm writing this after the weekend, it did! Shhh, more on that to come.).

Location: Prospect Hill - Home
Observation date: 4/22/09
Notes: Conditions: not recorded.
Number of species: 18

Mourning Dove 2
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 3
Tree Swallow 4
Black-capped Chickadee 7
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 8
Chipping Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 4
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 11
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 3
Common Grackle 1
Pine Siskin 1
American Goldfinch 6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

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