From left to right back: Jim Danzenbaker, Andy Bernick, Tony Croasdale, Dr. Daniel Lebbin (ABC), Robert Hynson, Michael Parr (ABC), in front: Michael McGraw.

“Do you see it?  It’s perched about 75 yards over there just above the horizon on a dead limb in the middle of the marsh.”“Yes!  Good sighting but it’s only 11:40pm and not countable yet.  Let’s stay here for another 20 minutes and hope that it stays in view.”  Luckily, the bird stayed in view and, thus, the Great-horned Owl became the first bird recorded by Team Bristlehead/Kowa during the annual World Series of Birding. 

The World Series of Birding (http://www.birdcapemay.org/wsob.shtml) is an annual event organized by New Jersey Audubon and the Cape May Bird Observatory to raise money for conservation and to test the sanity of birders. This year’s event, held on May 10, celebrated the competition’s 25th anniversary. The World Series of Birding is an interesting and exciting combination of birding, logistics, endurance, teamwork, and luck. For weeks leading up to the day, team members search through New Jersey looking for species that may be difficult to find on game day.  The trick, however, is to find the species as close as possible to the intended route to be taken during the event.  These scouting hours are as integral a part of the success of the team as the minutes between species recorded during the day. Teams of birders develop their own strategies for success. Some choose to scour all corners of the State of New Jersey, while other teams may choose to keep their searches to bite sized chunks such as Cape May County. Some teams may choose to conduct Big Sits in their attempts to record as many species by sight or sound within a 24 hour period. Kowa’s team was comprised of five individuals: captain Tony Croasdale, an interpretive Naturalist by day and a punk rock band promoter by night; Mike McGraw, a wildlife Biologist from Philadelphia, PA; Andy Bernick, a wildlife Biologist from Alexandria, VA; Rob Hynson, a Biologist from the UK; and me, Jim Danzenbaker, Kowa Sales Manager and a lifelong birder from Battle Ground, WA. We are all seasoned birders and have been to this event before: Tony, Rich, Mike, and Andy are all founding members of Team Bristlehead/Kowa and participated in last year’s competition. I also have history with the competition, having participated in the first two years of the event in 1983 and 1984.

Our team started in the Great Swamp of North Central New Jersey, a location known to have some nocturnal species that would probably be calling in the wee hours of the day.  It became readily apparent that we were not the only team with this plan.  No less than ten other teams started the competition with the same game plan.  However, it proved to be a successful plan as we located the Barred Owl, Virginia Rail, Wood Duck, American Bittern, Sora, Swamp Sparrow, Marsh Wren, and, of course, Great-horned Owl all within the first hour. After our successful start, we climbed back into our vehicle and headed up to the Northwestern corner of New Jersey, a hotbed of potential with many species of breeding birds not found anywhere else on our north to south traverse of the state.

The team had selected a hillside near High Point State Park to greet the dawn. We were rewarded with Vesper Sparrow and Swainson’s Thrush as well as a Ring-necked Pheasant which called from the valley below.  Close by, Grasshopper Sparrows sang from a grassy field and American Pipit sounded off as we drove along to our next destination. 

We arrived at High Point State Park, a beautiful forested park straddling the Appalachian ridges of northwest New Jersey, and we were soon counting new birds by the handful.  A dozen species of warblers were quickly recorded, and, soon,various woodpeckers, vireos, thrushes, and orioles lined up to be counted.  A location for nesting Broad-winged Hawk also produced our only Golden-crowned Kinglet and Brown Creeper, species all but impossible to record further south in the state. 

After we left High Point, we circled around to Culver’s Lake where we encountered a good amount of luck.  Surveying the swallows flying over the lake, we recorded all of the regularly occurring Spring swallows of New Jersey, including Cliff and Bank.  A Magnolia Warbler called from a nearby wood, and a Common Loon was found feeding on the lake.  Next we brought out our secret weapon for the competition and soon knew that it would be a great day: our Kowa 883 spotting scope brought the Wood Ducks across the lake into such focus it was as if they were feeding in front of us.  Our time in the North was drawing to a close, but not before we enjoyed a beautiful Pileated Woodpecker, reveled at a flyby Ruby-throated Hummingbird, and marveled at a male Blackburnian Warbler that fed right over our heads.  We left with a respectable total of species accounted for in the north, crossing our fingers that the south would be as kind to us and that we wouldn’t encounter any traffic issues.

Several hours in our Camry Hybrid had us entering the first of many Southern New Jersey hotspots.  We started off well with Caspian and Black Tern, Bald Eagle, Common Moorhen, and American Coot.  Later, Cattle Egret, Willow Flycatcher, and Barn Owl would fall to expectant eyes and ears.  Other magical spots along the way helped nudge our number closer to, and then past, 175 species.  We finally arrived in Southern New Jersey and headed to Nummy’s Island, north of Cape May, which luckily produced a landfall of new birds including the Whimbrel, Salt Marsh Sharp-tailed and Seaside Sparrows, and the Tricolored Heron.  Once again, thanks to the Kowa 883, we were able to spot even more species, including the Royal and Common Terns and a surprise Glaucous Gull. 

Once again, thanks to the Kowa 883, we were able to spot even more species, including the Royal and Common Terns and a surprise Glaucous Gull.  With luck like this, we knew we were going to end up with a good number. Cape May Point did not disappoint us either.  We spotted Surf and Black Scoters on the bay, and we were surprised by a Merlin that rifled by in front of us. The nesting Piping Plovers (a Kowa 883 special) was a highlight as well. A Common Nighthawk over South Cape May meadows was a surprise, as were a pair of Gadwalls that we found swimming in the meadow.  We ended our day standing on the edge of a wood listening to Whip-poor-will in one location, and to Chuck-will’s widow in another. 

Our final tally was 196, which earned us 10th place in our category of the competition.  This was a whole 17 species better than the total recorded the previous year: a marked improvement for our team! : The winning team recorded 229 species.  They now have their name on the official trophy and bragging rights until next year’s competition.  The true winners of the World Series of Birding, however, are conservation programs and the many different organizations that the teams partnered with to raise money.  Team Bristlehead/Kowa raised several thousands for the American Bird Conservancy.

See more information (http://www.abcbirds.org/newsandreports/stories/080411_series.html) efforts to protect the Marvelous Spatuetail, a hummingbird endemic to northern Peru.

Our team will participate in this event again, and continue in the competition with same drive to improve over this year’s count results, and to further our fundraising benefiting conservation.

Next year, we will participate in this event – with the same craziness, the same team and the same drive to improve over this year’s results.  Our eyes and ears will, once again, be on the future when Wildlife Conservation will benefit from Team Bristlehead/Kowa! www.kowa-usa.com