2013: Week 20- “Break-a-hundred”

A “Big Day” of birding in Orange County

       This week was one of preparation for and then execution of a “Big Day” of birding here in Orange County.  A “Big Day” crams as much birding as possible into a 24 hour period and it usually produces some great numbers of species and an equally great number of exhausted birders.  Our birding club, The E.A. Mearns Bird Club” of Orange County New York holds their event every May at the peak of warbler migration when the weather is usually quite pleasant.   The still young leaves have not yet emerged to the point that the trees can hide each and every bird within their boughs making for some exciting viewing of these most beautiful North American birds.

       This year’s  “Break-a-hundred” as our event it known was one of our best with 80% of the teams managing to find at least 100 species in the 24 hour period.  The winning team actually was able to find and identify 140 species…..a remarkable feat!  So, what is it like to compete in a Big Day?  Our event began at 4:00 P.M. on Friday afternoon.  Our team gathered at one of our members homes at about 2:00, gathered all our birding paraphernalia, loaded into three vehicles, and headed out to our first site…..Iona Island in Harriman State Park.  The idea is to orchestrate the day so that you cover as many different habitats which will hopefully produce as many different species of birds as possible.  Iona is a marsh which we were counting on producing rails, shorebirds, perhaps egrets and herons as well as gulls, possibly terns and others. 

       Precisely at 4:00, we began checking off the species we could see from that point on….no species seen prior to the official start time count until the clock has started ticking.  Before the start, we had seen three Greater yellowlegs, a shorebird, in several locations of the marsh.  Of course, once the contest actually began, the bird had disappeared.  It took almost another hour to relocate this species, but in the meantime we had already racked up almost two dozen species….a decent start.

      When we figured we had exhausted the possibilities here at the marsh, we moved up into the upland forests of Doodletown.  A historical location near the marsh, the now deserted town has little to indicate that it was once a thriving community other than some disappearing roadbeds, old stone walls, and ornamental plantings from the time it was taken over by the state in the mid-60s.  Now it serves as an oasis for many of the warblers migrating north during the month of May.  As the team hiked through the property, we heard many songs of the warblers as well as actual sighting of a good number of the birds.  Most accomplished birders can identify a bird by its song as well as by its outward appearance.  A couple of hours here gave us a respectable number of birds for the first day, but of course the day was only beginning.  We still had about 21 hours to go!

       Among the birds found at this site were the nemesis bird for many of the teams, the Olive-sided flycatcher (left).  This bird perches atop the highest snags and should be easy to spot.  And yet, the bird is usually located more by his call of "Quick-three beers!" before he is seen.  So it was today as we were one of the few teams to be lucky enough to come across this species.

       We also added a nice Spotted sandpiper here below the dam.  Sitting in the shade alongside the outflow, he was well camouflaged and if it were not for the keen eyes of one of our observers, we well might have walked right by without seeing him.

Spotted sandpiper

       When we departed Doodletown, the sun was setting as we headed over to an area known as Mine Road where we hoped to get a few species that become more active in the hours of twilight.  There was the hope of garnering a few owl as well.  Mixed success met us at this site.  The Whip-poor-wills began singing loudly as the skies became darker as did the Wood cock, but nary a single owl was willing to add its name to our checklist.  By 9:30, we decided to head back home and grab a few hours of rest so that we could be on site and birding as the sun rose tomorrow morning.

       We reconvened at 3:30 A.M. and headed out to our next birding venue, the Bashakill Swamp.  “The Bash” as it is known has long been a birder’s paradise and is exceptionally productive during the spring months.  We knew we could also count on Eagles and Ospreys here as it serves as nesting territory for those two species.  As the sun began to rise the unmistakable call of the American bittern joined the chorus of Red-winged blackbirds, Wood ducks, Common gallinules, and Great blue herons. 

 

"The Bash" at 5:00 A.M.

        Swamp sparrows, flycatchers, vireos, and the prized warblers would be joining in soon, so we had to move quickly.  If you are lucky, you can see more than 20 species of these brightly colored birds including this gorgeous Magnolia warbler.  Some warblers are easy to find and you can count on checking them off fairly early in the day, but others like the Nashville, Cape May, Bay-breasted and Mourning warblers are much more difficult to locate, however, and are thus more revered in the birding world.  By this mornings end, we had more than 20 warbler species on our list. 

 

Magnolia warbler       

        From here, it was up into the higher country where we were looking for birds like the Dark-eyed junco, Winter wren, Raven, and Yellow-bellied sapsucker (yes, there really is such a bird!).  We were shocked when we came up short with only the raven being added to the list.  We move down to the reservoir where swallows were a possibility, but even here we could only find the Rough-winged swallow which we already had bagged earlier.

        A local Boy Scout Camp offered a mixed hardwood forest with some tall pines and in the past we had see the exquisite Blackburnian warlber (known familiarly as the “fire-throat” because of his brilliant orange throat patch).  Here we did succeed in finding the target, but we had to move on.  The hours were passing, and as the day wore on it was harder and harder to add new birds to the growing list.

        We returned to the Bash to visit a couple of spots we had left unbirded earlier in the day.  We were rewarded for the effort with several other warblers, the Golden and Blue-wing warblers.

Blue-winged warbler (archival shot)

       Now it was time to head back to the wetlands in an effort to clean up with a few marsh birds like the Sora and any sandpipers we could locate.  We were headed for Oil City Road on the New Jersey border and then back to an area near Goshen known as 6 ½ Station.  Up until now, the weather had cooperated nicely with partly to mostly sunny skies, calm winds and warm temperatures.  But Mother Nature decided to give us a more memorable send-off, so the final two hours were played out in rather rainy and chilly conditions.  While the Sora eluded us, we did pick up several nice sandpipers at a 6 ½ Station.  It was here we finally tallied the Pectoral sandpiper as our final species of the 24 hour period. 

       All competing members, about 30 of us, joined together to a count down the numbers of species each group had located.  Our team had a respectable 126 species which would have won in many of the past years.  Today, however, it was only good enough to take third.  Still, it’s not really about the win (yeah, right?) but rather about being together with great friends in this beautiful world of ours and completely being immersed in a pastime that means so much to so many of us. 

       Next week, Sharon and I will continue to chase the migrant warblers as we head to south Jersey for more great habitat and even more great birds.  See you next weekend to tell you all about these latest adventures.