Thursday afternoon
 May 8, 2008

Team Sapsucker

Captain Ken Rosenberg, Tim Lenz, and Andy Farnsworth are scouting the northern areas of New Jersey. They did a dry run for part of the route this morning but, as Ken says, it was raining so it wasn’t really a “dry” run!

Rusty Blackbird. Photo by Nathan Banfield

“Because of the rain we missed a few key birds but otherwise it went well,” Ken says. “We’re following pretty much the same route as other years, but we’re always looking for little modifications that might get us a new bird. For example, there’s been a Rusty Blackbird spotted, which is pretty rare in New Jersey and very rare this late in the year. We’ll check it out again tomorrow, and if it’s there Friday we’ll make the decision to route it in or not.”

Ken says what’s been especially exciting is that there’s been a big migration flight the last four nights in a row. With a cold front expected to arrive tonight, it may put the brakes on migration and keep the birds grounded for a while.

Marshall Iliff, Brian Sullivan, and Chris Wood are scoping out the southern portion of the state and have been checking in with the rest of the team. Ken says there may be some major strategy changes in the south this year and the team is checking a lot places they don’t usually go.

Pied-billed Grebe. Photo by Corey Husic, PA

Ken says: “Our worst miss last year was probably Pied-billed Grebe but we have three or four of them lined up this year. Hooded Merganser, which we got pretty easily last year, we can’t seem to find. The hardest bird to find in the whole state is the coot—there’s probably one coot in all of New Jersey and we’re not sure we’re going to be able to get it.”

The Redheads (student team)

Team members Jay McGowan, Mike Harvey, Tom Johnson, and Shawn Billerman have been in New Jersey since Sunday. Their team captain, Glenn Seeholzer, is heading down today, after polishing off a final exam!

Jay says scouting in Cape May County is going very well. The team did a test run Monday and identified 164 species, and that’s without covering all the areas they plan to visit on the Big Day.

Ruff. Photo by B.S. Thurner Hof

Jay says a Ruff was spotted at Cape May Meadows on Wednesday and it would be great if it stuck around through the weekend. There might be some rain, but it’s really wind that causes the most problems.

“Birds will still call when it’s raining,” Jay says, “but for some reason when it’s windy birds really shut down. Nearly half the birds we tally we first detect by sound, so wind becomes a pretty important factor.”

Last year the Redheads started their route at Jake’s Landing where they typically find Black Rails, but this year they’re starting at Tuckahoe, a marshy area where they’re hoping to find King Rail and Least Bittern.

Pledge Update

Thanks to the generosity of those who have pledged so far, Team Sapsucker will earn more than $700 per species found on the Big Day! If you haven't yet had a chance to make a pledge for Team Sapsucker or the Redheads, please take a moment to do so now. Thanks to team sponsor Swarovski Optik, your entire contribution supports bird conservation.

--Pat Leonard