May 16 , 2008

The bird walk this morning at Hubbard Park yielded a fine variety of Warblers, which are becoming increasingly difficult to see as the leaves return, but our keen ears and eyes turned up twenty-three species:
Pileated Woodpecker White-breasted Nuthatch Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Winter Wren Blackburnian Warbler
Eastern Phoebe Veery Pine Warbler
Red-eyed Vireo Hermit Thrush American Redstart
Blue Jay American Robin Ovenbird
American Crow Northern Parula Scarlet Tanager
Black-capped Chickadee Black-throated Blue Warbler American Goldfinch
Red-breasted Nuthatch Yellow-rumped Warbler

May 11 , 2008

Late this evening, a group of teens and chaperones arrived back from the World Series of Birding, in Cape May County, New Jersey. This birding marathon, which NBNC youths have participated in eight years since 1999, is a 24-hour event in which every minute is spent looking and listening for birds. After a day and a half of scouting, the team competed Saturday, May 10th and saw/heard 154 different species, ranking fifth in the Cape May County Division. Some highlights included a Ruby-throated Hummingbird mobbing an Indigo Bunting, the now famous Red-headed Woodpecker, and five Bald Eagles seen over the course of the day. A complete list, pictures, and short essays will be available shortly in the Youth Birding section.

World Series of Birding

NBNC teens competed for the eighth time since 1999 in the World Series of Birding competition in New Jersey. For 24-straight hours, we looked for and listened to every tweet and twitter of avian life in Cape May County. Hearing the Chuck-will's-widow at quarter-to-midnight, our team raced to the finish line, having seen or heard 154 species in the day, and ranking fifth in our division. In addition, we expect our team to have raised $5,000 for youth birding programs at NBNC. A complete checklist is below. Birds seen during the scouting day, but not the competition, include Black Skimmer, Yellow-billed Cuckoo and Meadowlark.

Muse Swan	Short-billed Dowitcher	Marsh Wren
Snow Goose	American Woodcock	Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Brant	Laughing Gull	Eastern Bluebird
Canada Goose	Ring-billed Gull	Veery
Wood Duck	Herring Gull	Wood Thrush
Gadwall	Great Black-backed Gull	American Robin
American Black Duck	Gull-billed Tern	Gray Catbird
Mallard	Royal Tern	Northern Mockingbird
Blue-winged Teal	Common Tern	Brown Thrasher
Black Scoter	Forster's Tern	European Starling
Red-breasted Merganaser	Least Tern	Cedar Waxwing
Wild Turkey	Mourning Dove	Nashville Warbler
Common Looon	Rock Pigeon	Northern Parula
Northern Gannet	Black-billed Cuckoo	Yellow Warbler
Double-crested Cormorant	Eastern Screech-Owl	Chestnut-sided Warbler
Great Blue Heron	Great Horned Owl	Magnolia Warbler
Great Egret	Barred Owl	Black-throated Blue Warbler
Snowy Egret	Common Nighthawk	Yellow-rumped Warbler
Little Blue Heron	Chuck-will's-widow	Black-throated Green Warbler
Tricolored Heron	Whip-poor-will	Pine Warbler
Cattle Egret	Chimney Swift	Prairie Warler
Black-crowned Night-Heron	Ruby-throated Hummingbird	Black-and-white Warbler
Glossy Ibis	Belted Kingfisher	American Redstart
Black Vulture	Red-headed Woodpecker	Prothonotary Warbler
Turkey Vulture	Red-bellied Woodpecker	Worm-eating Warbler
Osprey	Downy Woodpecker	Ovenbird
Bald Eagle	Hairy Woodpecker	Louisiana Waterthrush
Red-tailed Hawk	Northern Flicker	Common Yellowthroat
Merlin	Eastern Wood-Pewee	Hooded Warbler
Peregrine Falcon	Acadian Flycatcher	Yellow-breasted Chat
Clapper Rail	Eastern Phoebe	Scarlet Tanager
Sora	Great Crested Flycatcher	Eastern Towhee
Black-bellied Plover	Eastern Kingbird	Chipping Sparrow
Semipalmated Plover	White-eyed Vireo	Field Sparrow
Piping Plover	Red-eyed Vireo	Savannah Sparrow
Killdeer	Purple Martin	Seaside Sparrow
American Oystercatcher	Gree Swallow	Song Sparrow
Greater Yellowlegs	Northern Rough-winged Swallow	White-throated Sparrow
Lesser Yellowlegs	Bank Swallow	Northern Cardinal
Solitary Sandpiper	Cliff Swallow	Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Willet	Barn Swallow	Blue Grosbeak
Spotted Sandpiper	Blue Jay	Indigo Bunting
Whimbrel	American Crow	Bobolink
Ruddy Turnstone	Fish Crow	Red-winged Blackbird
Red Knot	Carolina Chickadee	Boat-tailed Grackle
Sanderling	Tufted Titmouse	Common Grackle
Semipalmated Sandpiper	White-breasted Nuthatch	Brown-headed Cowbird
Least Sandpiper	Brown Creeper	Orchard Oriole
Purple Sandpiper	Carolina Wren	House Finch
Dunlin	House Wren	American Goldfinch
		House Sparrow

May 9 , 2008

The bird walk this morning was at Sodom Pond, in Adamant, where highlights included Canada Goose, an American Bittern fly-over, Blue Jay, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Red-winged Blackbird, and Baltimore Oriole. A distant flock of shorebirds was also seen, but could not be identified.

May 2 , 2008

Clear skies were welcomed on this cold, May morning for our second Spring Bird Walk, which took place at Berlin Pond. Our list is shown below:

Common Loon (pair)
Canada Goose (at least 6)
Wood Duck (pair)
Mallard (pair)
Green-winged Teal (3)
Hooded Merganser (at least 6)
Turkey Vulture
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
American Flicker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Tree Swallow
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Swamp Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
American Goldfinch

Also seen around Berlin Pond before and after the walk were American Robin, European Starlings, and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

April 30 , 2008

Wood Frog Update #2: Starting yesterday, our Wood Frog eggs began to hatch. Although some are still in the eggs, (and their shape can now be seen through the clear, jelly-like eggs) many are now swimming about, dining on boiled lettuce, and other debris in their tank. They sure do grow fast!

April 28 , 2008

A large bunch of wet birds have been in-and-out of the large maple outside the office windows. Over a dozen species perched within the maple's branches over the course of the day, including Purple Finch, Chipping Sparrow (first of the year here) and Northern Cardinal.

Also, Heather's Women's Walk on Sunday yielded some nice blooming wildflowers. Trilliums, Bloodroot, Cut-leafed Toothwart, and Meadow Rue (not yet in bloom) were among the botanical treasures that the group encountered.