World Series of Birding 2014
Young Yellowhammers
Sponsored by the Cape May-Lewes Ferry
Team captain: Andrew Marden
Team members: Justin Lee, Jack Mcdonough, & Zachary Klim
Coaches: Sam Wilson and Sam Galick
We were stopped at a Wawa at 2:45 in the morning. Everyone was tired, groggy, and still waking up from their few hours of sleep, if any sleep at all. A Chuck-will's-widow calls in the distance. All the teammates hear it, and the first of 127 ticks goes down on the Young Yellowhammers' World Series of Birding checklist. Our Cape May County big day had begun. Our first official spot was Jake's Landing in northern Cape May County. At this woodland and marsh habitat, our team picked up Eastern Whip-poor-will, Seaside Sparrow, and many other marsh-habitat birds to really give a great start to our day. After heading over to Stipson's Island Road for a few more species, the team headed to the breeding-bird hotspot of Belleplain State Forest where we picked up many specialties including Acadian Flycatcher, Worm-eating Warbler, and Prothonotary Warbler. An hour or so later, we went to Beaver Dam for Gull-billed Tern and Glossy Ibis, and then Reed's beach which produced a pair of nesting bald eagles and various shorebirds, including hundreds of breeding plumaged red knots lined up on the opposite shore. A quick stop at Lake Champlain produced a lingering Red-necked Grebe, one of our highlight birds of the trip. Afterwards, Cold Spring campground proved to be the migrating songbird hotspot of our trip. 3 Blackburnian warblers, a Nashville warbler, and a Gray-cheecked Thrush made up some of the better species that the stop yielded. Next was lunch, and then the 2 hour birding-by-boat trip on The Osprey. A Peregrine Falcon, a Tricolored Heron, and Least Terns all were seen from the boat. The rest of the time was spent running around to different spots on Cape Island, which surprised us with Lesser Black-backed Gull, a Little Blue Heron, and probably our best bird of the day, a Stilt Sandpiper. Exhausted, but not beaten, the team handed in the checklist at the Grand Hotel to cap off our race around the county.
Thanks to Jack McDonough, Justin Lee, and Zach Klim, my awesome teammates who kept going throughout the long day, and especially Sam Wilson and Sam Galick who planned the big day, drove the van, and guided us the whole way through. Also thanks to Captain Bob Lubberman of The Osprey for the two-hour boat trip, the Cape May-Lewes Ferry for sponsoring our team, the Nature Center of Cape May for starting the team, and our parents who made the long drive down and back to allow us to participate in this unique event.
-Andrew Marden
Thanks to Jack McDonough, Justin Lee, and Zach Klim, my awesome teammates who kept going throughout the long day, and especially Sam Wilson and Sam Galick who planned the big day, drove the van, and guided us the whole way through. Also thanks to Captain Bob Lubberman of The Osprey for the two-hour boat trip, the Cape May-Lewes Ferry for sponsoring our team, the Nature Center of Cape May for starting the team, and our parents who made the long drive down and back to allow us to participate in this unique event.
-Andrew Marden
Species List
Total: 127 species
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Gadwall
American Black Duck
Mallard
Green-winged Tea
Surf Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Red-breasted Merganser
Wild Turkey
Common Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Clapper Rail
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl
Chuck-will's-widow
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Total: 127 species
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Gadwall
American Black Duck
Mallard
Green-winged Tea
Surf Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Red-breasted Merganser
Wild Turkey
Common Loon
Red-necked Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Green Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Broad-winged Hawk
Clapper Rail
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Solitary Sandpiper
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Stilt Sandpiper
Sanderling
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Bonaparte's Gull
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Gull-billed Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)
Mourning Dove
Barred Owl
Chuck-will's-widow
Eastern Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Veery
Gray-cheeked Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
American Redstart
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Palm Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Yellow-breasted Chat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Summer Tanager
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow