Bill's Birds: The Scarlet Knight-Herons take on The World Series of Birding
Black-Crowned Night-Heron
Photo courtesy of Bill Lynch
This is the first installment of a new column on WildNewJersey.tv by birding expert Bill Lynch. Bill runs the blog New Jersey Outdoors and has some great wildlife pictures on Flickr: Photo courtesy of Bill Lynch
People have long enjoyed the hobby of bird-watching. Some keep a pair of binoculars by their kitchen window. Others make sure to keep their feeders filled to the brim in the hopes of attracting cardinals and finches. And there are those who use their spare time to go out and actively search for birds.
This is line that separates bird-watching from birding. The term conveys action. Birders aren’t satisfied by the daily visits from common backyard birds. They want to observe the lesser seen species that reside deep in forests, or out at sea, or high in the mountains. Birders want to hear the songs of the nocturnal Whip-Poor-Will and observe the hunting techniques of the Peregrine Falcon.
Of course there is a broad spectrum of interest and intensity. This ranges from fledging birders with a shiny new field guide, to bird-crazy maniacs who spend every waking moment chasing vagrants and rarities around the country so they can check them off of their life list.
Somewhere in between (but much closer to the maniac extreme) are those that participate in The World Series of Birding. Since 1984, teams of birders have amassed in New Jersey each spring for a 24-hour extravaganza of frenzied birding. The event, which lasts from midnight-to-midnight this Saturday, May 15th, is the most well-known in the world. It has spawned birding competitions elsewhere, such as The Great Texas Birding Classic, but purists will tell you the WSB is still king. No other competition can boast past participation from Roger Tory Peterson, Pete Dunne, David Sibley, and many other well-known members of the birding and conservation communities.
Here’s the deal: identify (by sight and/or sound) as many species of birds as you can in a 24-hour period. Outside of a handful of rules, that’s it.
The Scarlet Knight-Herons: Bill Lynch, David La Puma, Charlie Kontos, and Brian Clough.
Photo courtesy of Bill Lynch
It’s spring 2009. Enter The Scarlet Knight-Herons. Our founding team consisted of four members of the Ecology & Evolution Graduate Program at Rutgers University. Get it? Scarlet Knight-Herons? Genius.
The event raises money for the New Jersey Audubon Society as well as a number of other conservation organizations. We decided to raise money for the EcoGSA, (Ecology & Evolution Graduate Student Association). The group does a great job fostering a sense of community within the graduate program while putting on student seminars, inviting eminent ecologists to speak, and funding ecological research. When all was said and done, we identified 178 species of birds, and were able to cut the EcoGSA a check for $1000! Not too shabby.
This year we’ve decided to donate the money directly to New Jersey Audubon. They have been actively conserving land and helping species in peril since the 1800s. You can read more about their work here: http://www.njaudubon.org/
You can follow scouting and fund-raising efforts at our blog, http://knightherons.blogspot.com – and you can become a fan of our Facebook page by going to http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Scarlet-Knight-Herons/110378869001184?ref=ts
There are links to all of our personal sites (blogs, photography, research, etc) on the main blog page. Please check them out and let us know what you think – we love hearing from and speaking with naturalists and nature lovers from all over the Garden State! And of course we appreciate any support and donations people are willing to give!
Thanks for reading and for your support! Stay tuned for World Series reports the week after the event.
Posted by WILDNEWJERSEY at 5/10/2010 6:00 AM 
Categories: Bill's Birds
Tags: scarlet knight-herons new jersey audubon society birding david sibley The Great Texas Birding Classic rutgers world series of birding
Categories: Bill's Birds
Tags: scarlet knight-herons new jersey audubon society birding david sibley The Great Texas Birding Classic rutgers world series of birding
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