Clear skies and light winds overnight the past few nights have indeed provided for some good movements of migrants; lots of new arrivals are being seen each day. Finally getting caught up from being away in Louisiana, I am now preparing to head out of town again, so as you can expect, I’ve been a bit busy. But no worries, I’ve still snuck in at least some birding each morning!

On Friday, birding around the Portland Peninsula didn’t turn up anything of note – but there were definitely migrants around, but our store’s Saturday morning birdwalk to Florida Lake produced 7 species of warblers and our first Rose-breasted Grosbeak of the season (that cooperatively perched and sang in the sun for 20 minutes while we all gaucked at it through the scope!), and the first Baltimore Oriole returned to the store’s feeders a little later in the morning.

Today, with a little more time, I headed down to Scarborough Marsh (after staying up past "my bedtime" to watch my NJ Devils complete their meltdown against Ottawa. Well, I guess I won't be having any more Devils games to distract me from getting a good night's sleep before early-morning birding outings). Highlights were a pair of Gadwall and two drake Northern Shovelers, along with a handful of personal “first-of-seasons”: Willet (33), Least Sandpiper (3), Little Blue Heron (3), and Brown Thrasher (1). Also, there’s been a significant increase in the numbers of other shorebirds and waders in the marsh, such as Greater Yellowlegs (67 today) and Glossy Ibis (60) for example. My final “first of spring” today was a White-crowned Sparrow at the feeder at the Scarborough Public Works building – and followed soon thereafter by another at our store’s feeder (which I was happy about, as I am a big fan of White-crowned Sparrows).

While I’ll likely sneak in a couple of early morning hours in the field each of the next three days (plus the hawkwatch on Tuesday, of course) I’ll be pretty busy preparing to head out of town again. This time, I am heading to New Jersey for the World Series of Birding. The World Series of Birding, hosted by NJ Audubon, is a 24 hr (midnight to midnight) race to see as many species of birds as possible within the borders of New Jersey. Last year’s winner recorded 229 species (yes, in only 24hrs)! In addition to being a heckuva lot of fun, the event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for conservation causes around the country

This year, I won’t actually be competing. Instead, I’ll be a designated driver for a Youth Team. Luke Seitz of Falmouth has put together a team, and I am one of the adults – along with Luke’s mom – who will be doing the driving for the day. While spending 24 hrs in a car with a bunch of caffeine, sugar, and/or adrenaline crazed teens is a challenge itself, I think the bigger challenge will be the following rule, “(The adults) cannot participate, aid, or contribute in location or identification of birds in any manor during the competition or the team will be disqualified.”

In other words, I’ll be needing to duct tape my mouth and tie my hands behind my back in order to avoid the instinct of pointing out, or even looking at, any and all birds. If I even glanced in the direction of a bird that the team had not yet seen, and they saw the bird by looking where I was looking, that bird could not be counted! In other words, I can only look at something AFTER they have, but of course before they’re already back in the car to get to the next spot. This could be a challenge! I like looking at birds!

My role beforehand is to help scout, help plan the route, and of course, do ½ of the driving. While my reward will not be a Big Day list of my own, it will be most rewarding to be able to facilitate the kids’ participation. We’ll also be raising money for a worthy cause. Hopefully, a Kentucky Warbler (my nemesis for NJ – still haven’t seen one in the state, just heard-only) won’t jump out in front of my face before the kids find it first.

So, The Skuaz will be heading down on Wednesday for two all-too-short days of scouting before the event on Saturday. First and foremost, I would like to thank our sponsor, Friends of Birds and Nature; Eddie Woodin, Founder. I’ll wait until AFTER the event to see if I’ll thank Luke for asking me to do this (just kidding, Luke!).