1000birds.com 2009 WSB team

Bob

Since the last WSB in 2008 I have had a busy birding year. Normal summer birding in eastern PA filled the hot summer months. In mid-August the Bake Oven Knob Fall Hawk Count began on the Kittatinny Ridge, sponsored by the Lehigh Gap Nature Center (LGNC). I lead the count at least one day per week through the end of November and also compile the count data for the season. In 2008 we had a record number of Bald Eagles and the third highest count for Golden Eagles. Most of the other raptor species were below their five and ten year averages.

Bob (L) and Nick (R) at Brigantine NWR - WSB2006

I visited the Conowingo Dam on the lower Susquehanna River just below the Pennsylvania/Maryland border in mid-December, counting an astounding 178 Bald Eagles below the dam. Ten years ago when I visited this site in December the count of 28 Bald Eagles was a big deal.

Winter birding is always fun, especially this year with the large numbers of Pine Siskin and White-winged Crossbills. We conduct winter bird surveys for the LGNC, along with winter hawk surveys and the annual Christmas Bird Count.

Coming out of a long cold winter, it was a pleasure to spend a week in the Everglades birding at a leisurely pace. Had a lifer Snail Kite at one location and two adult Limpkin with two young, all within about ten feet of me, at another location.

Now that it is April, it is time to brush up on bird song and get out the scouting maps for another run at the WSB with the 1000Birds.com team

Jonathan

Jonathan sneaking up on a Yellow-headed Blackbird at the Brigantine NWR

Looking forward as always to visiting NJ and excited about WSB2009. Not seen many new birds in the UK since WSB2008 but the highlight was a Glaucous-winged Gull in early January 2009. This was the 2nd ever of that species to visit the UK and attracted big crowds. Recently have seen a very educational American Golden Plover in eastern England, its identity caused (and is possibly still causing) much debate across the globe.

Am hoping for a Warbler fallout at High Point State Park on the day of WSB2009 and warm dry weather for the race. Feel free to use force to drag me away from Florence, I could look at gulls all day!

Sam marching on

Sam

Sam is too busy scouting to give us a report. Being the new kid in the block he knows he has to prove himself and he has already staked out a nice GHOW among other things!

Nick

It’s been a busy 12 months on the work front for me, but I’ve still been able to do some bird photography. I visited Bob’s place of employment in Allentown, PA soon after WSB 2008 and took time to observe and photograph the resident Peregrine falcons. It’s always a thrill to watch those guys, especially up close.

A quick business trip to Las Vegas in July resulted in 12 new species. The next two business trips where to mid-western Mississippi for a total of 5 weeks. I had good looks of multiple Mississippi Kites and watched a Merlin take a Blackbird in flight (there were over 50,000 to choose from) among other things.

Another trip to Vegas in late fall and this time the tally was 7 new birds with the highlight being a Prairie falcon as well as a close encounter with a Greater Roadrunner. The New Year brought some tempting birds near my home in New Jersey. White-winged Crossbills became a fairly easy bird to get. An Ivory Gull was reported some 7 hours away, and after a few days I went after this beautiful bird but it was long gone by the time I got there.

One more trip to Vegas in late April allowed me to visit Grand Canyon and photograph the mighty California Condor. Some great birding throughout but nothing beats the World Series of Birding. Let's go get 200!!