By Derek Stoner, Delaware Dunlins Program Coordinator
When this club started two years ago, we hoped to introduce youth birders and their families to the world of birding through educational field trips. But good fortune blessed us with a great pool of talented youth birders ready for new challenges, and we decided to take our birding to the next level– actually the very highest level possible!
The World Series of Birding is simply the biggest, most prestigious event in all of birding. The event pits more than 100 teams from around the world in the challenge of finding as many birds as possible in New Jersey during a 24-hour period. This is called a Big Day.
Nick, Mike, and Sam all had prior experience with Big Days, so we set about getting ready for the World Series over the past four months. After almost 100 hours of preparation, scouting, and planning, we headed over to Cape May for the big event on May 15.
The day was an incredible experience for all of us, from being out at midnight and watching birds illuminated by the Cape May lighthouse to listening to raucous rails at Jakes Landing to finishing at dusk with the wondrous appearance of a Common Nighthawk. What a day, what an experience, what a fun time!
Next year, we look forward to having other Delaware Dunlins birders take part in the World Series with us!
Enjoy seeing the highlights(and our results!) in this video: