Page 60 - 2023 Southern NJ Vacationer

NEW JERSEY AUDUBON’S WORLD SERIES OF BIRDING
It’s a Birding Big Day: May 13, 2023, The 40th Anniversary Edition
REMEMBER MAPS? They were those unwieldy giant folding paper things that would never fold back to their original tidy containment. It wasn’t long ago that they were essential to any trip to a place we’d never been before. Who didn’t love their big old DeLorme Atlas & Gazetteer for connecting the dots between towns and counties? I know I did! But now it’s all electronic – everything you need to know about getting around is at your fingertips.
40 years ago, a group of experienced New Jersey birders were trying to figure out how anyone could break the elusive record of identifying 200 species of birds within 24 hours within the state of New Jersey. Huddled over their beers at the C-View Inn in Cape May, an idea was hatching. They had paper maps and paper checklists and books like the Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America. They could pinpoint locations for some of the rarer species with pencil on their maps and trace out different routes to try to “get” those species in addition to the more common ones. They already knew the best approach would be starting in the north at midnight and working their way south to Cape May – for a full 24 hours of birding.
Then it hit them. What if we introduce the element of competition? There could be teams, and everyone goes out on the same day during peak migration, no matter the weather! That’s a level playing field and may the best team win!
What hatched was New Jersey Audubon’s World Series of Birding, which will take place for the 40th time on May 13, 2023. It started with 13 teams of seasoned and highly competitive birders all doing a full-state, 24- hour non-stop trip. Now it’s a beloved tradition open to birders of all ages and experience.
While over a dozen teams still embark on 24-hour odysseys, most participants join in
other ways, whether birding in one spot, covering their home counties, or going carbon-free, mainly dawn to dusk or even a little less. There are Youth Birding teams, too. It’s New Jersey Audubon’s largest fundraiser of the year and it’s also a major fundraising platform for any wildlife conservation organization willing to pay a small entry fee and conduct their own campaign.
And now when teams leave home to start their World Series of Birding adventures, all they need is a smartphone. Armed with apps for navigation, group chats for sharing sightings, online bird identification aids, and an official WSB checklist system housed on Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird platform, there’s no need for pen and paper, much less paper maps. And yes, teams do achieve totals of over 200 species! But they do need snacks. Lots and lots of snacks. And coffee. And birds, of course. G
Lillian Armstrong is Special Events Director at NJ Audubon/Cape May Bird Observatory. Lillian is a World Series of Birding veteran and will tell you the World Series of Birding is a special event! Learn more, participate and/or donate to your favorite team at www.njaudubon.org and www.worldseriesofbirding.org.
ATLANTIC COUNTY LOCATIONS
Estell Manor Park: Home of the Warren Fox Nature Center. 109 State Highway 50, Mays Landing, NJ 08330. 609-645-5960 or 609-625-1897. www.aclink.org/PARKS
Gaskill Park: Located at the bulkhead of the Great Egg Harbor River in Mays Landing, NJ 08330.. www.aclink.org/PARKS
Lake Lenape: 6303 Harding Highway in Mays Landing, NJ 08330. www.aclink.org/PARKS Weymouth Furnace: Route 559 (Weymouth Road) just north of Route 322 in Mays Landing,
NJ 08330. www.aclink.org/PARKS
Wharton State Forest: There are two locations in Wharton, one at Batsto Village and also one at the Atsion Recreation Area. Batsto Village is located on Route 542, . Atsion is located on Route 206. www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks
CUMBERLAND COUNTY LOCATIONS
Edward G. Bevan WMA, 8747 Ferry Rd, Millville, NJ 08332 Cohansey River WMA, 66 Perry Rd, Bridgeton, NJ 08302
Dix WMA, Back Neck Road, Fairton, NJ
Egg Island Fish WMA & Fortescue WMA, Fortescue, NJ 08321
Heislerville WMA: Matts Landing Road, Heislerville, NJ 08324. One of Audubon’s website 10 greatest bird watching hot spots with the largest concentration of nesting bald eagles anywhere in the state.
Nantuxent WMA, East Bay Point Road, Cedarville, NJ
Natural Lands Glades Wildlife Refuge, 261 Schoolhouse Road, Newport, NJ 08345 New Sweden WMA, Cedarville, NJ 08311
Stow Creek State Park, Stow Creek Road, Stow Creek Landing, NJ
58 SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY VACATIONER