The Cumulative List And Comments

The cumulative list for the DVOC teams from 1984 to 2010 has been posted at: http://www.dvoc.org/WSB/WSB2010/Cumulative2010.pdf

 

Here are a few comments……….

The DVOC has participated in 26 of the 27 World Series of Birding. We did not enter a team in 1986. For four years (1988, 1989, 1990, 1991) there were two DVOC teams entered, the "normal" team and a "B team". This brief look covers the 26 years of the DVOC participation but does not include the results of the four years of the "B Team".

 

In the 26 years of participation our cumulative total is 278 species.

There are 104 species we have identified every year

There are 149 species we have identified 25 out of the 26 years

There are 175 species we have identified at least 21 out of the 26 years

 

Since we identified 228 species this year it can be argued that we "missed" 50 species (278 minus 228). Of the 50 we missed, 46 species have been seen by our team on less that 40% of the World Series. In fact there are 26 species we have seen 5 or less years.

Looking at our 6 top misses this year we have

Upland Sandpiper (now seen 11 out of 26 years)

Bonaparte's Gull (now seen 11 out of 26 years)

Golden-crowned Kinglet (now seen 12 out of 26 years)

Green-winged Teal (now seen 19 out of 26 years)

Snow Goose (now seen 23 out of 26 years)

Cattle Egret (now seen 25 out of 26 years)

Upland Sandpiper habitat is no longer on our route. We have not seen it for 11 years. Bonaparte's Gulls were around in very small numbers, usually along the Delaware Bayshore. Our route did not allow viewing time there. Golden-crowned Kinglets are winter residents that were pretty much gone this year. That leaves our big misses as Green-winged Teal, Snow Goose, and Cattle Egret. There were a couple of Green-winged Teal reported at Brigantine NWR in the days before the event but in our hour there we failed to locate them. Having the World Series on this last date made ducks very difficult. The traditional Snow Goose at Cape May County Zoo has not been seen since this winter. That was a reliable bird. There was one Snow Goose at Brig up until about Tuesday when the Cornell team watched a Bald Eagle eat it. A single Snow Goose made a 24 hour cameo appearance with some Canada Geese on Fulling Mill Road in Cape May County from Wednesday afternoon until Thursday afternoon. It was never relocated. Cattle Egrets are rapidly declining in New Jersey. We knew the four spots they had been seen in the Cape May area during the week before the event. On the big day we managed to route all four of those spots in. We missed Cattle Egret at all four spots. This was the first year we missed Cattle Egret.

 

There are 8 species we identified this year that we do not commonly identify.

Common Eider (our 2nd record in 26 years)

Brown Pelican (our 3nd record in 26 years)

Hooded Merganser (our 4th record in 26 years)

Northern Goshawk (our 4th record in 26 years)

Dark-eyed Junco (our 4th record in 26 years)

American Wigeon (our 4th record in 26 years)

Marbled Godwit (our 4th record in 26 years)

Long-eared Owl (our 4th record in 26 years)

The Common Eider had been in Townsend's Inlet for several days so finding it was not a surprise. The Brown Pelican, which we saw scanning the ocean from Cape May was a surprise. Hooded Mergansers appear to breeding at a pond in northern New Jersey so we expected to see that bird. Goshawks nest in northern New Jersey so they are around but their nests are deep into the forest. Mike picked out an adult bird soaring along a ridge near Culver's Lake, a great spot. The Wigeon and the Marbled Godwit were at Brigantine and we heard a Long-eared Owl up north.

 

It is always interesting to look at the species list from a statistical standpoint. There are lessons to be learned.

 

Bert