Sussex County Big Day

On Saturday May 10th, my girlfriend Amy, two friends, and myself set off at midnight to complete a Sussex County big day. The idea is simple; see as many species of birds as possible in the span of 24 hours. The big day is a decades old tradition among birders, a challenge to your ID skills as well as your endurance (if you've ever sorted through flocks of peeps after being awake for over 30 hours, you know what I mean). I like it because it is ultimately about avian ecology. The best way to see a bird on your big day is to have scouted out breeding birds prior to the event. In order to do that, you must be familiar with the habitat requirements and behavior of dozens of species. From there you can add to your list with migrants, which demands an understanding of how birds move across the landscape of your 'playing field'. All of this requires proper timing; your route must be planned such that it takes advantage of different species' periods of peak activity or you'll turn up empty handed.

We chose Sussex County because of its excellent avian diversity. The fact that we all live here helped too! The ridge and valley region of New Jersey is diverse in its habitat types. Throughout the day we birded in deciduous woodlands, limestone fens, dark Hemlock ravines, agricultural grasslands, and several other ecosystems. We made a valiant effort to stay on birds and keep from getting distracted by plants, though occasionally we couldn't resist. The Sussex County botany big day will be next!



Going in, my slightly overly ambitious goal was 150 species. We fell a bit short of that, but made a great showing with 140. A few bird groups gave us a bit of trouble. Our nights were a bit slow and we missed several nocturnal breeders, probably due to lack of scouting. Scrub/shrub birds also hung us up, and we failed to turn up several species that we had found on territory earlier in the week (Chat, White-eyed Vireo, Golden-winged Warbler..). We also missed several possible migrants; unfavorable weather patterns made us decide to cut planned visits to a couple migrant traps from our route to have more time to search for waterfowl and shorebirds instead. All in all, it was a great day with some really spectacular sightings. Personal hightlights included a spectacular male Cape May Warbler in Layton and several Ovenbirds engaged in courtship behaviors, making an entirely bizarre upslurred vocalization that was almost reminiscent of a Gray-cheeked Thrush. Here is our species list:

Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
Green Winged Teal
Ring-necked Duck
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser

Ring-necked Pheasant
Ruffed Grouse
Wild Turkey

Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Green Heron

Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Northern Goshawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel

Virginia Rail
Sora
Common Moorhen
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe

Mourning Dove
Rock Pigeon
Black-billed Cuckoo
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Barn Owl
Eastern Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl
Barred Owl
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher
Pileated Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker

Acadian Flycatcher
Alder Flycatcher
Least Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Blue-headed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Warbling Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Barn Swallow
Blue Jay
American Crow
Common Raven
Black-capped Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Eastern Bluebird
Veery
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Blue-winged Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Black-and-White Warbler
American Redstart
Worm-eating Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Bobolink
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Baltimore Oriole
Purple Finch
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

When we do a botany big day, I will NOT be typing out the entire plant list!