The Superbowl of Birding VII (The Competition: Part I)

At three, Ben, Greg, and I woke up and started getting ready for the long day in front of us, leaving dad to sleep. Hope's mom was going to drive the four young birders around for the morning, and then we were going to meet dad and Greg's parents somewhere along the road in the afternoon. At 3:30 in the morning, we headed up to the main house, finding Hope and her mom all set to go. We were each in at least four layers on top (I had on polypro, a waffle shirt, a flannel shirt, and a winter jacket) and two or three layers on bottom (polypro under flannel-lined pants). Fitting the five of us into Mrs. Batcheller's Subaru Outback was not particularly easy, but by 3:45 we were headed east towards our owling rendezvous along Cutler road. Without windchill, it was 5ºF. With windchill it was around -20ºF.


Temperature as recorded by Mrs. Batcheller's Subaru
Photo Credit: Hope using Ben's iPhone

We reached Cutler road at 4:58 (the competition didn't technically start until 5 in the morning). Two minutes later, we started driving along and listening for owls. We spent over an hour and a half listening in vain, and then set off for Flax Pond in Lynn. We reached the pond just as light was beginning to creep over the horizon and picked up our first birds for the day. We quickly nabbed Mallards, Canada Geese, American Black Ducks, and Mute Swans. Our real target here, however, was the American Coot (worth four points) that had been reported from the area. As we were scanning through the flocks of waterfowl, Ben picked up roughly 15 Hooded Mergansers, the only ones we had for the day. Just as a large flock of American Crows flew overhead, Hope picked out the American Coot just behind a small group of Canada Geese. I found it seconds after, but it took a few moments longer to get Ben and Greg's binoculars on it. As soon as all four of us had it, we sprinted back to the car, piled in, and took off for the next destination. In the car, Hope added the birds we had gotten to the official checklist (the job of whoever sat in the passenger seat). We already had seven species, with no owls, before the sun had even broken the horizon. Onwards to Nahant!

Just over the causeway to Nahant, we piled out in a small parking lot overlooking an expanse of water. Just as we tumbled out of the small car, a Song Sparrow gave a chip in the brush to our right. Scanning the water with our scopes yielded a Buffleheads, Common Goldeneyes, and a small flock of Greater Scaup. While we scoped the water, Herring Gulls flew overhead.


Ocean off of Nahant
Photo Credit: Mrs. Batcheller

We left the little parking lot in search of a new target: passerines. To this end, we visited the "stump dump" thickets of Nahant, just a minute or two away from the little lot where we got the scaup. We pulled into the area just as birds started singing. As we got out of the car, a Northern Cardinal sang out. American Goldfinches called from overhead as White-throated Sparrows and House Sparrows darted in and out of the high brush. Our first Rock Pigeons flew by while we were searching for more birds, and I spooked two Mourning Doves into flight. A Blue Jay brashly scolded us from a nearby tree when Greg noticed a Northern Mockingbird skulking in the thicket. We picked up a Carolina Wren but missed the Winter Wren that Hope and Greg had the day before. Awash in passerines (roughly half of what we got all day), we crushed back into the car with Ben sitting up front. Birding out of the windows as we drove out of Nahant yielded our first Great Black-backed Gull for the competition. Driving through Lynn on our way to Gloucester/Cape Ann yielded five European Starlings.


Nahant Stump Dump
Photo Credit: Mrs. Batcheller