The Montgomery County Chapter/Maryland Ornithological Society Pronatura Veracruz "Holy Order of Loggerhead Shrikes" World Series of Birding 2002 Team had a record-breaking Big Day in the 19th Annual World Series of Birding, held in Cape May, New Jersey. The team surpassed the previous team record for number of species identified in 24 hours with 151 species in just three counties of New Jersey. In keeping with the World Series of Birding rules, all four team members had to identify 95% of all birds recorded; the remaining 5% of species had to be identified by three or more team members!

Best of all, individual pledges of support for the vital work of Pronatura Veracruz exceeded $2,146.00, an increase of 110% over 2001!

Generous sponsorship support from the Montgomery County Chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society helped the team surpass its goal this year.

The team birded non-stop from 3:00 am to midnight, competing against more than 65 other World Series Level I Official teams. The team members are all veterans of previous World Series of Birding competitions: Gordon Gover, Jim Green, Andy Rabin, and Don Simonson (Captain).

Three days of scouting by team members Gordon Gover, Jim Green, Andy Rabin, Don Simonson and MCC/MOS birder Gemma Radko on May 7,9 and 10 revealed a huge FALLOUT of spring migrant warblers, vireos, thrushes, orioles and other birds at Cape May and Brigantine. With a quick huddle on the night of May 10, the team made last-minute changes in schedule and route to take advantage of the best spring fallout in 10 years! We even made a radical decision to bird Cape May without birding the legendary Higbee's Beach!

We hit the marshes of South Cape May Meadows at Cape May Point at 3:20 am, immediately scoring the elusive Chuck-wills-widow, Whip-poor-will and American Woodcock. As dawn approached, we concentrated on migrant landbirds around the Cape May Bird Observatory, thrilling to the sight of warblers and grosbeaks precipitating out of the sky, down into the woods and brush in right our midst. We were rewarded with close-up views of Magnolia Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and Orchard Oriole. The rich fallout continued as we birded the Beanery in Cape May Point. The woods were "dripping" with singing warblers: Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, Northern Waterthrush, Ovenbird, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow Warbler, American Redstart to name a few.

When the action slowed, we drove up the bayshore to Jake's Landing in northern Cape May County, where we identified the rare and elusive Swainson's Warbler, one of the first-ever records for New Jersey and a life bird for most of the team. We swept Belleplain State Forest for Yellow-throated Warbler, Hooded Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Veery. Next we worked the lesser-known wooded migrant traps and marshes of Cumberland County bayshore, picking up Cooper's Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, Solitary Sandpiper, Northern Oriole, Marsh Wren and one overly-friendly (???***$!!%#!) Pit Bull Terrier which jumped into the right into open door of our vehicle at Commercial Township. Andy neatly exited the car just as swiftly as that pit bull jumped in!

We left the pit bull and the bayshore behind, making a beeline for Brigantine (Forsythe) National Wildlife Refuge in Atlantic County. The notorious Jersey Shore traffic jams briefly halted our progress at Route 47, but with the aid of a little four-wheeling by Don and some Nifty Native New Jersey Navigating by Gordon, we feinted north and east thru back roads, arriving at Brigantine only an hour behind schedule. Jim displayed his long-time knowledge of Brigantine, as well as his iron constitution overcoming the after-effects of a recent stomach virus, to pull out hard-to-get birds including Merlin, Peregrine Falcon, Tri-colored Heron and Whimbrel.

Back in Cape May County, Andy nailed a pair of Yellow-crowned Night Herons skulking between two dilapidated fishing shacks, and shortly thereafter we got our highest-speed bird: Black-crowned Night Heron (the bird was standing still in the marsh; we were doing 50 on the causeway). A quick stop at the Concrete Ship netted Purple Sandpiper and Northern Gannet.

As dusk approached, we wearily tramped the South Cape May Meadows again, gaining Ruddy Duck, Common Snipe, and Wigeon. We swept Lily Lake and the Cape May Bird Observatory once again for migrants, even nailing down a classic singing Nashville Warbler to meet a specific pledge challenge from a donor (no Gemma, it wasn't singing Grand Ole Opry!), then hit the Park Office at the Cape May Lighthouse for a quick snack, and drove north again in the dark to Jake's Landing. Like last year, remarkably, no other birding teams were at the landing when we arrived, though fifteen other birding team vehicles pulled in shortly thereafter. Amazingly, the wind was calm, so were the mosquitos, and we heard the unmistakable call of three secretive and very rare Black Rails! The Black Rail was a triple treat: life bird for most of us, the final bird of the day, and the record-breaking 151st species, surpassing the previous team record set in 2000. Three Black Rail calls were all we could allow: it was already 10:45 pm and we must cross the finish line at Cape May Point State Park by midnight to qualify. We handed in our tally with twenty minutes to spare. With our official total posted: 151 species, representing record pledges of $2,140 for Pronatura Veracruz, we were already plotting next year's WSB 2003 route!