V20 N47

Bird Droppings
Dispatches from the nation’s birdwatching capital… by Seymore Thanu
Looking for that last minute holiday gift
or trying to figure out what to do with
that gifted loot? Why not invest it in
a hobby that is tantamount to opening
presents every day of the year. Of
course, I’m talking about bird watching.
North America’s second most popular
outdoor pastime. Every morning, Ma Nature
puts out piles of colorfully wrapped presents.
They are a delight to our eyes, music to our
ears, a challenge for young and old alike.
You get close enough to note the bird’s “field
marks,” pin the name to the bird and cast a
spell of binding over it. Every day a new array
of possibilities.
Your hobby goes wherever you do. Birds
are everywhere, nature’s ambassadors opening
the door to a world of discovery — 750
species in North America, 10,000 in the world
and the nearest one is right outside your door.
On the utility line or under the hedge. Or take
a drive to Cape May Point. Scan Lake Lily.
Ducks galore. They’re big, boldly patterned
and they swim in the open. OK, some of them
do dive and not every bird is a duck. Here’s
your first lesson in bird identification.
Step 3: Pin the bird down to the family.
Not everything that swims is a duck, goose
or swan. Coots and grebes swim and dive,
too. Coots look like charcoal tea pots with a
white spout. Grebes resemble meat loafs with
a chicken’s head.
Steps 1 and 2? Binoculars and a field
guide. But you can buy both items for less
than dinner in Cape May. Luckily the Cape
May Bird Observatory is seated right on the
north end of Lake Lily. The shop has the best
selection of optics in New Jersey and new and
used field guides. The bird check lists are free.
They tell you the seasonal abundance of birds
in Cape May. Fill the list with check marks
and you have a record of your discoveries.
It’s called a Life List. After that, you can start
keeping “Year Lists” as a way of getting you
out all year long. Birds are seasonal. Some
only breed here, others only in winter.
“The Sibley Guide,” written in Cape May
Point, is the gold standard but the Kaufman
Guide is more user-friendly. Other guides?
Plenty. Walls of them and bird feeders, too,
plus lots of books dealing with other natural
history subjects.
Bird seed? Smeltzer and Sons, Cape May
Court House sells high quality seed. Black
oil Sunflower seed is loved by birds. If you
are buying mixed seed, avoid cheap (cheep?)
fillers like cracked corn. Don’t forget the suet.
Nuthatches love it.
December 29, 2022 EXIT ZERO Page 31