Aug. 1 was a rainy Monday. An early-morning thunderstorm and a sustained trend of precipitation kept me inside for most of the day, but I did manage to see 20 species of birds that day.
These were the dependable regulars, like chickadees, mourning doves and blue jays. Since the August record was 42 species, I noted in my journal that I was basically half-way there after the first day.
By the end of Aug. 4, my list contained 38 species. Then, quite predictably, things slowed down. I didn’t add any new species until Aug. 17, when a little burst of activity produced three new birds for the list. This brought the count to 41 species, which meant I needed one additional species to tie the record.
August gave up her secrets slowly, and it wasn’t until Aug. 26 that I finally tied the record. I was sitting on my deck, looking and listening for anything out of the ordinary, when I happened to catch sight of a group of eight to 10 birds headed toward me from the east. As they got closer, I caught sight of the long, tapered wings and white wing panels that identified them as common nighthawks.
Flabbergasted, I tied the August record with a species that I had never seen in my yard before. I couldn’t help but notice that there were several “easy” birds that still hadn’t been seen or heard. Adding just one more species to the list seemed easy, so I woke early on Aug. 27, with this clear goal in mind, and by 6:45 a.m., I was headed out the door with camera in hand.
There was generous sprinkling of dew on the thinking chair and as I sat down I winced as the cool water soaked into my shirt. I scanned my surroundings and took a few test shots with my camera so I could get the exposure settings right, then I settled in to wait and watch. At 7:11 I caught sight of a large bird far off to the north and I managed to take a quick photo before it disappeared behind the trees to the west.
Long-distance photos can be tricky, but I saw a long tail and the silhouette of a long, heavy beak that suggested that the bird was a raven. A minute later I heard the croaking call of a raven off to the west. All doubt was cast aside. In less than 30 minutes I set a new record. This left me with a strategic decision to make.
Should I quit, leaving the record at 43, or should I stay and possibly run up the score? I didn’t really want to increase the list since that would make setting a new record that much more difficult in coming years, but I ended up staying simply because I was comfortable and didn’t feel like leaving. You will have to decide if I made the right choice.
At 7:14 I caught sight of a small bird that screamed “sparrow” and I took another long-distance photo to see if I could identify it. The details were clear enough, but I didn’t know exactly what I was looking at. This would require time with a field guide and then consultation with some friends, but I was pretty sure I had another new species. That was pretty fast.
At 7:20 I caught sight of a towhee fledgling and when I stood up to take its picture I attracted the attention of a family of house wrens. They were a noisy whirlwind of activity. I couldn’t help but laugh as they squabbled over who got to sit on which perch and it was only because of their activity that I was looking in the right direction to catch a glimpse of a fifth bird that clearly wasn’t a wren. Instead, it turned out to be a blue-gray gnatcatcher, which was a spectacular addition to my August list. I had 44 confirmed species and a possible 45 pending review of the mystery sparrow. Things were going so well that I decided to stay.
At 7:52 I caught a movement in the treetops to my left and when I zeroed in on the bird responsible I found myself looking at a female scarlet tanager. This species was already on my list, but I was still excited to see her because I had missed the opportunity to take her picture when I saw her with her mate earlier in the month. Just thirty seconds later, the wow factor kicked in.
Had I not been looking up in the direction of the tanager I would have completely missed the silent flyby of the ultimate wild-card species of the month. Just as had been the case with the raven, this was a large bird far to the north, but this bird’s appearance screamed “waterbird.” I snapped a quick photo before it disappeared and when I looked at it I laughed out loud. There was not a shred of doubt that I had just seen a double-crested cormorant.
Then things got crazy. At 8:32 I saw a bird that turned out to be a black-throated green warbler in fall plumage. At 8:40 I saw a beautiful juvenile male rose-breasted grosbeak, which I didn’t need for the list, but I delighted in seeing nonetheless. With the count mounting I decided to quit, but on the way up to the house I heard the loud, confident song of a Carolina wren; another species that I had never observed in my yard before. At 9:01 I saw a pair of red-eyed vireos and later that day I identified the mystery sparrow as a juvenile American tree sparrow.
The icing on the cake came on August 28 when I saw a barn swallow zip past the house. I wasn’t even trying to see any new species. I was just sitting and enjoying the last evening of my summer vacation, but that bird brought the new record to 50 species. We’ll have to wait a minimum of one year to see, but I think it will be a very long time before I speak of breaking the August record again.
Bill Danielson has worked for the National Park Service, the US Forest Service, and the Massachusetts State Parks. He has been a professional writer and nature photographer for 19 years and he also teaches high school biology and physics. Visit www.speakingofnature.com for more information, or go to Speaking of Nature on Facebook