Wednesday, May 20, 2015

NJ Audubon Announces Results of the 32nd Annual World Series of Birding

Bernardsville, NJ – May 13, 2015 – New Jersey Audubon (NJA) announced the winners of the May 9th 32nd annual World Series of Birding – a competitive "Big Day" for birding and nature enthusiasts.

Seventy-nine teams had up to 24 hours (from midnight to midnight) to count as many bird species as they could identify by sight or sound within the state of New Jersey. Each species seen or heard counted as one. NJA laid the groundwork and gave participants the playing field and rules to follow – and the rest was up to the teams.

Here are the winners by category:

LEVEL I: BIRD CONSERVATION CHALLENGE

URNER STONE CUP (highest number of total species)

This year's Level I award is being shared by two teams – the Level I team who identified 208 species; and due to their exceptional accomplishment of identifying 216 species, a Level III team, as well.

Level I Winner: Cornell Redheads: sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Ben Barkley, Andrew Dreelin, Brendan Fogarty, Luke Seitz, Benjamin Van Doren

Level III Winner: Division C Youth Challenge YMOS Raucous Gulls: Alex Wiebe, Kevin Ebert, Matthew Addicks

STONE AWARD (2nd highest number total species) – 206 species
UMLY Band of Birders: Ben Bussman, Brian Raicich, Brian Quindlen, Nathaniel Sharp

STEARNS AWARD (3rd highest number total species) – 184 species
Fly or Die: Dan Poalillo, Larry Scacchetti, Rob Scherr

CAPE MAY COUNTY AWARD (highest number total species in Cape May County) – 157 species
SPNI Champions of the Flyway: Dan Alon, Amir Balaban, Jonathan Meyrav, Tom Reed, Noam Weiss

LGA AWARD (highest total par; single county) – 122 species
Tough Titmice: Justin Muratore, Kellie Muratore, Erica Mueller

CAPE ISLAND CUP (highest number total species south of Cape May Canal) – 127 species
Zen Zugunruhe: Dave Hedeen, Glen Davis, Mattew Garvey, Willy Hutchison, Tate Johansson

BIG STAY AWARD (highest number total species in a single location) – 71 species
Cornell Redheads: sponsored by Cornell Lab of Ornithology: Sarah Dzielski, Lauren Flesher, Nathanial Hernandez, Reid Rumelt

SWAROVSKI CARBON FOOTPRINT AWARD (highest number species without motorized vehicle) - 126 species (Tie for First)

CMBO Birds & Blooms Scarlet Knight Herons: David La Puma, Don Freiday, Timothy Freiday, Jessica Gorzo, BillLynch
AND
Ridin' Birdy: Matthew Halley, Bull Jervasi, Anthony Croasdale

LEVEL III: YOUTH BIRDING CHALLENGE, SPONSORED BY CARL ZEISS SPORTS OPTICS

Division A (Grade 1-5 highest number total species) – 133 species
Loons with Binoculars: Naia Grunwald, Andrew Grunwald

Division B (Grade 6-8 highest number total species) – 191 species
YMOS Marsh Gigglers: Daniel Irons, Jonathan Irons, Patrick Newcombe, Jack Pearse

Division C - Pete Dunne Future Leaders in Birding Award - (Grade 9-12 highest number species) - 216 species
YMOS Raucous Gulls: Alex Weibe, Kevin Ebert, Callum MacLellan

LEVEL IV: SENIOR CHALLENGE

FLOYD P. WOLFARTH SENIOR AWARD (highest number total species) – 119 species
Limping Limpkins: Dan Erdely, Diane Erdely, Joe Feldman, Jack Gruber

The World Series of Birding creates a fun day for birders of all levels of expertise – an event where local conservation groups, schools and youth groups come together to share their unique interest. There are several ways to participate: Level I Competitive Teams who vie for awards in several categories: Level II for all non-competing teams; Level III which includes a Youth Challenge for ages 6-18 within their respective youth groups; and Level IV, a Senior Challenge for ages 60 and older. In addition, Level I teams can elect to canvas the entire state; or limit their search to a "Limited Geographic Area" of a single county (LGA); or forego travel entirely and do a Big Stay, or go "powerless" for the Carbon Footprint Challenge.

The World Series of Birding has changed the birding landscape, drawing attention to the habitats of migrating birds; giving birders a chance to put their bird watching skills to use for a good cause by focusing global media attention on the challenge, adventure, and fun of bird watching.

Most importantly, the event generates a great deal of money for conservation causes. People directly donate to support the event or pledge to their favorite team an amount per bird species seen/heard during the event raising over $600,000 annually – a total of $9 million over its 32-year history. The money raised is put back into conservation causes in ways that protect resources and preserve the habitats that the birds need.

"To say I'm excited about the results would be an understatement," said David La Puma, Director of the Cape May Bird Observatory, whose team was a co-winner in the Swarovski Carbon Footprint Challenge. "This year's World Series of Birding was a watershed moment for us. We enhanced the event by including online fundraising tools that allowed teams to raise more money than ever for critical programs such as the Monarch Monitoring Project, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology; not to mention over $150,000 that will go directly toward research, education, stewardship and government relations at New Jersey Audubon; all of which are working directly to protect birds and their habitat in Cape May, across the state of New Jersey, and around the world. This is a global event, rooted in one of the 'birdiest' states in the nation."

La Puma continued, "The weather did not cooperate in the south, with dense fog for most of the day, yet still we managed to reach a cumulative statewide total of over 262 species! That's spectacular, and proves once again that New Jersey is for the birds, and if we play our cards right we can help ensure it always will be.

"This year we introduced social sharing tools for sharing sightings between teams during the event itself, which was previously against the rules. The fun we had running into each other in the field, high-fiving, helping each other find important birds, and sharing the experience of seeing or hearing something truly exceptional (like Black Rail at Stipson Island Road). It really set a new tone for the competition, and we feel will bring more people to it in the future. After 32 years, the World Series continues to evolve, and I sense a real renaissance coming in the next few years. So start planning your team and studying your birds now because next year is only three hundred and fifty-something days away!"

This year's event sponsors include Swarovski Optik (Carbon Footprint Challenge), Carl Zeiss Sport Optics (Youth Birding Challenge), Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Shop Rite Food/Wakefern, and Estee Lauder Inc. Individual teams are sponsored by Birds & Blooms magazine, Cape Resorts, Vortex Optics, Cape May-Lewes Ferry, South Jersey Gas, Hudson Farm, Ernst Seeds and Trump National Golf Course, with more still coming on board.

The first official World Series of Birding began at midnight on May 19, 1984, when just 13 teams set out on a 24-hour treasure hunt. Today, hundreds of participants take part in the event.

For more information visit http://www.njaudubon.org or call Lillian Armstrong at 609-861-0700, ext. 33 or e-mail wsb@njaudubon.org.

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About New Jersey Audubon

New Jersey Audubon is a privately supported, not-for profit, statewide membership organization. Founded in 1897, and one of the oldest independent Audubon societies, New Jersey Audubon has no connection with the National Audubon Society.

New Jersey Audubon fosters environmental awareness and a conservation ethic among New Jersey's citizens; protects New Jersey's birds, mammals, other animals, and plants, especially endangered and threatened species; and promotes preservation of New Jersey's valuable natural habitats.

New Jersey Audubon Society Headquarters is located at 9 Hardscrabble Road, Bernardsville, NJ 07924. Call (908) 204-8998 or e-mail: hq@njaudubon.org.