Michael O’Brien gave me a bit of a mischievous look and asked, “So Don, what were you doing at the state park this morning?” This morning, as in, from 6:00 a.m. on, well before first light.
Michael knew perfectly well what I had been doing, because he was there at Cape May Point State Park for the same reason: it was late October, the winds from a cold front two days earlier had finally laid down, and we were hoping to see migrating owls (and anything else) against the rising light in the east.
Everyone knows the best birding is early in the morning, but what should you do if you arrive at your chosen patch before there’s enough light to see well? The answer is, position yourself where you can see silhouetted birds. The way to do that is usually to station yourself relatively low in relation to the surrounding topography, and face the rising sun.
Use your binoculars, too. Scan for flying birds silhouetted against the pink light of dawn. Check every snag (a snag is a standing dead tree) for perched owls and other birds - I’ve routinely found perched Great-horned Owls and Great Blue Herons near marshes this way. Distant silhouettes can be confirmed by using a spotting scope.
I’ve looked for birds this way even before there is any light from the sun at all, by using the distant lights of a city or town, the headlights of an approaching car, or lights from stadiums and ball parks.
February through May, depending on where you are, American Woodcock often display well past dusk and well before dawn if there are bright lights nearby. In warmer months, bright lights often attract moths and other insects, which in turn can attract nightjars like Common Nighthawks and Chuck-will’s-widows.
Silhouettes bring bird shapes into sharp relief, so if you are not accustomed to looking at shapes, this is a great way to practice. Many birds, perhaps even most, are more easily identified by shape than by fine points of plumage. See the photos below for examples.
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Learn through Photos |
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Can you spot the Ruddy Duck in this flock? |
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Green-winged Teal are most easily distinguished from Blue-winged Teal by shape. Note the Green-winged’s small bill and steep forehead. |
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Double-crested Cormorant silhouette revealing this bird’s hook-tipped bill. |