“Hi Don, I just wanted to let you know that we’ve got our new duck boats fitted out, and I was thinking they might be great for birding tours in the Glades. We could tow a group of birders out and let them watch what happens as the tide turns.”
Lynn Waterman, of Beaver Dam Boat Rentals (a CMBO business partner), had a good idea, but unfortunately I was pretty sure it wouldn’t sell. The Glades, a fantastic mosaic of Cumberland County tidal marsh, creeks, and woodland, is undoubtedly one of the best birding spots in New Jersey, and a few hours spent hidden in one spot there could bring anyone some of the best birding experiences of their life. The trouble is, birders don’t do that. We tend to be a restless lot, thinking that if the birds aren’t here now, well, they’ve got to be somewhere else, right? So off we go to look.
At the Avalon Sea Watch migration count, counter Ken Behrens remains stationary as he scans the birds moving past him along the coastline. Photo by France Dewaghe.
Generally I think birders are too impatient. Migration counts, where the birds come to us, are great examples of sit-and-wait birding at its best, but other than hawk watches and sea watches, how many birders have spent more than a half hour in one location, watching to see what appears?
Perhaps I am biased, thanks to the fact that before I was a birder I was a hunter, and hunting often means long hours in a tree stand or ground blind. In such situations, periods without wildlife “action” are rare, and even if there are occasional quiet times, they can be punctuated with extraordinary sightings.
For example, if you saw a painting of an adult Northern Goshawk taking a male Northern Cardinal in a snowy landscape, I bet you would think that was an extreme case of artistic license and imagination. Yet, I was treated to that very scene while deer hunting one winter. Such sightings come to those who put their time in, concealed and waiting for something to happen, and rarely to the average birder trundling across the landscape.
Excitement builds at the Hawk Watch platform as a juvenile Peregrine Falcon dives on and strikes a Rock Dove—all at eye level for those watching. Photo by Laura Guerard.
Sit-and-wait birding works in any landscape, but there are four situations where I think it is the best method:
1. At migration concentration points. This is no big news - official and unofficial hawk watch sites being only one example of choosing to let the birds come to us.
2. Near water. Most birds drink and bathe daily, so stationing oneself at a spring in dry country, or a freshwater pond near the ocean, will bring an ever changing selection of birds. Stationing oneself near water used by drinking and bathing birds is particularly effective in the afternoon, when other birding is slow.
3. At feeding stations, or near rich sources of natural foods. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: finding birds is often about finding their food. Once you do, stay there, and the birds will come to you.
4. In places where there is tidal movement. Incoming tides flood feeding areas, and force birds to find high ground to roost. Falling tides reveal the same feeding areas, and birds will return to the mud flats, oyster beds, and beaches as the water recedes. It is only logical to place oneself where the ebb and flow of tides, and birds, can be observed.
Even the most fanatic birder will benefit from being still and observing in one location. You may even find that you notice more than just birds, the whole natural landscape and the other beings that reside there. If you are moving too fast, you may miss it.