It’s April. The days are getting longer. The grass is getting greener. Thoughts just naturally turn toward the World Series.
“Uh…” you are thinking, “don’t you mean Opening Day Mr. Dunne?” The World Series is played after grass has died, the sun has headed south and the northern hemisphere is reglaciating.
No. I’m thinking World Series, alright - the World Series of Birding. Every May, CMBO’s birding umpires (Sheila Lego and Marleen Murgitroyde) call “Play Bird.”
All of birding’s biggies (and quite a few of bird watching’s biggies to be) turn out to play the field.
And the marshes. And the woodlands. And the lakes, streams, oceans, mudflats, and airspace over New Jersey. The playing field for this celebrated competition is the state of New Jersey. When you run the bases, from High Point to Cape May Point, you can go in any direction you choose. But you must remain in bounds.
Only birds seen in (or from) New Jersey may be counted.
How do you count them?
Well, most teams use numeric symbols in base ten but it’s possible that one or more teams use Roman numerals and then translate their figures into the arithmetic system used by other teams. I’ve never asked. Funny you should bring it up.
Anyway, only full species may be counted (a mallard x Muscovy duck cross equals one duck sp (species), not half a mallard and half a Muscovy).
If you already have a mallard on your list, you can’t count the bird at all.
Only birds seen (or heard) by a minimum of two team members may be counted and 95% of all birds must be tallied by all team members.
Why is this? So that one heavy hitter on the team – someone who never strikes out, always hits home runs, wins every game, and the Cy Young, M.V.P., and Rookie of the Year, every year – doesn’t make the rest of us look bad.
Unlike the baseball version, you play with bases and balls; the birding version of World Series involves more than two rival teams at a time. In fact last year, more than one hundred teams took to the field all at once. Also unlike traditional baseball, teams get to bat and field simultaneously. And nobody chaws. And games never get rained out.
What happens when it rains? Birders get wet.
What happens when it rains real, real hard? Birders get real, real wet.
The wettest I have ever been was on the World Series of Birding. It rained all day. It rained ten inches at our dawn sight. It was a day that one player described as “like birding inside a car wash.”
To the best of my knowledge it has never snowed on the World Series of Birding, but that is only because the air lacked the necessary moisture component. It has certainly been cold enough to snow on the World Series of Birding. There is a bank clock in Vernon, New Jersey that our team passes around 3:00 a.m. and more than once it has read in the 20s.
Did he say 3:00 a.m.!? Game must have run into extra innings.
Oh, right, I forgot to mention the time factor. Also unlike regular baseball the World Series of Birding keeps irregular hours. Twenty-four of them. Two twelves back to back. Same number of hours as you find in your average day on planet earth.
Teams start at midnight. They end at midnight. They bird all day and when it’s over, the winning team crosses home plate with around 230 out of about 270 possible species. Which gives you a batting average of .85.
Even Ty Cobb never did that! And I wonder how many birds Hank Aaron had on his Life List?
I’m sure by now you are asking, why? That’s the easiest question we get to answer – because it’s fun, it’s the ultimate treasure hunt, and because every dollar that gets raised (through pledges) benefits conservation and helps to keep the birds around that helps to keep this event in the running.
If you are willing and able, and want to play in the major leagues, you should consider forming your own team in the World Series of Birding. This year celebrates the 25th Anniversary on May 10th. If you are more the spectator type, that’s good too. You can pledge Pete’s team or the CMBO Northwood team, captained by Jason Guerard, CMBO’s sales manager.
If you want more info on how to play or pledge, stop by or call the Cape May Bird Observatory at 609.884.2736 and ask for Sheila or Marleen. They’ll be glad to fill you in on all the details. You can find everything you need on our website www.WorldSeriesofBirding.org.