Ace birders Jack Trojan, Otys Train and Zade Pacetti in action at the Cape May Hawk Watch.

Photo credit: Jim Wright

By Jim Wright

Special to The Record | USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

  Nothing is quite so humbling for a good birder than to be with great birders.

  I was reminded of that verity last month at the Cape May Hawk Watch. Every Sunday at 8 a.m., some far-flung friends and I compete against each other in a little weekly contest called the Birdy 30. The goal is to see the most species of birds from one spot in one half-hour.

   On this occasion, I figured I was primed for victory.  Not only was I in a top birding spot during spring migration, but I had recruited three ringers to help me: 16-year-old Jack Trojan of Scotch Plains, 15-year-old Otys Train of Hoboken and 15-year-old Zade Pacetti of Brooklyn.

  Part of an elite team known as the Pete Dunnelins, named in honor of legendary birder Pete Dunne and a shorebird called a dunlin, the trio and their two teammates had excelled in NJ Audubon’s World Series of Birding the previous weekend. They tied for first place in their division with 199 total species statewide in 24 hours.

   You read that right. They tallied 199 species in one day.

   As soon as the Birdy 30 began, the three teens scanned the sky, trees, and water around the hawk watch with dizzying speed. They identified so many birds so rapidly that I had trouble writing them all down.

   “Lesser black-backed gull,” they’d call out. “Common loon! Red-headed woodpecker! Cedar waxwings over the lighthouse.”  And so it went.

   Not sure which way to look most of the time, I spun every which way like a weather vane in a tornado, sneaking peeks at my Merlin app whenever I could. 

   All three young men were as helpful as could be, but they were clearly operating on a higher level – and I enjoyed every minute. Their exuberance reminded me how birding can bring such pure joy, and how young old-school savants can outshine an older guy with an app any day. 

   At the end of the 30 minutes, I tallied the number of birds I’d seen without their help: 12. Then I added another dozen species that I would have otherwise missed. 

   Although I’d just been gently schooled by three high-schoolers, it turned out we shared a common bond.  “Birding connects me to the outdoors as well as to a wide variety of new experiences and friends,” Jack Trojan later explained. “I’ve made so many connections in the field, and everyone is always inviting and helpful.”

   As for my friendly half-hour competition, I would have lost to a friend in Massachusetts without the Dunnelins’ help. My friend counted 13 species in her backyard. As if to rub it in, she also saw a Cape May warbler that morning– 350 miles to the north of Cape Island as the songbird flies.

   The Bird Watcher column appears every other Thursday.  Email Jim at [email protected].