Picture a van screeching into the parking lot of Devil’s Punch Bowl on the Oregon coast. Four men jump out of the van and run full speed carrying spotting scopes to an ideal spot to look at the ocean, as local birder Noah Strycker describes it to
Eugene Weekly.
“And then just shouting out bird names, ‘wandering tattle.’ ‘Got it!’” he says. “I imagine people are saying, ‘What is happening?’”
But that’s what the typical stop was like as Strycker and three other birders broke Oregon’s Big Day record. The four identified 228 bird species in 24 hours, which is nine more than the 2007 record set by Strycker and three other birders. Preparing for a Big Day, when birders try to identify as many birds as possible during a 24-hour period, takes more than just planning a route, though. It takes scouting out areas to ensure you can maximize the number of birds identified at a certain stop.