Hurricane birding works again

Most people flee hurricanes. Some people seek them.

We call the latter hard-core birders.

We suggested a few blogs ago that birders would be on the lookout in North Carolina for seabirds blown into places where they are uncommon to never.

It's happening right now.

The Washington Post carried a story yesterday about a man from Ithaca, N.Y., who loaded his car with extra gasoline, first-aid supplies, food, camera, and binoculars, and drove to North Carolina.

He and a friend hoped to find the eye of the storm, that being a particularly good place to find a storm fallout. Many birds could be blown in and dropped off, tropical birds maybe.

Deep into the storm, the pair retreated when power lines began to fall. Plan B was a reservoir where birds had been seen in past storms.

The petrel has been seen inland in North America twice before, in 1933 and 1996.

In all, the birders saw 36 species of birds, close to a dozen of which were "hurricane birds."

Quoted in the Post the New York birder called the experience "awesome."

Other birders surely were on the hurricane scene. Some birds will be carried so far inland that a long trip will not be necessary.

Check eBird, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology national posting web site, for more information (ebird.org/explore).