I participated in the annual Birdathon last Saturday the 13th here in Berrien County- SW Michigan. It was my first Birdathon. I had a great time. My team of 4 was lead by the naturalist at Fernwood Botanical Garden. She has done it for 27 years in a row and is quite good at identifying birds just by their vocalizations. We started at 4am and picked up several species before dawn. Our team did well with 105 species either seen or heard. The winning team got 134 species. I picked up 18 lifers (I am new to this area since last August). My favorite was the Sora Rail which we heard before it got light at a marsh and then saw it once it got light.
