Bird-a-thon 2023 at Wellfleet Bay: Beautiful Weather, Lots of Birds

While the official results have not been released yet, our Cape Cod Bird-a-thon team is feeling pretty darn good about this year’s statewide competition with other Mass Audubon sanctuaries to find as many species as possible in 24 hours. We had a sunny, warm weekend and more birders deployed to harder-to-cover areas like South Monomoy Island and Western Massachusetts.

Last year, the Cape team finished second to the birding juggernaut that is the Metro South region. Cape team co-captains Mark Faherty and Chris Walz are still confirming their species numbers, but the final count could be around 240, which would be a huge improvement over last year when we finished second with 213 species.

“Lame Ducks” Have Best Year Ever

One of the major headlines from Bird-a-thon 2023 was how well our so-called Lame Ducks team did—124 species! We’re always impressed by the growth of this beginning birders team over the past 12 years. Way back when, finding or hearing woodcocks and whip-poor-wills was a big thing. This year, their species list included less common species, such as Black Guillemot, Clapper Rail, Yellow-throated Warbler!

Still Time to Support our Team

The birding competition may be over, but there’s still time to show support for our team by making a donation before May 31st. We are at 65% to meeting our goal of $40,000 in honor of Bird-a-thon’s 40th anniversary! The funds raised through Bird-a-thon support just about everything our Cape Cod sanctuaries do—our wildlife conservation programs, such as sea turtle rescue and research and spadefoot toad restoration--- and our programs in local public schools. We are grateful for the efforts of our birders, fundraisers and supporters in meeting this goal.