Wings Over Mercer is coming up on October 3, and maybe you’ve considered signing up, but there’s one thing holding you back:
I’m new to birding. What if I don’t know enough birds?
That’s exactly why we created a New-to-Birding category.
Wings Over Mercer isn’t something only experienced birders can enjoy. Whether you want to try your first birding competition, spend an hour learning alongside other birders, bring your kids out to look for birds, or simply see what Wild Bird Research Group is all about, you can join us.
And you don’t even need your own binoculars to get started. Thanks to our friends at Nocs Provisions, we’ll have binoculars available during the day to help get new birders looking, learning, and finding birds.
Your First Birding Competition? We Have a Category for That.
Our New-to-Birding category gives newer birders a chance to put together a team, explore Mercer County, and see how many different bird species they can find.
You aren’t expected to know every bird by sight or recognize every call coming out of the trees. In fact, New-to-Birding teams can use the Merlin Bird ID app to help them identify birds throughout the day. We want Merlin to be a learning tool, though, not an automatic answer. When Merlin suggests a bird, take another look or listen. Does what you’re seeing match the identification? Does the sound seem to be coming from a bird nearby? Is this a species that would reasonably occur in Mercer County in early October?
For the common and expected birds you’ll encounter throughout the day, Merlin is a great way to start connecting names with the birds and sounds around you. If Merlin gives you something unusual, particularly a species that would be rare in Mercer County or unexpected at that time of year, we may ask for additional information to validate the observation. That could include a photograph, recording, description, or other supporting information.
In other words, let Merlin help you learn, but stay curious about what it’s telling you.
The point isn’t to prove how much you already know. It’s to spend the day looking and listening, learn some new birds, and discover how much birdlife is around us.
Don’t Want to Compete? Come to the Big Sit.
An all-day bird count still isn’t your thing? Then skip the competition and come hang out with us.
The Wings Over Mercer Big Sit will be happening at Rosedale Park beginning at 7:00 AM and continuing through the end of the competition.
We’ll have Wild Bird Research Group team members there throughout the day, keeping a running list of every species we can see or hear from our designated Big Sit location. You can stay for ten minutes or settle in for an hour. Stop by in the morning, come back later, or just wander over while you’re visiting the pavilion. We’ll have binoculars and spotting scopes available, a running species tally, and WBRG team members ready to help people find and identify birds. Most importantly, you don’t need to know anything before you arrive. Ask questions. Look through a scope. Learn how to tell one bird from another. Talk to us about what is migrating through New Jersey. Help us find the next species for the list.
The Big Sit is meant to be an easy way to experience Wings Over Mercer without committing to the competition itself.
Go Birding With Us
We’ll also have four bird walks leaving from the pavilion at Rosedale Park during Wings Over Mercer.
Walk leaders will gather participants at the pavilion 15 minutes before the walk time. They will last approximately 30 minutes. You can join us at:
- 11:00 am
- 1:00 pm
- 3:00 pm
- 4:00 pm
The 11:00 am walk will be geared specifically toward kids and newer birders.
We’re not trying to race through a checklist on this walk. The goal is to get kids looking through binoculars, noticing what’s around them, asking questions, seeing some birds, and hopefully leaving a little more excited about the natural world than when they arrived.
All walks throughout the day will give visitors the opportunity to explore the park alongside members of the WBRG team.
No expertise required.
Spend Some Time at Wings Over Mercer HQ
There’s plenty happening back at the pavilion, too.
Try your hand at dissecting an owl pellet and discover what an owl has been eating while learning how researchers can use those remains to better understand its ecology. Come meet members of the Wild Bird Research Group team and ask us about the research we’re conducting on Northern Saw-whet Owls, American Kestrels, Barred Owls, songbirds, migration, bird banding, and more.
We’ll share our research and talk about what we’re learning in the field. You can also learn about WBRG membership, see how your support makes our research and conservation work possible, and check out Wings Over Mercer merchandise. Or simply stop by to say hello and talk birds.
Make Wings Over Mercer Your Own
There isn’t a singular correct way to participate in Wings Over Mercer.
Build a team and spend the day trying to find as many species as you can.
Enter the New-to-Birding category and let Merlin help you learn along the way.
Bring your kids out for a bird walk. Spend an hour helping us build the Big Sit species list.
Dissect an owl pellet.
Meet our researchers.
Stop by the pavilion, grab some merch, learn about WBRG, and head home.
Or try a little bit of everything.
Wings Over Mercer is a celebration of birds, bird research, and the community that grows around them. You don’t need years of birding experienceand you don’t even need to call yourself a birder yet to join us.
