Staff photo/TRAVIS BARRETT

After the first 90 minutes of sucking down coffee in the middle of the night, trying to keep my eyes from slamming shut and muttering to myself about having forgotten a warmer jacket, I thought there was no way I was going to survive a birding "marathon."

Just 90 minutes after sunrise some 5 hours later, I still wasn't so sure.

In between there were bard owls swooping overhead, trees filled with the beautiful songs of warblers, bald eagles, wild turkeys and gulls and ducks galore.

But one of the things that struck me most was that a birding "marathon" can be every bit as competitive as the traditional running race of the same name. There's game-planning, marathon strategy, endurance techniques and, well, the will to win.

Participants are trying to identify -- usually by sound -- as many bird species as possible in a 24-hour span.

"Some people find it troublesome. They like the idea of this purity, the
pure outdoor enjoyment kind of thing," said Jeff Wells of Gardiner, a local ornithologist who has participated in the World Series of Birding in Cape May, N.J., in the past. "People enjoy certain kinds of sports for purity’s sake. I enjoy being able to press my skills, as esoteric as they are, to the limit. There’s not much call for that in everyday life.

"If you’re good at any sport or activity, having the chance to flex those
skills is enjoyable. I enjoy that."

Even if he has to stay up all night.

Read the complete story in today's Kennebec Journal.