Bird man extraordinaire Pete Dunne is walking softly through the crunchy leaves, trying to be as quiet as possible so he won't scare off what few avian species are still around on this cold afternoon.
Suddenly, Dunne pauses, presses his fingers to his lips, and for about 20 seconds starts making loud kissy sounds.
Birds begin congregating - on the branches, on the ground, even circling overhead, calling and chirping with their own symphony of retorts to the weird sounds.
Then Dunne does it again: SkreEEEuh, SkreEEEuh, SkreEEEuh. More birds come in even closer. And Dunne begins naming names. Hermit thrashers, Carolina wrens, Dark-eyed juncos, even a bald eagle shows up.
It's something Dunne, director of the New Jersey Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory, has done hundreds, perhaps thousands of times in the 37 years since he arrived on the New Jersey Shore's cape and began tracking birds in a colossally failed attempt to get away from humans.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/scien...NJ-on-birding-map-taking-new-role-5019298.php
Suddenly, Dunne pauses, presses his fingers to his lips, and for about 20 seconds starts making loud kissy sounds.
Birds begin congregating - on the branches, on the ground, even circling overhead, calling and chirping with their own symphony of retorts to the weird sounds.
Then Dunne does it again: SkreEEEuh, SkreEEEuh, SkreEEEuh. More birds come in even closer. And Dunne begins naming names. Hermit thrashers, Carolina wrens, Dark-eyed juncos, even a bald eagle shows up.
It's something Dunne, director of the New Jersey Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory, has done hundreds, perhaps thousands of times in the 37 years since he arrived on the New Jersey Shore's cape and began tracking birds in a colossally failed attempt to get away from humans.
http://www.seattlepi.com/news/scien...NJ-on-birding-map-taking-new-role-5019298.php
