At Peace Valley Park in central Bucks County, another birder saw a jaeger, a bird that most people don't see unless they're 50 miles out at sea.
And from the parking lot of the Plymouth Meeting Mall, a birder shot a picture of a frigate bird - also found far at sea over tropical oceans - with his smartphone.
Hurricanes are known for ferrying birds along with them - especially, given the track of hurricanes such as Irene, southern birds.
The storms also sweep along seagoing birds, which "can't just duck into a woodland or a field when it gets windy and rest it out," said Pennsylvania Audubon's Keith Russell. But they can stay aloft indefinitely.
No doubt many birds die in storms. But others make it to new worlds. "It just really shuffles the deck," said New Jersey Audubon's Pete Dunne.
So once Irene seemed to be easing, area birders grabbed their binoculars and spotting scopes and headed out.
Birders describe hurricane birding as a rite of passage. In some cases, it's a dicey one.
In Cape May, where late-storm westerly winds will push the birds up along the Delaware Bayshore, more than a dozen serious birders were out at dawn Sunday, scanning waves that they put at 10 feet. The wind was creating a sandstorm that was strong enough to scratch the print from bumper stickers.
One was Vince Elia, research associate at the New Jersey Audubon Society. "I always say, it's the most exciting birding that there is," he said. "If I'm in Costa Rica, I know the birds I'm expecting to see. The thing with a hurricane is, you just don't know the next thing that's going to come around the corner."
He feels a little sheepish at his excitement. "All of us realize what comes with a hurricane - devastation, loss of life." But hurricanes happen, "and there's not a lot anyone can do to change that."
