What is your favorite birding Big Day snack?

Sometimes when you are out on the birding trail you just need a snack to keep your birding at peak performance.

What are your favorite snacks that sustain you during your birding adventures?

The idea for this blog post and my question to you readers came about last Saturday while birding with Heidi, Jay, and Harry.  We'd  been birding for four hours and needed brain food and wake-up juice, so we stopped at the Boise Stage Stop to purchase some.  I picked up Chex Mix and a Mountain Dew Livewire.  Jay bought Chili Cheese flavored Fritos corn chips.  Harry had a diet Mountain Dew.  Come on Harry!  Diet? Really?!  The occasion was calling for more sugar and more caffeine!  I tell ya, there's nothing like trying to focus your spotting scope on a rare Snowy Plover with the caffeine jitters.

Heidi revealed that last year during her year-long competition with Jay that they were one day limited in their birding adventure culinary selections to whatever could be purchased at a gas station.  They took wheat bread, mustard, and Chile Cheese Fritos and made a gourmet sandwich.  Mmmmm...sounds really delicious...

I often resort to beef jerky, a Snickers, or trail mix, boring ol' water, but sometimes Mountain Dew.  Once when my father-in-law Lynn and I were birding in Patagonia, Arizona, we were too excited about the birds that we didn't start with a proper breakfast.  So, I ate jerky for breakfast and I ate jerky all day long...and worse yet, so did he!  Kids, don't try that.  Just trust me when I tell you that it has negative results.

Oh, while I'm on this topic...Typically I am a cold cereal for breakfast almost every morning guy.  But on some big day of birding occasions I will splurge and pick up a couple of Bacon, Egg, and Cheese McGriddles...you know...those sweet breakfast sandwiches from Mickey D's made of two small pancakes with embedded pockets of maple syrup!  They sure taste good, but I can't say they make the day of birding all that pleasant.

Tonight at midnight begins the World Series of Birding over there in New Jersey; the ultimate in Big Days.  I wish I was there.  And I wish I could see what the best-of-the-best in competitive birding are snacking on throughout the day.  Best of luck to all of you there competing!