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Thursday, May 10, 2012
Soggy weather - but weekend looks promising...
posted by Mike Crewe | 1:27 AM
Dreary rain dampened proceedings around Cape May this past 24 hours, which is always a shame when so many people are out there trying to scout for their World Series of Birding teams - just two more days to go now!! The weather seems to have supressed bird movements through the area temporarily too, but the forecast for the weekend currently looks quietly promising, with dry weather and a light SW wind hinted at. Hmmm, sounds good for Higbee Beach!

Despite the rain, small parties of shorebirds and other waterbirds trickled through Cape May Point today, with our state park walk turning up a very smart breeding-plumaged Tricolored Heron and three Black Skimmers as well as some passing Willets, Short-billed Dowitchers, Dunlin and Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers. Some of the highlights that I have heard of over the past few days have included King Rails reported from Heislerville and Turkey Point (both Cumberland County), a White-winged Dove at Whilldin Avenue, Cape May Point on 5th, singing Lincoln's Sparrow at Higbee Beach on 7th, Clay-colored Sparrow at Swainton, the occasional Parasitic Jaeger in the rips on and off and a Brown Pelican off the point today. Heislerville continues to attract good shorebirds, though water levels are higher than intended there this year due to a faulty sluice gate system, which is being worked on I hear. Still, White-faced Ibis, Stilt and White-rumped Sandpipers, Ruddy Duck and a number of other species have been there of late so let's hope they hang on until the weekend!

One of the most remarkable events of the past few days has been the unprecedented numbers of Whimbrel reported from the Nummy's Island/Stone Harbor area. On May 5th, Sam Galick and Tom Reed counted a remarkable 1,144 Whimbrel flying in to roost in the area in the evening, which I believe sets a new reocrd count for New Jersey and must have been a fabulous sight.

Driving along Fishing Creek Road on Tuesday and heading towards Villas, I noticed a bird of prey feeding gracefully over the tops of some tall Sweetgums right next to the old Pappa John's pizza store. A quick emergency stop and a grab for the camera were in order and I managed this passable shot of a Mississippi Kite before it worked its way off towards the east - you never know when you are going to need that camera handy! [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Snakes have been on my mind a lot lately - mostly because I have seen five different species in just the last seven days. This Rat Snake got me marvelling at the amazing climbing skills of an animal that has no limbs! Here it is just hanging out on an old wall - you can see its tail at top left - but just how do they do that?! [photo by Mike Crewe].

Seeing something new for your life list is always fun and Tony Leukering and I were especially pleased to find this King Snake which hung out with us for quite some time. It eventually crossed the track right next to Tony - who was able to put out a hand and tickle it as it glided quietly by. As with all of Cape May County's snakes, this species is harmless to man [photo by Mike Crewe].
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Twomile Landing now off limits
posted by Tony Leukering | 5:09 PM
In a bit of a blow to Cape May birding, the marina and restaurant area at Twomile Landing has changed ownership, with the new ownership not permitting birding access to the area. This restriction is effective immediately; please pass the word.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Grosbeaks, more butterflies...
posted by Mike Crewe | 1:31 PM
It's been a mixed week weatherwise, though not unusual for the time of year; after Tuesday - with its balmy temperatures - produced a spectacular butterfly flight, things took a turn for the worse for insects on Wednesday and Thursday as temperatures dropped again and they found themselves grounded. Indeed, it was rather sad to see so many thousands of Red Admirals just too cold and tired to move, being gobbled up by birds or simply trampled under foot. You normally expect a butterfly to get out of the way and in this instance I think that their rather cryptic underwing markings meant they went un-noticed by most people while sitting helpless on the ground. On Thursday at Higbee Beach, we were picking them up off the trails and placing them out of harm's way, but of course these boom and bust populations are part of nature's way of ensuring that the species survives.

Will Kerling, who has been studying butterflies in the USA far longer than me, mentioned to me that this is the biggest movement of spring butterflies that he can remember. Interestingly, I checked up on Red Admiral ecology in the eastern US States in the excellent Butterflies of the East Coast by Cech and Tudor, published in 2005. I was impressed to discover that they had effectively predicted this year's major movement by stating that such large migrations typically occur approximately once every ten years, with previous events noted in 1981, 1990 and 2001. So maybe we could have expected it last year, but perhaps weather trends weren't quite right last spring.

With a warming of tempartures on Friday, butterflies were again in the news and I heard reports from as far away as Asbury Park in North Jersey, as well as throughout Cape May County. Text messages to my phone revealed a very widespread movement with members perhaps even more impressive than on Tuesday - Tom Reed, for instance, texting 500+ butterflies a minute passing Stone Harbor Point mid-afternoon. My own observations around Cape May Point were intriguing, since Tuesday had produced a movement largely of Red Admirals with a few American Ladies and Question Marks, but Friday seemed to be largely of the last two species, with Red Admirals in the minority. These movements are of course a successful strategy for the butterflies, which allows them to overwinter in the warmer south and avoid the worst of the cold weather in the north.

American Ladies and a Red Admiral fuelling up on Chives at Cape May Point [photo by Mike Crewe].

Debbie Hudson sent me this picture of Red Admirals at her bird feeders in Green Creek - which they were having to share with Ruby-throated Hummingbird and Baltimore Oriole!

As well as the butterfly migration, another highlight at the Northwood Center this past 10 days or so has been the Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at the feeders. This species doesn't breed with us here, but migrants stop of each year and just for a sort period it is possible to get really good views of what can be a rather retiring species here. Getting up close and personal with birds often gives an opportunity to take birding skills to the next level - so if you are at Northwood, see if you can tell the age of the Rose-breasted Grosbeak you are looking at. Here's some pictures to help you...

A typical adult male (ie more than 12 months old) Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Note that the wings are solidly black and white with no brown feathers [photo by Mike Crewe].

A typical second-year male (ie hatched last year) Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Note that the wings have light brown primaries, secondaries, primary coverts and median coverts. The head and mantle feathers also have brownish tips to them. These feathers are retained from the previous year, when the bird would have been all brown and looked very much like a female [photo by Mike Crewe].

Female Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Less showy than the males, the females are nevertheless nice birds. However, since they are always brownish, ageing them can be harder than ageing males and it is not always possible to do in the field. The molt is the same as that of the male so it would be usual to expect a second-year female to show a contrast between paler, more worn primaries and the fresher feathers in the rest of the wing. As this bird generally looks to be in all fresh plumage, I would guess that it is an adult - but in-the-hand would be the best way to check. [photo by Mike Crewe]

Recent Reports
Warblers and other assorted summer arrivals have been in the news here over the last 36 hours or so; locations around Cape May Point and at Cox Hall Creek WMA have all been good for a variety of warblers, with Cerulean and Blackburnian being sighted amongst the commoner species. Warbling Vireo, Yellow-breasted Chat, Wood Thrush and Blue-winged Warbler were singing well at Higbee Beach Friday morning and I hear that over 200 Whimbrel were logged on The Osprey boat trip. One or two reports of migrant Red-headed Woodpeckers are coming in from around Cape May Point, including The Beanery, where both Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos were seen this morning. Sam Galick reported a Tennessee Warbler from the state park today and a Cape May Warbler was reported from there by Stephanie Brown on 4th.

A White-winged Scoter was reported from the concrete ship on 4th and a Luna Moth became a star attraction at the Northwood Center today as it spent most of the day hanging in a juniper right over the road at the store entrance.

Thursday, May 3, 2012
A day full of birds
posted by Mike Crewe | 11:10 PM
Today was a great day to be in Cape May - and things are certainly starting to warm up for The World Series of Birding on May 12! This morning, our Bird, Bugs & Botany was great on Birds and botany, short on bugs, due to overnight rain and overcast skies. Most of the trees are well into leaf now and it's a lot easier sorting all those oaks out now. There was a wealth of plants to be enjoyed for the first hour, but after that we could resist all those birds calls and songs no more and our second hour (and beyond!) saw us focussing on some nice little feeding groups that were working their way through the canopy. Black-and-white, Black-throated Green, Yellow-throated, Blackpoll and Yellow-rumped Warblers, Northern Parulas, Blue-headed and Red-eyed Vireos, Scarlet Tanagers - it was a real treat, and all mixed in with the local Eastern Bluebirds, Chipping Sparrows and assorted woodpeckers. A couple of Ruby-throated Hummingbirds made rapid fly-bys and Green Heron and Belted Kingfisher both boosted our lists.

The Northwood Center was pretty busy today too, with Blackburnian and Blackpoll Warblers reported early on and at least one female and four male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks coming to the feeders. Wednesday evening at Northwood also provided me with great views of a superb male Scarlet Tanager and an adult male Baltimore Oriole in the birdbath. Wherever you go in Cape May right now, you are likely to find birds!

As well as all the songbird action, I hear that shorebirds are building up nicely at both Stone Harbor/Nummy's Island and Heislerville and, with clear skies right now, I reckon things will be moving out there - what will tomorrow bring?!

Some recent pictures
It's been a while since I had time to put up a photo gallery of recent pictures, so here's a few that arrived recently.

Bob Fogg was the latest victim of the White-faced Ibis saga at Cape May. While this is essentially a western bird, White-faced Ibises are turning up with increasing frequency here, to the point where it isn't really safe to assume that all those fly-over birds are glossys!  Bob photographed these ibises near his home recently and it was only after he had downloaded the pictures onto a computer that he noticed the bird on the left - a White-faced Ibis, complete with pretty red eye and pale face!  [Photo by Bob Fogg] (Click on picture to enlarge).

Woodpeckers have their own little battles to contend with and if you are there with the camera, you might get lucky - here a Downy Woodpecker fancies its chances with a Red-headed Woodpecker and both provide a great photographic opportunity [photo by E J Nistico].

Having seen several incubating Great Horned Owls along the Delaware Bayshore marshes during the weekend of the Cumberland Eagle Festival, it was interesting for me to receive this photo which clearly demonstrates how much this year's youngsters have already grown. These birds are up in Salem County. [Photo by Jeff White]

For the first few weeks of the Osprey's return, they were certainly one of the most popular targets for camera-toting birdwatchers. I received a lot of photos of this species fishing, but I particularly liked this one as it shows off the Large-mouthed Bass that has been caught so nicely [photo by Joe Siekierski].

I haven't made it over to the back bays to look for birds for several months, so it was nice to hear today that the marshes are already filling up with shorebirds - here, just four of a larger flock of Whimbrel is shoe-horned into the frame - I'm told that there is still plenty of these smart shorebirds to be seen out there [photo by Beth Polvino].

This juvenile, molting into first-summer White Ibis was found at the Wetlands Institute near Stone Harbor earlier this week and typically didn't hang around too long [photo by Cathy Smith].

Another look at the young White Ibis at Stone Harbor. Such birds are a fine example of why you need to be out there and looking at this time of year! [Photo by Karl Lukens]
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Someone flicked the switch...
posted by Mike Crewe | 8:59 PM
Someone flicked the switch last night and the difference was palpable. April 30th hovered somewhere around 57F with something of the threat of rain in the air. May 1st, after a bit of a rainy night, temperatures zoomed up another 20 degrees at the point and I wouldn't mind betting that the north of the county touched 80F. Birds have been finding their way to Cape May in dribs and drabs so far, but that's pretty typical for April. There's been no major arrival of night migrants as yet, though day-flying migrants such as swallows and martins have certainly been arriving in good numbers. One of the things you can afford to do when you live in Cape May is experiment with your time, rather than needing to maximize birding time by sticking to the tried and tested locations. Having been out of the country for a week, I was keen to see what had been arriving in my absence so yesterday I was out at a little wetland on the 'unfashionable' east side of the peninsula and was surprised to find a nice selection of birds. At least 80 Barn Swallows, plus smaller numbers of other hirundines, were hawking insects over a grassy meadow and two Eastern Kingbirds argued with each other over a favored perch. Seven dapper Blue-winged Teals floated serenely on a nearby pond, a Green Heron flushed from the reedy margins and both Indigo Bunting and Orchard Oriole were in song - both firsts-of-the-year for me. Better still, warblers were mooching through the field edge and in a nearby piece of wet woodland. I could hear the soft 'sigh' of a Blue-winged Warbler, a startling male Prairie Warbler in full razzamataz showed up and a brief glimpse of a white eyering eventually fully evolved into a Nashville Warbler. Ahhh, spring migrants are here - and here now!

Jumping forward to today, the fully 180 degree turn-around in the weather was provided by a very welcome warm front from the south. Such fronts seem always to be accompanied by rain at this time of year, but the clouds slowly rolled away and with the improving weather came a fantastic migration of butterflies. I was slaving over a hot laptop when Tom Reed's initial text message came through, alerting us to a noteworthy northward movement of Red Admiral butterflies, but it wasn't until I took a well-earned cup of Earl Grey (old habits die hard don't you know!) later in the afternoon that I became aware of a steady stream of butterflies pressing northward wherever I loooked! Only one place to be right now I thought, so I took my trusty camera down to the wonderful Beach Plum bushes at Higbee Beach - and they were awesome! The early spring meant that many bushes were past their best but there was still plenty of flowers to keep these hungry travellers happy. Here's a few photos of the diners:

I am sure we will never know how many Red Admirals poured through Cape May today, but reports came from across the whole county and they provided a truly amazing sight as they plodded steadily northward. In some areas, flocks were streaming westward, perhaps individuals that had wandered out to sea during the Delaware Bay crossing. Red Admirals are easily recognized by their bright red wing bands, though these can be dully orangey in worn individuals [photo by Mike Crewe].

A pretty good number of American Ladies accompanied the Red Admirals (a ratio of about 1:20 where I was viewing from). As with the admirals, the vast majority were large-sized, brightly-colored and seemingly pretty recently emerged individuals - this year's first batch with the 'wanderlust' gene switched on [photo by Mike Crewe].

Each year we get a variable number of Painted Ladies accompanying the American Ladies, so here's a quick ID guide to telling them apart - you can do it on the upperside or the underside, but the underside works best. This is an American Lady - note the two large eyespots on the underside of the hindwing [photo by Mike Crewe].

This is the only Painted Lady that I managed to find this afternoon on the Beach Plums - maybe more will come later, but the last two years have been pretty poor for this species here. Note that Painted Ladies have four small eyespots on the underside of the hindwing [photo by Mike Crewe].

Not surprisingly perhaps, a few other species seemed to be caught up in the butterfly frenzy, the next commonest species being Questionmark. You may well have seen some of these already this year, but most likely you will have seen the form that hibernates with us as an adult (you will know it because the hindwing is the same color as the forewing). Individuals that emerged from a chrysalis in the current year have dark hindwings, like the one in the photo here; these will have emerged somewhere down in the Southern States - perhaps South Carolina or Georgia - and will be surging through to repopulate the North. My large Siberian Elm tends to weep sap at this time of year and at least 35 Questionmarks were lapping up this rich food source this evening - quite a sight! [Photo by Mike Crewe.]

Careful checking around the flowers might reveal something else lurking amongst the commoner species; this Snowberry Clearwing is a day-flying species that is related to the sphinx moths and clearly escapes predators by pretending to be a bumble-bee [photo by Mike Crewe].


Sunday I was up at Belleplain for the latest in our new series of wildlife walks. As ever, the wildlife did not let us down with Great Crested Flycatchers, Ovenbirds and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers clearly here in good numbers now and many other treats in store:

For most of the group, a chance encounter with a very docile and approachable Rough Green Snake was a real walk highlight as it crept stealthily through the bushes [photo by Mike Crewe].

Heading back from Belleplain via Cape May Court House, Tony Leukering and I discovered that eight Cattle Egrets were gracing the lawns of the Eastern Shore Care Home, near Avalon Golf Course. This site has a remarkable ability for attracting this species each spring [photo by Mike Crewe].

Cattle Egrets really are smart in their full breeding regalia [photo by Mike Crewe].

Now that May is here, you can look forward to the native flowers starting to take charge over the alien interlopers. I found these two 'kiss-and-tellers' at Cold Spring this evening. This plant is called Jack-in-the-pulpit (you can see Jack in the middle there) and the flower is followed by a cluster of brilliant red berries [photo by Mike Crewe].

Last - but probably not least... My dear wife will be pleased to hear that I finally caught the Black Widow in our basement!!! [Photo by Mike Crewe.]

Recent Reports
The greater number of our summer migrants are with us, at least in small numbers now; Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are at the Northwood Center feeders, Ruby-throated Hummingbirds are whizzing through and Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Summer Tanager and assorted warblers all await you. Yellow-throated Vireos are typically scarce in the county, but have been reported from Peaslee WMA as have Red-eyed Vireo, Acadian Flycatcher and American Redstart. Tom Reed found two Least Terns at Stone Harbor Point on April 27th, while scarcer bird finds of late have included an American Golden Plover at Shephard Davis Road, Cumberland County on April 28th, a White Ibis at Brigantine on April 30th and an intriguing report of a Northern Wheatear at the state park on 27th but I have heard no further word on that bird.
Saturday, April 28, 2012
A Swallow Spectacular at Cape May Point
posted by Tom Reed | 6:44 PM
[One of very many Barn Swallows over
Cape May Point last evening. Photo by Tom Reed
.]

Yesterday's very strong northwest winds ushered in a few hundred swallows (and one Swallow-tailed Kite) to Cape May- and while I didn't hear of any Kite reports today, there were still a large number of swallows to be found along the beaches, marshes and ponds between the 2nd Avenue jetty and Bunker Pond.

[Well over 30 Cliff Swallows could be found between Bunker Pond and the South Cape May Meadows last night-- a notable spring count. Days with northwest winds always tend to produce at least a few of these in April. Photo by Tom Reed.]

[Chimney Swift at eye-level over the east path of
the Meadows last evening. Photo by Tom Reed.]

Sam Galick and I spent a bit of time perusing the swallows late in the morning, and came up with the following very broad estimates: 525 Barn Swallows, 250 Tree Swallows, 125 Purple Martins (many of these likely belonging to the State Park colony), 40 Bank Swallows, 30 Northern Rough-winged Swallows, and 20 Cliff Swallows. Over 100 Chimney Swifts were also evident. It should be noted that there were actually quite a few more Bank and Cliff Swallows last evening, and it appears that some of these escaped on today's more subdued breeze out of the east.

[A Bank Swallow over Bunker Pond. Photo by Tom Reed.]
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Bug of the week (or Where's Waldo?)
posted by Tony Leukering | 4:57 PM


[Click on image(s) to see larger version(s). All photos copyright by Tony Leukering.]


While I really had intended this semi-regular feature to treat only those groups of arthropods that are not very popular with birders and other naturephiles (thus, no butterflies or dragonflies/damselflies), today I took a picture that just screamed to be used on the blog. So, this one time only, here's a dragonfly as the bug of the week.


Harlequin Darner is about the earliest dragonfly species to emerge each spring in southern New Jersey, flying from early April into June, at the latest. In my previous springs here in Cape May, I've spent most of my field time on Cape Island, which has so little native forested habitat left that Harlequin Darner is very rare there. This spring, though, I've been concentrating my field time in the northern half of the county, in an endeavor to learn the early-season dragonflies to be found there and not on the island. I've been amazed at how common Harlequins are there, particularly on the various powerline cuts that I've wandered through.


Today's wanderlust had me heading to the Swainton area, specifically to look for Frosted Elfins, but I think that it was just a wee bit cool for them. Harlequin Darners, however, were quite common. Despite the many that I've seen this spring, I was very surprised when watching one fly around and then land on the bole of a Pitch Pine to note that there were others perched on that same pine! In fact, more than just a few others! Hopefully, you can find the seven individuals in the picture, above.


Darners, as a group, tend to perch hanging from vegetation, though some, like Harlequins, will perch on the trunks of trees; perching on the ground is somewhat rare in the group. So, I also spent some time photographing Harlequins perched on the ground.


One of the nicest aspects of Harlequin Darner for photographers, at least, is their penchant to hover in place for long enough to get a camera focused on them. Thanks to the bright sun, I was able to have both reasonable depth of field and a fast-enough shutter speed to both get the whole bug in focus and to nearly freeze the wings. Thanks, Sun!


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