Stilt Sandpiper and kingbirds building nest

This morning's "Bird Walk for All People" at Cape May Point State Park was highlighted by an absolutely stunning Stilt Sandpiper, which dropped into Bunker Pond directly in front of the group, landing next to a Short-billed Dowitcher for some nice comparisons. Second in the highlight department was the Eastern Kingbird constructing a nest, fairly exposed at the top of a bayberry bush along the path to the plover ponds. I guess Eastern Kingbirds can afford to be exposed, brazen as they are.

Laughing Gulls pursued Purple Martins returning to the colony, forcing the martins to drop their prey, which seemed to consist mostly of dragonflies. Also of interest were the 10+ Great Blue Herons, an apparent migratory movement.

An excellent morning indeed. The complete list is below.

Location: Cape May Point SP
Observation date: 7/12/07
Notes: First "Bird Walk for All People," with Bert Hixon and Patty Rourke and a crew of folks.
Number of species: 43
Canada Goose 10
Mute Swan 25
Mallard 50
Northern Bobwhite 1
Great Blue Heron 10 May have been more, several groups seemed to arrive in Cape May Point, settle, and fly again. First significant Great Blue movement I've observed this year.
Great Egret 5
Snowy Egret 1
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 10
Osprey 6
Cooper's Hawk 1 A juvenile perched in the tree line, likely from the local nest.
Killdeer 2
Greater Yellowlegs 5
Lesser Yellowlegs 15
Least Sandpiper 15
Stilt Sandpiper 1 Plopped down into Bunker Pond.
Short-billed Dowitcher 20
Laughing Gull 100
Herring Gull 10
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Common Tern 20
Forster's Tern 5
Least Tern 30
Black Skimmer 1
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 4
Eastern Kingbird 2 Building a nest in a bayberry, about 10' up, fairly exposed at 12 o clock in the bush. Brought frayed string to the nest as we watched.
Purple Martin 40
Tree Swallow 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 8
Barn Swallow 12
House Wren 1
American Robin 10
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 4
Common Yellowthroat 1
Northern Cardinal 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 20
Common Grackle 10
Brown-headed Cowbird 10
House Finch 2
House Sparrow 8
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)