Quest for the day....

Well my quest for the morning was to find a Lincoln's sparrow, so I headed to Higbee. Pond Creek Preserve would have been a good choice as well. Or, as I see from Don's post, TNC's Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge. As good fortune would have it I did find just one. I had headed to the back of Higbee, near the pond, and was just about to head back to the parking lot as my time was running short. Then I happened to notice a small amount of movement in the grass near the base of some shrubs. Up popped a little Linclon's sparrow giving just enough to make sure that was the true identity of this bird. While finding a lincoln's is nice, it would have been much nicer to find a Le Conte's sparrow. Maybe that will be tomorrow's quest. I have pretty much all day to search.

The birding was pretty good this morning, loads of birds still flying around over head the whole time I was walking. Highlights for the day for me were....of course the lincoln's, more Pine siskins, and a Black and white warbler that came within a foot and a half of my face. I happened to see this bird near the base of a cedar and stood to watch it work the branches over for insects. Soon it started to work its way upward and nearer to me. All the while I was cursing myself for not liking to feel like a pack mule and deciding to not carry a camera. Anyway, this bird worked closer and closer inching toward me. Soon it was eye to eye with me but never seemed to care that I was near by. Truly one of those wonderful moments which do not happen often enough.

So, the list form the morning is below. The birding should continue to be decent over the next few days, even toward the end of the week is my guess. It is supposed to warm up and possibly be rainy near the weekend. Either way, get out and enjoy. Bird migration continues well past the neo-tropical migrants.

Location: Higbee Beach
Observation date: 10/15/07
Number of species: 52

Canada Goose 3
Northern Shoveler 1
Common Loon 5
Osprey 3
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 8
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Herring Gull 1
Mourning Dove 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 3
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 35
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 10
Carolina Chickadee 9
Tufted Titmouse 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 14
Carolina Wren 16
Golden-crowned Kinglet 22
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 27
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 350
Gray Catbird 12
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 18
European Starling 5
Cedar Waxwing 11
Black-throated Blue Warbler 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 680
Palm Warbler 3
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 1
Common Yellowthroat 7
Scarlet Tanager 1
Eastern Towhee 10
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 10
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 6
White-throated Sparrow 60
Dark-eyed Junco 3
Northern Cardinal 4
Indigo Bunting 1
Bobolink 1
Red-winged Blackbird 215
Eastern Meadowlark 1
House Finch 22
Pine Siskin 3
American Goldfinch 3

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)