Cape Island scouting

Pardon the brevity but the lists below represents numerous hours in the filed over several days. And honestly I am just plain tired.

The birding has been up and down over that last couple of days. Yesterday, even though it was noticeably slow (at least in the areas of the island that I visited) there were still a good number of migrants around. Today, that was not quite the story but, the birding was still quite pleasant and there was a lot to be seen.

There have been these interesting fog events here in Cape May recently. Starting out the "day" at about 2:00 a.m. the skies have been clear and beautiful. Looking through the scope we could even see some satellites orbiting Jupiter. But, come sun up this thick fog rolls in and covers the island for an hour to a few hours. Come Saturday, this fog could cause issues as it arrives at the beginning of the prime sea watching time. But that is one of the things that makes participating in the World Series of Birding so fun. You have to think on your feet and use the distribution knowledge you have gained in scouting to make adjustments as needed to your teams plan of attack. After all that is the reason for all this scouting. It's easy to know that you can expect a species to be in an area. Though for the WSB you really want to know that the particular species that you seek will make it's presence knowing at the time of day that you will be visiting it's habitat. Sure the Prothonotary Warbler in the Beanery is known to breed there. But, will it be singing in the morning when we pass on our way to Higbee? Will we be able to hear it from the road? IF it is not singing in the morning,when will it be singing? In the afternoon? Evening?

Think of it like this, simple algebra: you are looking for species X, in habitat Y, at Z time of day (X + Y + Z). The only problem is this, there are only variables and no real solutions to the equation. That is the goal at hand in running a WSB team. You have to define the variables in order to find the possible solution. Sometimes one or more variables just does not "fit" which renders the equation impossible....at that time. There is always another way to arrange the equation to find a solution.

None the less, keep an eye to the weather as David has indicated that there should be some migration over the next few nights. Now just get out there and find some birds.

Partial lists below

Location: Cape Island
Observation date: 5/6/08
Notes: 14000 steps = approx. 9 miles
Number of species: 79

Snow Goose 1
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
Gadwall X
Mallard X
Green-winged Teal X
Common Eider X
Surf Scoter X
Black Scoter X
Common Loon X
Northern Gannet X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Egret X
Snowy Egret X
Black-crowned Night-Heron X
Glossy Ibis X
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey X
Red-tailed Hawk X
American Kestrel X
Clapper Rail X
Semipalmated Plover X
Piping Plover X
Killdeer X
American Oystercatcher X
Greater Yellowlegs X
Parasitic Jaeger X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) X
Great Crested Flycatcher X
Eastern Kingbird X
White-eyed Vireo X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Purple Martin X
Tree Swallow X
Northern Rough-winged Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
Carolina Wren X
House Wren X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
Brown Thrasher X
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing X
Northern Parula X
Yellow Warbler X
Black-throated Blue Warbler X
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) X
Pine Warbler X
Prothonotary Warbler X
Common Yellowthroat X
Eastern Towhee X
Field Sparrow X
Savannah Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Blue Grosbeak X
Indigo Bunting X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
Orchard Oriole X
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2


Location: Cape Island
Observation date: 5/5/08
Notes: 6439 steps = 4.2 miles
Number of species: 55

Snow Goose X
Canada Goose X

Gadwall X
Mallard X
Great Egret X

Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey X

American Kestrel X
Laughing Gull X

Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X

Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X

Chimney Swift X

Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X

Great Crested Flycatcher X
Eastern Kingbird X

White-eyed Vireo X

Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Purple Martin X
Tree Swallow X
Northern Rough-winged Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
Carolina Wren X
House Wren X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher X
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing X

Yellow Warbler X

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) X

Black-throated Green Warbler X
American Redstart X

Common Yellowthroat X
Eastern Towhee X
Field Sparrow X

Song Sparrow X

White-throated Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X

Indigo Bunting X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X

Orchard Oriole X
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2


Location: Cape Island
Observation date: 5/5/08
Notes: 13752 steps = 8.9 miles
Number of species: 88

Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
Gadwall X
Mallard X
Surf Scoter X
Black Scoter X
Red-throated Loon X
Common Loon X
Northern Gannet X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Blue Heron X
Great Egret X
Snowy Egret X
Black-crowned Night-Heron X
Glossy Ibis X
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey X
Piping Plover X
Killdeer X
American Oystercatcher X
Greater Yellowlegs X
Willet X
Lesser Yellowlegs X
Sanderling X
Least Sandpiper X
Short-billed Dowitcher X
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Least Tern X
Common Tern X
Forster's Tern X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Chimney Swift X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) X
Great Crested Flycatcher X
Eastern Kingbird X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Purple Martin X
Tree Swallow X
Northern Rough-winged Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
Carolina Wren X
House Wren X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing X
Northern Parula 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) X
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Pine Warbler X
Prairie Warbler X
Ovenbird X
Common Yellowthroat X
Eastern Towhee X
Field Sparrow X
Savannah Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
Northern Cardinal X
Blue Grosbeak X
Indigo Bunting X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
Orchard Oriole X
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2