CMBO Hidden Valley walk- 9/4/08 and Baird's Sandpiper

Chuck and Mary Jane Slugg send word of this mornings CMBO Hidden Valley walk. While the land bird migration was rather slow this morning, it seems like the walk turned up a few good birds and had great views to boot!

Below is our list from a very quick jaunt at the Cape May point State Park this morning to look for the juv. Baird's Sandpiper. On the first pass by Bunker Pond we did not find the bird. After speaking with Michael O'Brien, he indicated that the bird had been hanging out closer to the hawkwatch platform end of the pond and could be easily over looked. On our walk back toward the parking lot Michael spotted the Baird's in the grass area along the eastern shore of the pond. Take a look at the map I've posted below. The yellow X is the area where the Baird's had been hanging out and could easily be missed. The red X indicates there are the bird was observed this morning.

Other interesting sighs from the mornings jaunt were three Black Terns, still a handful of Least Terns kicking about, and a number of Royal Terns flying around and sitting on the beach along the TNC property. A nice find was two Brown Pelicans which came ashore and circled Bunker Pond before continuing to head south. Not something I'd think that a pelican would do, check out the pond that is.

A good number of Snowy and Great Egrets on the pond but no Tri-colored Herons this morning. A few White-rumped Sandpipers on the sand bars in the pond were nice to see along with an unusual, for that specific location, Sanderling. though as memory serves, we tend to see at least a few Sanderling making use of the sandbar in the fall on the pond. And lastly, there were a few Purple Martins still flitting about the sky over the park.

For a great comparative photo of the Baird's and a Least Sandpiper see the image from my post last evening, below.

Location: Cape May - Hidden Valley Ranch
Observation date: 9/4/08
Notes: On the regular Hidden Valley walk we enjoyed good views of yellow-billed cuckoos and blue grosbeaks through the scopes.
Number of species: 41

Mallard 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 2
Green Heron 2
Osprey 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 2
Herring Gull 3
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 6
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Northern Flicker 2
Alder/Willow Flycatcher (Traill's) 3
Eastern Kingbird 10
Red-eyed Vireo 6
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 20
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 30
American Robin 50
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 6
European Starling 60
Cedar Waxwing 3
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
American Redstart 30
Common Yellowthroat 8
Field Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 5
Blue Grosbeak 2
Red-winged Blackbird 30
Common Grackle 15
Baltimore Oriole 25
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

(click image to enlarge)

Location: Cape May Point SP
Observation date: 9/4/08
Notes: 1863 steps = approx. 1.25 miles
Number of species: 42

Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
Blue-winged Teal 12
Northern Shoveler 6
Brown Pelican 2
Double-crested Cormorant 35
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 35
Snowy Egret 55
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Glossy Ibis 3
Semipalmated Plover 12
Killdeer 5
Greater Yellowlegs X
Lesser Yellowlegs X
Ruddy Turnstone 1
Sanderling X
Semipalmated Sandpiper X
Least Sandpiper X
White-rumped Sandpiper 3
Baird's Sandpiper 1
Stilt Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 75
Least Tern 9
Forster's Tern X
Royal Tern 45
Black Skimmer 65
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher 1
Purple Martin X
Tree Swallow X
Barn Swallow X
Northern Mockingbird 4
Yellow Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 1
Song Sparrow 1
Bobolink X
Red-winged Blackbird X
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2