CMBO Cape May Point walk- 12/6/08

Birding in the winter is often viewed as a bit of a chore, at least here where it is cold. But winter birding days, while obviously not as productive as the days in the heart of migration, can be very rewarding. Of course the birding visitor-ship in Cape May dwindles this time of year and even most of the locals take the opportunity to sleep in every now and again. That being said I want to point out the Saturday Cape May Point walk that takes place (meeting that the Cape May point State Park) for the next two Saturdays in the month of December.

Don't fear though, the walks pick up again in January after the Christmas and New Year's holiday season. Also note that on January 1, the Kick off Your New year List in Cape May pre-registration trip, which if memory serves tallied some 70-75+ species. In fact, take a look at the Naturalist Calendar to see what natural history events have taken place in Cape may in the past for the winter months, see what walks are schedules or the listing of other pre-registration programs or School of Birding workshops.

Below is the list from today's CMBO Cape May Point walk. Thanks to Karl Lukens for the provided, most excellent, photo of one of the Snow Buntings encountered on the walk. Now, only if that Longspur will show back up!


"CMBO Cape May Point Walk. The walk this cold morning included the beach,
plover ponds, and yellow trail. Although we were unable to locate the
Ash-throated Flycatcher, we did manage to find 8 fairly close Snow Buntings
on the beach. Still a nice variety of ducks, as well as a couple of
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and a Merlin that looked like it was headed to
DE/MD."

Location: Cape May Point SP
Observation date: 12/6/08
Notes: CMBO Trip-K,T,+4+Bev. Clr,28,SE5
Number of species: 45

Canada Goose 75
Mute Swan 5
Gadwall 10
American Wigeon 20
Mallard 25
Green-winged Teal 100
Black Scoter 15
Hooded Merganser 4
Northern Gannet 8
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 20
Northern Harrier 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 3
Merlin 1
American Coot 15
Herring Gull 5
Great Black-backed Gull 5
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 5
Carolina Chickadee 5
Carolina Wren 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 15
American Pipit 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 15
Savannah Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Snow Bunting 8 /p
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Purple Finch 4
American Goldfinch 6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2