CMBO Cape May Point walk- 1/31/09

(Photo courtesy of Karl Lukens; http://home.comcast.net/~jklukens/)

Karl Lukens send word of the bird findings from today's Cape May Point walk. While cold and windy kept me inside today I am kicking myself for not getting you and seeing the White-winged Crossbills the group was graced with! After all 54 species on a cold January day is not all that bad.

"Another cold and windy day for the CMBO Cape May Point Walk. We were
rewarded however, by a visit of 13 White-winged Crossbills that sat down for
1-2 minutes in the Pine Trees at Whillden Ave. and the dunes before flying
off. Also a good variety of ducks including a female Redhead and what looked
like female Lesser Scaup. Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones were making
their rounds of the jetties."

Location: Cape May Point
Observation date: 1/31/09
Notes: CMBO Trip-K,T,CS,DL,+1.Clr,24,NW18.
Number of species: 54

Snow Goose 30
Canada Goose 10
Mute Swan 15
Gadwall 25
American Wigeon 25
Mallard 20
Redhead 1 fem
Ring-necked Duck 10
Lesser Scaup 1
Black Scoter 12
Bufflehead 1
Hooded Merganser 5
Ruddy Duck 5
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 4
Turkey Vulture 6
Cooper's Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
American Coot 10
Ruddy Turnstone 5
Sanderling 4
Purple Sandpiper 5
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 12
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 15
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 5
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 8
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 2
Cedar Waxwing 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 12
White-throated Sparrow 10
Northern Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Common Grackle 1
House Finch 7
White-winged Crossbill 13
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 10

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings at birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory with additions by Don Freiday

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday, January 29, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of EARED GREBE, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, EURASIAN WIGEON, SANDHILL CRANE, SNOWY OWL, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, COMMON REDPOLL, ICELAND GULL, REDHEAD, TRI-COLORED HERON, KING EIDER, and results of CMBO's Winter Marsh Raptor Survey.

The EARED GREBE was seen from the Municipal Lot at 80^th Street and Ocean Ave. in Stone Harbor on Thursday January 22, 2009.

At least one of the RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS is still being seen at the feeders located at 711 New England Road, Cape May Point.

The female EURASIAN WIGEON was still being seen on the main pond at Villas WMA as of Saturday January 24, 2009. The male REDHEAD is also continuing on the pond. 2 COMMON REDPOLLS were seen at the WMA on Saturday January 24, 2009.

The flock of SANDHILL CRANES is still being seen on Husted Landing Road near Bridgeton in northern Cumberland County. There does appear to be a COMMON CRANE mixed in with the flock.

One of the Stone Harbor SNOWY OWLS was photographed in the southernmost dunes of Stone Harbor Point on Friday, January 23.

Numerous sightings of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS have been reported throughout the area of late including 2 birds at the CMBO/CRE on Monday January 26, 2009; 10 birds over St. Peters in Cape May Point on January 25, 2009, and some over Cape Island Preserve on Saturday January 24 2009.

An ICELAND GULL was seen at the Ocean Drive Fisheries Plant heading toward Wildwood Crest on Saturday January 24, 2009.

A KING EIDER was seen at the 8^th Street Jetty in Avalon on Thursday January 22, 2009.

2 TRI-COLORED HERONS were found on Nummy's Island on January 25, 2009.

CMBO conducted a winter marsh raptor survey on Sunday. Eleven locations in NJ's southern four counties were surveyed according to a standardized protocol in the hour surrounding sunset. The primary species of interest for this survey are Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl, and 92 harriers and 18 short-ears were tallied, as well as 3 Rough-legged Hawks (Jake's Landing and Mott's Creek), 15 Red-tailed Hawks, 17 Great-horned Owls, 18 Bald Eagles, and 1 Golden Eagle (at Turkey Point). Short-eared Owls were at many locations including Jake's Landing (4), Stipson Island Road (2), Tuckahoe (2), Thompson's Beach (1), Bivalve (1), Newport Landing (3), Ragged Island (2), and Mott's Creek (2). Thanks go out to the many volunteers observers who participated in the survey.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: CMBO is offering a special to new and upgraded membership renewals. Join CMBO for the first time or upgrade from Individual or Family to The Hundred and receive Charley Harper's Migration Mainline- Cape May lithograph poster, valued at $50. Call either CMBO center to ask an associate about joining today!


The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland, and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discount in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

Winter Finches, Glaucous Gull, and Results from CMBO's Marsh Raptor Survey

[Tony Klock photographed this Short-eared Owl at Newport Landing during CMBO's Winter Marsh Raptor Survey using a camera phone through a scope.]

Continuing the good year for White-winged Crossbills, Tom Magarian had two over the CMBO Center for Research and Education in Goshen on Monday January 26, and Vince Elia had 10 over St. Peter's Church in Cape May Point on Sunday, January 25. Vince told me they followed a typical morning flight migrant pattern in Cape May, apparently coming down the coast and swinging westward when they reached Cape May Point. White-winged Crossbills, like other finches, are believed to be diurnal migrants that occasionally "get up early," i.e. begin movement before sunrise.

On Saturday January 24, Bob Fogg found a Glaucous Gull at one of Cape May's better gull spots, the fisheries plant along Ocean Drive. This is the road leading from the traffic light at the south end of the parkway eastward toward the Wildwoods. The gull area can be checked from either side of the toll bridge on Ocean Drive - just be sure to park beyond any no parking signs, and expect to pay $1 to head west across the bridge.

Also on Saturday, I watched two Common Redpolls at Villas WMA as they left some pines in the center of the WMA, circled, and flew out headed west. Two Red-headed Woodpeckers were also at Villas, and the female Eurasian Wigeon and male Redhead continue on the pond there.

Brian Moscatello and Janet Sedocino found two Tri-colored Herons on Nummy's Island Sunday. Speaking of lingering birds, I understand one of the Rufous Hummingbirds is still coming to the feeder at 711 New England Road.

Up in northern Cumberland County, the crane flock continues to be seen. Kathy and Roger Horn saw the birds Saturday, and report: "They came bugling in at 4:50. Head out toward Husted Landing . Where it says 'marina to R & Sales & Service to the Left, go Left. They were in the empty plowed field on the right, just past the Husted house. Karl had them yesterday afternoon in the corn field right behind the house so it seems that's the area they come back to in the evening. We also had kestrel,sharpy, red-shouldered hawk , a huge flock of turkeys along with one very bright peacock and horned lark in the surroundeing area. K&R"

CMBO conducted a winter marsh raptor survey on Sunday. Eleven locations in NJ's southern four counties were surveyed according to a standardized protocol in the hour surrounding sunset. The primary species of interest for this survey are Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl, and 92 harriers 18 short-ears were tallied. Thanks go out to the many volunteers observers who participated in the survey! When all the results are in, we'll post more highlights here.

White-winged Crossbills over Cape May

After birding around West Cape May this morning, I heard from Tom Magarian that he had heard some White-winged Crossbills flying over Cape Island Preserve. Those birds were headed south ~9:45 AM so I figured I'd walk around Cape May Point with hopes that the birds will stop somewhere before the bay. It actually paid off, and ~10:25 AM I heard two White-winged Crossbills getting closer and finally fly over my head at Lincoln Ave and Cape Ave headed east towards St Mary's Church. One was a male and the other was an immature/female.

Later on, I rode my bike along beach drive checking the ocean for waterbirds. I didn't have my scope, but I had a few interesting birds at Poverty Beach including an adult Great Cormorant, a Horned Grebe, and a small bird sitting high on the water behind the grebe that showed a lot of white. It was hard to tell how much white the bird acutally showed since it was distant, but after seeing it pop up a few times I realized it was an alcid and tried to alert a few people with scopes. Unfortunately, after using the phone, the bird wasn't relocated despite a few people checking.


There were also 20 Snow Buntings on the beach at Cape May Point State Park yesterday, a dull Redhead (above) and a Lesser Scaup still continue on Lily Lake, and at least one if not both Rufous type Hummingbirds are still visiting the feeder at 711 New England Rd.

EARED GREBE- re-found in Stone Harbor

I just received word from Ms. Seawatch herself, Gail Dwyer, that she had re-found Sunday's (1/18) Stone Harbor Point Eared Grebe. The bird is being seen from the Municipal Lot at 80th Street and Ocean Ave. in Stone Harbor.

Other birds of interest reported from Gail were 300+ scaup from the Seawatch at 7th Street in Avalon. At the 8th Street Jetty there were a few Common Eider and a King Eider.

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE - THURSDAY, JANUARY 22 2009

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings at birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory with additions by Don Freiday

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday, January 21, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of EARED GREBE, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, EURASIAN WIGEON, SNOWY OWL, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, PINE-SISKIN, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, CACKLING GOOSE, PALM WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, CHIPPING SPARROW, REDHEAD.

An EARED GREBE was found at Cape May Harbor on Saturday January 17 2009. Another was seen in Stone Harbor near the free bridge to Nummy’s Island on Sunday January 18 2009.

One RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD was still being seen as of Saturday January 17, 2009 at 711 New England Road in Cape May.

A female EURASIAN WIGEON, perhaps the same bird seen January 14 on Lily Lake in Cape May Point, was seen on Monday January 19, 2009 at the Villas WMA. Other notable sightings at Villas WMA included a PALM WARBLER, a male REDHEAD, and a flock of 35 CHIPPING SPARROWS. Two WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were seen at Villas WMA on Sunday January 18 2009. A PINE SISKIN was there the same day.

A CACKLING GOOSE was seen at Lily Lake on Saturday January 17 2009.

The darker, probably female SNOWY OWL was seen at the Stone Harbor Point parking lot on Thursday January 15 2009.

An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was seen at Cape May Point State Park on Monday January 19 2009. Another was seen at Cape Island Preserve on Wednesday January 21, 2009.

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were reported this week at Jake’s Landing, Tuckahoe, Turkey Point and Newport Landing.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: CMBO is offering a special to new and upgraded membership renewals. Join CMBO for the first time or upgrade from Individual or Family to The Hundred and receive Charley Harper's Migration Mainline- Cape May lithograph poster, valued at $50. Call either CMBO center to ask an associate about joining today!

******CMBO Bookstore WINTER HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open Wednesday through Monday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Tuesdays. The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Mondays. ******

The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discounts in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

A little bit of snow on a cold morning

The image above was from my short walk around the TNC's Cape Island Preserve. I took the photo with the camera on my phone as the snow was blowing quite rapidly. It's kind of hard to tell from the low resolution of this image but the main reason that the trees in the distance are obscured/blurry was due to the quickly falling snow.

Aside from the beauty of the snow (I have to say there is just something about falling snow that seems to captivate ones attention) there was not a whole lot of activity around "the Preserve" this morning. I walked north along the railroad tracks and then back south through the fields a bit and came up with 32 species (see list below) which is not all bad in my opinion. While I was not able to dig up any unexpected species, it was just nice to get out for a cold walk before work.

I did meet up with Bob Fogg for the latter part of my morning jaunt who told me that had seen an Orange-crowned Warbler when he arrived near the trax/entrance gate area off Wilson St. Also toward the end of our walk we saw a raptor shoot in from the west low and ultimately perch in a tree reveling itself to be an adult Red-shouldered Hawk. Always a welcome sight to my eyes!

Before heading inside I decided to check out the patch of open water on Lily Lake. There are still loads of Gadwall and Wigeon (no Eurasian, best to try Villa WMA. See Don's post below). There was one Green-winged Teal and a female Bufflehead. No Redhead that I could see though I really did a rather quick scan/count. I had heard that there was at least one Redhead on this patch the other day. Also no Cackling Goose.

To my knowledge the Eared Grebe on Cape May Harbor has not bee refound in a few days. I've heard now word about the other grebe up at Stone Harbor.

I guess there is always tomorrow.

Location: Cape May - Lily Lake
Observation date: 1/21/09
Number of species: 14

Canada Goose 20
Mute Swan 22
Gadwall 95
American Wigeon 55
Mallard 15
Northern Shoveler 4
Green-winged Teal 1
Ring-necked Duck 25
Bufflehead 1
Hooded Merganser 3
Ruddy Duck 12
Double-crested Cormorant 1
American Coot 12
Ring-billed Gull 2

Location: Cape Island Preserve
Observation date: 1/21/09
Notes: 6326 steps = approx. 4.1 miles
Number of species: 32

Canada Goose 26
Mallard 4
Northern Pintail 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Herring Gull 3
Rock Pigeon 36
Mourning Dove 25
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker X
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 12
Fish Crow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Carolina Wren 14
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 25
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 6
European Starling 45
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Eastern Towhee 4
Savannah Sparrow 45
Fox Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 10
White-throated Sparrow 55
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 3
Northern Cardinal 12
Red-winged Blackbird 25
House Finch 15
American Goldfinch 20
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

Snowy Day in Cape May: Eurasian Wigeon, 3 Warblers, Chipping Sparrow Flight (?)

Monday was a rare snowy day in Cape May, and a birdy one, too. Highlights are included in the captions below.

[This Cooper's Hawk greeted us in the snow and fog at Villas WMA. Villas also held a Sharp-shinned Hawk, and a Red-shouldered Hawk flew out of a snow squall at Cape May Point State Park later in the day. All photos by Don Freiday, click to enlarge.]

[This Palm Warbler was a welcome flash of color at Villas WMA. I also finally found the Orange-crowned Warbler at Cape May Point State Park, near the farthest/easternmost observation platform. And, of course, Yellow-rumps were prevalent and active at the State Park, snowy or not. Several flocks of Yellow-rumpeds made extended flights over the state park.]

[Rusty Blackbirds are reliable at Villas WMA. These fed along one of the paths at the south-center part of the WMA.]

[What to our wondering eyes should appear but a female Eurasion Wigeon, the right hand bird above, at Villas WMA. This could easily be the same bird as the one found previously in Cape May Point. Note the browner head and plainer back compared to the left hand bird, a female American Wigeon. The Eurasian also lacked the black rim around the base of the bill found on American.]

[The male Redhead continues in the main pond at Villas WMA, in the remaining patch of open water that on Monday was barely 10 feet wide and 30 feet long.]

[Redhead diving.]

[One of the most interesting sightings of the day was a flock of at least 35 Chipping Sparrows at Villas WMA, including the one above. Chipping Sparrow is scarce at best in winter in Cape May, and rare to absent in winter farther north. As far as I know this flock had not been at Villas before Monday, and 35 is a very high winter count for a single flock. The chippies were in the company of a large flock of Juncoes. Did these birds migrate here with the recent massive high pressure system, and if so from where?]


[Frozen water concentrates ducks. The snowy scene above includes some of the 25 Northern Shovelers that were on Lily Lake, which still has several patches of open water. Lily Lake also held 180 Gadwall, 150 American Wigeon, smaller numbers of other ducks including Green-winged Teal and Ring-necked, and a Cackling Goose. We also checked Cape May Harbor (negatively) for the Eared Grebe, but did find 160 Ruddy Ducks, a fairly high count, with 50 each of scaup and Bufflehead, plus Long-tailed Ducks and the usual Brant.]


[Cape May Lighthouse in the snow.]

Villas WMA: White-winged Crossbills, Pine Siskin, Redhead

A midday turn around Villas WMA did not yield any Red-headed Woodpeckers, probably because we walked the perimeter rather than up the center of the property where the RHWP's have been hanging out. There were plenty of other highlights, including a drake Redhead with Ring-necked Ducks and a Ruddy Duck on the nearly frozen main pond and, even better, two White-winged Crossbills that flew out of the woods at the south side of the WMA and into the center of the WMA property, calling and giving nice in-flight views. A Pine Siskin was calling softly while feeding on seeds from sweet gum balls hanging from a tree at the southeast side of the property. Eastern Bluebirds and Rusty Blackbirds were present as they have been all winter.

A pair of Red-tailed Hawks exhibited some interesting behavior. They took off together, the female flying above and ahead of the smaller male, probably because he was carrying a still twitching gray squirrel! As they disappeared, the female performed a rising-and-falling sky-dance display. We didn't get to see the finish of this interaction, but clearly a pair of red-taileds will be nesting at Villas and probably the male is now short one gray squirrel!

Eared GrebeS in Cape May.....could this be an Eared Grebe invasion?

Considering that there have been Eared Grebes at Round Valley Reservoir and Barnegat Bay and now another Eared Grebe in Cape May County....

I received a text a short time ago indicating that Richard Crossley had found another Eared Grebe in the vicinity of Stone Harbor Point. The bird was evidently seen near the free bridge to Nummy Island, looking in the direction of the point (south). In other words in the in the channel of water between Stone Harbor Point and Nummy Island.

Like some of you may be thinking, my first reaction was to question whether or not yesterdays grebe was still in the Cape May Harbor. That bird was in fact in the harbor today seen by Tom Magarian. I am not sure when exactly the bird was seen but would highly doubt that the harbor grebe took flight and headed to Stone Harbor.

Anyway, for a bit of additional info, this is only the 11th and 12th record of Eared Grebe in Cape May County. A quick check of the accepted records from the New Jersey Bird Records Committee shows that the last records from Cape May were in Feb. 2004 (Strathmere) and April of 2002 (Nummy Island). Before that it was 1995 when the last Eared Grebe was seen in the County.

Winter Raptors of the Delaware Bayshore

The following report just came in, summarizing today's chilly but very productive trip along the Delaware Bayshore in seach of winter raptors. With the recent cold snap, it should be expected that more raptors, waterfowl and gulls will be arriving in the area from points north. Rough-legged Hawks, Common Mergansers and other more uncommon Cape May waterfowl, and white-winged gulls are all worth looking for in the days to come.

In other news, at least one of the Rufous-type Hummingbirds survived the cold and continues at 711 New England Road, and the Cackling Goose was sitting atop the ice on Lily Lake for a while during the early afternoon. Delaware Bay was frozen to at least three or four miles offshore of Reed's Beach today; however, there is some temporary relief on the way- temperatures are slowly rising overnight and will top out around 40 degrees tomorrow.

Summary of today's trip:
"A great day for raptors that ended all told with 9 BALD EAGLES and 17 RED TAILED HAWKS! Other points of interest included one DARK MORPH ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK at Newport Landing and 5 SHORT-EARED OWLS at Jakes to cap a chilly, but enjoyable trip. Leaders were Karen and Brian Johnson, Janet Crawford, Chuck and Mary Jane Slugg and Dave Lord."

Location: Bayside Viewing Area
Observation date: 1/17/09
Number of species: 33
Snow Goose 5500
Canada Goose 65
American Black Duck 25
Mallard 30
Bufflehead 3
Great Blue Heron 3
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Dunlin 65
Wilson's Snipe 2
Ring-billed Gull 25
Herring Gull 25
Great Black-backed Gull 5
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 2
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 3
Horned Lark 2
Marsh Wren 1
Eastern Bluebird 5
American Robin 60
Northern Mockingbird 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Eastern Towhee 1
Song Sparrow 12
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 45
Common Grackle 65


Location: Newport Landing Road
Observation date: 1/17/09
Number of species: 4
American Black Duck 25
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Rough-legged Hawk 1
Dunlin 20


Location: Turkey Point
Observation date: 1/17/09
Number of species: 24
Snow Goose 150
Canada Goose 140
Mute Swan 35
Bufflehead 7
Common Merganser 65
Ruddy Duck 15
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Great Blue Heron 3
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 4
Bald Eagle 3
Northern Harrier 5
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Dunlin 30
Herring Gull 5
Great Black-backed Gull 4
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northern Flicker 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 3
Song Sparrow 15
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 25
Common Grackle 20


Location: Jakes Landing
Observation date: 1/17/09
Notes: Short-eared were seen on a return visit.
Number of species: 20
Snow Goose 150
Canada Goose 25
American Black Duck 15
Mallard 16
Great Blue Heron 2
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 6
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 5
Red-tailed Hawk 4
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Dunlin 12
Wilson's Snipe 1
Ring-billed Gull 10
Herring Gull 7
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Short-eared Owl 5
Hermit Thrush 2
American Robin 4
Song Sparrow 3

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

EARED GREBE- Cape May Harbor

(EDIT: Image of the Cape May Harbor Eared Grebe provided by Bob Fogg, www.keekeekerr.com)

(click on the map for full size image)

I received a call at about 10:40 this morning from Bob Fogg that he had found a Horned/Eared type grebe in the Cape May Harbor. He couldn't be 100% sure as he only had his binoculars with him and the bird was a distance away. Since I was running to the bank and had my scope in the car I told him I'd be there as soon as I was done.

I arrived at the end of Texas Ave. (see yellow X on above map) to find that Vince Elia had arrived but neither he nor Bob had been able to relocate the bird. The last location that Bob had seen the bird was near the mouth of the Cape May Canal but the bird had been diving and heading back behind the pilings at the marina across the way. Laura briefly saw a bird that looked good for the grebe across the way, but as Bob had said, it swam back behind the distant pilings.

So of course we decided to head up to the canal area see what vantage point we could get from that general area and were rewarded with a confirmation of this species as Eared Grebe. The bird was swimming around a good bit but I have put red "X's" on the Google Map above to indicate the area that it stayed in while we viewed the bird. When I left (around 11:45ish) the bird had been swimming out more toward the middle of the harbor.

As suggestions, you might try the canal area as it seemed to favor the piling area around the marina. Other great vantage points (where you can scan pretty much the whole harbor ) would be the end of Texas Ave. and from the dirt pull off along Delaware Ave (near the NJAS Nature Center of Cape May).

There are also good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers, Ruddy Ducks, Bufflehead, a female Common Goldeneye (in the portion of the harbor that we saw the grebe) numbers of scaup, a Long-tailed Duck and of course Brant. While I did not have the time to give the harbor a through survey (didn't wear proper winter clothes today, go figure!) it would behoove anyone heading out to look for this bird to survey the rest of the waterfowl. Remember there is a Barrow's Goldeneye and a Tufted Duck on the Choptank River of the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE- January 15, 2009

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings@birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory. Additions by Tom Reed.
URL: http://www.njaudubon.org ; http://www.birdcapemay.org

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday January 15, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, 'IPSWICH' SAVANNAH SPARROW, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, CACKLING GOOSE, RUFOUS-TYPE HUMMINGBIRD, SHORT-EARED OWL, SNOWY OWL, TREE SWALLOW, CEDAR WAXWINGS, WINTER WREN, EASTERN PHOEBE, PALM WARBLER, COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, EURASIAN WIGEON.

-For more up-to-the-minute Cape May sightings information, check out the "View from the Cape" section of www.BirdCapeMay.org-


A WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL was heard flying over Reeds Beach on Saturday, January 10, 2009. A SEMIPALMATED PLOVER was on the jetty the same day.

Lily Lake continued to hold a CACKLING GOOSE as of Wednesday, January 14, 2009.

1-2 RUFOUS-TYPE HUMMINGBIRDS were still being seen at 711 New England Road as of Wednesday, January 14, 2009.

At least 1 SNOWY OWL continues this week in the Stone Harbor area, seen atop the gatehouse on the "free bridge" at Nummy Island on Sunday, January 11. Up to 3 SHORT-EARED OWLS have been seen at Jakes Landing Road throughout the week.

A COMMON YELLOWTHROAT was detected at the South Cape May Meadows/CMMBR on Sunday, January 11.

Notable sightings from the Cape May Point State Park on Saturday January 10, 2009 included a flock of 50 TREE SWALLOWS, 30 CEDAR WAXWINGS, WINTER WREN, EASTERN PHOEBE, and a PALM WARBLER.

A female EURASIAN WIGEON was seen at Cape May Point State Park at the second plover pond on Wednesday January 14, 2009. 2 'IPSWICH' SAVANNAH SPARROWS were found along the beachfront here the same day.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CMBO is offering a special to new and upgraded membership renewals. Join CMBO for the first time or upgrade from Individual or Family to The Hundred and receive Charley Harper's Migration Mainline- Cape May lithograph poster, valued at $50. Call either CMBO center to ask an associate about joining today!

******CMBO Bookstore WINTER HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open Wednesday through Monday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Tuesdays. The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Mondays. ******

The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discounts in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

Eurasian Wigeon, Cape May Point State Park

Photo Courtesy of Bob Fogg, www.keekeekerr.com

I received word this morning from Bob Fogg that he had re-found a female Eurasian Wigeon on the second Plover Pond at the Cape May Point State Park.

Looking for a quick break from the sedentary, computer screen stare, Laura and I decided to take a quick walk at the State Park to see if the bird was still hanging out. As we approached the first Plover Pond we could see that there were only about 25 or so Canada Geese a couple of Mallards and a lone female Bufflehead. Looking down toward the second Plover Pond I could see that the water was pretty much devoid of birds suffice for one lone drake Mallard. Just about the time I had resigned myself to having to walk all the way down the dirt dune road to check the TNC Plover Pond (I did not dress for being out in the cold for too long today), a crash and squawk came from the Phragmities marshy area just behind the west bank of the first Plover Pond. Before we knew it a duck was headed our away and quickly dove into the water with a loud wheeer of protest. I quickly recognized that this was the bird we were looking for and thanks to a large female Cooper's Hawk we were able to get great looks at the bird we had ventured out to see.

Even though the chase happened so fast I luckily kept my wits about me and remembered to check the underwing of the bird as it flapped to adjust it's feathers after its splash landing, and the Coop made a wide u-turn back to where it came from. Indeed the underwing of the bird was grayish in contrast to the white underwing that an American Wigeon would have shown. All in all, according to the info that I could quickly dig up, this is by far the most reliable of field marks to separate a female American from a Eurasian. Though, if you look at Bob's image above you can see many of the other field marks that lead one to conclude Eurasian without seeing the underwing. The head is noticeably more rusty brown rather than gray. Not quite as much contrast between the head and the back/breast to my eye. The lack of the black border in the gape area is apparent as well as the lighter coloration at the base of the beak. The bird does seem to show a much less defined pattern on the back in addition to the above mentioned field marks. And of course if you have the opportunity, remember to check for the grayer underwing.

Just as an FYI- Tom Reed just texted and said that he had gone back to look at the bird again and that it seems to be moving around a bit between the Plover Ponds and the marshy area just to the west. So, if you attempt to look for the bird, don't be discouraged if you don't find it at first. The bird may just be out of sight in the reeds and phrags.

Cape May Point walk, the BIGGEST full moon!, and Eagle Survey in progress

Karl Lukens, Tom Parsons and Kathy & Roger Horn report the following from this morning's Cape May Point walk:

"...we had the usual winter suspects as far as ducks were concerned and a nice variety of land birds. Notable were a flock of ~50 Tree Swallows, 30 Cedar Waxwings, a Winter Wren, Eastern Phoebe, Palm Warbler, and 3 Ipswich Savannah Sparrows."

If you happen to be outside this evening (and if it happens to not be cloudy), you might just see the "biggest" full moon of 2009 emerging over the eastern horizon. Jason sent along the following article from Yahoo! for more information.

This weekend also marks the annual two-day Midwinter Bald Eagle Survey conducted by the State of New Jersey, and coordinated by CMBO's Vince Elia. Vince and I are covering the Delaware Bayshore between Reed's Beach and Heislerville, and have tallied about a dozen Bald Eagles so far. Among the morning highlights included four immature eagles which emerged from a roost in Beaver Swamp WMA, and two adults (presumably the Beaver Swamp pair) seen hanging out at Jake's Landing later on.

Fly-over White-winged Crossbill, Reed's Beach

A single White-winged Crossbill flew over the north end of Reed's Beach at 9:45am, last seen heading toward the north/northeast. Keep your eyes and ears open for this species, which continues to irrupt into the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Dozens have been reported from the central and northern parts of the state during the past five days.

Barnegat area: Eared Grebe, jetty regulars, etc.

Eared Grebe, Barnegat Twp. Municipal Dock. Photo by Tom Reed.

A trip to the Barnegat/Long Beach Island area today was highlighted by a previously-reported Eared Grebe at the municipal dock in the town of Barnegat (the actual town on the mainland, not Barnegat Light). The bird was originally found during the Barnegat Christmas Bird Count on Sunday. This somewhat-blurry picture shows the main features of the species: peaked forehead, thin bill, humpbacked appearance and darker overall tones (compared to Horned Grebe), among other details. This bird was very easy to view, never being farther than 20 feet out in the water.

{Directions: Take Garden State Parkway exit 67 to Bay Avenue, east into the town of Barnegat. Continue on Bay Ave. over a small bridge, and past a couple of marinas. Just after these marinas is the Barnegat Municipal Dock, which features a two-level pavilion and a large parking area. Park here and look for the grebe from the walkway along the bay.}

Barnegat Lighthouse State Park featured its usual winter fare during the late morning hours, including the characteristic northwest wind at 20-25mph. Harlequin Ducks were largely hiding out of sight, minus a couple pairs which occasionally peeked out from the rocks. A passing Bald Eagle flushed nearly 1,000 gulls from the inside of the inlet, the oddest of which we could find was an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. 2 Common Eiders were gleaned from a scoter flock at the end of the north jetty, and almost 150 Red-throated Loons passed by offshore- an impressive number for January. One or two 'Ipswich' Savannah Sparrows were creeping through the jetty cracks, and a single Horned Lark flew over. A single wind-blown Tree Swallow blasted north across the inlet to cap off the outing.

As an aside, some time spent searching the back bays behind Barnegat Light failed to turn up the Western Grebe that had been reported there the day before.

In some more local news, at least one of the Rufous-type Hummingbirds continues at 711 New England Road, and the Cackling Goose was spied again on Lily Lake. Steve Rodan reports that 3-4 Short-eared Owls were hunting at Jake's Landing this evening, including one bird that flew right over the parking area.

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE - January 8, 2009

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: (609) 884-2736, sightings at birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties, NJ
Compilers: Tom Reed, David Lord; Cape May Bird Observatory
URL: http://www.njaudubon.org ; http://www.birdcapemay.org

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday, January 8, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of CACKLING GOOSE, COMMON EIDER, HARLEQUIN DUCK, TRICOLORED HERON, SEMIPALMATED PLOVER, GLAUCOUS GULL, SNOWY OWL, SHORT-EARED OWL, RUFOUS/ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRD, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, EASTERN PHOEBE, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, 'IPSWICH' SAVANNAH SPARROW, SNOW BUNTING, and DICKCISSEL.

-- For more up to the minute Cape May sightings information check the "View from the Cape" section of www.BirdCapeMay.org --


2 RUFOUS/ALLEN'S HUMMINGBIRDS continue at 711 New England Road, with reports this week through 1/5.

1-2 SNOWY OWLS continue at Stone Harbor Point and surrounding environs through 1/7. A SNOWY OWL continued at the High Street access area of the Bivalve impoundments, in Cumberland County, through at least 1/3. A belated report of the same or another SNOWY OWL came in from Fortescue, Cumberland County on 12/31.

A CACKLING GOOSE was again noted on Lily Lake on 1/3. A GLAUCOUS GULL has been seen at St. Mary's and Cape May Point State Park this week, with the last sighting on 1/5 near Lighthouse Pond.

A TRICOLORED HERON was noted at Nummy Island through at least 1/5. 5 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS were seen at Stone Harbor Point on 1/2.

A HARLEQUIN DUCK was seen from 34th Street, and 2 COMMON EIDERS were seen from 2nd Street, Sea Isle City, on 1/5.

YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT and EASTERN PHOEBE were notable finds at Cape May Point State Park on 1/3. 2-3 RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS continue at Villas WMA/Ponderlodge. A DICKCISSEL was seen at the South Cape May Meadows/CMMBR on 1/5.

SNOW BUNTINGS and 'IPSWICH' SAVANNAH SPARROWS were noted on the beaches of Cape May Point and Stone Harbor Point this week.

As many as 5 SHORT-EARED OWLS were seen at Jake's Landing throughout the week.


ANNOUNCEMENTS:
CMBO is offering a special to new and upgraded membership renewals. Join CMBO for the first time or upgrade from Individual or Family to The Hundred and receive Charley Harper's Migration Mainline- Cape May lithograph poster, valued at $50. Call either CMBO center to ask an associate about joining today!

******CMBO Bookstore WINTER HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open Wednesday through Monday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Tuesdays. The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Mondays. ******

The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discounts in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

Red-headed Woodpecker and Rusty Blackbirds, Villas WMA

An hour and a half spent wandering around Ponderlodge/Villas WMA this afternoon was highlighted by one immature Red-headed Woodpecker in the center of the property, and 20-25 Rusty Blackbirds mixed in with the roaming blackbird/grackle flock. Also of note were a few Eastern Bluebirds and Chipping Sparrows, as well as a single American Kestrel.

Snowy Owl and Snow Buntings, Stone Harbor Point

The darker, presumably female Snowy Owl was present again this evening at Stone Harbor Point. First seen sitting atop a signpost in the adjacent salt marsh, it then flew out to the beach, where it landed on various perches before eventually heading out to hunt the marshes at dusk.

Also at the Point this evening were at least a few Snow Buntings (heard flying over only) and 2 'Ipswich' Savannah Sparrows.

Stone Harbor Snowy Owl NO; Ipswich Sparrow and Oystercatchers

[This Ipswich Sparrow was one of three Karl Lukens found at Stone Harbor. Ipswich is a large, pale subspecies of Savannah Sparrow with a small (6500-7000) population and breeding range limited to Sable Island, Nova Scotia.]

Karl Lukens reports: "Walked most of the SH Point and could find NO Snowy Owl. It was Not on any of the roof tops in the 111th street area. I did find 65 Oystercatchers on the point (not sure if they could be seen from Nummy), and 3 "Ipswich" Savannah Sparrows. "

Belated Fortescue Snowy Owl Report, State Park Chat

[The above bird is the Bivalve, Cumberland County Snowy Owl, taken on January 3rd by CMBO workshop participant Don Carnahan. Click to enlarge. Another Snowy was reported New Year's Eve by Josepha Penrose, looking east from Laura Avenue in Fortescue, well north of Bivalve but conceivably involving the same bird. ]
[Karl Lukens took this photo of the Cape May Point State Park Yellow-breasted Chat January 3 during the CMBO Saturday walk. Besides the Chat, and despite the cold, the walk managed 49 species including (probably) 2 different Eastern Phoebes, 3 Purple Finches, and a variety of ducks and raptors.]

Green-tailed Towhee continues in Camden County

GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, photo credit: Stephen Mason

The rarity pictured above was originally seen by John and Peggy McDevit on New Years Day, while they were conducting the second day of their Project FeederWatch survey. The McDevits have graciously offered to open up their Collingswood yard to the many eager birders who have come to see the bird during the past two days- and after a lengthy wait during the midday hours, the bird did make a brief appearance around 2pm this afternoon. However, it does seem to make more regular appearances during the morning hours.

Referencing Birds of New Jersey, this is just the 7th known record of this western species in New Jersey, and the first since 1985. Typically, Green-tailed Towhees are found from Mexico down into South America by January- but perhaps just as remarkably, its breeding range is primarily west of the Rocky Mountains!

The bird is located at 1147 Mansion Avenue, in Collingswood, just outside of Camden and Philadelphia. A GoogleMap or Mapquest directions search will yield good directions. If you go, be sure to knock on the McDevits' door to announce yourself and be sure to thank them for their immense generosity in letting all of us crazy birders camp out in their backyard. The bird has been most reliably seen along the left side of the yard, foraging under a couple of small hollies.

Snowy Owl Still at Bivalve, Cumberland County

CMBO's Winter Birding Sampler workshop enjoyed great looks at the Bivalve Snowy Owl today at about 1:30 p.m. at the Bayshore Discovery project site. We saw the bird initially perched on an ice flow out on the marsh. It then flew in, perhaps weary of gradually drifting out towards the bay on the outgoing tide, and perched on the walkway railing, and eventually took off and flew south across the Maurice River, possibly towards Heislerville/Matt's Landing. We met a local gentleman who said he had been seeing the bird regularly, perched on the walkway railing, for at least two weeks. It's easy to see why - there was lots of potential prey at Bivalve, including at least 175 Northern Pintails, zillions of gulls, and smaller numbers of Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Black Ducks, and Mallards. Snowies are known for eating lemmings, but on the wintering grounds they consume a variety of prey, including some pretty hefty birds.

In the negative owl department, we watched at Turkey Point from before sundown until near dark and saw neither Short-eared Owl nor Great-horned, though we heard several of the latter. Another bird surprisingly absent was Rough-legged hawk - and we were in good habitat all day. Bald Eagles, however, were everywhere, including an adult at Beaver Swamp, and mutliple adults and immatures at Heislerville, Bivalve, and Turkey Point.

The impoundments at Heislerville were 95% frozen, but tidal areas along the bayshore are still partially to mostly open.

New Television Show Brings "Birding" to the Small Screen

Bindi the Jungle Girl may have some competition!

Since I was just back home in Florida for Christmas, I had decided to check the local listserv to see what "birding adventures" we might have missed since returning to Cape May. I came across some info on a post that I wanted to share.

It seems that there is a new television show that has hit the airwaves with the hopes of taking the ranks of The Croocidile Hunter and The Jeff Corwin Experience. But of course the focus is primarily birds.

Birding Adventures T.V. launches to the airwaves, today in fact, with a three part series covering Guyana. I just watched the preview and it seems like a pretty well put together program. The host, James Currie, definitely has a spin toward the Jeff Corwin angle. But then again, how many ways are there to be a charismatic host of a nature program. I was glad to see that while the focus is on birds, there is coverage of other wildlife without seemingly trying to duplicate the Animal Planet heavy hitters.

While the Birding Adventures website is still new, like the show, and needs a bit of work yet, it is easy to navigate to find most of what you are looking for. For most folks this will be the air time schedule. What I quickly found was that those of us in parts of the country other than the southeast will not be able to view the program as its focused audience for the time being is centered on Florida. It is carried on a the Comcast Southeast division so with some success (and possibly some contact from interested parties to Comcast asking them to carry the program) of the show it may find it's way to other markets. The funniest part is that the program airs in the morning when most birders are out pursuing birds! I guess that's way they make DVRs.

Don't be alarmed by the website header which depicts a Barn Owl, Indiana Jones style complete with wool fedora. You gotta love marketing!! The show also claims to be "the first birding TV program that focuses on destination and adventure bird-watching." This is partly true. Many of you may remember the Animal Plant show All Bird T.V., hosted by University of Montana professor Ken Dial. All Bird T.V. seemed to focus more on avian conservation research projects (covering NJAS's own Dr. David Mizrahi's shorebird research). This new Birding Adventures program is more focused at the excitement with in birdwatching and "birding" as is evidenced by the Leica optics plug in the preview (they're even using the new Leica scope!). Personally, I think the program would do well to try to bridge the gap between the "Birding Adventure" programming and highlighting some of the excellent research that is going on in the world. And, this may be the case as the second episode is focused on the Florida Scrub Jay Trail (I have to plug Fla. Scrub Jays...one of my favorite birds and the reason I decided to put this info out for you to review).

I am in favor of most things that will help get more people excited about nature and birds and wish this program success in doing just that. After all, the more folks who re-awaken the inner child and learn to find not only beauty but exhilaration in nature, the more chance we have for a clean, bright and birdy future.

Some notes from Cape May Pt., Stone Harbor Pt.

It was yet another interesting day to watch the weather, as well as the birds, in Cape May. A clipper system moved through during the middle of the day, accompanied by an hour's worth of snow showers and quite a bit of wind- but after the past few days, the wind no longer comes as much of a surprise...

I spent some time poking around Cape May Point, just before and then during the blowing snow. A dozen TREE SWALLOWS greeted me upon entering Cape May Point State Park, but the Glaucous Gull (pictured below) was no longer present on Bunker Pond at noontime. I started out toward the Plover Ponds, but thought better of it after noticing the deteriorating conditions as well as bumping into a rather cold and damp Tom Magarian, who reported not-so-much on the park trails, but noted 10 characteristically hard-to-find SNOW BUNTINGS on the beach, near the 2nd dune crossover (he later called in to report a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at Sunset Beach). There was a fair number of most of the regular puddle ducks on the open portions of Bunker Pond and Lily Lake; Lighthouse Pond was completely frozen.

An hour and a half spent at Stone Harbor Point this evening failed to yield either of the two Snowy Owls, even though that's not to say that one easily could've been hiding out of sight. I ran into a couple at dusk who also reported zilch on the Snowy front, and they had covered the streets to the north of the Point, as well as the Nummy Island area. Keep in mind that there is, to put it lightly, a heck of a lot of places where these birds can hang out- the other side of Hereford Inlet at North Wildwood is also worth a look. 

Lack of big white owls aside, the more interesting things at Stone Harbor this evening included 5 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS feeding along the ocean's edge at the base of the point. This species almost always lingers into January in very small numbers, most often in the Hereford Inlet complex. Also of note was a flock of 11 RED KNOTS which flew in from the beach and headed toward the marshes of Nummy Island. Some time spent scoping the ocean revealed a single close-to-shore HORNED GREBE and a distant flock of 30+ BONAPARTE'S GULLS feeding off the north end of North Wildwood.

In other news, at least 1 GREAT EGRET continues to linger in the "ibis pond" along Reed's Beach Road, and a single AMERICAN KESTREL was clinging to a wire along the north end of Bayshore Road in the wind this afternoon. There were also at least 3-4 SHORT-EARED OWLS at Jake's Landing last night, as well as a single WILSON'S SNIPE. 

Short-eared Owls at Jake's

CMBO's Winter Birding Sampler workshop ended with roughly five Short-eared Owls at Jake's Landing at dusk tonight.

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE JANUARY 2, 2009

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings at birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory with additions by Don Freiday
URL: http://www.njaudubon.org ; http://www.birdcapemay.org

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Friday, January 2, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, GLAUCOUS GULL, SNOWY OWL, HARLEQUIN DUCKS, COMMON EIDER, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, SEDGE WREN, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, PALM WARBLER, NASHVILLE WARBLER, EASTERN PHOEBE, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS are still being seen at 711 New England Road in Cape May, with the most recent sighting being on Thursday January 1, 2009.

A GLAUCOUS GULL appeared on Bunker Pond at Cape May Point State Park Friday, January 2.

Two SNOWY OWLS were seen at Stone Harbor Point on Tuesday December 30. One of the Stone Harbor birds was last seen on Thursday, January 1st 2009, from 111th street and also at the Stone Harbor Point parking lot at dark. Another SNOWY OWL was seen near the Bayshore Discovery Project in Bivalve, Cumberland County on Friday, December 26 2008.

3 HARLEQUIN DUCKS were seen at Two Mile Beach on Tuesday December 30, 2008.

A female COMMON EIDER was seen from Stone Harbor Point on Monday December 29, 2008.

LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and SEDGE WREN were found on the Cumberland CBC at Turkey Point, near Dividing Creek, Sunday December 28, 2008.

Two RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were seen at the Villas WMA on Thursday December, 25, 2008.

A NASHVILLE WARBLER and two PALM WARBLERS were seen at Cape May Point State Park, along the Red Trail, on Thursday January 1, 2009. Also there was an EASTERN PHOEBE.

Northwest winds precipitated a New Year’s Day hawk flight at Cape May Point that included upwards of 15 RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS, as well as NORTHERN HARRIERS, BALD EAGLES, SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS and many RED-TAILED HAWKS.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: CMBO is offering a special to new and upgraded membership renewals. Join CMBO for the first time or upgrade from Individual or Family to The Hundred and receive Charley Harper's Migration Mainline- Cape May lithograph poster, valued at $50. Call either CMBO center to ask an associate about joining today!

******CMBO Bookstore FALL HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open 7 days a week, 9:30am to 4:30pm The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Mondays. ******

The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland, and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discount in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

GLAUCOUS GULL Cape May Point State Park

Photo courtesy of Michael O'Brien

Upon walking in to the Northwood Center this morning, a phone call was received from Tom Parsons indicating that there was a GLAUCOUS GULL at the Cape May Point State Park. Wanting to delay the return to real work just a little longer, Laura and I headed out to see if the bird was still there.

Sure enough, when we arrived we found Tom siting on the hawkwatch platform looking at a small group of gulls on the Bunker Pond ice. Even naked eye you could make out the gleaming white plumage of the Glaucous. In a quick look through the scope (it's cold and windy here in Cape May and we hadn't dressed for the weather) you could note the size, body size slightly larger, in comparison to the surrounding Herring Gulls. For me this immediately removed any chances that this bird might be an Iceland Gull. Also of note were the blocky head with a sloping forehead (somewhat reminiscent of a Great Black-backed Gull in my mind) in comparison to the more rounded head of an Iceland Gull.

A New Year's Day Hawk Flight, Nashville Warbler and other Landbirds, Rufous Hummers remain, Snowy Owl sort of not

[This Cape May Point State Park Eastern Phoebe hung on to be tallied on CMBO's New Year's Day field trip. Photo by Don Freiday.]

The coolest thing about today in Cape May was the raptor movement in response to the passing front and northwest winds. CMBO's second annual "Kick Off Your Year List in Cape May" field trip tallied at least 15 Red-shouldered Hawks, 35 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 harriers, 2 Bald Eagles, and a few accipiters at Cape May Point Stae Park- not bad for the first of January!

It was windy and cold, but the sheltered areas along the Red Trail at the State Park held a number of interesting landbirds, highlighted by a Nashville Warbler initially found by Vince Elia (thanks, Vince!), Eastern Phoebe, Palm Warbler (another Vince find), Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, both kinglets, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Eastern Bluebird. We flushed a Common Snipe near where the Red Trail joins the trail at the base of the dunes.

Waterfowl were moving actively, with most winding up at Lily Lake, which is still entirely open. The state park ponds will likely be solid ice tomorrow. Snow Geese, Northern Pintails, shovelers, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Scaup, and Ring-necked Ducks were among the highlights. Lily Lake also held it's customary Pied-billed Grebe - which we actually saw fly! - and American Coots.

We dipped on the Snowy Owl (s) at Stone Harbor, though others reported one bird in the morning at 111th street, and I heard of another on a light post at the parking area after 5 p.m. Stone Harbor Point had some interesting shorebirds, including a Red Knot with an injured leg, two Purple Sandpipers, and multiple Semi-palmated Plovers. Nummy Island added 3 "Western" Willets and Western Sandpiper.

I heard from Beth Ciuzio that she and Michael O'Brien had both of the Rufous Hummingbirds today, the one at 711 New England Road and the other at Bev Linn's house nearby on Foster Avenue.

Below is our list just from the state park. We wound up having 80 species on the day between the park and the Stone Harbor area.

Location: Cape May Point SP
Observation date: 1/1/09
Number of species: 55
Snow Goose 15
Canada Goose 300
Mute Swan 6
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 35
American Black Duck 1
Mallard 10
Northern Shoveler 4
Northern Pintail 5
Green-winged Teal 1
dark-winged scoter sp. X
Hooded Merganser 1
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 8
Turkey Vulture 15
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Cooper's Hawk 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 15
Red-tailed Hawk 35
Killdeer 5
Wilson's Snipe 1
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 5
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 10
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 5
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 10
Carolina Chickadee 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 25
Nashville Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 40
Song Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 10
Dark-eyed Junco 10
Northern Cardinal 8
Red-winged Blackbird 10
American Goldfinch 5
House Sparrow 5