They're Here! Louisiana Waterthrush and Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher

[This Blueberry Azure appeared in Michael O'Brien's and Louise Zemaitis's yard this morning, a scarce animal at Cape May Point although they are more common at Belleplain. Photo by Michael O'Brien.]

Janet Crawford called me this morning to report that a Louisiana Waterthrush was singing at Sunset Bridge in Belleplain State Forest -yee-hah! Interestingly, March 31 is the date Lousiana Waterthrush arrived there last year.

Michael and Louise had some good stuff this morning, the following is from Michael: "There are birds on the move today. Louise and I had a number of nice things this morning including a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher flying by Cove Pool with Yellow-rumps, 3 King Eiders (2 females and an imm male) flying with scoters off Coral Ave, and a Little Blue Heron flying up the bay with Great Egrets off Sunset Beach."

Several Great and Snowy Egrets were feeding along Bidwell Creek as I road in to CRE this morning. Bidwell crosses Route 47 south of Goshen; it's the same creek that winds it's way through the marsh to Reed's Beach.

Notes from Villas WMA

Kathy Horn reports from CMBO's Sunday Villas WMA walk: "Good birding at Villas this AM, despite the drizzle. We had at least 18 pine warblers with lots of trilling, as well as 2 red-headed woodpeckers, and several each of ruby-crowned and golden-crowned kinglets and eastern phoebes."

I also learned that on April 23rd the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife will be planting trees on approximately 1.5 acres of an old fairway at Villas WMA. This planting is for mitigation of the destruction of critical wildlife habitat. The area will be clearly marked with signage to demonstrate the purpose of the project.

Monday Meadows Walk: Swallows, Ibis, Bittern, LAGUS and WIND!

[This American Bittern flushed, landed and posed along the west path at the meadows, hunkered out of the wind in the lee of bayberry bushes, a treat for our Monday walk participants. Photo by Karl Lukens.]

With sunny skies but a howling west gale, we all had reservations about today's Monday Morning Meadows walk, but it began with the spectactle of 100's of Laughing Gulls flying in over the meadows from the east, and just got better. LAGU's had been mostly in onesies and twosies at least through yesterday morning. I remarked that this might be the last time I actually try to count them - got about 400.

Four Blue-winged Teal were my FOS's (first of season), though they've been reported for a while by others. Waves of Double-crested Cormorants were flying in from across the bay, and a female American Kestrel put in an appearance. We found a single Piping Plover in the sandstorm on the beach, the 4 American Oystercatchers are still around, and plenty of gannets were still apparent offshore, though in smaller numbers than the past two days. Six species of gulls roosted on the island east of the east path, including single Bonaparte's and Lesser Black-backed. Two Glossy Ibis flushed and flew over, two Barn Swallows and a number of Tree Swallows passed, and as a final treat the American Bittern pictured above posed beautifully. The full list is below.

Location: South Cape May Meadows
Observation date: 3/30/09
Notes: CMBO Monday walk. Howling west wind, clear skies after frontal passage.
Number of species: 54
Brant 20
Canada Goose 20
Mute Swan 25
Wood Duck 2
Gadwall 10
American Wigeon 4
Mallard 40
Blue-winged Teal 4
Northern Shoveler 10
Green-winged Teal 10
Ring-necked Duck 1
Surf Scoter X
Black Scoter X
Northern Gannet X
Double-crested Cormorant 400
Great Cormorant 1
American Bittern 1
Great Egret 3
Glossy Ibis 2
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey 5
American Kestrel 1
Piping Plover 1
Killdeer 1
American Oystercatcher 4
Greater Yellowlegs 4
Sanderling 2
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Laughing Gull 400 Came in over the meadows from the east in flocks.Also many over the ocean.
Ring-billed Gull 10
Herring Gull X
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull X
Forster's Tern 25
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northern Flicker 1
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Barn Swallow 2
Carolina Wren 1
American Robin X
European Starling X
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
House Finch X
House Sparrow X

Gannet Spectacle Day 2; First Barn Swallow

100 Northern Gannets per minute were flying south through the fog off Norbury's Landing this morning. Others sat on the water, how many who knows since visibility was so limited. Clay Sutton described a similar phenomenon all the way up the bay at Fortescue, and Michael O'Brien described similar numbers, even better than yesterday's, down at the Concrete Ship this morning.

While checking the bay a FOS Barn Swallow was a delight, flying up the bay beach. As I came home to a fog-free afternoon, the familiar piping of an Osprey over my house was one more signal of the changing season.

Gannet Spectacle Part II

After the fabulous morning, I was curious enough to find out what was going on out in Delaware Bay that I rode the 3:30 ferry to Lewes, and back again, clicker and notebook in hand. Easily 100 Gannets were within spitting distance of the boat the whole time we were in sight of NJ (not all that long, it was very foggy), calling and diving behind it. On the return trip, about 5 p.m., we went through a flock of 600 gannets sitting on the water, spaced 50-100 yards apart, directly off the Ferry Terminal but mostly too far out to be seen from shore - until they got up and began following the ferry, which they did all the way to the mouth of the canal.

Scoter and Red-throated Loon numbers were lower than I expected. Five Snowy Egrets crossing the Bay was a nice treat. The full report follows.

Location: Cape May-Lewes Ferry NJ Waters
Observation date: 3/28/09
Notes: Somewhat foggy NJ side, very foggy near Delaware. Note we counted 50 Gannets a minute flying out of bay from concrete ship between 10 and 11 a.m.
Number of species: 24
Surf Scoter 80
Black Scoter 30
dark-winged scoter sp. 45
Bufflehead 10
Red-breasted Merganser 27
Red-throated Loon 8
Common Loon 1
Northern Gannet 600 Used a clicker. Counted 325 on way to Lewes; most came from south along the bay and followed the ferry, easily 100 were in view close to the boat while NJ was visible (it was foggy). Thinned out dramatically in mid-bay, none to speak of on Delaware side. On way back, encountered flock that I felt I could see the edges of, ferry went right through it. 600 birds resting 50-100 yards apart, many got up as we went through, followed the boat, some diving and successfully catching fish in the wake - Bunker?
Double-crested Cormorant 3 Did not count the 150 (and 6 Greats) on the Lewes breakwater.
Great Blue Heron 5 flying across bay to NJ
Snowy Egret 5 flying across bay to NJ
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 1
Black-bellied Plover 3 in flight over bay
American Oystercatcher 2 on south jetty
Lesser Yellowlegs 5 flying across bay to NJ
Sanderling 2
Dunlin 5
Laughing Gull 12
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 100
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1 adult standing on jetty
Great Black-backed Gull 20
Rock Pigeon 30
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Gannet Spectacle

In a typical and natural progession for a day with ill weather, a number of birders accreted at the Sunset Grill's covered deck overlooking the Concrete Ship and the mouth of Delaware Bay on this rainy and foggy morning. We enjoyed a marvelous Northern Gannet pageant, as about 50 per minute emerged from the fog up the bay, and passed mostly just beyond the Concrete Ship as they left the bay for ocean waters. We postulated that perhaps these were birds crossing the bay that, because of the fog, could not see the NJ shore, and when they did, veered towards the ocean, thus passing our viewpoint. The show lasted a full hour, and a few still passed when we left.

About 40 Red-throated Loons were on the water around the ship, and at one point I observed two individuals north of the ship interact, displaying open wings and wailing like gulls. They eventually flew off, kekking at each other.

An adult Lesser Black-backed Gull with the clean white head of breeding plumage joined a group of other gulls on the beach, as did one very tired American Crow we watched come in off the bay, flying almost on the water and apparently quite tired from crossing the bay in rain and fog. A number of Forster's Terns and Bonaparte's Gull were evident, and some gave great views as they perched on the pilings up-bay from Sunset Beach. A couple Laughing Gulls passed, as well. Most of the scoters were far offshore, and the numbers have thinned, although they remain in the many hundreds or few thousands.

I kicked a Northern Harrier up while walking towards Pond Creek, a single Boat-tailed Grackle flew over, and Pond Creek Marsh, quite full of water, hosted Green-winged Teal, Northern Pintails, and other ducks.

Birding Forecast now on Twitter!

Our weather guru David La Puma is now using Twitter as another way to link you in to the birding forecast found here on BirdCapeMay.org. If you are a Twitter user, or were looking for a reason to become one, check out the following url: http://twitter.com/BCMorgBFMA

"The birding is really good right now, just not many rarities"

The title is a quote from Michael O'Brien, who sent me the images below. Michael was emphasizing the good birding, not the lack of rarities, and I couldn't agree more. There is so much more to birding than ticking off rarities.

Plus it is just a gorgeous day out. On the way to work at CMBO - CRE in Goshen this morning I had several Brown Thrashers in full song, a Pine Warbler singing along Buck Avenue, Eastern Meadowlarks several places, a Bald Eagle, and my first of year Laughing Gull calling overhead.

Janet Crawford called me to report Eastern Phoebe and Pine Warblers at Belleplain State Forest. And there's a bullfrog calling in the pond at CMBO-CRE right now!


[Red-throated Loon, photographed by Michael O'Brien. Click to enlarge. Large numbers stage off Cape May, normally peaking right around now.]

[Michael had 24 Great Egrets fly past the Concrete Ship this morning. These are some of them. Click to enlarge.]

[Black and Surf Scoters flying past Cape May Point, photo by Michael O'Brien. Click to enlarge. CMBO's weekly birding field trips will shortly increase to at least one every day, ranging from Cape May Point to Peaslee WMA. Why? The birding's really good right now!]

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE - FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 2009

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings AT birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and southern Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compilers: David Lord and Don Freiday, 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 weeks message was prepared on Friday, March 27, 2009. Highlights this week include RED-NECKED GREBE and seasonal reports of interest including SHORT-EARED OWL, BLUE-WINGED TEAL, AMERICAN BITTERN, PIPING PLOVERS, GREAT EGRETS, RED-THROATED LOONS, NORTHERN GANNETS, SCOTERS and HORNED LARK.

2 RED-NECKED GREBES were found off the Convention Center beach in Cape May City on Wednesday, March 25, 2009.

SHORT-EARED OWLS are still being seen throughout the region, including two at Tuckahoe WMA on Sunday, March 22, 2009, and three at Jake's Landing Road on Tuesday March, 24 2009.

2 BLUE-WINGED TEAL and AMERICAN BITTERN were at the Cape May Meadows on Friday, March 20, 2009. Up to 6 PIPING PLOVERS have been on the beach at Cape May Point State Park and the South Cape May Meadows this week. RED-THROATED LOONS, NORTHERN GANNETS, and SCOTERS continue to stage at the mouth of the Delaware Bay.

24 GREAT EGRETS were seen flying past the Concrete Ship in Cape May Point on Friday, March 27, 2009.

HORNED LARKS were displaying at Bay Point Road in Cumberland County on Sunday March 22, 2009.


ANNOUNCEMENTS:

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

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 southern 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-necked Grebes & Scenes from Avalon and Corbin City

Michael O'Brien found two Red-necked Grebes off the Convention Center in Cape May this morning. This is a scarce-to-rare migrant and winter visitor in Cape May in modern times, with the exception of the 1994 "invasion" when the Great Lakes froze.

Kevin Inman sent the below photos from Avalon and Corbin City:

[Semipalmated Plovers, 8th Street Jetty, Avalon on Sunday. Photo by Kevin P. Inman.]

[Purple Sandpipers, also 8th Street in Avalon on Sunday. Photo by Kevin P. Inman]

[Osprey with apparent largemouth bass, Corbin City impoundments on Sunday. Photo by Kevin P. Inman. Nice shot, Kevin!]

A Windy Day in the Meadows, plus Notes from the State Park and Belleplain

[Windy or not, it was a delight to find two Piping Plovers on the beach off the South Cape May Meadows today. This one was beautifully captured huddled next to a shell by Karl Lukens. Click to enlarge.]

This year's inaugural CMBO meadows walk met with very un-springlike weather, but birds were still there to be seen. I could hardly take my eyes off the Piping Plovers, gorgeous in the low wintry light. Two pairs of American Oystercatchers bickered on the beach, undeterred by the wind. A Wilson's Snipe flushed from west path, and the offshore show consisted of many gannets, distant scoters, both loons, and a small flock of Bonaparte's Gulls. .

TNC is doing some work in the meadows (a.k.a. the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge), work that involves heavy machinery (which flushed some birds from the site) and occasional partial closures. We were unable to get to the east path, which undoubtedly reduced our duck list, but a pair of Wood Ducks flew out of the meadows, and Green-winged Teal, Gadwall and Northern Shoveler gave great views from the west path, and a male Bufflehead was in the plover pond. A single Lesser Yellowlegs also fed on the edge of the plover pond. The full list is below.

I learned from our Associate Naturalists that Friday evening's meadows walk featured a flyby American Bittern.

I look forward to spring in the meadows with a healthy measure of curiosity, especially since we have ebird lists from nearly every CMBO walk there last year. For example, I found that on March 24, 2008 we had a slightly more diverse walk, with 7 more species which included Osprey and Laughing Gull, as well as 6 Piping Plovers. Of course, comparing results of single walks from one year to the next is a dicey proposition - especially if one of them featured the 15-20 mph north winds and machinery activity we had today!

The important question is, with two years gone, how will birds respond to the maturation of vegetation and soil development following TNC's restoration of the site? Will Least Bitterns return? How about other marsh birds, like Virginia Rail and Sora? Will more shorebirds use the site, and use it longer? Will Piping Plovers and Least Terns fare well again?

In other bird news, Karl Lukens reports from Saturday:

"CMBO Walk at Cape May Point. Usual suspects for winter/spring birding although the numbers of ducks seems to be thinning out. Black Scoters close to the jetty at St. Mary's could be heard and seen, as well as a few Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones. A Pied-billed Grebe on Bunker Pond was a nice find and after the walk a Piping Plover was found on the beach close to the Meadows boundary. - Karl (Judy, Tom, Warren, Roger)"

A bike ride through Belleplain State Forest on Saturday yielded my FOS Pine Warblers, just two, and two pretty quiet ones at that, only singing occasionally. We had more Red-breasted Nuthatches than White-breasted, and Brown Creepers were pretty easy to find.

Location: South Cape May Meadows
Observation date: 3/23/09
Notes: CMBO's inaugural Monday meadows walk
Number of species: 42
Canada Goose 10
Mute Swan 15
Wood Duck 2
Gadwall 10
American Wigeon 10
Mallard 10
Northern Shoveler 6
Green-winged Teal 4
Black Scoter 2
dark-winged scoter sp. 500
Bufflehead 1
Red-throated Loon 5
Common Loon 1
Northern Gannet 50
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Black Vulture 5
Turkey Vulture 10
American Coot 2
Piping Plover 2
Killdeer 3
American Oystercatcher 4
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Sanderling 4
Wilson's Snipe 1
Bonaparte's Gull 25
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 10
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 1
Northern Flicker 2
Fish Crow 25
Horned Lark 1
Carolina Wren 1
American Robin 2
European Starling 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Common Grackle 20
House Sparrow X

To All Young Birder's Photo Quiz Particpants

Laura informed me that the participation for this month's quiz is down a bit. I have to take responsibility as I talked her in to using the current photo, thinking the challenge was not too great.

Just in case you happened to look at the photo quiz at the beginning of the month and have not been back, go take a look again as we've added a hint (read on and you'll get a few more).

Know that this photo quiz is not as hard as it may seem at first glance. Yes, you do have to look a bit closer at the bird and the surroundings! In fact, this is a very common bird that most of you have probably seen around your own house. Some of you will regret not participating this month once you learn its true identity. It may help to also know that this image was taken on the ground with a BirdCam camera.

So if you feel up for the game, take a second, third or fourth look at the Young Birder's Photo Quiz. Look closely at the surroundings and of course the bird. I think that if you look close the answer will jump out at you like those bright white median coverts!

If you think the quiz is too hard and would like to voice your opinion about this please feel free to email me directly at jason.guerard AT njaudubon.org. If you'd like to email me to see if you are on the right track, feel free to do that too! Just don't blame Laura, I twisted her arm to use a challenging image to help us focus not solely on the bird when making an identification.

NJ DEP-Looking For a Few Hearty Volunteers...

Piping Plover has arrived back to the beaches of Cape May, a little on the early side even, being seen on March 8. Interestingly, both Cape May and Stone Harbor Point hosted returning Piping Plovers on the same day. Least Tern will be arriving toward the end of next month. With the arrival of these species comes the necessity to erect fences to keep these endangered birds' nesting area safe.

The NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife, Endangered and Nongame Species Program is looking for volunteers to help erect fences on the beach for nesting Piping Plover and Least Terns.

If you think you have what it takes to help drive some steaks in the ground, string some rope and put up some signs-all in an effort to ensure that these endangered species have a relatively trouble free place to nest-contact Christina Kisiel at ckisiel AT hughes DOT net.

Volunteers are only asked to spend a few hours doing a world of good. And you get to hang out with some like minded, very nice people to boot. Dates are Saturday March 28 and 10 a.m. at the Cape May Point State Park and Saturday April 4, same time, at Stone Harbor. See the flyer above for more information.

Birding Forecast is now on Twitter!

Our weather guru David La Puma is now using Twitter as another way to link you in to the birding forecast found here on BirdCapeMay.org. If you are a Twitter user, or were looking for a reason to become one, check out the following url: http://twitter.com/BCMorgBFMA

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE - FRIDAY, MARCH 20 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: Don Freiday, 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 Friday, March 20, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of SNOWY OWL, ICELAND GULL, EURASIAN WIGEON, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, and seasonal notes of interest on AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, SCOTERS, NORTHERN GANNETS AND PINE WARBLERS.

A SNOWY OWL continues at Stone Harbor Point, through Sunday, March 15, 2009, all the way at the tip of the point that day. Also at Stone Harbor Point were 7 WESTERN SANDPIPERS and numerous AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER pairs.

An ICELAND GULL was seen in flight over the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge, a.k.a. the South Cape May Meadows, on Friday, March 20, 2009.

The female EURASIAN WIGEON was seen at the Villas WMA on Sunday, March 15, 2009. Also at Villas WMA were 1 RED-HEADED WOODPECKER and RUSTY BLACKBIRDS.

NORTHERN GANNETS, all three SCOTERS, and RED-THROATED LOONS are common and visible around Cape May Point, most especially at the Concrete Ship. PINE WARBLERS have arrived at several locations, including Jake’s Landing Road.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

******CMBO Bookstore MARCH 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. NOTE: CRE Days of operation have changed, The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through SATURDAY, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed SUNDAYs and Mondays thru the month of March ******

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 discounts in the stores).

Good luck and good birding!

Hot Off the "Press", the 2009 State of the Birds Report

I recently came across the new 2009 State of the Birds Report, thanks to Dave Magpiong's post to the New Jersey Birding listserv, and wanted to share this with the birding community at large. Of course my hope is that you already know about this, but if you don't take a look at the Sate of the Birds.org website and download the report. Please make sure you also share this with your birding and non-birding friends alike!


There is also a 6 and half minute video to watch. Pretty interesting and great cinematography. According the the narrator this is an unprecedented (meaning that Federal Government wildlife agencies and conservation organizations teamed up) first ever comprehensive State of the birds Report. Other interesting notes I gleaned from the video; of the species found in the United States, 67 are Federally listed as endangered and/or threatened. 184 are listed as conservation concern "due to their small distribution, significant threat or rapidly declining population."

The report covers "the state of the" habitat, "birds in trouble" by habitat, "major threats", "reasons for hope" and potential solutions, among a variety of other information birders should be knowledgeable about. Habitats covered are aridlands, grasslands, forest, arctic & alpine, wetlands, coasts and oceans. Also a section on the Hawaiian islands. With in habitat sections there are "spotlight"s on various other groupings such as urban birds and upland game birds. Lastly a section focusing on the challenges that birds and the environment face.

As we all know, and have known as evidenced by miners taking canaries into mine shafts, birds are one of natures best indicator species. Extensive reports such as this help inform the scientific minded as well as the layman on, well, the state of the birds. It is important that we remember that we "vote" every day on the importance of the environment with the products we purchases, the organizations we choose to support and the help in monitoring species abundance and diversity through professional work or citizen science.

As a last note, do yourself a favor and click on the full screen option on the video in the lower right hand corner.

An Oxymoronic Start To Spring

While I have lived in areas where you expect it to snow well into May, this is not typically the way you think to start the first day of spring in Cape May! Yes, in fact when I was in school in northern Wisconsin, the ice often did not break on Chequamegon Bay until late April or May. Absolutely fantastic birding though. Though this morning when I woke up and noticed it was raining I was happy to have overslept. Then when I looked out the window to see fat wet snowflakes falling I was quite content with my decision to not rush out for a morning walk. What I did not expect was to see a small amount accumulation on the yard when I was leaving to come into the Northwood Center. But as things go here, the further south you get the less severe (or more moderated) the weather can be. And this happens a bit on a micro climatic basis as well. When we had the sizeable snow fall here at the beginning of the month there was 8" of accumulation up around my area and only about 4" down here in Cape May. Likewise today, about half the way down to the Point this morning the snow/freezing rain had turned to pure rain.

Anyway, there are still some signs of spring. Red-wing Blackbirds continue to sing and jostle for prime territories. I've noticed more song coming from Juncos and now a Chipping Sparrow or two around the house. In fact, I've very much enjoyed surveying the small flock of Chipping Sparrows that have wintered in our 'hood as they continue to have more rufous come in on their crowns and backs. Along with whitening eyebrows and throats. I'm also seeing many red buds on the maples and more and more daffodils popping up each day.

Spring peepers have begun to call on the warmer nights and many folks have reported Woodcock displays taking place.

Back to the "winter", there is still a flock of 25+ Snow Geese hanging out at the TNC Migratory Bird Refuge. And Michael O'Brien called me this morning to let me know he'd had an Iceland Gull fly over and in to the TNC refuge property. He was unable to relocate with just bins and Karl Lukens and I had no luck either. It would be good to check the jetties and any concentrations of gulls along the beaches for this species. Karl Lukens suggested to me checking the marina areas around the harbor as well. And of course there is always the fish plant off Ocean Drive headed toward Wildwood Crest.

I suppose that we are in that weather state of juxtaposition where winter does not want to loosen it's grip and spring is trying with all it's might to break through. Let's just hope we don't skip spring and go to summer as seems to be the pattern of sorts of late.

NOTE: There is quite a bit of earth moving work being done at the TNC's Migratory Bird Refuge and both paths are roped off making much of the trails inaccessible. For more information and estimated opening dates please contact the Delaware Bayshore Office of the TNC.

To All Young Birder's Photo Quiz Particpants

Laura informed me that the participation for this month's quiz is down a bit. I have to take responsibility as I talked her in to using the current photo, thinking the challenge was not too great.

Just in case you happened to look at the photo quiz at the beginning of the month and have not been back, go take a look again as we've added a hint (read on and you'll get a few more).

Know that this photo quiz is not as hard as it may seem at first glance. Yes, you do have to look a bit closer at the bird and the surroundings! In fact, this is a very common bird that most of you have probably seen around your own house. Some of you will regret not participating this month once you learn its true identity. It may help to also know that this image was taken on the ground with a BirdCam camera.

So if you feel up for the game, take a second, third or fourth look at the Young Birder's Photo Quiz. Look closely at the surroundings and of course the bird. I think that if you look close the answer will jump out at you like those bright white median coverts!

If you think the quiz is too hard and would like to voice your opinion about this please feel free to email me directly at jason.guerard AT njaudubon.org. If you'd like to email me to see if you are on the right track, feel free to do that too! Just don't blame Laura, I twisted her arm to use a challenging image to help us focus not solely on the bird when making an identification.

Stone Harbor Snowy, Shorebirds; Woodcock, Wigeon, Woodpecker; and the pending deluge of spring arrivals

[Roger Horn photographed this American Woodcock in a Cape May Point yard on Sunday, March 15.]

In addition to the above woodcock in Cape May, Kathy and Roger Horn reported the continuing female Eurasian Wigeon, one Red-headed Woodpecker, and a few Rusty Blackbirds at Villas WMA on Sunday.

I took a rainy walk to the tip of Stone Harbor Point on Sunday, and was rewarded by one soggy Snowy Owl and a decent selection of shorebirds. The Snowy was almost all the way to the south end of the point.

American Oystercatcher pairs were active and vocal, with at least 8 different individuals on Stone Harbor Point alone. It was high tide, and a nice group of shorebirds roosting on the west side of the point included 900 Dunlin with 7 Western Sandpipers mixed in, about 20 Ruddy Turnstones, and several separate groups of Black-bellied Plovers adding up to 140 individuals. One Piping Plover was on the shore of the pond opposite the observation platform.

Returning Forster's Terns are being reported along the Bay, and every few days we will see new spring bird arrivals now. One of the neat tools on e-Bird is the ability to generate a report on bird arrivals, and I was checking arrivals for Cape May County last year and came up with the following information.

Following each half-month period, the number of new bird species arrivals in Cape May county in 2008, according to E-bird reports, is indicated in parentheses:

Mar 1-15 (7)
Mar 16-31 (13)
April 1-15 (13)
April 16-30 (39)
May 1-15 (45)
May 15-30 (8)

Undoubtedly many arrivals are missing from the e-bird data set. Remember, the more people report to ebird, the more complete and useful the information becomes!

Mid- to late-April is when the flood really starts, but in the coming two weeks be thinking about Glossy Ibis, Pectoral Sandpiper, Purple Martin, Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Louisiana Waterthrush as prime candidates for first of season appearances. Most of the heron species overwinter in small-to-tiny numbers, but the end of March will bring us long-legged waders in numbers.

Seth's Back - at Sandy Hook! Plus a "normal" good walk at Cape May Point

Today is the start of the Spring Migration Watch at Sandy Hook, Monmouth County, sponsored by NJ Audubon's Sandy Hook Bird Observatory, and the counter is someone familiar - Seth Cutright, the official hawk counter at Cape May last fall!

If you're in the area and want to stop by and see Seth, the Sandy Hook Migration Watch is manned daily from 9-5 through May 15, weather permitting, and is open to the public. The watch takes place from the observation platform near parking area K at Sandy Hook.

Another familiar face from last fall stopped in at CRE in Goshen yesterday - Lizzie Condon, our popular interpretive naturalist at Morning Flight and the Hawk Watch. Lizzie's working in Washington for the Wilderness Society at the moment, and will be heading up to Alaska for work this summer.

Karl Lukens et. al. reported a nice variety of ducks and land birds yesterday on CMBO's 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Saturday field trip at Cape May Point. No Snowy Owl or anything else extreme, but considering it's March, the list reveals how good the birding can be here any time of year:

Location: Cape May Point
Observation date: 3/14/09
Notes: CMBO Trip -Karl, Judy, Kathy, Roger, Tom, Steve - Cloudy, 38, wind E4.
Number of species: 44

Canada Goose 10
Mute Swan 10
Gadwall 20
American Wigeon 20
Mallard 15
Northern Pintail 1
Green-winged Teal 12
Ring-necked Duck 4
Black Scoter 6
Common Loon 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Turkey Vulture 5
Killdeer 6
American Oystercatcher 1
Ring-billed Gull 1
Herring Gull 10
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 6
Mourning Dove 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 8
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 10
Fish Crow 2
Horned Lark 2
Carolina Chickadee 12
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 4
Eastern Bluebird 6
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 10
Eastern Towhee 1
Field Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 7
White-throated Sparrow 4
Northern Cardinal 6
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Common Grackle 6
Boat-tailed Grackle 1

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE - SATURDAY, MARCH 14 2009

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings ATbirdcapemay.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 Saturday, March 14, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of SNOWY OWLS, EURASIAN WIGEON, CACKLING GOOSE, seasonal arrivals of OSPREY, PIPING PLOVER, LESSER YELLOWLEGS, and LAUGHING GULL, and an announcement about CMBO's Optics Sale March 14 and 15.

A male SNOWY OWL was seen at Stone Harbor Point, not far from the observation platform, on Thursday March 12, 2009. Another SNOWY OWL, or potentially two, appeared farther south in Cape May, with sightings Friday March 13 at 10:30 a.m. of a bird flying from the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge towards Cape May City, and perhaps the same bird discovered late on Friday on the beach near the Cape May Convention Center in Cape May City.

The female EURASIAN WIGEON was seen at the Villas WMA on Thursday March 12, 2009.

A CACKLING GOOSE was seen at the Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge a.k.a. the South Cape May Meadows on Thursday March 12, 2009.

The vanguard OSPREY was reported over Cape May Court House March 5, and another OSPREY arrived at Jake's Landing March 8, 2009.

PIPING PLOVERS arrived at Cape May Point State Park and Stone Harbor Point on Sunday March 8, 2009.

Seven returning LESSER YELLOWLEGS were seen at the South Cape May Meadows on Sunday March 8, 2009.

Returning LAUGHING GULLS were seen last weekend at Cape May Point, the Cape May Ferry Terminal, and over Belleplain State Forest, with the first reports coming Friday, March 6.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

CMBO'S FOURTEENTH ANNUAL OPTICS SALE is HERE!! It will be held on Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the CMBO Center for Research and Education in Goshen. The sale offers a large selection of closeout, demo, factory-refurbished, new, and used optics priced to move. Binoculars and spotting scopes from all major brands will be available. There are no advance or phone orders: first come, first served. Shoppers must belong to NJAS or CMBO to take advantage of these great deals, so join today if you’re not already a member.

******CMBO Bookstore MARCH 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. NOTE: CRE Days of operation have changed, The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through SATURDAY, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed SUNDAYs and Mondays thru the month of March ******

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 discounts in the stores).

Good luck and good birding!

Something to think about...Buildings, Lights and Birds

(image from PlanPhilly.com, Toronto avian window strike casualties display at the Royal Ontario Museum, FLAP.org)

Someone recently shared a March5th article, Birds, light, glass = fatal mix, on PlanPhilly.com concerning avian window strikes and about an effort in Philadelphia to reduce the number of bird deaths in this large city during migrations. So I figured I'd, in turn, share this information with you. I wonder how many window strikes occur in Atlantic City?

As many of you may know, March 28 is the marked date for the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour. The effort of this program is aimed at getting as many of the world's human inhabitants to turn off all lights for one hour, starting at 8:30 p.m. and thus saving hundreds of millions in energy. If you feel like making a bigger impact, you take it one step further. Turn off as much electric in your house as possible! Even better, go to bed early and have all that electric (sans your alarm clock) off for nine or so hours. Get up early the next morning and go out an do a little birding!! At the very least, turn off your lights for the hour and try to keep all other non-essential light off for the whole night.

I am always amazed at the amount of senseless electricity waste due to buildings and signs being lit at night when the building is not open. Sometimes signage is never turned off at night. I understand the idea of advertising, but who are companies advertising to at 3:00 a.m.? Maybe birders up owling?! Good new is, many companies are figuring this out and joining in for programs such as Earth Hour and others.

But Earth Hour is not my reason for posting. While turning off lights helps save energy and expenses (something that is an excellent idea in these monetary and energy lean times), it also helps save birds lives.

It's not breaking news for most birders that window strikes happen and kill birds. At most NJAS center stores you can find an array of items that will help to limit the window strikes in your own home. As the function is generally that birds are trying to fly toward the "trees" reflected in your window, the most effective thing to do is to break up that reflection. I have found one of the most effective products we carry to be the Window Alert static cling decals which reflect UV light and thus make the window more noticeable to flying birds. Also not new news is that big skyscrapers in cities are virtual death traps for birds during migration. These building usually have bright external lights and often even leave internal lights on all night.

Check out the a fore mentioned article and pay special attention to the videos from Toronto provided by FLAP, (Fatal Light Awareness Program) and Chicago (provided by Chicago Bird Collision Monitors). You can actually see the birds circling the building and in a few cases minor collisions. Very revealing, as is of course the opening image (shown above), some of the birds collected during fall migration 2005 at only some of the buildings in Toronto and displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum (about 2100 of the 3500 or so collected that fall).

Another very interesting image is of the "Tribute in Light" at ground zero in New York City. Note that there are numerous birds visible in the beams of light. Though, New York City Audubon, like a growing number of larger cities, has it's own plan in place to help stave off this useless energy drain and needless cause of death to so many migrating birds. One of these was the organization of the Bird Safe Glass Working Group.

Given that this information illustrates the fact that, as research seems to indicate, window strikes are now the number one cause of bird deaths (with feline fatalities being second). The death toll is said to be between 100 and 900+ million a year. There are a few silver linings in the article though. Swarthmore College is noted for taking steps to curb avian collisions in one of its new science buildings. And taking things a step further, they are conducting research on techniques that can be employed post fabrication on glass that will help reduce daytime collisions. At Swarthmore they are using "fritted" glass among other construction techniques.

Another site aimed at bringing awareness of the deaths of migrating birds drawn to lighted structures is Towerkill.com. Towerkills are much the same as avian building fatalities. Birds are drawn to the aviation lighting on the towers (particularly on cloudy/overcast or foggy nights) and end up circling until exhausted, colliding with other species or guy wires. Towerkills are estimated to be in the 4 to 10 million range.

Stone Harbor Snowy and Peregrine; Cape May Point Great Corm and Walk Results

[Stone Harbor Point Snowy Owl on Monday, not far from Observation Platform. Photo by Karl Lukens.]
[Another Stone Harbor highlight bird, and regular, has been Peregrine Falcon. Karl Lukens photographed this one on Monday.]
[Kevin P. Inman captured this Great Cormorant looking spiffy in high breeding plumage on the Concrete Ship last Friday. ]

CMBO's Saturday Cape May Point walk highlights included a "Nice variety of land birds and water birds. Off shore there are thousands of scoters, mostly Black, Red-throated Loons, and some Gannets. Ruddy Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers on the jetty at St. Peter's. - Karl (Judy, Tom, Chuck, Mary Jane, Roger, Kathy, Warren, Steve, David)"

Snowy Owl, Butterflies, Piping Plover

[This Mourning Cloak, somewhat weathered from a winter in hiding, basked on an oak at Villas WMA on Sunday, March 8 2009. An unidentified anglewing butterlfy was also active at Villas on Sunday. Photo by Don Freiday.]

After dipping on the Stone Harbor Point Snowy Owl (s) more often than not this winter (an affliction shared by many birders), it was especially rich on Sunday afternoon to find the apparent young male, a very white bird, panting on the sand next to a chunk of driftwood on the sand flats barely 100 yards south of the observation platform, ignoring the many bare-footed beach walkers enjoying the 70ish temperatures not so far away - walkers equally oblivious to the owl. Thanks to a Mourning Cloak at Villas earlier in the day, I believe this is the first time I've seen a butterfly and a Snowy Owl on the same day! One wonders how much longer this bird will stay. Most Snowies depart NJ by the end of February, though March lingerers are certainly not unprecedented and there are a very few even later records.

A breeding plumage Piping Plover with the Dunlin and Sanderlings on the beach at Stone Harbor on Sunday joins Bob Fogg's Cape May Point State Park bird as a new spring arrival.

Trying to rush spring, I checked Belleplain State Forest on Saturday - finding quite a lot of lingering snow that now is a (hopefully) distant memory! I had nothing there I could consider an arriving bird, but the woods were rich with wintering gleaners and probers like Red-breasted Nuthatches and Brown Creepers.

Finally, besides the butterflies at Villas yesterday, a bright male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker there was entertaining, and the Field Sparrows and Eastern Bluebirds sang frequently.

Spring Arrivals in Cape May

It was exciting to see this Piping Plover arrive back at the State Park this evening! I also noticed some Oystercatchers sitting on the beach for the first time this season. There have been a few flying around the point over the past week. It seems the warm weather also brought in some Lesser Yellowlegs.
This bird was at the Cove Pool between 2nd Ave and the Meadows. (The Lesser Yellowlegs is the bird in focus behind the Greater Yellowlegs in the foreground.) Six more Lesser Yellowlegs were seen at the Meadows this evening. There was also an adult male Dickcissel visiting a feeder for a few mintues today - which is interesting since I haven't seen the young bird in my back yard since the storm came last week. Finally - another returning bird was this Laughing Gull which was photographed at the Cape May -Lewes Ferry Terminal by Karl Lukens yesterday.

NJ DEP-Looking For a Few Hearty Volunteers...

With in days, believe it or not, Piping Plover should be arriving back to the beaches of Cape May. And with their arrival comes the necessity to erect fences to keep these endangered birds' nesting area safe.

The NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife, Endangered and Nongame Species Program is looking for volunteers to help erect fences on the beach for nesting Piping Plover and Least Terns.

If you think you have what it takes to help drive some steaks in the ground, string some rope and put up some signs-all in an effort to ensure that these endangered species have a relatively trouble free place to nest-contact Christina Kisiel at ckisiel AT hughes DOT net.

Volunteers are only asked to spend a few hours doing a world of good. And you get to hang out with some like minded, very nice people to boot. Dates are Saturday March 28 and 10 a.m. at the Cape May Point State Park and Saturday April 4, same time, at Stone Harbor. See the flyer above for more information.

2009 World Series of Birding

Gather up your team! It is time to register for the 26th annual World Series of Birding held on Saturday, May 9th.

The 2009 Game Plan Booklet, Tools, & Forms are all now available online. Even better, this year all forms can be completed electronically and submitted by email - think of all the paper that saves! Completed entry forms are due by April 20th so don't delay!

Join us for North America's premier conservation event and raise $$$ for the conservation cause of your choice!

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE - FRIDAY MARCH 6 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, March 6 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of SNOWY OWL, PEREGRINE FALCON, LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, BONAPARTE'S GULL, NORTHERN GANNET, REDHEAD, KING EIDER, COMMON EIDER, PINE SISKIN, GREAT EGRET, AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, HORNED LARK, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, OSPREY, AMERICAN WOODCOCK, and announcements about CMBO's Optics Sale March 14 and 15 and a change in hours at CMBO-CRE in Goshen.

The Stone Harbor Point SNOWY OWL was seen Thursday March 5 2009, perched on a dune southeast of the viewing platform at 5:50 p.m. A PEREGRINE FALCON was also seen there March 5.

A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was seen at Saint Mary's Jetty in Cape May Point on Sunday March 1 2009. On Friday March 6, several hundred BONAPARTE'S GULLS were there and a significant movement of NORTHERN GANNETS was flying out of Delaware Bay. Several thousand dark-winged SCOTERS continue there as well.

17 REDHEADS were seen at Forsythe NWR on Saturday February 28 2009.

The hen KING EIDER continues at the 8th Street Jetty, Avalon as of Thursday March 5 2009. A COMMON EIDER was also seen there on Saturday February 28 2009. The eiders move around and are sometimes far offshore; it may be necessary to walk out on the jetty to see them.

PINE SISKIN was reported at Cape May Point on Sunday March 1 2009.

A GREAT EGRET is still hanging on at the "Ibis Pond" on the north side of Reeds Beach Road as of Saturday February 28 2009. An AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER was also present at the opening of Bidwell's Creek at the north end of Reed’s Beach on February 28 2009.

9 HORNED LARKS were at the Beanery Monday, March 2 2009. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS were reported along New England Road and at the TNC Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge this week.

A returning OSPREY was reported over Cape May Court House Thursday, March 5.

With recent snow AMERICAN WOODCOCK have been quite visible in southern NJ. On Wednesday, March 4 2009, 18 to 20 American Woodcock were seen shoulder of Sunset Boulevard in Cape May. They have also been reported in scattered yards throughout Cape May County, and displaying along Reed's Beach Road and at Turkey Point, Cumberland County, both on Friday March 6, 2009.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

CMBO'S FOURTEENTH ANNUAL OPTICS SALE will be held on Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the CMBO Center for Research and Education in Goshen. The sale offers a large selection of closeout, demo, factory-refurbished, new, and used optics priced to move. Binoculars and spotting scopes from all major brands will be available. There are no advance or phone orders: first come, first served. Shoppers must belong to NJAS or CMBO to take advantage of these great deals, so join today if you’re not already a member.

******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. NOTE: CRE Days of operation have changed, The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through SATURDAY, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed SUNDAYs and Mondays thru the month of March ******

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 discounts in the stores).

Good luck and good birding!

Snow On The Beach...

I've been waiting over a year for this opportunity to present itself again. Yesterday as many of us in the mid-Atlantic know, was a pretty snowy day. What made this special, in Cape May at least, was the amount of snow that fell. At my house which is about 10 or so miles north of Cape May Point, we received about 8" of snow in about 24 hours. While this may seem like a piddly amount to some of our viewers to the North or in the Mid-West, it is all relative. A snow such as this, for Cape May, is very much comparative to the 2 feet of snow (in a few to 24 hours) blizzards seen in the Mid-West. I have to admit I miss those events!!! But I digress.

Snow depth averaged 8 inches in the less wind blown portions of my yard.

(measuring the snow near my butterfly bush at home.)

I have been waiting for the ability to post a few more snowy Cape May photos just as I did back on December 6,2007, when I wrote Cape May like you've probably nevere seen it. At that time I was reminded by George Myers that I'd neglected to include an interesting shot, and one of seemingly great oxymoron, snow on the beach. Yes, while this does happen, in Cape May it is not often enough for my liking.

This go round I figured rather than posting images of some favored birding locations under snow (there a couple of those images though) I'd show you a slightly different take. Of course this time Georgie, I took some shots of snow on the beach!

Looking down the cove toward Cape May Point from the 2nd Ave. Jetty. Notice the snow on the beach!! I was a day late and a dollar short as much of the snow that fell had already been melted by the high tide or blown away. That and Cape May seemed to only get about half the snow we did near Cape May Court House. It seemed the Island average only about 4-5 inches verses 8-10 only about 10 miles north.

Another look at the cove.

The icy road to Higbee's Beach WMA. I bet it's pretty easy to find a parking place today!

Looking down the main path at Higbee. A few hearty souls (depending on how you look at it)
were out and about enjoying the snow fall yesterday.

Look close, can you tell where I am standing? If you guessed this this the first field at Higbee you are right. The fields were cut last fall. That and it's covered with 4 inches of snow.

Many of you may know this cedar as one of the better places to look for lingering Cape May Warblers. Yep, it's the large cedar in the northwestern corner of the Higbee parking lot.
Suffice to say there were no Cape May Warblers today!

Hidden Valley was mowed as well this past fall/winter.
I wonder where the Bobolink will hang out this spring?

A quick look at the entrance to the Beanery. Yea, it's snow covered here too.
Talk about Winter Birding!

Look! More snow on the beach. Sunset Beach this time though. The snow (and the 15-20 mph 10 degree windchill) make it a bit tough to try and find any Cape May Diamonds.

With a wind out of the NW the wave were churning on the Bay.
What is left of the Concrete Ship is holding tight.

With all the wave action by these coastal storms comes the unavoidable beach erosion.
Sunset Beach seems to have lost a good amount of sand from this storm.
Off to Delaware or points south!