Indigo Bunting, Worm-eating, Rosy-gros

[A bird to brighten the day: Karl Lukens photo'd this Rose-breasted Grosbeak at his feeders in Cape May Point this morning.]

An Indigo Bunting was at Belleplain near the headquarters this morning, according to Janet Crawford, and Karen Johnson had a Worm-eating Warbler was along Tom Field Road, the sand road off Sunset near the bridge in Belleplain.

The CMBO walk at Cape May Point State Park also had an Indigo Bunting: "Damp, showery, and cool this morning for the CMBO Cape May Point Walk. Sea watching produced numerous close Gannets, as well as Black and Surf Scoters, and a couple of Red-throated Loons. A number of Dolphin were also in close. Several Osprey with fish, and numerous Barn and N. Rough-winged Swallows over Lily Lake. A Cattle Egret was found in the reeds at the juncture of Lighthouse Pond east and west, and a male Indigo Bunting was along the entrance Rd. to the State Park! A Rose-breasted Grosbeak was sighted after the walk at my driveway feeder on Sea Grove Ave.
- Karl (Warren, Tom)"

We also had a Rose-breasted Grosbeak here at the CRE feeders today.

I walked Cook's Beach Road this morning. This road, just north of the Cape May County Mosquito Commission Office's along Route 47, runs out to the bay and is a fine (though bumpy) alternative to Reed's Beach for viewing shorebirds, when they're in. Which they were not, not along the bay anyhow (I hear numbers like 4,000 about the shorebirds at Heislerville lately), but the road has other redeeming values. It's lousy with Seaside Sparrows and Clapper Rails, for one thing, and Willets, and Marsh Wrens out towards the end, and usually pocked with ibis and egrets, which it was. Both Merlin and Sharp-shinned Hawk flew by in (probable) migrating flights northward along the bay, and a White-eyed Vireo sang back at me everytime I imitated the "tschak" that starts the typical WEVI song.