Red Knots, Lesser Black-backs, Pelicans - Stone Harbor Pt.

A visit to Stone Harbor Point at dawn today resulted in a number of seasonal sightings.

A few hundred shorebirds were feeding along the surf line, the majority being Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones, but also in the mix were a few Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers, half a dozen Black-bellied Plovers, 15 "Western" Willets and a couple of Red Knots. A flock of 12 Red Knots were feeding down at the end of the point.

As noted previously, the tern/skimmer colony has been abandoned at Stone Harbor, and amazingly enough, I did not see a single Black Skimmer the entire time I was out there. There was a pretty even split of Common and Royal Terns, with about 100 each between the point, nearshore waters and adjacent sandbars in the inlet. Two adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls flew out of Hereford Inlet separately, and five Brown Pelicans passed by offshore. Some summers are better than others when it comes to seeing pelicans in Cape May, and I'd say that this one has been pretty good.