White-winged Scoter, Kimble's Beach

A White-winged Scoter was bobbing just offshore of Kimble's Beach this evening before eventually swimming up onto the beach. Perhaps this was the same bird seen a few weeks ago by Don Freiday at Norbury's Landing, which is located about five miles south of Kimble's.

There were a number of shorebirds on the beach during the falling tide, with the majority being Ruddy Turnstones and Sanderlings, along with smaller numbers of Semipalmated Sandpipers and a single Western Sandpiper.

A single Bobolink called as it flew over heading north, and a southbound Great Blue Heron came in off the bay. Other birds in the area included a single American Oystercatcher, three Least Terns and a handful of Marsh Wrens along the phragmites edge.

Kimble's Beach is located along the Delaware Bay, about 14 miles north of Cape May Point. It's accessed from Route 47 in Dias Creek, across from the Pantry One food store (about five minutes south of CMBO's Center for Research & Education in Goshen). The road out to the beach is home to the headquarters of Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, and the entire stretch (which features multiple habitat types) offers some of the best "unknown" birding in the area.