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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Misty Thanksgiving Eve

[The Cape May Lighthouse beam cuts the mist at dusk this Thanksgiving Eve.]

Doug Gochfeld, hawk counter today, was finishing up as I arrived at the state park this evening. I believe he matched Melissa's 3 birds yesterday, though he was waffling about counting a Cooper's Hawk that perched for quite some time in the late afternoon. East winds.

A lone Purple Sandpiper foraged on the Concrete Ship this evening, and several Red-throated Loons fished around it. A few Laughing Gulls are still around, tonight following the Cape May-Lewes Ferry.

The state park itself was pretty quiet, as you'd expect in misty rain and near dark, although Fox and other sparrows offered their goodnight calls and even a few songs. A Common Yellowthroat added its decidedly unmusical kjhek, and a Wilson's Snipe flushed scraish-ing along the Red Trail. Hermit Thrushes phewed and whined, Great Blue Herons craarkk-ed. . . during migration or in summer it seems impossible to identify every sound from every bird you hear, but in winter that is a worthy and feasible project. The "duckage" is still around, another set of birds that likes to vocalize at dawn and dusk.

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

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