Fog Lifts

[Black Skimmer, South Cape May Meadows yesterday. Click to enlarge photos.]

I set out O-dark-thirty yesterday to do a bit of dawn sea-watching before the Bird Walk for All People , hoping for shearwaters or storm-petrels in the rips on the falling tide - and found Cape May socked in with fog. Oh well, time for more artsy birds-and-fog pictures. . .

[Missed that time.]

[Is that a Black-necked Stilt ?]

Two Black-necked Stilts appeared through the mist at the meadows, disappearing again by the time Karl Lukens got there. It wound up being a bit of a funny morning with respect to Karl and the stilts, because around 8:00 a.m. I saw them again from the dunes at Cape May Point State Park, and watched them fly southwest way past the lighthouse, out over the bay, then come back again and plop down in front of the hawkwatch just as Karl pulled up. I called Karl to let him know where they were - and the minute we hung up, before he could go look, the stilts took off and flew back towards the meadows and, as far as I know, were not seen again!

[The Great Egrets at the meadows were specializing on apparently abundant American Eels - this one caught 5 in 10 minutes. Karl tells me the meadows were rife with eels before the TNC/Army Corps restoration project, too.]

[Never say die.]

[The Black-necked Stilts in their flyby of Cape May Point State Park. This is likely the same pair that was around earlier this spring - where have they been spending their time?]

[I walked out of the Northwood center around 11:00 a.m. yesterday with an armload of boxes, and almost dropped them when FOUR Mississippi Kites soared over Lily Lake! They swooped and dove over town - this one was over, I mean right over, Pavilion Circle, below treetop level - and shortly before noon Richard Crossley had SEVEN from his house near Pond Creek Marsh. Three were seen later still at the Beanery by Chuck and MJ Slugg.]

[Another one of the Mississippi Kites, this one a bit ragged. All the kites I saw were first summer birds (=second calendar year). Adults have uniform gray underparts with dark tails.]