If you missed the tweet, a pair of Black-necked Stilts appeared in the very foggy South Cape May Meadows this morning, and then reappeared flying over Cape May Point, past the lighthouse and over Delaware Bay, and eventually back toward the meadows. Four Mississippi Kites soaring over Lily Lake around 10:45 this morning as I emerged from the CMBO Northwood Center grew to 7 (!) over Richard Crossley's house, overlooking Pond Creek Marsh, an hour or so later.
The happiest news, though, is via Larry Niles, who I ran into this morning at Northwood. Larry told me (and said I could quote him) that this was the best spring for Delaware Bay Red Knots in the last 13 years of his work on the species, and Ruddy Turnstones, too, with excellent crab spawning, 15,000 Red Knots tabulated on aerial surveys, and the birds making weight rapidly and leaving for the Arctic on time or even a bit earlier than usual. NJA's David Mizrahi told a similar story today about Semipalmated Sandpipers - lots of horseshoe crab eggs, fat birds, and on their way north on time. Keep your fingers crossed, but we might be winning this one.
Photos from this morning will be posted soon, and the bird list from this morning's state park walk is up on Field Trip Reports.
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