Turkey Weekend Rarity Roundup

Last weekend birders in Cumberland and Cape May counties took to the field in an effort to find any rare birds that may have arrived on the strong southwest and northwest winds that prevailed in the weeks prior.  The date was a bit late for the ‘peak’ rarity season (usually early November) but after reading the reports from Maryland and Maine, where roundups had already occurred, how could we not join in the fun?

A little over a week ago I sent out an email probe to see who might be interested in participating and was immediately met with a few enthusiastic candidates. Clay Sutton seemed particularly excited about the prospect of coordinating Cumberland County and he immediately rallied the local troops north of the Delaware Bay shore.  Down here in Cape May we had a dozen or so participants commit to covering various locations throughout the three-day weekend. While no mega rarities were found, we did turn up a few good November birds. Interestingly we dipped on Ash Throated Flycatcher for the weekend, even after one was seen just before and after the roundup weekend. Such is the world of birds.

Regardless, it was a great excuse to get out into some less-frequented habitat and see what was around. Next year we plan to hold our second annual Cape Cumberland Rarity Roundup on the weekend of 11/11/11… that date just screams rarity, does it not? Mark your calendars!

Thanks to everyone who pulled together to get this thing rolling despite all of the holiday responsibilities. For an inaugural event it was clearly a success.

Here are our highlights from the weekend (in no particular order):

SEDGE WREN – 2, possibly 3, seen at Turkey Creek (Lord, Dunne)

COMMON REDPOLL – 1 west end of Hidden Valley (Dowdell)

BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE – adult flyby seen from the Hawkwatch platform at the Cape May State Park (O’Brien)

CAVE SWALLOW – seemingly everywhere during the weekend, including >70 roosting at Congress Hall in downtown Cape May

LITTLE GULL – adult flying south seen from Avalon Seawatch (Gochfeld)

GRASSHOPPER SPARROW – a late bird found in the Schellenger Tract of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge (Reed)

ROSS’S GOOSE – Bay Point Marsh (Keller)

DICKCISSAL – Newport Landing Rd. (C & P Sutton)
Eurasian Wigeon - Lighthouse Pond, Cape May State Park (Garland)

Long-eared Owl – 2 in Maurice River Township (K.F. Johnson & B. Johnson)

Razorbill – Avalon Seawatch (Kolbe)

Baltimore Oriole - Singing at Higbee's (K & R Horn)

White-breasted Nuthatch – appears to be an invasion year, with several sighted on Cape Island (Elia, K & R Horn; a ‘good bird’ for the island) and many more just north of the canal in places like the Villas WMA (>12; La Puma)

Northern Goshawk – almost a regular bird this fall in Cape May, the one found over the weekend was at East Point on the Delaware Bay shore (K.F. & B. Johnson)

Marbled Godwit  - 11 flying over Stone Harbor (Freiday)

Fox Sparrows, Winter Shorebirds and Another Mystery Bird

[Dwarf Dunlin: Western Sandpiper, right foreground, with Dunlin on the beach at Stone Harbor Point Sunday. Click to enlarge photos.]

Hard to believe it's the last day of the hawkwatch. Doug Gochfeld and I were talking about the season as we watched the non-flight this morning (southeast winds). This season had it all, it seems, everything Cape May is known for - huge Monarch migration, several major and one epic passerine flight, a great hawk migration (47,537 raptors were counted as of yesterday), a record Red-throated Loon day at the seawatch. We'll have tales to tell in the 2011 Pergrine Observer, that's for sure.

The bird of today was Fox Sparrow, at least for me. At one point I had 7 in one tree at Hidden Valley, and laid eyes on at least 40 all told, a few of which were singing and many of which gave their distinctive, high-pitched seep.

Sunday at Stone Harbor I had a dozen shorebird species, not bad for late November: Black-bellied Plover, Semipalmated Plover, American Oystercatcher, Greater Yellowlegs, "Western" Willet, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Western Sandpiper, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, and dowitcher "sp." Most of these were at Stone Harbor Point, on the beach or jetties not so far up and down from the access at the Second Avenue parking lot.

[These 11 Marbled Godwits seemed not to be local, flying high and due south over Stone Harbor Sunday.]

[Somebody was asking me about telling Black-bellied Plover from American Golden-plover the other day.  The issue disappears with flying or spread-wing views. Black-bellieds famously have black "armpits," not visible here, but also have white rumps and obvious wing stripes while goldens are plain above. Beware juvenile Black-bellies, like this one at Stone Harbor Sunday, which can be every bit as spangled and golden as a golden-plover.] 

[The next "mystery bird." Photographed in NJ on Saturday.]

Cave Swallows continue...

Having been away in South Carolina for Thanksgiving (a great excuse to visit the amazing Congaree Swamp as well as relatives), this morning was my first opportunity to pay homage to the Cave Swallows at Congress Hall. Having heard that the birds didn't appear to be in good shape over the last couple of days, I feared the worst, but came away with mixed feelings. I met Stephen Bagen first off and heard how one of the swallows had fallen from a ledge and literally passed away in his hands in the frosty cold of early morning, while the plight of the swallows seemed to have been made worse by the presence of a chunky adult female Cooper's Hawk that was not to be detered from an easy lunch.

Adult female Cooper's Hawk at Congress Hall this morning. [Photo by Mike Crewe]

However, fortunes were mixed for the Cave Swallows, and it is nice to be able to report that at least six were flying seemingly quite strongly, further along the beach front near the Sea Crest Inn and enjoyed some warm sunshine as they preened from a nearby balcony.

A Cave Swallow sallies out after what few bugs may be lurking around the Seaside Goldenrod. [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Picking up on Michael O'Brien's earlier comments on Cave Swallow molt timings, this young bird clearly shows the suspended molt that Michael mentioned; note the mixture of old, brownish feathers and new, blackish feathers on crown, wing coverts and in the primaries (inner two new). Note also how badly soiled the tail and primaries are, but this shows that the 'stacking' of birds seen in Doug's video was a good strategy and probably helped this individual to survive. [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Things were quiet elsewhere, but Doug seemed to be having a reasonable day at the Hawkwatch Platform (a nice adult Bald Eagle passed over when I dropped in lunchtime), Lighthouse Pond remains full of ducks and Northern Gannets were constantly in view over The Rips - so there's planty to keep us all busy!!

Don't forget, Tuesday will be the last official day of the Hawkwatch for 2010 so if you are in the area, do drop by and see Melissa and Doug and thank them for a job well done (they might appreciate a doughnut too!).

The Ash-throated train keeps rolling!

[Click on image(s) to see larger version(s).]

Chris Vogel found the season's fourth Ash-throated Flycatcher this morning, this one at Hidden Valley and photographed nicely (above) by Karl Lukens. There was some suggestion that there were two individuals present there, but this went unconfirmed. Doug Gochfeld noted two Baltimore Orioles in the junipers at the State Park and Tom Reed reported a light-morph Rough-legged Hawk (presumably a juvenile) from Jake's Landing.

I spent most of the day in Delaware waters doing at-sea bird surveys, but did take an awful lot of pictures of the spectacular sunset this evening while coming into Cape May harbor. The below picture is taken from the boat while between the two jetties. The subject is not simply the sunset, but the spectacle of gobs of Northern Gannets attacking baitfish with hopes of getting a little bedtime snack. I counted at least 106 gannets in this picture, and this picture represents less than a quarter of the field of veiw that contained foraging gannets.

And more. . .

[Mark Garland photographed this Cave Swallow showing signs of molt. Michael O'Brien's comments on it follow: ". . . this is typical for a first year Cave. All seem to be in suspended molt right now, in varying stages. This one has new (dark) inner primaries and old outers. Some are a bit farther along, others still show full juv primaries. Adults would have all fresh primaries right now. As far as I know I have never seen an adult Cave Swallow in Cape May."]

And More Cave Swallows

Doug Gochfeld took this footage of Cave Swallows roosting at Congress Hall.


http://vimeo.com/17249494 from Doug Gochfeld on Vimeo.

more Cave Swallows

While some of the Cave Swallows that roosted along the Cape May beachfront perished in cold temperatures overnight, a number of them survived to fly another day. Doug Gochfeld (above with some of the swallows) and others kept tabs on the birds last night and early this morning. Throughout the day, the hawkwatch in Cape May Point State Park was rarely without a small group of Cave Swallows zipping around.

More Cave Swallow news

Karl Lukens provided the above photo of Cave Swallows at Congress Hall in Cape May around 1:30 pm. Doug Gochfeld reported a rough estimate of 75 there around 3 pm, but said that it was difficult to count them in the tight heat-conserving mass in which the birds were perched, though he could count at least 55 tails.

Up-to-the-minute Cave Swallow news

Richard Crossley just reported 30 Cave Swallows at Congress Hall in Cape May.

Recent news

Now that I've got your attention....

Yesterday's first day of the 'Rarities Roundup' weekend that might become a tradition here, produced a reasonable number of birds of interest, though little of true rarity. The above-pictured Long-eared Owl was found by Steve Bauer at an undisclosed (as is typical for this venue) location on Cape Island (photo copyright by Tony Leukering; click on image to see larger version). Observers on the bayshore noted a strong movement of Red-throated Loons (e.g., 44 passing Miami Beach in five minutes around 9:30 am), while the Seawatch scored Harlequin Duck, Little Gull, and Razorbills. As was the case on the previous day, Cave Swallow was the dominant species of hirundine present. In fact, it may have been the only species of swallow noted, with up to 12 being seen (those coming into roost at the Congress Hall; noted by Kathy and Roger Horn), but with the species being seen at numerous Cape Island locales and at the Seawatch. The most interesting bird of the day, however, was the single Common Redpoll noted by Jim Dowdell among a large flock of American Goldfinches at the third field (westernmost) at Hidden Valley.

So far this morning, Michael O'Brien noted an adult Black-legged Kittiwake flying past the Hawkwatch, of all places, while Tom Reed found a Grasshopper Sparrow at the Schellenger tract of Cape May NWR among a host of gun-toting hunters. Vince Elia reported that two Cave Swallows were flying around behind Lucky Bones (Melissa Roach reports the species from the Hawkwatch, too) and Glen Davis noted a Northern Goshawk at Tuckahoe. The Seawatch, though experiencing a less-than-steller flight today, still has scored a fly-by Red-necked Grebe and the lingering adult male Harlequin Duck.

Cape Birding Hotline 11-25-2010

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightingsATbirdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory
URL: http://www.njaudubon.org ; http://www.birdcapemay.org

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday, November 25, 2010. Highlights this week include sightings of ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, BLACK-HEADED GULL, ICELAND GULL, CLAY-COLORED SPARROW, YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT

An ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER was seen in the 3rd field of Higbee Beach on Thursday, November 25th, 2010.

An adult BLACK-HEADED GULL flew south past the Seawatch on Thursday, November 25th, 2010.

An immature ICELAND GULL was observed flying slowly south past the Seawatch on Monday, November 22nd, 2010.

A CLAY-COLORED SPARROW was located in the 3rd field of Higbee Beach on Sunday, November 21, 2010.

A YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT was found at the entrance to the fields at Higbee Beach WMA on Saturday, November 20th, 2010.



-For up-to-the-minute Cape May sightings information, photos and downloadable birding maps and checklist of Cape May, visit www.birdcapemay.org . Follow rarity sightings, many spring arrivals, and spectacles on www.twitter.com/CMBObirds -

.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

******CMBO FALL HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Sundays and Mondays. ******

The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discounts in the stores).

Good Luck, Good Birding and Happy Thanksgiving!

Goshawks!

Here are some photos from a great recent goshawk "experience" at the Cape May Point hawkwatch. 22 goshawks have been tallied so far on the Fall 2010 hawkwatch; I think that all but one so far have been juveniles.

After a few brief, teasing glimpses from afar, we were rewarded with a goshawk right in our faces (!)- this juvenile popped out of the close line of cedars in front of the hawkwatch platform and zoomed by, heading straight for the ducks on Bunker Pond.

While chasing after some teal and shovelers on the water, the gos banked so we had a great look at its upperside. In addition to shape and large size, the bold whitish bars on the greater coverts (the middle part of the inner wing here) and the wavy tail bands are great goshawk field marks (though at this close a range, the bird left NO doubt as to its identity).

After hassling the ducks for a minute, the goshawk flared up and circled a few times over the pond before retreating to a treetop perch. Goshawks often give birders a hard time with identification in the southern part of their range where we don't see them that often and where Cooper's Hawks and Sharp-shinned Hawks are enormously more common. Frequently, big juvenile Cooper's Hawks (and sometimes Red-shouldered Hawks too) are misidentified as goshawks. With a good look though, the reverse identification pitfall can usually be avoided. In this photo, the bird displays a curious shape, somewhat of a hybrid buteo/ accipiter pose with a thick tail and broad wings; experienced hawkwatchers might simply say that this is "the goshawk shape", but in any event, a real goshawk is pretty hard to confuse with a typical common accipiter (a Cooper's or a Sharp-shinned here in Cape May) given a solid view.

Seawatch (Iceland Gull, Red-throated Loons & Gannets), Hawkwatch (Golden, Gos, Tundra) and No One is Immune From Questioning (Clay-colored Sparrow)

[In just this photo taken from the Cape May Point State Park Hawk watch Sunday, ~ 120 Northern Gannets. Click to enlarge photos.]

The story yesterday (Sunday) was the Avalon Seawatch, and the place to read about it is Steve Kolbe's account on View From the Field, though the action offshore was certainly visible pretty much anywhere along the coast. In the hour or so I spent at the seawatch yesterday afternoon, a Red-necked Grebe (picked by Doug Gochfeld), several small flocks of White-winged Scoters, and 4 Common Eiders spiced the incredible passage of Northern Gannets, Red-throated Loons, and scoters. Steve just (10:43 a.m. Monday) had an immature Iceland Gull fly south past the seawatch.

The hawkwatch wasn't so bad yesterday, either. Tom Johnson was crossing the parking lot at the state park shouting "Goshawk!" as I got out of my car, while a Peregrine circled over Melissa's head above the platform.

Melissa was fiddling with her gloves and hood as the Peregrine circled, and I busted on her when I walked up: "Hey counter, did you get this bird or what?" Her reply was something to the effect of having been on that Peregrine since it was over Cape May City. . . which is often the case, the counter picking and clicking a bird before peanut gallery types like me know.

[An about face from usual, this family group of Tundra Swans landed on on Bunker Pond yesterday and not only ignored the aggressive Mute Swans, but actually seemed to turn the tables for a time. Notice the slim necks on the Tundras, the 3 foreground birds. When Mute Swans arc their wings, they aren't trying to look pretty. Think of the display like that of an angry or alarmed dog raising its hair.]

[Eventually the Tundra Swans flew off, but we were watching a Golden Eagle at the time and didn't see what happened. Note the juvenile in the middle, with the pink bill. Back in the day, I used to worry about telling immature "Whistling" (now Tundra) Swans from immature Mutes. The field guides show the similar bills (Mute's is black at the base) but the birds are shaped quite differently - Tundras are skinny-necked and short-tailed.]

[Repeat Golden - this eagle was seen yesterday and the day before, told by the long central tail feathers on this particular individual.]


I was working Higbee Beach for Orange-crowned Warbler yesterday morning (unsuccessfully), and a Clay-colored Sparrow popped up from the sorghum in the third field. After taking a few photos with my loaner camera, I texted it to the locals and then looked at the shots. . .to realize that I had been photographing the moon last night, never reset the exposure, and my "confirming" photos were underexposed 2.5 stops and essentially black!

Meanwhile, Vince Elia shows up and we look for the bird and can't refind it. Later on the hawkwatch, I got a litle razzing. . ."Yeah, well, I saw Don's truck at Higbee and was hoping when the text message came through it would be him with something good, and it was, but then we couldn't find the bird, and he said he took pictures but there was something wrong with the camera, hmm. . ." I said "I thought I had some 'street cred' around here. . ." All in good fun, of course, but I wouldn't blame anyone for asking questions about a rare bird.  It's getting late for Clay-colored, though there are a very few winter records.

[Thank-you, Adobe Lightroom. Recovered photo of a Clay-colored Sparrow, in the sorghum in the third field at Higbee Beach WMA yesterday. Like other Spizella sparrows, this one was small, small-billed and long-tailed. Key marks on Clay-colored included an obvious buffy wash across the breast and white malar (jaw stripe) bracketed by obvious "mustache" and lateral throat stripes. The central breast spot, by the way, was there and not an artifact, a reminder that central breast-spots can show up on birds that aren't supposed to have them. I noticed Sibley put a breast spot on his non-breeding Clay-colored, while if you relied on the National Geographic and Kaufman guides you'd think something was amiss.]

Cape May (Another Eider Year?) and Brig

[Any yellow in November is good yellow - Tiff Kersten had this Yellow-breasted Chat at Higbee Beach WMA just inside the entrance to the fields yesterday.]

Tony had a nice batch of waterbirds at Poverty Beach including 47 (!) Common Eiders, all three scoters, 2 Great Gormorants and 2 Royal Terns.  Poverty Beach is the beach north of Cape May City, including the pilings off the Coast Guard Station, where you can't go but which can be scoped legally from the south.

A Northern Goshawk was seen perched at the Cape May Point State Park Hawk watch.

A trip around the dike loop at Brigantine a.k.a. Forsythe NWR yesterday afternoon featured birds with upturned bills, including 4 American Avocets in Turtle Cove, looking south from the south dike observation tower, nicely spotted by Kathy Horn. It was a low low tide thanks to the full moon, and the long-legged American Avocets were way out with the ducks in the cove. The other upturned bill was in front of a Hudsonian Godwit that flew over us on the north dike, giving a single-sylallable call. The godwit settled on the marsh a couple hundred yards north of the north dike. A flock of 25 Snow Buntings bounced around various bare rocky patches between the north dike and the channel north of it.

Brig was packed with ducks, especially Green-winged Teal and Northern Pintail, which were in the thousands, as were American Black Ducks, not mention 50+ Tundra Swans, including some pink-billed juvs. I hear 18 Tundra Swans flew over the South Cape May Meadows today.

By climbing the south dike observation tower at Brig and looking north over the west pool, scoping over the dike that runs through the center, it was possible to see a neat mixed flock that contained 17 Canvasbacks, Ring-necked Ducks, a few American Wigeon, and both scaup. The duck mix was further spiced by Hooded and Red-breasted Mergansers, Wood Duck,  Ruddy Ducks, and Bufflehead, all scattered throughout the refuge.

We ran into the group headed by Scott Barnes and Lloyd Shaw from SHBO, who had Cave, Rough-winged, and, rarest for the latest of the season, Bank Swallow, plus a Least Sandpiper.  Nobody seems to have found the American Golden-plover reported at Brig earlier in the week, nor did we find any Rough-legged Hawks, though multiple Bald Eagles were evident most of the time and a couple Merlins blew past.

Scoters, Eiders and the Mystery Bird is. . .

[Hauled out adult male White-winged Scoters are not stock items.  Karl Lukens photographed this one off St. Peter's in Cape May Point yesterday. Click to enlarge photos.]


All three scoters and several Common Eiders were off St. Peters in Cape May Point yesterday. Speaking of sea ducks, there is still room on our Harlequin Romance field trip to Barnegat Light on Saturday, December 4.  I've led this trip annually for what seems like forever. . .and over the years, besides the guaranteed Purple Sandpipers and Harlequins, have had Black-legged Kittewake, both white-winged gulls, Razorbill. . . it's a good spot.

Our annual Kick Off Your Year List in Cape May trip - New Year's Day, of course -  also has spaces open. 

Now, for the Mystery Bird:

[Not white, just completely blown out by the flash. Big headed. Short winged. And. . .are those eyes? What on earth has eyes set so far back on the head??]

[Why, American Woodcock, of course, like this one last January, in Beaver Swamp, looking away. . . or is that looking at me? Because one must be cautious with photos, I can't swear the outer primaries are narrow on the "mystery photo," but they sure look needlelike, which indicates male - the male's twittering sound during their display flight is produced mechanically, by air flowing between the outer primaries. A number of readers correctly identified the bird. Click to enlarge.]

Cape May Birding Hotline 11-18-2010

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightingsATbirdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory
URL: http://www.njaudubon.org ; http://www.birdcapemay.org

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday, November 18, 2010. Highlights this week include sightings of ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, WESTERN KINGBIRD, EURASIAN WIGEON, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, KING EIDER

The ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER was last reported from Cape May Point State Park on Saturday, November 13th, 2010, at the big wooden gate along the blue trail.

The WESTERN KINGBIRD was last reported at the intersection of Sunset and Columbia in West Cape May on Saturday, November 13th, 2010.

A drake EURASIAN WIGEON has been frequenting both the East and West sections of Lighthouse Pond, and was last reported on Friday, November 12th, 2010.

A juvenile BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE was seen heading south from the Ferry Terminal on Sunday, November 14th, 2010.

A young male KING EIDER briefly joined a flock of Common Eiders at the Avalon Seawatch on Tuesday, November 16th, 2010.


-For up-to-the-minute Cape May sightings information, photos and downloadable birding maps and checklist of Cape May, visit www.birdcapemay.org . Follow rarity sightings, many spring arrivals, and spectacles on www.twitter.com/CMBObirds -

.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

******CMBO FALL HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Sundays and Mondays. ******

The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discounts in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

If You Want to Take a Stab. . .

If you think you know what the mystery bird below is, feel free to send an email with your i.d. to the address above for reporting sightings. I've gotten a few guesses, or should I say identifications, already, including a couple correct ones.

Otters, Mystery Bird Clues, Photography Ruminations

Mike Crewe had 3 River Otters on Lily Lake yesterday, pretty much the only report of note, though I see Melissa broke the Bald Eagle season record yesterday with the 478th in an otherwise lackluster flight, and Doug had Purple Sandpipers et. al. in an also lackluster flight at the Avalon Seawatch. Remember to check View From the Field for count results.

On the Mystery Bird (below), clue #1 is: it's not white. This is actually not such a hard i.d., in part because we know where it is (New York State), can see the habitat, and know the date and time from the trail camera data at the bottom. That's a big deal. I know my first questions when someone calls me with a bird I.D. question are "where did you see it?" followed by "how big was it?" and "what was it doing?"

Since I'm still without my camera (though I've been experimenting with a very nice loaner of a different brand), I've been reflecting on bird photography, which has been taking off as digital SLR cameras and lenses get better, if not cheaper. Birding festivals pack busses with photographers on field trips. So what does this mean to birding?

Call me a Luddite, but I definitely don't think birding is going to become identification of birds in photos (others have said/complained this) because that's just not as much fun as watching real birds, but I do have a theory on birding ability and success as it relates to photography. As long as you continue to look at birds in the field, photography (or looking at photos) will make you better. Since I re-started photographing birds about a year ago after a long lapse (once upon a time, when cameras still used film. . . ), birding has been in a bit of a renaissance for me.  The best I can explain is that taking pictures, or rather studying them after, is like suddenly learning to draw - all those details laid bare for lengthy examination might not equal processing them in the field and putting them on paper, but photos make a fair substitute.

The downside is this: if you just take pictures and don't watch birds in the field, besides having less fun, you will never develop an appreciation of subtle movements like tail pumps, wing flicks, head turns, hops, runs, wingbeats, speed, diving motion, and on and on, and will also have trouble judging size in the field and therefore trouble applying this most important field mark. Also, although some photos do a fine job of displaying typical bird shapes, many (most?) seem to catch birds in positions that don't translate well into what we see in the field. I often find myself going through a sequence of photos of a bird saying "they don't look like that, they don't look like that, nope, nope. . ." until I'll hit one that jumps out at me: "THAT's what they look like!" Also, with digital post-processing of photos, one occasionally sees photographs where the colors or ligthness/darkness are not true to what we see in the field, something that will go unnoticed by observers who haven't watched live birds.

And finally. . .photos don't call.

Coming soon: BIRD NAKED!

Lessback + Something a Little Different

[Lesser Black-backed Gull (left) in an argument with Herring Gull, Cape May this week.  Lesser Black-backed Gulls are often found right next to the water, so look there if you don't find one roosting with the other gulls higher up on the sand. Note the head streaking on both birds, a winter or "basic" plumage feature absent on Great Black-backed Gulls. Photo by Mike Hannisian, click to enlarge.]

The NJ Chapter of the Wildlife Society met up at Assunpink yesterday for a valuable but sobering program featuring the gulf oil spill and oil spills in general, with presentations by staff members of Tri-state Bird Rescue and the US Fish and Wildlife Service who had been there.

At lunch, Dr. Jim Applegate (Cook College, Rutgers - retired) brought forth the photo below and challenged the group to identify it:

[Mystery creature, taken with an automatic trail camera in New York State. Lessons learned the hard way when it comes to photos lead me to first advise: figure out how any photo might be messing with you. Meaning, analyze what is real, what is unnatural, and what is artifact. Identifying photos of birds is a different skill than identifying birds. We think we know what this is, down to the sex. . .in fact, like so many things, the answer is obvious once you know it. Answer will be fothcoming.]

Fogbound + Brig

We managed 40 species in the pea soup at the South Cape May Meadows on the last of that weekly walk for 2010. The birds were not without interest - a flock of 20+ Lesser Scaup had dropped into the plover pond, and ~ 5 "Ipswich" Savannah Sparrows ran about amidst the beach grass near the pools left by recent flooding tides. These were the first of this race I've seen, or heard about, this fall. The full lists from this as well as the various weekend field trips are up on Field Trip Reports.

 [American Avocets at Brigantine Saturday, photo by Marvin Hyett.]

[Someone on today's meadows trip asked what Snow Buntings look like . . . the color has been described as toasted marshmellow. Photo by Marvin Hyett, taken at Brigantine on Saturday.]


It might be a good time for a trip to Brigantine a.ka. Forsythe NWR, Brigantine Division where (I hear from the Sluggs) there were 2 dark morph Rough-legged Hawks yesterday, and American Avocets continue through at least Saturday, 5 from the south dike and another in the northwest pool, according to Marvin Hyett.

Sky stuff and Cooter details

[Click on image(s) to see larger version(s).]

First off, the International Space Station put on a good show for Cape May-area birders and other residents and visitors shortly after sunset last night, making a relatively high-above-the-horizon, four-minute crossing of Cape May air space; I was joined by the La Puma family; friends of theirs from Miami, FL; and Scott Whittle (sans Monkey) on the Hawkwatch platform to watch the spectacle. For those interested in viewing this amazing technological wonder, the ISS overflight schedule can be consulted for your particular area.

Secondly, if you enjoy looking at the moon, better take a good ogle soon, as the high-level winds today were scouring the moon, eroding it off into the sky! One can see from the above picture that it's already half gone!

Finally, I thought a bit of Cooter info would be of interest.



The above bird is Cooter, the coot-eating Great Black-backed Gull about whom/which various of your Bird Cape May bloggers have written. While it's foraging habits have been oft-discussed, I wish to point out how to identify him/her away from coot carcasses. Note Cooter's very ragged secondaries (the inner wing feathers on the trailing edge of the wing). Also note the pink arrow, which is pointing to the tip of the currently-growing-but-still-very-short 9th primary (p9). It will grow to be longer than the next primary inward, so it's got a ways to go. Also note that the outermost primary (p10) is not at all in evidence as yet (the picture was taken today), so the old feather has only recently been dropped and the new feather has not yet emerged from behind the primary coverts.

As with most species of birds that molt all of their flight feathers in a given year (in a single pre-basic molt), once an individual Great Black-backed Gull nears completion of its primary molt, it instigates molt of its secondaries. We can count inward from p9 (p8, p7... through p1) to see on both wings that the outer few secondaries have been replaced (clean, unworn white tips). We can also see that the remainder of the secondaries on the bird's right wing are trashed (I guarantee that those on the left are nearly identical) -- much more so than is typical for an adult gull. One might surmise that upside-down and kicking American Coots might create that sort of damage, but that would be sheer speculation. Not bad speculation, but speculation none-the-less.

Below, find a picture of another adult Great Black-backed Gull that, like Cooter, flew over the Hawkwatch platform today. This bird has nearly completed its entire flight-feather molt (and, by extension, it's entire pre-basic molt), with p10 being nearly full-grown; the pink arrow points to the very terminus of the extensive white tip to that feather -- the feather has very little growing left to do.

The point of all this, is that Cooter's state of flight-feather molt and its trashed secondaries enable her/him to be identified away from its coot-hunting grounds on Lighthouse Pond. In fact, Cooter is seen most days flying from Lighthouse Pond southeast past the platform to either hang out on the dock on the south side of Bunker Pond and/or bathe in Bunker Pond. Of course, once Cooter finishes the replacement of those ragged secondaries, she/he will once again become difficult to pick out of the pack by plumage, though, perhaps, its habits and schedule will remain consistent.

Three of Our Own

Presumably many readers are members of the ABA - that's the American Birding Association, of course - and therefore have received, or will soon receive the November, 2010 issue of Birding. If you're not an ABA member (and if you are reading this blog you should be a member of ABA as well as CMBO), you can read about the next issue on the multi-authored ABA Blog , and therefore about two Cape May'ers. One you already know, through this blog - just scroll down to Tony Leukering's latest great post on recent cool birds in Cape May, with photos. Tony's Birding article deals with large white-headed gulls, and as Ted Floyd puts it, "Tony cuts to the chase, proposes a simple idea, and leaves the rest to the reader. And if you are one of the handful of authentic larophiles out there, listen up: It is possible, as Tony demonstrates, to get an idea across without laborious treatises on tertial fringes and primary “mirrors”—whatever those are."

You don't have to look too long at the November Birding to find the other Cape May'er - Louise Zemaitis created the Savannah Sparrow art for the cover! Everyone knows Louise, or should - whether via the Monarch Migration Project, a VENT tour, or a CMBO workshop.

And finally, near native (formerly just across the bay, now off to Colorado) Jeff Gordon recently assumed the presidency of ABA - one more reason to join, 'cause with Jeff at the helm, it's going to be good!

Updates + Chickadees + More on the Flight of the Millenium

The Ash-throated Flycatcher at Cape May Point State Park continues on the red trail through Saturday afternoon, per Kathy Horn. The last report of the Western Kingbird along Sunset Boulevard I am aware of is from Friday.

I had business in north Jersey the past couple days, and at least some of the widespread Black-capped Chickadee movement seemed evident, with a flock of 10 consorting in a single tree in a Clinton hotel parking lot and another flock of 15-20 moving along a woods edge north of Spruce Run reservoir. It was a good chance for a refresher on my "home" chickadee - having spent most of my life in Black-capped range, Cape May's Carolina Chickadees still seem tiny, drab, with a hyper chick-a-dee-dee-dee call. This is a difficult i.d. to be sure, but if you've seen a lot of both (and bothered to look at them), a Black-capped in Carolina-land will jump out at you.

For a fun read, check out Doug Gochfeld's review of the epic October 29-30 flight on View from the Field - scroll down to the November 14 posts to find it, and while you're at it, see what's been happening at the sea watch and hawk watch courtesy of Steve and Melissa.

Where am I?

[All photos copyright by Tony Leukering. Click on image(s) to see larger versions.]

Where can one see these two species...





... plus this one...



... and this one...



... and this one...



... in the same place? Tough enough, that, what with Bald and Golden eagles, Northern Goshawk, Western Kingbird, and Ash-throated Flycatcher. Certainly it could be done in at least a few places in the West, but what about on the same date? That would be just slightly trickier, but in no way insurmountable. Now, let's add another species...



... Eurasian Wigeon. But, how about we make one more condition: that single date has to be in November, specifically, Veteran's Day, 11 November.

Now, that ain't easy! Regardless, I'm going to add one more stipulation, one has to see this species, too....



Obviously, this being the Bird Cape May blog, the answer must be Cape May. But, really, where else could it be done? For me, the truly interesting thing about all this is that none of these species are truly eyebrow-raising here. Oh, certainly, Ash-throated Flycatcher and, particularly, Cave Swallow, used to be considered true accidentals, but we dab Cape May hands actually EXPECT to see those in November each year now.

Finally, except for the Western Kingbird, I didn't have to leave Cape May Point State Park to nab all of 'em. All three raptors were photographed from the Hawkwatch platform, the Ash-throated Flycatcher (presumably the one first found two days ago near the lighthouse by Mike Crewe) was along the Blue Trail beyond the bridge, the immature male Eurasian Wigeon was on West Lighthouse Pond, and the Cave Swallow was the single bird of the species that we could find today from the platform.

Did I say 'finally?' I'm much too verbose to be ending things this soon. No, I wanted to converse about white in Golden Eagles and ageing Western (and other) Kingbirds. The above juvenile Golden Eagle sports the most white I've ever seen on a Golden Eagle, and I've seen a fair few of 'em. Conversely, the fourth-year Bald Eagle pictured above exhibits just about the least amount of white I've seen on a Bald Eagle!

Now, finally (seriously), ageing members of the genus Tyrannus. The age of individuals of all species of kingbird (including Scissor-tailed and Fork-tailed flycatchers) is determinable by studying the bird's outer primaries. On adults, these feathers are notched, that is, with the trailing edge of the feather cut out -- quite strongly in males, while juveniles sport more typical rounded primaries. One can see this feature in the picture above, but one can just look at the picture below, too.



In the above, the Western Kingbird that Steve Kolbe found yesterday along Sunset Drive in West Cape May (and which was still present today) has the rounded outer-primary shape diagnostic of a juvenile, while the right image shows an adult Cassin's Kingbird (photo taken on the Baja Peninsula years ago) with the very pointed outer primaries typical of an adult kingbird. In this case the bird is probably a female, because males sport even more deeply-notched primaries.

Cape May Birding Hotline 11-11-2010

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightingsATbirdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory
URL: http://www.njaudubon.org ; http://www.birdcapemay.org

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday, November 11, 2010. Highlights this week include sightings of ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, EVENING GROSBEAK, LARK SPARROW, WESTERN KINGBIRD, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, KING EIDER

An ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER was found at Cape May Point State Park on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010 and was last seen there near the big gate located on the Blue Trail, on Thursday, November 11, 2010.

An EVENING GROSBEAK was seen at a private feeder in Cumberland County on Sunday, November 7th, 2010.

A LARK SPARROW was found near the Cape May Point State Park butterfly gardens, located south of the restrooms, and was last seen there on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010.

A WESTERN KINGBIRD was found on a wire at the intersection of Sunset blvd. and Columbia Ave. in West Cape May on Wednesday, November 10th, 2010, and was last seen there on Thursday, November 11, 2010.

2 LAPLAND LONGSPURS were observed flying around the Cape May Point State Park “Bunker” on Saturday, November 6th, 2010, and one was seen on a dune crossing at CMPSP on Tuesday, November 9th, 2010.

A GRASSHOPPER SPARROW was reported at the Villas WMA on Saturday, November 6th, 2010.

A KING EIDER and a HARLEQUIN DUCK were seen at Cape May NWR’s Two Mile Beach Unit’s jetty on Friday, November 5th, 2010.


-For up-to-the-minute Cape May sightings information, photos and downloadable birding maps and checklist of Cape May, visit www.birdcapemay.org . Follow rarity sightings, many spring arrivals, and spectacles on www.twitter.com/CMBObirds -



ANNOUNCEMENTS:

******CMBO FALL HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open daily, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Saturday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Sundays and Mondays. ******

The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discounts in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

Small vagrant wave continues

Steve Kolbe found a Western Kingbird along Sunset Boulevard in West Cape May about half an hour ago (near the intersection of Sunset and Columbia at the northeast corner of TNC's Migratory Bird Refuge) - the bird is hawking insects from the utility wires along the road and being quite vocal, "kip"-ing frequently. Along with a pulse of Cave Swallows, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and Lark Sparrow in the last three days, I think we can call this the first real push of western vagrants of November. I wonder what else is out there waiting to be found!

Bluebirds, Lark Sparrow

[The bird with the sky on its back and the earth on its breast: Clay Sutton found these Eastern Bluebirds promoting CMBO programs at the Beanery on Sunday. Click to enlarge photos.]

We're at the height of Eastern Bluebird migration, and though by far most (sometimes hundreds per day) are detected flying overhead, often by their mellow chur-lee or chur i-lee flight call, a few put down. The Beanery a.k.a. Rea Farm is arguably the best place to see them, witness Clay's photo above.

Winter approaches, a time to watch birds in the low angle light and read old books in the long, long evenings, like the Arthur Cleveland Bent series on the Birds of North America: "The bluebird is well named, for he wears a coat of the purest, richest, and most gorgeous blue on back, wings, and tail; no North American bird better deserves the name, for no other flashes before our admiring eyes so much brilliant blue. It has been said [by H. D. Thoreau - DF] that he carries on his back the blue of heaven and the rich brown of the freshly turned earth on his breast; but who has ever seen the bluest sky as blue as the bluebird's back?"

[Mark Garland tracked down the Lark Sparrow near the butterfly garden at Cape May Point State Park yesterday.]

Red-tailed Foodie + Two-mile Beach Report

[Nancy Larrabee got this cool photo of a Red-tailed Hawk at Cape May Point state park a few days ago, look closely at what's in its bill!]

Today's CMBO walk at Two Mile Beach detected a late Scarlet Tanager in the bayberry on the right side of the boardwalk, as well as a Lapland Longspur and a Tri-colored Heron along Ocean Drive.

Breakfast can wait...

This morning was a classic Cape May, breakfast can wait kind of a day, when being at Cape May Point State Park early was a good move. I went down to see if yesterday's Lark Sparrow on the edge of the parking lot was going to be obliging, but it turned out that it wanted to hide from me - though Tom Johnson reports that it is still present this morning, near the museum/information building. Scott Whittle showed up with his Tuesday morning photographic walk (everyone keeps telling me how good that is, I must go on it one day!) and we strolled along checking the grass. The next thing you know, we're right by the state park entrance and I realise that I'm casually looking at an Ash-throated Flycatcher! This bird fed along the hedge line on the north side of the parking lot then headed off along the red trail. I suggest looking for it on the east side of the Red Trail loop, out of the wind. My early morning stroll ended at the Hawkwatch Platform with a stunning Golden Eagle that cut right across the corner of the parking lot while Doug Gochfeld and I struggled with the wrong photographic gear for the job! Shortly after, a second Golden Eagle, this one with less white in the wing, appeared over the tree tops to the north-east. It may be November, but migration is far from over at Cape May.

Ash-throated Flycatcher at Cape May Point State Park this morning. Note the contrast between rufous primary edges and yellowish secondary edges, the pale throat and the all dark bill. [Photo by Mike Crewe]

In this photo of the Ash-throated Flycatcher, note the very pale, lemon yellow wash to the belly and the dark on the outer tail feather, which cuts across the tip on the inner web. [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Not the best of pictures, but you get the idea! I was so excited at this close encounter with a Golden Eagle that I forgot to check that the camera was on the right settings - I really should go on Scott's walk! [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Just awesome - a pre-breakfast Golden Eagle! [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Pine Siskin at the Northwood Center [Photo by Mike Crewe]

I can see we're going to need to keep the feeders topped up! [Photo by Mike Crewe]

If you're stopping by the Northwood Center, don't forget to check out of the windows at our feeders; currently we have five Pine Siskins, three Purple Finches and the first returning Fox Sparrow here, as well as plenty of American Goldfinches, White-throated Sparrows and still both Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches.

OK, now I have to have breakfast....