More arrivals, more turkeys...

A dull, gray day after a rainy night might not sound too good, but it's a vast improvement on the four inches of snow that they got in North Jersey! Yes, Cape May has gone back to wet and chilly, but there's still plenty out there for those visiting us. I've heard that at least 40 Purple Sandpipers and a good range of ducks are still to be found at the north end of Avalon, Red-throated Loons are plentiful all along the bayshore side and Northern Gannet flights have been very impressive for several days now. At least two Great Egrets are now hanging out in The Meadows and four Piping Plovers have returned to South Cape May Beach.

This morning's first-of-season Wednesday walk at Cape May Point was not the auspicous start that we might have hoped for, but we did see a nice range of birds, including five American Oystercatchers, a good movement of Northern Gannets and single Osprey and Eastern Phoebe, the last two being first-of-years for some folks.

At the Northwood Center, the feeders still continue to attract up to 25 Northern Cardinals, which make a fine sight when all sat in the bushes! Gail Stern, Tony Leukering and I also watched a male Pine Warbler nosing around the feeder at the front of the building. Also from the Northwood windows, Red-bellied Turtles are now becoming a regular sight in Lake Lily, while a Red-eared Slider there on Monday must have been a liberated pet as this species is not native this far north.

Finally, more Wild Turkey reports from the region included three seen by Gail Stern at the southern end of the parkway and - most unexpected of all so far - one reported to us by Dave our UPS delivery man, seen at the west end of Alexander Avenue, right here at Cape May Point!

Osprey + stick = breeding behavior! This Osprey was at Jakes Landing last Friday and clearly was wasting no time in repairing winter damage. [Photo by Tony Leukering]