First, some fond memories of Spring Weekend that Roger Horn sent me:
At so many sites, Eastern Kingbirds checked off happy Spring Weekenders on their lists, atop a convenient Black Cherry (just look at that blue sky too!)...
... while gaudy Indigo Buntings peeped from mulberry perches.
At the Plover Ponds, Semipalmated Plovers could be studied closely and compared directly...
... with nearby Piping Plovers.
Carefully peeping into the bushes gave some of our groups their first looks at just-fledged Pine Warbler youngsters...
... but Orchard Orioles...
... and Yellow Warblers required no careful searching - they just sat and stared back at us!
Our Spring Weekend was ideally timed to see the first American Oystercatchers of the season - here captured for posterity by Karl Lukens.
My post about the breeding-plumaged Purple Sandpipers at the Higbee canal jetty certainly got people heading over there to enjoy this uncommon spectacle. Tony Leukering kept a close eye on the birds and got this amazing picture of one of the birds in flight - I need a new camera!!
Good friend and regular visitor to the bird observatory, Lambert Orkis never ceases to amaze me with the fabulous shots he manages to get around Cape May. I just had to post these two shots of a Black Skimmer fishing that Lambert took over Spring Weekend.
Recent reports
Our local network has been rather quiet this past few days, but there is always much to enjoy around Cape May, any time of year. Breeding birds are well into their season now with many first broods of youngsters already put and about and adult males starting to sing again as they prepare for the next brood. The bayshore remains exciting too as horseshoe crabs will continue to be much in evidence for at least another two weeks yet. Head for the delaware Bay and enoy shorebirds at Cook's and Reed's Beach or higher up at Thompson's Beach, East Point or Heislerville - but be prepared for the no see 'ums!