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Friday, June 1, 2012

Everybody's on the water!

From the latest batch of photos I have been sent, it seems that everyone is enjoying the current hot weather by getting out on the water! One way to enjoy wetland birds and enjoy those pesky greenhead flies is certainly to get out in a boat, and we certainly have a great schedule of trips available for you to take in the coming summer months. Our regular Saturday trips on the Skimmer and Sunday & Monday trips on the Osprey are proving ever popular so make sure that you don't miss out on the fun. If you want to get even more up close and personal with Cape May's waterbirds, don't forget there are also our kayak trips on Wednesday mornings. Check out our events calendar for times and contact details for all of our fun birding excursions out on the back bays of Cape May.

This photo shows a Black-crowned Night Heron with a tricky problem - a nice fish in its bill, but all the green algae to get rid of first! Birds are amazingly skillful at manipulating their bills and this bird made short work of extricating the fish and getting its dinner (photo by Beth Polvino).

Glossy Ibises always make attractive subjects for photography and getting in close via a kayak is a great way to get the best views you will ever have of these birds (photo by Beth Polvino).

Don't forget the songbirds too! A good range of songbirds can be found down by the water too, especially if there is plenty of feeding opportunities to be had. This Eastern Kingbird was by the bird-rich lagoons at Heislerville recently (photo by Beth Polvino).

Forster's Terns are getting stuck into their breeding routine now and look very smart in full breeding colors. They often feed around the harbors and marinas and give plenty of opportunity to practice your skills at catching them on camera [photo by Brad Remick].

Green Herons can usually be found along the marsh edge, especially during migration periods and a rusty-necked adult is certainly a fine sight (photo by Brad Remick).

The top prize for many people on a backbay boat trip - a Clapper Rail. This bird took a typically labored flight across the marsh, right in front of birdwatchers on the Osprey and was nicely captured here by Brad Remick.

If you feel you would like some extra tuition in the art of bird photography, don't forget that Scott Whittle's walks continue on Tuesdays through June - though please note that there won't be a walk on Tuesday 5th as Scott has been dragged away to Trinidad for a few days. You have to feel sorry for him don't you?!!

Information on bird sightings has been inevitably quiet during the past few days as scattered showers have kept birds indoors a little more of late, but sunny spells continue to produce nice sightings, including an amazing seven Mississippi Kites over Cape May Point on May 31st.