Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call: (609) 884-2736 or email: coturnicops AT gmail DOT com
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties, NJ
Compiler: Tom Reed
This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday, July 26, 2012. Included this week are sightings of BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK, SURF SCOTER, BLACK SCOTER, LEAST BITTERN, AMERICAN AVOCET, HUDSONIAN GODWIT, RED KNOT, SANDERLING, SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER, WESTERN SANDPIPER, SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHER, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, GULL-BILLED TERN, BLACK TERN, ROSEATE TERN, SANDWICH TERN, EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, and SEDGE WREN.
A BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK was discovered near the "dogleg" along the north dike at the Brigantine Unit of Forsythe NWR on 7/26. Other recent highlights from Brig include AMERICAN AVOCET and HUDSONIAN GODWIT. Two ROSEATE TERNS were found at nearby North Brigantine Natural Area on 7/22-/23.
A singing SEDGE WREN continued at Tuckahoe WMA this week through 7/25. The bird has been present at the southern end of the driving dike loop. Please note that Sedge Wren is an endangered species in NJ, and that it is illegal to harass this bird or play tapes. Also noted at Tuckahoe WMA recently have been LEAST BITTERN and GULL-BILLED TERN.
A WILSON'S PHALAROPE was found at the South Cape May Meadows on 7/25, and the same or another was seen on Bunker Pond at Cape May Point State Park on 7/26. Also found at Bunker Pond on 7/26 were a juvenile GULL-BILLED TERN and a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER.
Several thousand shorebirds were counted at Stone Harbor Point during high tide on 7/20, including 1,255 SANDERLING, 1,180 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERS, 1,075 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS, 103 WESTERN SANDPIPERS and 148 RED KNOTS. A SURF SCOTER, 2 BLACK SCOTERS and a BLACK TERN were also noted there that day.
Recent SANDWICH TERN sightings came from Cape May Point State Park on 7/20 and Avalon's 48th Street beach on 7/25.
Cape May Point's resident EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES continue to show regularly, with most reports continuing to come in from the area of Yale, Whildin and Harvard Avenues.
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!