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Sunday, December 15, 2013

2013 Cape May Christmas Bird Count

Another year, another Cape May Christmas Bird Count under our belts. The weather was better than expected- the system that went through our area cleared out in the early pre-dawn hours of the morning, enough so for us to find some owls hooting around! A brisk West-North wind all day kept the birds and trees as well as birders moving. We were able to get a couple new birds species for the count regardless, and plenty of hot soup, good food, and socializing to end our day together with a tally of the days' yield.

Without further ado... The list!

Abbreviations denoted: *- first for count;  CW- Count Week;  CMPT- Cape May Point

Snow Goose
Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Tundra Swan - CW
Wood Duck
Gadwall
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Canvasback- CW
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Greater Scaup
Lesser Scaup
Common Eider
Surf Scoter
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Wild Turkey
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Pied-billed Grebe
Horned Grebe
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Tricolored Heron
Black-crowned Night Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Northern Goshawk- CMPT
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Clapper Rail
Virginia Rail
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Semi-palmated Plover
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Marbled Godwit- CW
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Western Sandpiper
Purple Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher- CW
Wilson's Snipe
American Woodcock
Laughing Gull
Bonaparte's Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Black-legged Kittiwake- 2 Mile Beach
Forster's Tern
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Eastern Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl
Long-eared Owl- CW
Short-eared Owl
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
Hairy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
American Kestrel
Merlin
Peregrine Falcon
Eastern Phoebe
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Horned Lark
Tree Swallow
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
Red-breasted Nuthatch
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Winter Wren
Marsh Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
Brown Thrasher
European Starling
American Pipit
Cedar Waxwing
Snow Bunting
Orange-crowned Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Nelson's Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Seaside Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark
Rusty Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole- CW
Purple Finch
House Finch
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow

Write-in Species:

Eurasian Wigeon - 1 CW
King Eider - 3
American Bittern - 2
Osprey - 1 CW
Sandhill Crane - 6
Spotted Sandpiper - 1
Lesser Yellowlegs - 1 CW
Glaucous Gull - 1
Eurasian Collared-Dove - 1
Snowy Owl - 5
Ruby-throated Hummingbird - 1
archilochus sp. - 1
Rufous Hummingbird - 1
Western Kingbird - 1 
White-eyed Vireo - 1
Sedge Wren - 1
Nashville Warbler - 1
*Black-and-white Warbler - 1
American Tree Sparrow - 1
Vesper Sparrow - 1
Lark Sparrow - 1
Lapland Longspur - 2
*Blue Grosbeak - 1
Indigo Bunting - 1
Razorbill - 3

Total: 160 + 9 CW


An excellent find in winter around Cape May- White-eyed Vireo at the Coast Guard Base! [photo by Doug Gochfeld]


Wintering Lark Sparrows in Cape May are fairly rare, we'll see how long this one lasts at the Coast Guard Base! [photo by Doug Gochfeld]


This Ruby-throated Hummingbird has survived long enough at a feeder along New England Road to make its mark on this year's CBC! [photo by Michael O'Brien]


Many freshwater ponds that back up to the Great Salt Marsh serve thousands of wintering waterfowl here with big numbers of Hooded Mergansers, American Black Ducks, American Wigeon, and Ring-necked Ducks. Sometimes you get lucky and happen into other specialty Aythyas like these two Redheads on this year's count. [photo by Sam Galick]


One of three Orange-crowned Warblers at Cape May Point State Park the day before, a normal wintering number. The Coast Guard Base yielded four Orange-crowned Warblers on count day.
[photo by Sam Galick]