Swallow-tailed Kite picture

(Photo courtesy of Bob Fogg, www.keekeekerr.com)

Bob Fogg just sent over this picture he took of toady's Swallow-tailed Kite. At this point all the information I have to report is the following: The kite was last seen over St. Mary's area. It was building a good bit of altitude and has possibly left the Cape May air space for Delaware. Only time will tell if the bird has truly moved through. Unlike many raptors these birds are not too afraid to cross large bodies of water.

SWALLOW-TAILED KITE over Cape May Hawkwatch

I received a text message at about 12 noon that a SWALLOW-TAILED KITE was being seen from the the hawk watch at the Cape May Point State Park. Laura and I headed down without a moment to loose as we know that this species does not typically spend large amounts of time over Cape May air space.

We were lucky enough to get there in time to easily find the bird and actually watch some scrapping interactions with a Peregrine Falcon before it headed off to the northeast. The bird was evidently seen (or possibly first seen) from the Meadows and the call was made to the hawk watch that the bird was headed in that direction.

Many folks were able to observe the bird well until it drifted out of sight though I received a call on my way back to the Northwood Center that the bird was being viewed over Hidden Valley.

Anyone who tries to look would do well to be at the hawk watch or look from Stevens Street in West Cape May. Stevens is centrally located and near the Beanery where this bird is often seen in the spring.

Stay tuned for further updates as they are available.

NOTE: @12:36 Tom Reed just texted to say that the bird was being seen at the hawk watch again!

EDIT: As of just before 1:00 p.m. the STKI was being seen again at the hawkwatch. It looks like this bird my decide to hang around for a little while today.

One more note that I wanted to share, good freinds Dave and Kathy Tetlow from Braddock Bay, NY, have achieved a pretty much unheard of feat here in Cape May in the fall.  They have had a two kite day!  This morning they observed at least one Mississippi Kite at Hidden Valley and then of course today's Swallow-tailed Kite!!  Hopefully there are a number of other lucky birders out there today who have acheived this simliar feat.  Something tells me the earth would probably shift from its axis if anyone were lucky enough to achieve a three kite day!

Olive-sided Flycatcher, 2 kites

[Karl Lukens took the above photo of an Olive-sided Flycatcher at CMBO's Friday evening "Meadows" walk. ]

The state park Lark Sparrow was not reported again on Friday.

Here's the word from CMBO's Friday evening walk: "Started off with a great bird in the parking lot - Olive-sided Flycatcher in the tree across the street. Stayed for about 5 minutes and then flew back behind the houses. Good variety of ducks and waders but shorebirds were scarce. Also enjoyed a number of Merlins and a Parasitic Jaeger chasing terns.- Karl (Judy, Chuck, Mary Jane, Kathy)" This walk is at 5:00 p.m. each Friday in October EXCEPT October 24, when there will be no evening walk at the meadows.

Dave Tetlow may have cleared up the Mississippi Kite "mystery" - the mystery being whether or not there was more than one. He reported seeing two together at Hidden Valley Friday morning. He also found a Connecticut Warbler there. Another kite (almost certainly one of the same ones, how many can there be?) was seen again from the hawk watch platform, also on Friday.

We received a report of a Western Kingbird, with photos and description adding up, at the Stone Harbor Bird Sanctuary in the past few days, I'm not sure of the exact date it was seen, nor if it has been seen again. This is the site of the former heron rookery between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

Higbee: NO PARKING + nice mix of warblers

Important Announcement: At Higbee Beach WMA, cars have been parked outside the main parking area, in the area to the left as you approach the main area. THIS AREA IS NOT DESIGNATED FOR PARKING AND YOU COULD GET TICKETED. Parking at Higbee is in the main lot, in the small lot on the left along New England Road before you reach the main lot, or along the dirt lane that runs out past the Morning Flight platform to the Cape May canal - if parking at the latter spot, make sure your vehicle is well off the road.

CMBO Higbee walks meet in the main lot, therefore it's a good idea to arrive early so you have time to walk to the lot to meet the group.

There were fewer birds at Higbee this morning than I anticipated, but still plenty to look at. I heard a Grasshopper Sparrow at the north end of the first field, but we never saw it. We did get good looks at Scarlet Tanagers, Baltimore Orioles, and a number of warblers. A very tired-seeming Cape May Warbler posed for quite a while. Others included Black-throated Green, Black-and-white, Northern Parula, and Pine. A Blue-headed Vireo also posed well. Most of this was in the first field. Mike and Megan Crewe had a Yellow-breasted Chat along the edge of the first field as well.

Another Higbee highlight was an apparent family group of Indigo Buntings that included an immature male that was singing - obviously practicing for next spring. The full list is below.

I hear the Lark Sparrow at the state park was there until dark, and there was an excellent falcon flight yesterday afternoon.


Location: Higbee Beach
Observation date: 10/3/08
Number of species: 49
Osprey 5
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 15
Cooper's Hawk 5
American Kestrel 5
Mourning Dove 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 50
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 5
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Blue Jay 100
American Crow 10
Tree Swallow X
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 15
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 10
Brown Thrasher 20
European Starling 10
Cedar Waxwing 50
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 5
Magnolia Warbler 1
Cape May Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Pine Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 5
Blackpoll Warbler 10
Black-and-white Warbler 5
American Redstart 5
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Scarlet Tanager 2
Grasshopper Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 10
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 10
Bobolink 5
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Baltimore Oriole 5
House Finch 15

(Another) Lark Sparrow, Red-headed Woodpecker, Lincoln's Sparrow, American Golden-plover, and the first juncos of fall

[Above, Karl Lukens' photograph of today's Lark Sparrow shows that it is a different bird than the one photographed Monday, picture below. The above bird is a typically faintly marked (by Lark Sparrow standards) immature. After initally being sighted on CMBO's 10:00 Bird Walk for All People, between the first and second plover ponds, it flew towards the hawk watch, stopping near the big brushpile where it fed cooperatively under bayberry bushes and construction debris between the brushpile and Bunker Pond.]

Besides the Lark Sparrow at Cape May Point State Park, which was in the same place as the one from Monday but clearly a different bird, a number of interesting species appeared in Cape May following yesterday's cold front.

Two American Golden-plovers flew past Morning Flight at Higbee Beach today. The "tower field" at Higbee held some interesting birds, including my first Lincoln's Sparrow of fall, a Red-headed Woodpecker called out loudly by Michael O'Brien and Louise Zemaitis, who were leading a VENT tour (thanks!), and 3 Dark-eyed Juncoes on the center path near the tower.

I heard the Mississippi Kite is still around. A fine hawk flight was underway this morning - when I spelled Seth Cutright for a bit, I had to keep the clickers for Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Kestrel and, for a few minutes, Peregrine in my hand, as all these species were passing one after the other.

If the winds die down as predicted, expect a very good nocturnal flight tonight. And it looks like another cold front will pass Friday afternoon/evening, boding well for Saturday, and taking the risk of looking beyond that, the winds may go northeast Sunday, and it's the peak of Peregrine migration time, and that could be a very fine collision of circumstances!

Mississippi Kite still around, Lark Sparrow Photo

Seth Cutright reports that as of just now (11:00 a.m. Wednesday) the Mississippi Kite is still being seen, it just passed over the hawk watch.

Below is Matt Hunt's Lark Sparrow photo, taken Monday at Cape May Point State Park.

Swainson's, Mississippi Kite, Connecticut Warbler, Sapsuckers, White-throats. . .

[Bob Fogg took these amazing photographs (two images are superimposed here) of a flyby Connecticut Warbler at the Higbee Dike Tuesday morning. Connecticuts have the pointed wings of a long-distance migrant. They breed largely across Canada and winter as far south as any of our warblers. Its secretive habits make its exact winter range difficult to know for certain, but it is thought that most winter in the Amazonian region of South America. In the bottom photo, the bird is in a close-winged glide, which warblers engage in often but not with the regular pattern of, for example, finches or woodpeckers.]

Tuesday featured good flights of both songbirds and raptors. 2664 birds were counted at Higbee during morning flight, with Palm being the dominant warbler, though Yellow-rumped Warbler numbers are creeping up. Other signs of the passing season include the two dozen Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, close to 600 Northern Flickers (which meant plenty of flicker shrieks in the woods as accipiters pursued them, usually to no avail), both kinglets, and my first White-throated Sparrow of fall. There were still some fancy warblers passing, for example the one pictured above!

CMBO's Higbee Beach walk Tuesday showed that the site is about more than warblers - 10 raptor species were found, including the Mississippi Kite. The list from that walk, provided by Chuck and MJ Slugg, is below. Higbee birders should be warned that the mosquitoes continue to be a significant presence, so long-sleeves, long pants, and perhaps repellent are recommended.

Mike and Megan Crewe told us about an Orange-crowned Warbler near the Higbee parking lot yesterday.

At the hawk watch , Peregrine Falcon migration is in full swing, with 143 recorded by swing counter Dan Berard yesterday. It was a pretty high flight yesterday, typical of light winds with many raptors in view on most scans, but often in high, mixed kettles. As always, some birds passed right over the platform, or even passed the below the level of the top rail, as did one crowd-pleasing Cooper's Hawk that buzzed that House Sparrow flock. Dan also identified the second Swainson's Hawk so far this fall.

Finally, Mathew Hunt sent me a photograph of a Lark Sparrow taken at the state park on Monday.

Location: Higbee Beach
Observation date: 9/30/08
Notes: We started with Northern Flickers everwhaere and ended with Eastern Phoebes following us along the trail. A nice variety of raptors, including a Mississippi Kite, was icing on the cake.
Number of species: 47
Mallard 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Osprey 12
Mississippi Kite 1
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 20
Cooper's Hawk 5
Broad-winged Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 3
Laughing Gull 3
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 6
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 50
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3
Eastern Phoebe 20
White-eyed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 50
American Crow 10
Tree Swallow 10
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 12
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 10
Brown Thrasher 12
European Starling 25
Northern Parula 9
Black-throated Blue Warbler 6
Prairie Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 4
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 4
Common Yellowthroat 6
Chipping Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 30
Baltimore Oriole 1