Green-tailed Towhee continues in Camden County

GREEN-TAILED TOWHEE, photo credit: Stephen Mason

The rarity pictured above was originally seen by John and Peggy McDevit on New Years Day, while they were conducting the second day of their Project FeederWatch survey. The McDevits have graciously offered to open up their Collingswood yard to the many eager birders who have come to see the bird during the past two days- and after a lengthy wait during the midday hours, the bird did make a brief appearance around 2pm this afternoon. However, it does seem to make more regular appearances during the morning hours.

Referencing Birds of New Jersey, this is just the 7th known record of this western species in New Jersey, and the first since 1985. Typically, Green-tailed Towhees are found from Mexico down into South America by January- but perhaps just as remarkably, its breeding range is primarily west of the Rocky Mountains!

The bird is located at 1147 Mansion Avenue, in Collingswood, just outside of Camden and Philadelphia. A GoogleMap or Mapquest directions search will yield good directions. If you go, be sure to knock on the McDevits' door to announce yourself and be sure to thank them for their immense generosity in letting all of us crazy birders camp out in their backyard. The bird has been most reliably seen along the left side of the yard, foraging under a couple of small hollies.

Snowy Owl Still at Bivalve, Cumberland County

CMBO's Winter Birding Sampler workshop enjoyed great looks at the Bivalve Snowy Owl today at about 1:30 p.m. at the Bayshore Discovery project site. We saw the bird initially perched on an ice flow out on the marsh. It then flew in, perhaps weary of gradually drifting out towards the bay on the outgoing tide, and perched on the walkway railing, and eventually took off and flew south across the Maurice River, possibly towards Heislerville/Matt's Landing. We met a local gentleman who said he had been seeing the bird regularly, perched on the walkway railing, for at least two weeks. It's easy to see why - there was lots of potential prey at Bivalve, including at least 175 Northern Pintails, zillions of gulls, and smaller numbers of Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Black Ducks, and Mallards. Snowies are known for eating lemmings, but on the wintering grounds they consume a variety of prey, including some pretty hefty birds.

In the negative owl department, we watched at Turkey Point from before sundown until near dark and saw neither Short-eared Owl nor Great-horned, though we heard several of the latter. Another bird surprisingly absent was Rough-legged hawk - and we were in good habitat all day. Bald Eagles, however, were everywhere, including an adult at Beaver Swamp, and mutliple adults and immatures at Heislerville, Bivalve, and Turkey Point.

The impoundments at Heislerville were 95% frozen, but tidal areas along the bayshore are still partially to mostly open.

New Television Show Brings "Birding" to the Small Screen

Bindi the Jungle Girl may have some competition!

Since I was just back home in Florida for Christmas, I had decided to check the local listserv to see what "birding adventures" we might have missed since returning to Cape May. I came across some info on a post that I wanted to share.

It seems that there is a new television show that has hit the airwaves with the hopes of taking the ranks of The Croocidile Hunter and The Jeff Corwin Experience. But of course the focus is primarily birds.

Birding Adventures T.V. launches to the airwaves, today in fact, with a three part series covering Guyana. I just watched the preview and it seems like a pretty well put together program. The host, James Currie, definitely has a spin toward the Jeff Corwin angle. But then again, how many ways are there to be a charismatic host of a nature program. I was glad to see that while the focus is on birds, there is coverage of other wildlife without seemingly trying to duplicate the Animal Planet heavy hitters.

While the Birding Adventures website is still new, like the show, and needs a bit of work yet, it is easy to navigate to find most of what you are looking for. For most folks this will be the air time schedule. What I quickly found was that those of us in parts of the country other than the southeast will not be able to view the program as its focused audience for the time being is centered on Florida. It is carried on a the Comcast Southeast division so with some success (and possibly some contact from interested parties to Comcast asking them to carry the program) of the show it may find it's way to other markets. The funniest part is that the program airs in the morning when most birders are out pursuing birds! I guess that's way they make DVRs.

Don't be alarmed by the website header which depicts a Barn Owl, Indiana Jones style complete with wool fedora. You gotta love marketing!! The show also claims to be "the first birding TV program that focuses on destination and adventure bird-watching." This is partly true. Many of you may remember the Animal Plant show All Bird T.V., hosted by University of Montana professor Ken Dial. All Bird T.V. seemed to focus more on avian conservation research projects (covering NJAS's own Dr. David Mizrahi's shorebird research). This new Birding Adventures program is more focused at the excitement with in birdwatching and "birding" as is evidenced by the Leica optics plug in the preview (they're even using the new Leica scope!). Personally, I think the program would do well to try to bridge the gap between the "Birding Adventure" programming and highlighting some of the excellent research that is going on in the world. And, this may be the case as the second episode is focused on the Florida Scrub Jay Trail (I have to plug Fla. Scrub Jays...one of my favorite birds and the reason I decided to put this info out for you to review).

I am in favor of most things that will help get more people excited about nature and birds and wish this program success in doing just that. After all, the more folks who re-awaken the inner child and learn to find not only beauty but exhilaration in nature, the more chance we have for a clean, bright and birdy future.

Some notes from Cape May Pt., Stone Harbor Pt.

It was yet another interesting day to watch the weather, as well as the birds, in Cape May. A clipper system moved through during the middle of the day, accompanied by an hour's worth of snow showers and quite a bit of wind- but after the past few days, the wind no longer comes as much of a surprise...

I spent some time poking around Cape May Point, just before and then during the blowing snow. A dozen TREE SWALLOWS greeted me upon entering Cape May Point State Park, but the Glaucous Gull (pictured below) was no longer present on Bunker Pond at noontime. I started out toward the Plover Ponds, but thought better of it after noticing the deteriorating conditions as well as bumping into a rather cold and damp Tom Magarian, who reported not-so-much on the park trails, but noted 10 characteristically hard-to-find SNOW BUNTINGS on the beach, near the 2nd dune crossover (he later called in to report a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL at Sunset Beach). There was a fair number of most of the regular puddle ducks on the open portions of Bunker Pond and Lily Lake; Lighthouse Pond was completely frozen.

An hour and a half spent at Stone Harbor Point this evening failed to yield either of the two Snowy Owls, even though that's not to say that one easily could've been hiding out of sight. I ran into a couple at dusk who also reported zilch on the Snowy front, and they had covered the streets to the north of the Point, as well as the Nummy Island area. Keep in mind that there is, to put it lightly, a heck of a lot of places where these birds can hang out- the other side of Hereford Inlet at North Wildwood is also worth a look. 

Lack of big white owls aside, the more interesting things at Stone Harbor this evening included 5 SEMIPALMATED PLOVERS feeding along the ocean's edge at the base of the point. This species almost always lingers into January in very small numbers, most often in the Hereford Inlet complex. Also of note was a flock of 11 RED KNOTS which flew in from the beach and headed toward the marshes of Nummy Island. Some time spent scoping the ocean revealed a single close-to-shore HORNED GREBE and a distant flock of 30+ BONAPARTE'S GULLS feeding off the north end of North Wildwood.

In other news, at least 1 GREAT EGRET continues to linger in the "ibis pond" along Reed's Beach Road, and a single AMERICAN KESTREL was clinging to a wire along the north end of Bayshore Road in the wind this afternoon. There were also at least 3-4 SHORT-EARED OWLS at Jake's Landing last night, as well as a single WILSON'S SNIPE. 

Short-eared Owls at Jake's

CMBO's Winter Birding Sampler workshop ended with roughly five Short-eared Owls at Jake's Landing at dusk tonight.

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE JANUARY 2, 2009

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings at birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory with additions by Don Freiday
URL: http://www.njaudubon.org ; http://www.birdcapemay.org

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Friday, January 2, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, GLAUCOUS GULL, SNOWY OWL, HARLEQUIN DUCKS, COMMON EIDER, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, SEDGE WREN, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, PALM WARBLER, NASHVILLE WARBLER, EASTERN PHOEBE, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS are still being seen at 711 New England Road in Cape May, with the most recent sighting being on Thursday January 1, 2009.

A GLAUCOUS GULL appeared on Bunker Pond at Cape May Point State Park Friday, January 2.

Two SNOWY OWLS were seen at Stone Harbor Point on Tuesday December 30. One of the Stone Harbor birds was last seen on Thursday, January 1st 2009, from 111th street and also at the Stone Harbor Point parking lot at dark. Another SNOWY OWL was seen near the Bayshore Discovery Project in Bivalve, Cumberland County on Friday, December 26 2008.

3 HARLEQUIN DUCKS were seen at Two Mile Beach on Tuesday December 30, 2008.

A female COMMON EIDER was seen from Stone Harbor Point on Monday December 29, 2008.

LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and SEDGE WREN were found on the Cumberland CBC at Turkey Point, near Dividing Creek, Sunday December 28, 2008.

Two RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were seen at the Villas WMA on Thursday December, 25, 2008.

A NASHVILLE WARBLER and two PALM WARBLERS were seen at Cape May Point State Park, along the Red Trail, on Thursday January 1, 2009. Also there was an EASTERN PHOEBE.

Northwest winds precipitated a New Year’s Day hawk flight at Cape May Point that included upwards of 15 RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS, as well as NORTHERN HARRIERS, BALD EAGLES, SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS and many RED-TAILED HAWKS.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: CMBO is offering a special to new and upgraded membership renewals. Join CMBO for the first time or upgrade from Individual or Family to The Hundred and receive Charley Harper's Migration Mainline- Cape May lithograph poster, valued at $50. Call either CMBO center to ask an associate about joining today!

******CMBO Bookstore FALL HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open 7 days a week, 9:30am to 4:30pm The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Mondays. ******

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 discount in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

GLAUCOUS GULL Cape May Point State Park

Photo courtesy of Michael O'Brien

Upon walking in to the Northwood Center this morning, a phone call was received from Tom Parsons indicating that there was a GLAUCOUS GULL at the Cape May Point State Park. Wanting to delay the return to real work just a little longer, Laura and I headed out to see if the bird was still there.

Sure enough, when we arrived we found Tom siting on the hawkwatch platform looking at a small group of gulls on the Bunker Pond ice. Even naked eye you could make out the gleaming white plumage of the Glaucous. In a quick look through the scope (it's cold and windy here in Cape May and we hadn't dressed for the weather) you could note the size, body size slightly larger, in comparison to the surrounding Herring Gulls. For me this immediately removed any chances that this bird might be an Iceland Gull. Also of note were the blocky head with a sloping forehead (somewhat reminiscent of a Great Black-backed Gull in my mind) in comparison to the more rounded head of an Iceland Gull.