Stone Harbor Snowy and Peregrine; Cape May Point Great Corm and Walk Results

[Stone Harbor Point Snowy Owl on Monday, not far from Observation Platform. Photo by Karl Lukens.]
[Another Stone Harbor highlight bird, and regular, has been Peregrine Falcon. Karl Lukens photographed this one on Monday.]
[Kevin P. Inman captured this Great Cormorant looking spiffy in high breeding plumage on the Concrete Ship last Friday. ]

CMBO's Saturday Cape May Point walk highlights included a "Nice variety of land birds and water birds. Off shore there are thousands of scoters, mostly Black, Red-throated Loons, and some Gannets. Ruddy Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers on the jetty at St. Peter's. - Karl (Judy, Tom, Chuck, Mary Jane, Roger, Kathy, Warren, Steve, David)"

Snowy Owl, Butterflies, Piping Plover

[This Mourning Cloak, somewhat weathered from a winter in hiding, basked on an oak at Villas WMA on Sunday, March 8 2009. An unidentified anglewing butterlfy was also active at Villas on Sunday. Photo by Don Freiday.]

After dipping on the Stone Harbor Point Snowy Owl (s) more often than not this winter (an affliction shared by many birders), it was especially rich on Sunday afternoon to find the apparent young male, a very white bird, panting on the sand next to a chunk of driftwood on the sand flats barely 100 yards south of the observation platform, ignoring the many bare-footed beach walkers enjoying the 70ish temperatures not so far away - walkers equally oblivious to the owl. Thanks to a Mourning Cloak at Villas earlier in the day, I believe this is the first time I've seen a butterfly and a Snowy Owl on the same day! One wonders how much longer this bird will stay. Most Snowies depart NJ by the end of February, though March lingerers are certainly not unprecedented and there are a very few even later records.

A breeding plumage Piping Plover with the Dunlin and Sanderlings on the beach at Stone Harbor on Sunday joins Bob Fogg's Cape May Point State Park bird as a new spring arrival.

Trying to rush spring, I checked Belleplain State Forest on Saturday - finding quite a lot of lingering snow that now is a (hopefully) distant memory! I had nothing there I could consider an arriving bird, but the woods were rich with wintering gleaners and probers like Red-breasted Nuthatches and Brown Creepers.

Finally, besides the butterflies at Villas yesterday, a bright male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker there was entertaining, and the Field Sparrows and Eastern Bluebirds sang frequently.

Spring Arrivals in Cape May

It was exciting to see this Piping Plover arrive back at the State Park this evening! I also noticed some Oystercatchers sitting on the beach for the first time this season. There have been a few flying around the point over the past week. It seems the warm weather also brought in some Lesser Yellowlegs.
This bird was at the Cove Pool between 2nd Ave and the Meadows. (The Lesser Yellowlegs is the bird in focus behind the Greater Yellowlegs in the foreground.) Six more Lesser Yellowlegs were seen at the Meadows this evening. There was also an adult male Dickcissel visiting a feeder for a few mintues today - which is interesting since I haven't seen the young bird in my back yard since the storm came last week. Finally - another returning bird was this Laughing Gull which was photographed at the Cape May -Lewes Ferry Terminal by Karl Lukens yesterday.

NJ DEP-Looking For a Few Hearty Volunteers...

With in days, believe it or not, Piping Plover should be arriving back to the beaches of Cape May. And with their arrival comes the necessity to erect fences to keep these endangered birds' nesting area safe.

The NJ DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife, Endangered and Nongame Species Program is looking for volunteers to help erect fences on the beach for nesting Piping Plover and Least Terns.

If you think you have what it takes to help drive some steaks in the ground, string some rope and put up some signs-all in an effort to ensure that these endangered species have a relatively trouble free place to nest-contact Christina Kisiel at ckisiel AT hughes DOT net.

Volunteers are only asked to spend a few hours doing a world of good. And you get to hang out with some like minded, very nice people to boot. Dates are Saturday March 28 and 10 a.m. at the Cape May Point State Park and Saturday April 4, same time, at Stone Harbor. See the flyer above for more information.

2009 World Series of Birding

Gather up your team! It is time to register for the 26th annual World Series of Birding held on Saturday, May 9th.

The 2009 Game Plan Booklet, Tools, & Forms are all now available online. Even better, this year all forms can be completed electronically and submitted by email - think of all the paper that saves! Completed entry forms are due by April 20th so don't delay!

Join us for North America's premier conservation event and raise $$$ for the conservation cause of your choice!

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE - FRIDAY MARCH 6 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, March 6 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of SNOWY OWL, PEREGRINE FALCON, LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, BONAPARTE'S GULL, NORTHERN GANNET, REDHEAD, KING EIDER, COMMON EIDER, PINE SISKIN, GREAT EGRET, AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER, HORNED LARK, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, OSPREY, AMERICAN WOODCOCK, and announcements about CMBO's Optics Sale March 14 and 15 and a change in hours at CMBO-CRE in Goshen.

The Stone Harbor Point SNOWY OWL was seen Thursday March 5 2009, perched on a dune southeast of the viewing platform at 5:50 p.m. A PEREGRINE FALCON was also seen there March 5.

A LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was seen at Saint Mary's Jetty in Cape May Point on Sunday March 1 2009. On Friday March 6, several hundred BONAPARTE'S GULLS were there and a significant movement of NORTHERN GANNETS was flying out of Delaware Bay. Several thousand dark-winged SCOTERS continue there as well.

17 REDHEADS were seen at Forsythe NWR on Saturday February 28 2009.

The hen KING EIDER continues at the 8th Street Jetty, Avalon as of Thursday March 5 2009. A COMMON EIDER was also seen there on Saturday February 28 2009. The eiders move around and are sometimes far offshore; it may be necessary to walk out on the jetty to see them.

PINE SISKIN was reported at Cape May Point on Sunday March 1 2009.

A GREAT EGRET is still hanging on at the "Ibis Pond" on the north side of Reeds Beach Road as of Saturday February 28 2009. An AMERICAN OYSTERCATCHER was also present at the opening of Bidwell's Creek at the north end of Reed’s Beach on February 28 2009.

9 HORNED LARKS were at the Beanery Monday, March 2 2009. WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS were reported along New England Road and at the TNC Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge this week.

A returning OSPREY was reported over Cape May Court House Thursday, March 5.

With recent snow AMERICAN WOODCOCK have been quite visible in southern NJ. On Wednesday, March 4 2009, 18 to 20 American Woodcock were seen shoulder of Sunset Boulevard in Cape May. They have also been reported in scattered yards throughout Cape May County, and displaying along Reed's Beach Road and at Turkey Point, Cumberland County, both on Friday March 6, 2009.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

CMBO'S FOURTEENTH ANNUAL OPTICS SALE will be held on Saturday and Sunday, March 14 and 15 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the CMBO Center for Research and Education in Goshen. The sale offers a large selection of closeout, demo, factory-refurbished, new, and used optics priced to move. Binoculars and spotting scopes from all major brands will be available. There are no advance or phone orders: first come, first served. Shoppers must belong to NJAS or CMBO to take advantage of these great deals, so join today if you’re not already a member.

******CMBO Bookstore WINTER HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open Wednesday through Monday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Tuesdays. NOTE: CRE Days of operation have changed, The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through SATURDAY, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed SUNDAYs and Mondays thru the month of March ******

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!

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!

Snow On The Beach...

I've been waiting over a year for this opportunity to present itself again. Yesterday as many of us in the mid-Atlantic know, was a pretty snowy day. What made this special, in Cape May at least, was the amount of snow that fell. At my house which is about 10 or so miles north of Cape May Point, we received about 8" of snow in about 24 hours. While this may seem like a piddly amount to some of our viewers to the North or in the Mid-West, it is all relative. A snow such as this, for Cape May, is very much comparative to the 2 feet of snow (in a few to 24 hours) blizzards seen in the Mid-West. I have to admit I miss those events!!! But I digress.

Snow depth averaged 8 inches in the less wind blown portions of my yard.

(measuring the snow near my butterfly bush at home.)

I have been waiting for the ability to post a few more snowy Cape May photos just as I did back on December 6,2007, when I wrote Cape May like you've probably nevere seen it. At that time I was reminded by George Myers that I'd neglected to include an interesting shot, and one of seemingly great oxymoron, snow on the beach. Yes, while this does happen, in Cape May it is not often enough for my liking.

This go round I figured rather than posting images of some favored birding locations under snow (there a couple of those images though) I'd show you a slightly different take. Of course this time Georgie, I took some shots of snow on the beach!

Looking down the cove toward Cape May Point from the 2nd Ave. Jetty. Notice the snow on the beach!! I was a day late and a dollar short as much of the snow that fell had already been melted by the high tide or blown away. That and Cape May seemed to only get about half the snow we did near Cape May Court House. It seemed the Island average only about 4-5 inches verses 8-10 only about 10 miles north.

Another look at the cove.

The icy road to Higbee's Beach WMA. I bet it's pretty easy to find a parking place today!

Looking down the main path at Higbee. A few hearty souls (depending on how you look at it)
were out and about enjoying the snow fall yesterday.

Look close, can you tell where I am standing? If you guessed this this the first field at Higbee you are right. The fields were cut last fall. That and it's covered with 4 inches of snow.

Many of you may know this cedar as one of the better places to look for lingering Cape May Warblers. Yep, it's the large cedar in the northwestern corner of the Higbee parking lot.
Suffice to say there were no Cape May Warblers today!

Hidden Valley was mowed as well this past fall/winter.
I wonder where the Bobolink will hang out this spring?

A quick look at the entrance to the Beanery. Yea, it's snow covered here too.
Talk about Winter Birding!

Look! More snow on the beach. Sunset Beach this time though. The snow (and the 15-20 mph 10 degree windchill) make it a bit tough to try and find any Cape May Diamonds.

With a wind out of the NW the wave were churning on the Bay.
What is left of the Concrete Ship is holding tight.

With all the wave action by these coastal storms comes the unavoidable beach erosion.
Sunset Beach seems to have lost a good amount of sand from this storm.
Off to Delaware or points south!