Fabulous Hawk Flight + Hudwit

[One of today's show-stoppers, this Northern Goshawk , picked by Pete at long range, went left beyond the cedars at 12:15 p.m. Click to enlarge all photos. Here, note the small "hands," giving the bird a pointed-wing look.]

Winds northwest at 15-25 mph - how could you go wrong? It was a great day for hawk watching, especially for buteos, with Red-tailed Hawks nose-to-tail at times during the day, and plenty of Red-shouldered Hawks and even a single Broad-winged Hawk mixed in. An Osprey here, a Bald Eagle or two there, a (the?) Hudsonian Godwit flew over at some distance but dropped into the meadows. . .and accipiters, including one of special interest. . .

[Goshawk passing under Red-tailed Hawk. An accipiter too big to be anything else.]

[Juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk showing the wing crescents.]

[Adult Red-shouldered.]

[Red-tailed, the overall star today. Sometimes dozens were in view on a single scan.]

[Michael, Louise and I went chasing the Golden Eagle reported from the platform as being over the Beanery, but "all" we could come up with was this young Bald Eagle.]

[The Northern Gannet show in the rips, in fact right off the beach, was spectacular today. Photo by Michael O'Brien.]

[Blackbirds were moving, with a few Rusty Blackbirds mixed in. These two paused along the edge of the first field at Higbee, with a Baltimore Oriole not far away, to the benefit of the Waterbird Society Meeting field trip this morning.]

[Spectacle factor - migrating Red-winged Blackbirds. One of the "super-concentrations of common migratory birds," as Mark Garland put it, that Cape May is famous, and fortunate, for seeing. Photo by Michael O'Brien.]

[How windy was it? Just ask these Sanderlings. Photo by Michael O'Brien.]


Other birds found today included a late Blue-gray Gnatcatcher at Higbee Beach, the Common Eiders continuing around Cape May Point, and a male Harlequin Duck at the Avalon Seawatch, hanging out near the jetty. I also heard a single Pine Siskin over Higbee.

On the platform I called out "Pale rumped swallow" and as others got on it Michael said quickly, "It's a Cave." On questioning - the bird was far and none of us were getting much on the bird - Michael pointed out just that fact. We couldn't see the pale rump well even when the bird turned in flight, which meant it must have been a dark pale rump, not the pale pale rump of Cliff Swallow. Cave Swallow it was, with good looks in scopes.

The duck collection on various Cape Island ponds remains impressive, and the female-type Eurasian Wigeon was among them today. Four Hooded Mergansers, including a couple gorgeous drakes, were on Bunker Pond.

Common Eiders

A few of us were discussing last night how Common Eiders have become, well, common. Along those lines, Pat Sutton sent me the following note: "Passing along that Clay & I enjoyed 31 Common Eiders today, November 5, CLOSE ... practically in the surf, at about 3 pm near the St. Mary's Jetty in Cape May Point. Simply lovely!"

I hypothesize that two factors contributing to the NJ eider increase are the maturing of the sea life on and around the many rocky jetties, and perhaps something cultural - eiders are long lived birds, and as more learn they can winter this far south successfully, they keep coming back.

Cave Swallow, Hudwit

[Don't you just wish you could camp out on the hawk watch platform? This Hudsonian Godwit flew by this morning. Photo by Michael O'Brien, click to enlarge.]

Hawkwatch platform birds, other than the godwit above, included Cave Swallow and two Glossy Ibis that dropped into the meadows. During this morning's field trip for the Waterbird Society meeting, we had at least two Parasitic Jaegers in the rips while watching from the dune crossover near the platform. Plenty of high robins were migrating, as were Eastern Bluebirds, Purple Finches, and a couple Blackpolls.

I had what was probably a Saw-whet Owl fly in front of my vehicle on Sunset Avenue in the pre-dawn, but it was only a glimpse. It was that or a woodcock, but didn't seem like the latter.

Sandhill Crane - Jake's Landing

Karen Johnson just called to let me know about a Sandhill Crane at Jake's Landing this afternoon, heard by Pat Sutton and later seen by Brian Johnson in the salt hay farm across Dennis Creek from the parking lot at the end of Jake's Landing Road.

Birds around the Cape

You know, yesterday as I wandered around Cape May before work encountering almost no birders but lots of great birds, I couldn't help but wonder, where is everybody? Birder visitation peaks in late September-early October, but the birding stays good well into November. Witness the following report from Karl Lukens on this morning's Cape May Point walk:

"CMBO Birding at Cape May Point walk. Lots of ducks on the ponds and around the jettys. The The lighter colored female type Eurasian Wigeon was on Lighthouse Pond with numerous other wigeons and assorted ducks. The area of St. Peter's and St. Mary's jetties had 9 Common Eiders (down from 22 yesterday) including one which had some adult plumage. Surf Scoters were also mixed in. - Karl (Steve, Warren, Tom)"

Karl and company found 64 species, with other highlights including Eastern Meadowlarks, Hooded Mergansers, Bald Eagle, Red-shouldered Hawk. . . and Doug Gochfeld texted in a Golden Eagle from the hawk watch around 1:45 today.

Ash-throated Flycatcher, Seaside Sparrow, Bond Issue Passed

First the good news - NJ passed the $400 million bond issue for open space. Thanks all! New Jersey Audubon (of which CMBO is a part) was part of a large coalition of organizations supporting this initiative.

Now to the birds. An Ash-throated Flycatcher is apparently near the southern base of the toll bridge at the south end of Nummy Island, on the west side of the road. I'm not sure yet who found this bird.

Vince Elia detected a Seaside Sparrow in the South Cape May Meadows, an unusual location for this salt marsh species. It was on the center, or west path, 25 yards before you get to the little bridge, on the left.

Chuck and MJ Slugg sent the following report about yesterday morning's Two Mile Beach walk:
"A variety of species continue at Two Mile Beach. Ducks from the new platform include both Red-breasted and Hooded Mergansers, Bufflehead, Pintail, and Black Ducks. The "Two-Mile" Peregrine was perched on the tower looking north. Black-crowned Night-herons and Bald Eagles were among the species found on the Two Mile Landing side of Ocean Drive."

An owl vigil by a bunch of us at the South Cape May Meadows last night yielded "just" a probable Great-horned Owl, plus several Wilson's Snipe and an American Woodcock.

High and Dispersed; Late Season Migrants; Otters; and. . .DID YOU VOTE YET?

[River Otters have been seen on Cape Island on and off all summer and fall. Keep an eye out at the meadows, the state park, or Lily Lake, where this one posed today. Photo by Don Freiday, click to enlarge all photos.]

"High and dispersed" was how Scott Whittle described today's hawk flight, which still offered birds including a good number of Red-shouldered hawks, and the Golden Eagle that was banded yesterday. Around 3:00 p.m., we saw a nighthawk sp. - you have to add the sp. ever since November, 2007's Lesser Nighthawk perched near the platform.

My pre-work walk at Higbee and Hidden Valley revealed a decent flight of typical late-season stuff, including significant numbers of Purple Finches, Hermit Thrushes, and White-throated Sparrows, though not so many of the latter as were there yesterday. I clicked Hermit Thrushes and came up with 16, all heard. Four Wild Turkeys fed in the field across New England Road from the Hidden Valley parking lot. Eastern Meadowlarks and a Northern Harrier were other Hidden Valley highlights. I really like Hidden Valley at this time of year. It's a good spot for Orange-crowned Warbler, though I struck out on that bird today.

Doug Gochfeld reported Purple Sandpipers on the jetty at the Avalon Seawatch, and Tony Leukering got a yard bird when 3 Common Eiders flew south along Delaware Bay in Villas.

[This Golden Eagle was banded yesterday, and flew over the platform around 9:00 this morning.]

[Purple Finch at Higbee this morning. Note the markedly notched tail, overall rasberry wash, and dark cheeks, all of which help separate it from House Finch. Learn the tic note, too.]

[A few Palm Warblers are still around, including this one at Hidden Valley.]