Black Tern Bonanza

Black Terns are one of those uncommon birds at Cape May that everyone likes to see, showing a classic blackish and white pattern that stands out amongst the other terns. This fall has been a banner year for them, with numerous sightings from the hawkwatch platform, Coral Ave., and Sunset Beach – the top count has even exceeded 100. Bunker Pond at Cape May Point State Park has often offered prolonged views and great comparisons with other terns. Black Terns are unique in that they were historically less common in the spring than now, but much more common in the fall (peak years in the 1920s, with 600 occurring on August 22, 1923. With their migration period waning (often departing by the end of September) and a population declining due to habitat loss, get out and enjoy them while you can! -- Bret Ewald

©John McNamara

Fall is (almost) HERE! Come Birding!

Fall is here! Okay, so the Autumn Equinox is still weeks away, but we all know that bird migration happens year-round, and what we consider "fall migration", the southbound movement of billions of birds each year, begins in earnest while tens of thousands of tourists are still flocking to our summer beaches. But recently we've had some drier winds from the northwest, we've even seen cooler temperatures showing up farther north, albeit from our weather apps and weather stations, but it's still clear as day that fall is indeed coming, even if it's not officially here. A few offshore storms are setting the surfers into overdrive as well, and birders anxiously await anything pelagic that might blow in. This is also the time for Jaegers to begin their southbound movement out of the Arctic breeding grounds and down both coasts, so seeing a jaeger offshore of Cape May now isn't rare at all, but seeing one overhead, over land, is always a head-scratcher and draws some excitement. So today when the alert came out that a Jaeger species was soaring over Stevens Street with Turkey Vultures, I had to smile and think "yup, Cape May!"

Here's a photo of the bird, with a Tree Swallow, taken by the original observer and resident of Stevens Street, Michael O'Brien. Michael later confirmed that this was indeed a young Parasitic Jaeger, the "expected" jaeger species from shore here in Cape May.

Fall is (almost) HERE! Come Birding!

Juvenile Parasitic Jaeger soaring overhead with a Tree Swallow above it.
Steven's Street, West Cape May, NJ Aug. 30, 2016. © Michael O'Brien

Identifying shorebirds in flight - Stilt Sandpiper

Stilt Sandpipers are moving through Cape May right now and can be found most days in the freshwater marshes at the southern tip of the peninsula - especially the Meadows and Cape May Point State Park. While this species is highly distinctive and quite striking in breeding plumage, I still think of it as a "tweener" shorebird - a species that can be easily mistaken at a glance for a few other species (Pectoral Sandpiper is another such "tweener" shorebird, easily mistaken for Least Sandpiper, Ruff, and others depending on the context, distance, etc). In this case, flocks of yellowlegs and dowitchers can easily provide "cover" for Stilt Sandpipers. With a careful look at the structure, colors, and size of Stilts, they become much easier to pick out of flocks.

July-August is when adult Stilt Sandpipers molt from their dark-barred alternate (breeding) plumage into the duller basic (winter) plumage. This flock of adults still shows plenty of heavy barring across on the underparts; among our American shorebirds, this pattern is unique to Stilt Sandpiper.

The slim shape and gray and white colors may recall the pattern of yellowlegs, but these Stilt Sandpipers in their unbarred, basic plumage are more compact in wing shape and overall length. The underwing pattern, a white stripe on the underwing coverts isolated in gray, helps set the species apart from yellowlegs and dowitchers which have more evenly patterned underwings. 

This photo of a Stilt Sandpiper (left) with a Lesser Yellowlegs (out of focus at right) gives an idea of the relative shape and size of these two species. The yellowlegs is relatively leggy and shorter-billed than the sandpiper. You can also see the underwing of the yellowlegs, which is more uniformly pale/ evenly barred than a Stilt Sandpiper.

Stilt Sandpipers often feed in deeper water with Short-billed Dowitchers, and so you often see the two species together in flight. Note the slim shape of the Stilt Sandpiper's body and wings, the leg projection beyond the tail, and the slightly droopy bill. Compare the isolated white stripe in the middle of the underwing of the Stilt Sandpiper to the evenly barred underwing of the dowitcher.

Of course, dowitchers (of both species) show an obvious white stripe running up the back, which Stilt Sandpipers lack. Here, a Stilt Sandpiper (at left) shows off its pale hind end and dark back, strikingly different from the high contrast backs of the four Short-billed Dowitchers.

Summer's Main Event

Mike Kilpatrick operates a nature photography guide service specializing in New Jersey coastal marsh and seashore subjects.  A life-long resident of North Wildwood, NJ his work has appeared in national publications, including Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited. 

Summer's Main Event
by Mike Kilpatrick

The main event of salt marsh bird life in the summer is the nesting season of colonial gulls and terns.  Colonies of Laughing Gulls, Forster’s Terns and Common Terns are strung along the tidal waterways behind the Atlantic coast barrier islands, where nests can be found in very high density.

Laughing Gull with chicks, nesting in wrack on marsh edge.
© Michael Kilpatrick

In order to avoid losing nests to tides, the gulls and terns tend to nest on wrack.  Wrack forms as the tide ebbs and flows across the marsh, pushed into masses of dead reeds.   It accumulates in, and along, the taller grass boarders of breached ponds and creeks and forms slightly raised platforms used to support nests.   Predominant among the wrack nesters is the Laughing Gull and Forster’s Tern. 

Pair of Forster's Terns at the nest.
© Michael Kilpatrick

Less frequent is the common tern being more associated with beach nesting colonies yet they join the wrack nesting community with enough frequency that finding a few nesting on the marsh is not a surprise. 

Common Tern nest in wrack.
© Michael Kilpatrick

Amidst the colony drama created by many thousands of birds spread across a vast area, it is easy to overlook a rare player whose appearance on the stage is fleeting:  The Gull-billed Tern.  It, like the common tern, is more often associated with beach nesting locations but it is a nomadic and adaptable bird that has shown throughout its range a diversity of nesting locations including the marsh.   Once known as “The Marsh Tern”, nesting records in New Jersey, at the northern edge of its range, are sporadic.   On the Cape May Peninsula, such records are few and far between.

But exist they do, as I discovered this past season.  I was tucked in the tall grass edge of a breached pond in pursuit of photos with clear views of a line of Laughing Gulls and Forster’s Terns nesting along a small creek west of Stone Harbor/Avalon.   The colony soon forgot me and I watched parent birds tend to their nesting cuties. 

Gull-billed Tern with young.
© Michael Kilpatrick

The chorus of calls around me included Laughing Gulls and Forster’s Terns along with an intermittent Clapper Rail, passing egrets and Herring Gulls.   A second tern voice emerged in the background:  a Common Tern.   Then there was another addition to the choir, a different voice, it was a Gull-billed Tern. As my attention turned to this voice, it became a consistent presence in the marsh chorus.  It was not just one bird.   It was with excitement that I set out to locate the source of these voices.  One Gull-billed Tern passing overhead turned into another and then two more passed overhead.   Following their flight, they appeared to be landing and rising from the same spot.    When a passing Herring Gull was quickly met by a mob of Common and Gull-billed Terns rising off the marsh, I had one thought: “Nesting?”    When finally approaching this area, it was apparent.   On a mat of wrack there were twenty-one Gull-billed Terns with eight nests along with nests of Common Terns present in slightly higher numbers.

Gull-billed Tern and chick exchanging calls.
© Michael Kilpatrick

That afternoon, I embarked on an obsessed search of the literature, as books flung from the shelf began to form chaotic piles upon the floor.   I uncovered a timeline spanning hundreds of years of natural history observations, starting with writings of Philadelphia Naturalist William Bartram in the 1700’s through recent sightings on eBird.  Across the observations of naturalists and plume hunters and information contained in modern research papers and state survey records, one conclusive truth emerged.  There is very little information about the Gull-billed Tern nesting in Cape May County.    

But, the record was not entirely empty.   The most compelling information on the gull-billed tern was offered by Charles S. Shick in 1890, published in The Auk, who wrote “A rather common visitor.  Breeds on meadows and sand flats at the southern point of the island.   I have found it to breed in the company with Larus artricilla.  Mr. Harry G. Parker has also taken eggs in the same locality.”

No Laughing Gulls Allowed!
Gull-billed Tern driving off a Laughing Gull chick from its territory.
© Michael Kilpatrick

The island he references is the Seven-mile Beach Island, know better today as Stone Harbor and Avalon, described by Shick as “one of the richest ornithological fields open to collectors.”  It is interesting that Witmer Stone, in his iconic “Bird Studies of Old Cape May” leans toward discrediting Shick’s account of the gull-billed tern.  Yet, on the morning of July 2, 2016, as I stood on a marsh island behind Stone Harbor and Avalon, the gull-billed tern was present and nesting, surrounded by Larus atricilla (laughing gull).

The stately Gull-billed Tern showing of its namesake feature.
© Michael Kilpatrick

The 19th century records are complimented with two other references confirming nesting in Cape May County.   The US Fish and Wildlife Service Status Review and Conservation Recommendations for the Gull-billed Tern in North America notes no research studies specific to the Gull-billed Tern have been conducted in New Jersey other than annual aerial censuses of mixed gull and tern colonies. Still, very few nests are actually discovered despite this bird being an annual breeder.   Clay and Pat Sutton make reference in Birds and Birding at Cape May of two pairs nesting on Stone Harbor Point in 2003. 

Gull-billed Tern family vocalizing.
© Michael Kilpatrick

The lack of accessible references about the Gull-billed Tern on the Cape May Peninsula may not represent the entirety of what is, or was known.   It is likely that only a fraction of what was observed regularly makes it into the public record.

Today we have the luxury of advanced tools and technology that allows all of us to participate and contribute, at any level, to the ever evolving ornithological record.   From novice to expert, from research scientist to casual vacationer, from birder to photographer to fisherman to hunter, thanks to citizen science tools like eBird, the ornithological record now accommodates participation.  As a result, in the future this record will be much more complete.

It’s always a memorable moment when a Gull-billed tern crosses over head and it is certainly exciting to find them nesting in Cape May County. It is also thrilling to take a journey through the ever evolving ornithological record: combing through historic references, the experience of the present moment (as mine on the morning of July 2nd),  and imagining someone 100 years in the future creating their own map of discovery from the references recorded today. 

Editor's Note: Annual aerial surveys by the State of New Jersey do detect Gull-billed Terns each year in the marshes from Stone Harbor northward. Their low-density nesting does indeed make them harder to find than other species. For those interested seeing more of these marsh breeding species, our Birding by Boat trip on The Osprey and/or The Skimmer Salt Marsh Safari are both highly recommended. 

Circumnavigating Delaware Bay - a day trip

While most of the year you can find our Associate Naturalists leading walks and programs for the public in Cape May, every once in a while we get to take a field trip to explore somewhere we haven’t been yet, or haven't been lately. On July 19, eight of us took a day trip to Delaware to explore our sister cape, Cape Henlopen, the Delaware side of Delaware Bay, and pay a visit to our friends and allies in the protection of the Delaware Bay, the American Birding Association, headquartered in Delaware City. 

Our trip began on the 7:00am Cape May - Lewes Ferry. It was a gorgeous morning with clear skies and a calm crossing of the bay making for excellent views of inshore bottlenose dolphin as well as several good looks at WILSON’S STORM PETREL. Other birds encountered were a single Bonaparte’s Gull near the New Jersey side, a flyby Solitary Sandpiper, and two flocks of lingering (presumably non-breeding) Black Scoter, one about midway across and the other on the beach near the ferry terminal in Lewes, Delaware. 

Upon arriving to Lewes we were greeted by several Osprey nests with young…the pair breeding right atop the boat lift at the terminal makes you question whether this species is susceptible to human disturbance! At least this pair doesn’t mind the constant attention. Once back on dry land we drove into Cape Henlopen State Park and stopped first at the Seaside Nature Center to walk the interpretive trail. Almost immediately we were greeted by both Ruby-throated Hummingbirds and BROWN-HEADED NUTHATCHES, the latter being a species that doesn’t regularly occur in New Jersey but is quite widespread in the state park on the Delaware side. Therefore seeing and hearing them, often quite comical in their antics, was a treat for all of us. Walking out to the water we found few birds, but once we reached the water Warren spotted a duck about a quarter mile away. Walking closer we realized it to be a Red-breasted Merganser, most likely another non-breeding bird that lingered through the summer. Our loop back to the cars turned up several of the regularly expected species, including Great-crested Flycatcher, Eastern Kingbird, and Eastern Wood-Peewee. 

After a short break in the nature center we headed south to the parking lot opposite Herring Point, where we walked the newly constructed Gordon’s Pond connector trail - a state of the art multi-use boardwalk trail that traverses dunes, pine forest, marsh, and eventually Gordon’s Pond at the very south. This trail is very popular with day bikers and cyclists alike, and so requires one to pay close attention to where you’re standing! That said, the birding from here is excellent, and there are several pull-out sections that allow you to sit and enjoy the scenery while the commuters whiz by. At the beginning of the trail we spotted an Eastern Hognose snake. Eastern Hognose display some of the most fascinating anti-predatory behaviors. As Catherine Busch approached the snake, it flattened out its head like a cobra and assumed the strike position! Then it rattled its rattle-less tail mimicking a rattlesnake, and finally, once Catherine picked it up to show the group, it wrapped itself in a writing ball, defecated, and flopped its head back with its tongue lolling out the side; playing dead!!! Check out the photos for the full experience.

Along the 1.5 mile stretch we walked, we encountered several BLACK-NECKED STILTS, various expected terns and gulls, Blue Grosbeak, Orchard Oriole, Indigo Bunting, and more of the common marsh/scrub species. Several more Brown-headed Nuthatches were also seen and heard along the trail. While several species of dragonfly were present, the Seaside Dragonlet (Erithrodiplax berenice) was the most abundant as we crossed the salt marsh. Males and females of varying ages, and therefore varied in color and pattern, were everywhere. 

Doubling back, we returned to our cars and headed for Bombay Hook, but not without first stopping at the famous Sambo’s Tavern for some local seafood and a cold drink to temper the rising heat of the day. 

Although we arrived as the tide was falling fast, Bombay Hook still produced good numbers of shorebirds and wadingbirds. Hundreds of Short-billed Dowitchers (no definitive Long-billed this time though) joined a mix of Semipalmated and Western Sandpipers, with Westerns in much higher numbers than we typically get in New Jersey.  More Black-necked Stilts were present along the refuge drive, while Cattle, Great and Snowy egrets joined Great Blue and Little Blue herons. We were unable to turn up any American Avocet, which are common here in the late summer, probably due to the poor timing with the tides. Even still, Bombay Hook is aways worth the visit, even if you spend an equal amount of time trying to deter the greenhead flies from biting you as you do scanning the flats for the odd shorebird! 

Leaving Bombay Hook we headed for Delaware City where we would meet up with Jeff and Liz Gordon, the President and First Lady of the American Birding Association. Delaware City is a quaint town with a great little waterfront on the Delaware River, just above the mouth of the Delaware Bay. This town is the gateway to the Delaware marshes and now boasts a 14 mile bike path connecting Delaware City to Chesapeake City. The bike path terminates (or begins, depending on your destination) right outside the American Birding Association headquarters, a four-story building with a rich history as a hotel, seafood packing house, and rowdy bar. Fully restored now it’s a beautiful example of historic preservation meets modern amenities. Jeff and Liz gave us the full tour, which wrapped up with a few beers on the back deck where we engaged in a great conversation of the history of the ABA, and the future of birding. 

Also right outside of ABA headquarters is the dock for the ferry to Fort Delaware, located on Pea Patch Island a mere mile out into the river. On the island is both a heron rookery, and a great living history exhibit within the walls of the fort. On this trip we decided not to venture out to the island due to time, but did spend an hour watching the herons flying back to the rookery as the sun set. It was quite beautiful with Cattle Egrets, Little Blue Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets and Glossy Ibis making up the bulk of the birds. A Black-crowned Night-Heron made an appearance just before we headed to dinner. 

Dinner was had at Lewinsky’s on Clinton, a great little gastro-pub which also happened to be hosting trivia night. You can imagine, with a team of associate naturalists, who won that game; We did! Following dinner we made our way back to Cape May via the Delaware Memorial Bridge, completing our full circumnavigation of the great Delaware Bay, and introducing us (or reintroducing us) to some of the wonderful birding and birder-centric stops in our neighboring state. 

For anyone interested in joining us on a future visit to Delaware, CMBO and the Nature Center of Cape May are teaming up for a “Birds and Beers by Bike” tour of the twin capes. Saturday August 13th will be the Cape May area, and Sunday August 14th will be Cape Henlopen in Delaware. 

Click Here for more information, and contact the Nature Center of Cape May to register; this trip is always a ton of fun!

Photos by Barb Bassett, B.J. Pinnock and the Author

Shorebird feature - Solitary Sandpiper

July is sometimes thought of as a slow month for birding, but shorebird migration is ON in a major way in the Cape May area, with new birds arriving from the northern breeding grounds in the boreal forest and Arctic tundra each day. In a series of posts, we will focus on a few species of shorebirds to help get us ready to identify and enjoy watching these migration athletes in flight!

Solitary Sandpipers have started to move through the mid-Atlantic region on their southbound migration, though they are a bit harder to detect than the obvious flocks of yellowlegs and dowitchers that are rushing through along the coast right now. Solitary Sandpipers tend to migrate in a, well, solitary fashion, and it's fairly easy to overlook one.

One tip that can help you detect and identify more Solitary Sandpipers is simple - learn the flight call! The thin, high flight call is typically doubled in a piercing "Tsee-Tsee!", higher and apparently less variable than similar calls given by Spotted Sandpipers.

To have a listen, check out this great recording from Mike Andersen at the Cornell Lab's Macaulay Library: http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/132487

The flight calls on the recording starting at the 15 second mark are the ones that I hear most frequently on migration.

So, you hear that sharp "Tsee-Tsee!" call - what next? Look up! Typically, a Solitary Sandpiper makes that doubled call in flight. Dawn and dusk are particularly good times to see these shorebirds flying over, but it can happen at any time of day.

Solitary Sandpipers are small members of the genus Tringa, the same genus that includes the yellowlegs and Willet (and a number of Old World species that we won't discuss here). Yellowlegs, Lessers in particular, are relatively similar in appearance to Solitary Sandpipers, but they are longer in wingspan and body length, with longer legs that stick out farther beyond the tail in flight (on Solitary, just the tips of the toes project beyond the tail in flight).

Two things in particular stand out to me when I see a Solitary Sandpiper in flight:

1) Dark underwing. The underwing coverts of a Solitary Sandpiper are barred dark and white, but in real life when a Solitary flies overhead rapidly, this pattern just appears really dark, contrasting strongly with the bird's white body. Yellowlegs have a lot more white in the barred underwing coverts, so their underwings don't contrast nearly as much with their white bodies.

2) Flight posture and style. Solitary Sandpipers cover a lot of sky in flight while in a tucked position with the wings mostly folded in to the body. This gives the bird's flight a bounding look with the wings outstretched for relatively short periods of time during each quick flap. In comparison, yellowlegs have more regularly spaced wingbeats and aren't nearly as bounding in flight.

These three photos are all of the same Solitary Sandpiper flying over at the Meadows (AKA The Nature Conservancy's Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge) in Cape May on 17 July 2016.

Check this space for more identification tips and updates on shorebird migration. Good luck out there!

WHY OH whydah?!

In Cape May, bird-wise, it seems like anything can happen at any time.  The Monday morning walk at the Meadows with Pete Dunne, Steve Weiss, Barb Bassett, Chuck Slugg, and others spotted a male Pin-tailed Whydah fluttering up from high grasses and flying toward the State Park.  

Whydahs and indigobirds are in the small family of songbirds, Viduidae, of 20 species, all native to sub-Saharan Africa. Pin-tailed Whydah is currently established and nesting in the Western Hemisphere, in southern California and Puerto Rico, as introduced or escaped exotics. Just like cowbirds of this hemisphere and cuckoos from the Eastern Hemisphere, these birds are brood parasites.  This means that they find nests of other songbirds and lay eggs in them so that the "host" bird family raises the young as its own.  In Africa, individual whydah species often specialize in one species to parasitize.  Baby nestling whydahs even have mouth colors to mimic the host nestlings and learn the song of their hosts while still growing in the nest.  That's one exotic and fancy exotic!

How did this species get to Cape May this week?  Often it is prudent to suspect an escaped caged bird.  Pin-tailed Whydah is kept in cages, but not as often as other Old World finches. Because of its parasitic nature it is difficult to breed in captivity.  While an escape is still a very viable possibility, we shouldn't eliminate the idea that this bird came from one of those established populations. But I will withhold any judgment, just simply present some possibilities. We may never know, or we might keep paying attention and some good hint will present itself.

In Puerto Rico this introduced whydah reproduces successfully because of the equally exotic presence of Orange-cheeked Waxbill. In California the known host species is the introduced (noticing a trend here?) Scaly-breasted Munia, aka Nutmeg Mannakin. The common thread here is that whydahs seem to only nest with estrildid finches (family Estrildidae). Along those lines it would take another introduction to establish a whydah anywhere. Or perhaps they could adapt to another group of birds? House Sparrow isn't very distantly related from the common hosts of whydahs. Or perhaps the complex songs of our Fringillid finches (goldfinches, for instance) might help the whydahs to find breeding success. 

Once species adapt to some new "thing" and some new place we can observe very rapid changes.  I'll leave you to your own thoughts of bird distribution and evolution while reminding us that we should always be ready to be surprised.  Cattle Egrets found their way (whether boat-assisted or flying across the Atlantic Ocean) to northern South America from sub-Saharan Africa in the 1870's. But it wasn't until 1953 that their presence was acknowledged in North America as a likely expansion of those colonizing South American Cattle Egrets. In case you are wondering, those first accepted sightings in 1953 came from Florida, Massachusetts, and....   Cape May...  of course! And these egrets were nesting and able to survive in more northerly clines in a very sudden way.

While you are out looking for whydahs this month (haha, why not!?) go ahead and also find a Ruddy Shelduck or Black-bellied Whistling-Duck-- then we'll have plenty more to think and talk about!

Pin-tailed Whydah pair, from http://www.lynxeds.com/hbw/photo/pin-tailed-whydah