Success with the sparrow

Took a quick jaunt to the State Park to look for the Lark sparrow soon after posting the previous.

We headed straight for the metal bridge and waited and waited and waited. Finally about 4:45 pm. we heard a faint call note (not sure if it was the sparrow) and a bird flew in over head (from the S-SW) and gave a nice flash of the white in the tail as it went to land in the dead tree immediately to the NE of the bridge. It hung around in the tree giving great views and then about 4:50 pm. it flew off to the W and landed (out of sight) on the mudflat area on Lighthouse pond at the end of the creek.

Now this is not a mega rarity but a good find. It's especially gratifying to me since I've missed six or so in my few years living in Cape May and my years as the hawk counter. Even better, this is a four ticker; new for my year list and state, county and Cape Island list. Ah, what we do to wile away the hours.

Chances are that the bird will hang around a bit so if your down in Cape May you might try for the bird. While your there check out Lighthouse pond. There's a good amount of mud opened up with a good number of shorebirds. Karl said they had a White-rumped sandpiper this morning on the CMBO walk and I thought I had three flying around when the group got up and circled. I'll have to lug the scope through the park tomorrow on my morning wander.

Remember if your trying to figure out what you might have a chance to see while your visiting Cape May, you can check out the checklist which gives rough times (spring, summer, fall and winter) you can expect to see certain species. Or, check out the Naturalist Calendar for historical sightings. These are the ones with the blue tabs. Interestingly Laura just today put in a post on the calendar for Sept. 16 about a Lark bunting and sparrow seen in the area way back in 1993. I'll find out what historical sightings goodies she is posting to the calendar next so we'll know what to look for.....

LARK SPARROW- Cape May Point State Park

Just looked at a photo recently taken at the Cape May Point State Park of a LARK SPARROW. The bird was seen from the first "new" metal bridge on the red trail. Basically, since the short cut trial is still closed, walk the mail trail until you come to a metal bridge. The bird was observed on the ground near the water and flew off. I'm headed out to see if I can relocate and will post if successful.

Finally some fall like weather and a few migrants

http://opinionnow.co.uk/cz-surv-us0707/

Information is still being collected via the survey mentioned before. So, I wanted to post the link again and continue to give folks a chance to enter the raffle for a pair of $700 binoculars.

As for the birding today; there were not near as many individuals around Higbee Beach WMA as I would have thought given the conditions. There were migrants around though.

It was so nice to wake up and open the windows to let some of the cool fresh air in the house this morning. I was sure that Cape May would be loaded with birds after a nights migration. The reality is it's still early-ish for big pushes of birds. Now the birding is sort of like I type; hunt and peck. You have to walk slowly and keep your eyes and ears tuned in for the slightest movement or the faintest chip note. If you follow this advice you are sure to find at least a few little feeding flocks. I found one in the second field at Higbee. It was mostly Yellow warblers and redstarts (which is to be expected) but there was a Prairie warbler and Northern parula mixed in.

I also hear that a Blue-winged and Black and white warblers were in the vicinity of the parking lot. Not sure if it is the same Blue-winged that I've been hearing about for the last week, birds do tend to hang around for some time if the food source holds. But, I would guess that this bird is different, just a guess seeing that there seems to have been some change over in species.

One dark juv. Peregrine falcon blew over head this morning. I assumed it was headed toward the state park (given the direction in which it was flying) looking for a morning meal. After speaking with George about the CMBO Cape May Point State Park walk this morning, he confirmed that I was right. They had the bird fly over there as well, forgot to ask if it caught anything to eat.

Birds observed listed below;

Location: Higbee Beach

Observation date: 8/11/07

Number of species: 29

Great Egret 1

Black Vulture 2

Peregrine Falcon 1

Black-bellied Plover 1

Least Sandpiper 10

Laughing Gull 8

Mourning Dove 16

Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1

Eastern Kingbird 2

White-eyed Vireo 3

Blue Jay 1

American Crow 2

Purple Martin 6

Carolina Chickadee 12

Tufted Titmouse 4

Carolina Wren 12

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 4

American Robin 2

Gray Catbird 2

Northern Mockingbird 2

Northern Parula 1

Yellow Warbler 16

Prairie Warbler 1

American Redstart 18

Field Sparrow 3

Northern Cardinal 25

Red-winged Blackbird 56

Common Grackle 12

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/)

No Cheetah seen by me but other good birds around.

Finally getting a chance to get a post about what was seen today. Sorry for the delay, noting earth shattering. I birded the Beanery and then headed over to the Cape May Point State Park for a little check on the shorebird situation at Bunker pond.

Nothing extraordinary was seen but good numbers of birds feeding at Bunker pond. My pick of the day would the be the Louisiana waterthrush that flew in to the wet woods railroad trail at the Beanery. This bird sat for quite some time and afforded excellent views of exactly why it was a Louisiana (buff flanks with diffuse streaking, bold white supercillium especially behind the eye, less dense streaking on the breast...)instead of a Northern. Love those pink legs! I am not sure if banding measurements would support this but it always seems to me that Louisiana has a more than slightly larger beak than Northern. Maybe it just my eyes as well, they just seem to have a pretty big honking beak. Sibley indicates "with longer bill", but I wonder how much longer? Anyone with measurements or ideas feel free to email.

Anyway since I'm posting two lists I'll let the sightings speak for themselves.

Location: The Beanery
Observation date: 8/10/07
Number of species: 30
Green Heron 2
Osprey 1
Laughing Gull 12
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 4
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
American Crow 3
Purple Martin 4
Tree Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 8
Carolina Chickadee 1
Carolina Wren 13
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 82
Cedar Waxwing 2
Yellow Warbler 2
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Northern Cardinal 8
Indigo Bunting 6
Bobolink 2
Red-winged Blackbird 8
Common Grackle 16
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 4
House Sparrow 18
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Location: Cape May Point SP
Observation date: 8/10/07
Number of species: 37
Mallard 12
Great Blue Heron 4
Snowy Egret 3
Green Heron 4
Osprey 2
Semipalmated Plover 23
Killdeer 6
Greater Yellowlegs 8
Lesser Yellowlegs 12
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Sanderling 3
Semipalmated Sandpiper 48
Least Sandpiper 27
Stilt Sandpiper 13
Short-billed Dowitcher 12
Laughing Gull 35
Herring Gull 25
Great Black-backed Gull 15
Common Tern 4
Forster's Tern 10
Least Tern 45
Rock Pigeon 4
Mourning Dove 4
Eastern Kingbird 4
American Crow 2
Purple Martin 12
Tree Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 26
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Cedar Waxwing 2
Yellow Warbler 2
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 16
House Finch 6
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 12
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Shorebird evening at Cape May Point State Park

I spent a brief half hour near sunset at Bunker Pond, hoping for two things: to study terns and maybe find something unusual coming in for the night, and to listen to Stilt Sandpipers.

The hoped-for tern study was in vain - there were NO terns at all roosting on the Bunker Pond Islands, except since Black Skimmers are in fact terns I suppose I can't quite say the Islands were ternless. Two skimmers rested there briefly and a total of 5 foraged over the pond during the time I was there. The only other terns I saw were fly-bys.

The Stilt Sandpipers were more obliging. 2 or 3 were present on the pond as I walked up, but several were in the air and calling, so I'm not sure how many there were in total. Stilt s.p. calls don't jump out at you - they deliver a soft, Lesser Yellowlegs kind of call, something easy to listen right past.

Semipalmated Sandpiper numbers have increased in recent days, and single White-rumped and Western Sandpipers fed among them. Perhaps the largest Greater Yellowlegs I've ever seen foraged in fairly deep water, clearly a female with a sweeping godwit-like bill and seeming as big as a duck. Tonight's list, just a half hour's observation from a single point, is below.


Location: Cape May Point SP
Observation date: 8/10/07
Number of species: 23
Canada Goose 9
Mute Swan 1
Mallard 10
Great Egret 1
Semipalmated Plover 12
Killdeer 2
Greater Yellowlegs 4
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Sanderling 3
Semipalmated Sandpiper 150
Western Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 35 2 juvs, the only juvs in the lot of shorebirds tonight
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
Stilt Sandpiper 5
Laughing Gull 100
Common Tern 10
Forster's Tern 1
Least Tern 5
Black Skimmer 5
Purple Martin 5
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)

Cheetah sighted at Cape May Point. . .well, maybe not, but other great things are about

Cheetah, Maasai Mara, Kenya. Photo (c) Don Freiday

Cheetah would be a pretty hot vagrant down here, but it's been pretty hot and I've been stuck indoors working on the details for the coming NJAS tour to Tanzania, set for February 2008. For which, by the way, there are a few spaces still available. Once you've been to Africa, it's pretty easy to start dreaming about it, and that's what I've been doing about the coming trip. More about the trip can be found at

http://www.njaudubon.org/Travel/Tours/Tanzania08.html

In the more local realm, Cape May Point State Park continues to be one of the best spots to find shorebirds and terns. Karl and Judy Lukens report that on CMBO's Wednesday's walk there,

"Another good walk this morning. . . Highlight was two almost breeding plumage Black Terns ( a little white around the face) on Bunker Pond, as well as the usual assortment of shore birds, which included a couple of juvenile Least Sandpipers. One Black-and-White Warbler and 1 American Redstart showed up as woodland migrants, and Michael O'Brien reported - would you believe - a Yellow-rumped Warbler; must be officially fall!"

Today's "Bird Walk for All People" (held every Thursday at the state park, and open to all comers, experienced birders or those new to the fold) enjoyed almost 30 folks, some of whom had never looked through bins before. We added a Royal Tern resting on Bunker Pond to Karl's Wednesday list, which is below.

SPECIES SEEN ~ CMBO TRIP
8/8/2007 ~ in Cape May Point
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 4
Snowy Egret 2
Glossy Ibis 4
Mute Swan 35
Canada Goose 20
Mallard 20
Turkey Vulture 3
Osprey 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Oystercatcher 3
Semipalmated Plover 7
Killdeer 10
Short-billed Dowitcher 4
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Lesser Yellowlegs 9
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Sanderling 4
Semipalmated Sandpiper 9
Least Sandpiper 20
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Stilt Sandpiper 5
Ring-billed Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 20
American Herring Gull 10
Laughing Gull 100
Common Tern 15
Forster's Tern 12
Least Tern 30
Black Tern 2
Black Skimmer 3
Rock Pigeon 20
Mourning Dove 6
Chimney Swift 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Purple Martin 30
Tree Swallow 15
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Bank Swallow 1
Barn Swallow 8
Cedar Waxwing 4
Carolina Wren 5
Gray Catbird 4
American Robin 1
Carolina Chickadee 1
American Crow 5
Fish Crow 1
European Starling 10
House Sparrow 8
American Goldfinch 2
Yellow Warbler 2
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 1
Common Yellowthroat 3
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 6
Indigo Bunting 1
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Common Grackle 2
Brown-headed Cowbird 2

Higbee Beach WMA

First off, I forgot to mention one of the cooler birds we saw while up at Brigantine NWR the other day. While on the last leg of the loop we spotted a sub-adult male Northern Harrier (my guess given the amount of brown still notable on his back, but I'm not a harrier expert.) Between this sighting and the Sedge wren, my day was made.

But I digress...... Now for today's sightings.

With the N to NW winds overnight one might have expected a number of early migrants to be hopping around the woods. Well, this seems to have not been the case this morning. While migrants were around, they were not too plentiful. Mind you, we did only have a short time to bird this morning as Laura had to work on a few last elements in the updating of Bird Droppings and Birding Fieldcraft.

We had a few Yellow warblers in the trees and calling as they flew over head. Also, a few American redstarts were in evidence as well. We did notice that Blue-grey gnatcatcher are being more vocal lately and observed all by hearing them today.

Aside from what we encountered, I did hear that there was a Blue-winged warbler near the parking lot at Higbee the last couple of days, as well as, an Ovenbird in the same area today. In the "no it's not that late in fall yet" category; I heard that the first Yellow-rumped warbler of the fall has been tallied. Well, it's all down hill from here you might be telling yourself. Not quite. Actually, as I understand a few early-ish Yellow-rumped warbler is not all that uncommon in these parts, The Birds of Cape May lists the early date as 8/1. While it is a bit of pain to have to sort through the hordes of yellow-rumps later in the fall there are plenty of redstarts to sift through in the earlier fall. In fact I find it to be fun some days, like a scavenger hunt. But then again isn't most all birding like a scavenger hunt?

None the less you take what you get. The important part is getting out to enjoy, right? If you'd like to get out with someone, try one of the weekend walks that CMBO offers. Friday 8/10 is Sunset Birding at the Meadows; starts at 6:30 p.m. Or, on Saturday 8/11, Birding Cape May Point; meets at the hawkwatch platform at 7:30 a.m. There are no scheduled walks on Sunday until next week when on 8/19 the first Villas WMA Walk starts. For more info check out Programs/Daily Walks.

Oh, almost forgot to mention the butterflies seen today: (in no particular order) Monarch, E. Tiger swallowtail, Spicebush swallowtail, Cabbage white, Clouded sulphur, a nice find was a Cloudless sulphur, Summer azure or E. tailed-blue (some sort of little blueish butterfly, I didn't take the time to solidify the i.d.), Red admiral, Pearl crescent, Common buckeye, Common wood-nymph, Silver-spotted skipper and Least skipper. 13 species, not too bad for a short jaunt.

The short list of birds observed is below;

Location: Higbee Beach
Observation date: 8/9/07
Number of species: 26
Green Heron 2
Osprey 2
Laughing Gull 15
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Eastern Kingbird 1
White-eyed Vireo 6
American Crow 3
Purple Martin 12
Barn Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee 3
Carolina Wren 8
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
Yellow Warbler 8
American Redstart 2
Eastern Towhee 1
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 15
Indigo Bunting 4
Bobolink 8
Red-winged Blackbird 4
American Goldfinch 2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)