I had a short time for a walk this morning before I had to catch a flight. The morning started of quite slow and I was thinking that my walk would be very short. In fact, I hadn't even brought my scope along since I was trying to travel light. Typically I start my Cape May Point State Park walks to the right of the hawkwatch platform as I like to hit the dune crossovers for some sea watching. This morning I started down the boardwalk path and decided to look for owls first thing. Much to my dismay I did not come across any little eyes peering back at me from the cedars and pines. Not that this means there were no owls. I pretty much proved my inability to find owls when I worked for Braddock Bay Raptor Research. The "owl woods" are arguably one of the best places in the east to find migrating owls in the spring and in my three seasons there was lucky enough to find only a handful on my own.
Since I struck out on owls I walked the length of the board walk and was glad that I had not carried my scope as the ponds were pretty much devoid of ducks for some reason. I had noticed that Lake Lily seemed to have a decent number on the water, so the plan was to scope there after my walk but I ultimately ran out of time. Once I got to the back side of the state park things had really started to pick up. I am guessing that the fact that the sun was a good bit higher and hitting more of the vegetation helped to bring birds out of hiding in search of food.
All in all, the walk was very productive with 60 species recorded. Given that I had walked the trails for less than two hours this was a great start had I been conducting another big day for the month, though forty species is still a big leap.
There were a number of nice finds for the day. The bird that probably took the top billing for bird of the day, one YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT along the very back trail which boarders TNC's CMMBR. So, the question begs asking; is this the latest Chat I've ever had or......the earliest!? I supposes this would be considered Philosophical Birding. A pretty novel idea, Don, what do you think about a CMBO Philosophical Birding walk this spring?
I digress. Anyway, other species that stand out; 6 Ruby-crowned kinglets, 5 Baltimore orioles and 50 Snow buntings on the beach. Try as I may, I was unable to locate a Lapland longspur in the bunch. Fifteen Tree swallows, a handful of Fox Sparrows, 12 Purple finches (both fly overs and birds feeding in shrubs) and an Eastern phoebe round out the top birds.
There was a good number of Cedar waxwings flying about, especially at the back of the state park. Again, try as I may, there were no large waxwings in the mix. I did try to turn a flock of cedars into crossbills as I drove into the parking lot.....wishful thinking.
One adult Bald eagle came cruising in heading toward the ocean with noticeable determination. This bird seemed to be flapping as hard as it could, constantly, headed out as if it were racing itself in a time trail to the coast. Almost as a soon as it hit the beach it stopped flapping and set wings to soar. After a few minuets I finally realized why the eagle was moving with such determination. Ducks scattered, not many but the eagle must have thought that there was one...."lame duck" in the bunch. Then I saw something I didn't think I'd ever see. Two Mallards (a drake and hen) flew past and strafed the eagle. Not much in the way of interaction but the ducks did make a second pass. Then as if the adrenalin finally wore of and they realized who they were tangling with, they flew off the find the refuge of the thicker parts of the marsh.
So, I'd say that it was quite a nice day. Definitely one of my best counts for my "Flight Day" list. So why was headed to the airport to "leave on a jet plane"? I've come down to Birdwatch America (the nations largest birding trade show) so that I can continue to bring you great new innovative birding product in the Northwood Center Nature Store. Hopefully if you visit us this spring you'll find a few of the fruits of my labor here.
By the way, FeatherEdgeOptics.org is now live, go and take a look even if you are not in the market for a new pair of binoculars. If you know someone who is, please send them our way, you know we'll take good care of them.
Location: Cape May Point SP
Observation date: 1/10/08
Notes: 5715 steps= 3.7 miles
Number of species: 60
Canada Goose 5
Mute Swan 6
Gadwall 6
American Wigeon 8
American Black Duck 1
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1
Mallard 43
Greater Scaup 1
dark-winged scoter sp. 35
Long-tailed Duck 3
Hooded Merganser 1
Red-breasted Merganser 4
Red-throated Loon 1
Northern Gannet 5
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Turkey Vulture 3
Bald Eagle 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Sanderling 3
Bonaparte's Gull 4
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 3
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Rock Pigeon 4
Mourning Dove 5
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 6
Northern Flicker 15
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 13
Tree Swallow 15
Carolina Chickadee 15
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 23
Winter Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6
Hermit Thrush 8
American Robin 37
Gray Catbird 15
Northern Mockingbird 3
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 250
Cedar Waxwing 145
Yellow-rumped Warbler 175
Yellow-breasted Chat 1
Eastern Towhee 8
Fox Sparrow 10
Song Sparrow 3
White-throated Sparrow 45
Snow Bunting 50
Northern Cardinal 15
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Common Grackle 10
Brown-headed Cowbird 25
Baltimore Oriole 5
Purple Finch 12
House Finch 5
American Goldfinch 5
House Sparrow 10
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Golden with Snake photo
[George Myers took this photo of the Jake's Landing Golden Eagle mentioned previously, carrying an apparent snake it hijacked from a gull.]
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Golden Eagle Steals Snake from Gull (!)
No, I didn't just try to come up with the most bizarre title possible for this blog. Chuck and Mary Slugg just emailed me the following:
"Had 2 adult bald eagles at the nest site at Beaver Dam. Went to Jake's Landing and had adult golden eagle stir up snow geese, go down, come up and perch for what seemed forever, take off, accost a gull in mid-air and cause it to drop a snake which the eagle snatched in mid-air and flew off with snake in talons. Spectacular." Both Beaver Dam (Beaver Swamp WMA) and Jake's Landing are on CMBO's Cape May Birding map, available as a .pdf on this web site.
If you're wondering about the snake business given that it's January, it reached 70 degrees F. in Cape May today. I haven't talked to the Sluggs and suppose it could have been an eel; regardless, how cool was that! Makes me think of the snake-eagles I hopefully will see in a few weeks while leading the NJAS tour to Tanzania - Black-chested, Brown, and Western Banded Snake-eagles are possible. . .
Speaking of eagles, mark your calendar for the Cumberland County Eagle Festival February 2. More info will be posted here shortly.
In other news, a few butterflies have been reported lately, including two Red Admirals yesterday, and an extraordinary Monarch on New Year's Day in Cape May Point. Moths collected around the lights here last night, and I'd wager that woodcock are displaying across Cape May and Cumberland Counties as I write this.
"Had 2 adult bald eagles at the nest site at Beaver Dam. Went to Jake's Landing and had adult golden eagle stir up snow geese, go down, come up and perch for what seemed forever, take off, accost a gull in mid-air and cause it to drop a snake which the eagle snatched in mid-air and flew off with snake in talons. Spectacular." Both Beaver Dam (Beaver Swamp WMA) and Jake's Landing are on CMBO's Cape May Birding map, available as a .pdf on this web site.
If you're wondering about the snake business given that it's January, it reached 70 degrees F. in Cape May today. I haven't talked to the Sluggs and suppose it could have been an eel; regardless, how cool was that! Makes me think of the snake-eagles I hopefully will see in a few weeks while leading the NJAS tour to Tanzania - Black-chested, Brown, and Western Banded Snake-eagles are possible. . .
Speaking of eagles, mark your calendar for the Cumberland County Eagle Festival February 2. More info will be posted here shortly.
In other news, a few butterflies have been reported lately, including two Red Admirals yesterday, and an extraordinary Monarch on New Year's Day in Cape May Point. Moths collected around the lights here last night, and I'd wager that woodcock are displaying across Cape May and Cumberland Counties as I write this.
Barnacle Goose et. al, plus Newburyport & Gloucester - future home of a CMBO Winter Bird Workshop?
[Karl Lukens reports from Sunday: "The Barnacle Goose was at the field behind Strawberry Lane at 8:00 am and later (10:45 am) at the Batts Lane/No Frills Farm field. Both times the flock contained the Canada Goose with the white head and neck. George, Steve, and I (with Ken and Jean Lukacs) had 2 Red-headed Woodpeckers, and the drake Redhead at Villas WMA this morning. " Photo by Karl Lukens.]
Wouldn't you love to go to a place where, on your first scan, you hit Red-necked Grebe after Red-necked Grebe, punctuated by a few Horned Grebes here, a few Razorbills there, and way more than a few Common Eiders over there? Not to mention plenty of loons (both species) and two dozen or so Black-legged Kittewakes dancing over the water and occasionaly smashing into it with apparent glee?
That would describe my first scan off Plum Island, MA on Saturday. Having missed the recent Cape May Black Guillemot and Dovekie, I had planned a spur-of-the-moment venture to points north for a bout of winter birding to make up for those misses, and soak up white-winged gulls, Snowy Owls, and the like. By the last day, the deal had been sealed - the Cape May School of Birding will go on the road next year for a Winter Birding Workshop, details TBA.
Among other Plum Island highlights, mostly within the Parker River NWR, were three Snowy Owls, 5 Rough-legged Hawks, 4 Northern Shrikes, and 4 Lapland Longspurs. A Dovekie has been hanging around the public fish pier in Gloucester, and we saw that easily and at length. Unfortunately we dipped on the Slaty-backed Gull that's been reported in Gloucester, but 8 Iceland gulls in varying plumages, plus 2 Glaucous Gulls were nice consolations.
The Massachusetts highlight, surprisingly, came from birds we can see relatively easily in or near Cape May. It was a calm, sunny, 50ish day at Rockport's Halibut Point on Sunday afternoon, with a glassy sea and low tide - I don't expect those conditions again anytime soon! A few Black Guillemots could be found by scoping in the distance, but the best birds from my persepctive were much closer: Purple Sandpipers scrambled about over the rocks, and Harlequins bobbed up from dives like corks, making their rubber-ducky squeaks. It was a tranquil moment with birds in their normal habitat just doing what they do - sometimes that trumps rare and exotic species, and it did this time.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE January 3, 2008
The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of New Jersey Audubon Societys Cape May Bird Observatory. This weeks message was prepared on Thursday January 3, 2008. Highlights this week include sightings of ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER, EASTERN PHOEBE, COMMON EIDER, BALTIMORE ORIOLE, HOUSE WREN, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, BROAD-WINGED HAWK, SNOW BUNTING, BARNACLE GOOSE,
For more up to the minute Cape May sightings information check the View from the
A drake REDHEAD continues, as of 1/1, to be seen on the little pond in front of the abandoned buildings at the Villas WMA.
The previously reported ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER in
At least two EASTERN PHOEBES made appearances on 1/1. One bird was located on the back side of the
The BARNACLE GOOSE continues this week in
The flock of 5-6 COMMON EIDER which have been frequently seen off Cape May Point, continue as of 1/1.
At least two BALTIMORE ORIOLES were seen in
At least three separate HOUSE WRENS were observed in the last week. Birds were found at TNCs Cape Island Preserve, the second tower field at Higbee Beach WMA on 1/1. On 1/2 a third individual was seen along Stevens Street in
The four wintering RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS continue to be seen at the Villas WMA as of 1/1.
On 12/30 at least 30 SNOW BUNTINGS were seen at Stone Harbor Point. On 12/31 the flock of SNOW BUNTIUNGS frequenting the dunes between the
An adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL was mixed in with Herring and Great Black-Backed Gulls on 1/1. The bird was located on the dune near the west dune crossover at TNCs CMMBR.
Upwards of 22 RED CROSSBILLS have been frequenting some conifers at the end of
A BROAD-WINGED HAWK, originally located and photographed on 12/22, was seen again on 12/28 over Cape May Point.
Three EVENING GROSBEAKS flew over the
The hen CANVASBACK continues in
A female COMMON GOLDENEYE has been observed at TNC’s CMMBR since at least 1/1. The bird was being seen approximately 75 yards off the east trail about mid way between Sunset Blvd. and the dunes.
Seen both 1/1 and today, 1/3, two imm. LITTLE BLUE HERONS have been observed along
ANNOUNCEMENT:
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 Harpers Migration Mainline-
******CMBO Bookstore hours are as follows; Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point, will be closed on Tuesdays during the winter. The center will be open Wednesday-Monday for the winter; hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in
The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Societys Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May,
Good Luck and Good Birding!
Ash-throated flycather, refound and Barnacle goose
(photo by Michael O'Brien)The message below was just emailed to me from Michael O'Brien as was the photo above. He has relocated the Ash-throated flycatcher which was first found on 6th Ave. in West Cape May and last seen (before today) on the east side of the Beanery, not too far from where Michael had the bird. What I'd like to know, is where was this bird on New Years day!!! Or, were we moving so quickly that we simply over looked the bird.......
"The Ash-throated Flycatcher (#3) continues at the Beanery today. I saw it around noon by the junk yard. Also, 2 juvenile Little Blue Herons at Two Mile Landing."
Also of note is that Karl Lukens reported seeing the Barnacle goose at Hidden Valley on an eBird list submission. I am not sure exactly where he saw the bird of if it was flyover but it's good to know that it is still around.
Looking for scoter? Stone Harbor Point is the place.
This is a little bit of a belated post but I wanted to share the sightings with anyone who may be looking for a nice birding spectacle. The other reason I wanted to post the info was because I was just speaking with a research associate at the Center for Research and Education (the CMBO center in Goshen) and he was telling me about the large number of scoter he had flying past Barnegat Light on the same day. He was up there counting for the area Christmas Bird Count and had some large numbers of scoter and various other ducks flying south first thing in the morning. I think I may have found where some of those birds decided to land.
Sunday, 12/30, we decided to bird Stone Harbor Point. One, because it's a nice place to birdwatch and we have not actually walked out to the point in some time. Two, because that is Sunday late morning event for the winter. Upon walking the dirt tail out to the "entrance" of the point we started scanning the waters looking for birds. We immediately noticed large numbers of scoters in the waves. The wind was from the ENE-ish which made the ocean very choppy and hard to actually tally individuals. We estimated that there were a few hundred of each surf and black within close range to shore. That being said, out a little farther there were scoter by the multiple hundreds. In actuality I gave the major scoter flock a count of about 1500 dark-winged scoter species on my eBird data entry. There were definitely many more scoter on the water in addition to the birds I estimated. Given that there was a good bit of moving around I felt it best to go with my general estimate rather than spend too much time trying the actually count each bird. An exercise in futility! One nice surprise was a group of three Common eider just off the beach. That coupled with the good numbers of scoter and Long-tailed ducks, with the added bonus of a Peregrine falcon sitting on the beach and about 30 Snow buntings flying around turns into a nice few hours biriding. Funnily enough there we a lack of passerines out at the point. In fact the only one tallied was a lone Yellow-rumped warbler which flew from the dunes inland. not one Ipswich Savannah sparrow to be had.
After Stone Harbor Point we drove over Nummy Island and saw a few species with a last stop at a few places to look over Sunset Lake in Wildwood Crest. Species diversity was not huge but there were good numbers, at least on Sunset Lake.
Moral to the story, get out and look for some ducks. It's that time of year!
Location: Stone Harbor Point
Observation date: 12/30/07
Number of species: 23
Brant 370
American Black Duck 16
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 4
Mallard 12
Lesser Scaup 37
Common Eider 3
Surf Scoter 330
Black Scoter 320
dark-winged scoter sp. 1500
Long-tailed Duck 120
Bufflehead 2
Red-breasted Merganser 2
Red-throated Loon 4
Common Loon 6
Northern Gannet 3
Northern Harrier 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Dunlin 225
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Herring Gull 66
Great Black-backed Gull 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Snow Bunting 30
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Location: Nummy Island
Observation date: 12/30/07
Number of species: 12
Gadwall 3
Bufflehead 2
Hooded Merganser 3
Red-breasted Merganser 8
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 4
Great Blue Heron 2
Northern Harrier 1
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Dunlin 15
Herring Gull 10
Great Black-backed Gull 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Location: Sunset Lake
Observation date: 12/30/07
Number of species: 6
Brant 480
Lesser Scaup 63
Bufflehead 150
Red-breasted Merganser 81
Great Egret 2
Great Black-backed Gull 4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Sunday, 12/30, we decided to bird Stone Harbor Point. One, because it's a nice place to birdwatch and we have not actually walked out to the point in some time. Two, because that is Sunday late morning event for the winter. Upon walking the dirt tail out to the "entrance" of the point we started scanning the waters looking for birds. We immediately noticed large numbers of scoters in the waves. The wind was from the ENE-ish which made the ocean very choppy and hard to actually tally individuals. We estimated that there were a few hundred of each surf and black within close range to shore. That being said, out a little farther there were scoter by the multiple hundreds. In actuality I gave the major scoter flock a count of about 1500 dark-winged scoter species on my eBird data entry. There were definitely many more scoter on the water in addition to the birds I estimated. Given that there was a good bit of moving around I felt it best to go with my general estimate rather than spend too much time trying the actually count each bird. An exercise in futility! One nice surprise was a group of three Common eider just off the beach. That coupled with the good numbers of scoter and Long-tailed ducks, with the added bonus of a Peregrine falcon sitting on the beach and about 30 Snow buntings flying around turns into a nice few hours biriding. Funnily enough there we a lack of passerines out at the point. In fact the only one tallied was a lone Yellow-rumped warbler which flew from the dunes inland. not one Ipswich Savannah sparrow to be had.
After Stone Harbor Point we drove over Nummy Island and saw a few species with a last stop at a few places to look over Sunset Lake in Wildwood Crest. Species diversity was not huge but there were good numbers, at least on Sunset Lake.
Moral to the story, get out and look for some ducks. It's that time of year!
Location: Stone Harbor Point
Observation date: 12/30/07
Number of species: 23
Brant 370
American Black Duck 16
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 4
Mallard 12
Lesser Scaup 37
Common Eider 3
Surf Scoter 330
Black Scoter 320
dark-winged scoter sp. 1500
Long-tailed Duck 120
Bufflehead 2
Red-breasted Merganser 2
Red-throated Loon 4
Common Loon 6
Northern Gannet 3
Northern Harrier 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Dunlin 225
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Herring Gull 66
Great Black-backed Gull 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Snow Bunting 30
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Location: Nummy Island
Observation date: 12/30/07
Number of species: 12
Gadwall 3
Bufflehead 2
Hooded Merganser 3
Red-breasted Merganser 8
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 4
Great Blue Heron 2
Northern Harrier 1
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Dunlin 15
Herring Gull 10
Great Black-backed Gull 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Location: Sunset Lake
Observation date: 12/30/07
Number of species: 6
Brant 480
Lesser Scaup 63
Bufflehead 150
Red-breasted Merganser 81
Great Egret 2
Great Black-backed Gull 4
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)