HAPPY HALLOWEEN from BirdCapeMay.org

I have to say that one of the things I like best about this particular "holiday" is the making of jack-o-lanterns. It always takes me back to my childhood, sitting around with my brother and dad trying to figure out what type of face we wanted to carve. So, in the spirit of the day I figured I'd share the above image of the jack-o-lanterns that Laura and I carved the other night.

Since we try to keep tricks to a minimum on this site (though I am wishing that a smell sensor had been invented to give you the option to "smell my feet"!) I figured I fill you in on some of the treats from Cape May the last little while. As always, check the View from the Field section for the daily migration count information.

This morning I only had time for a quick walk around the Beanery. A Vesper Sparrow had been seen there yesterday evening so I figured that I'd take a look for that bird this morning. The nice treat for me was stepping out of the truck to find an Orange-crowned Warbler feeding in the porcelain berry directly across from the kiosk in the parking area. Also in that general area were three or four Blackpoll Warblers, a couple of Baltimore Orioles and a number of sparrows flitting about. While the Beanery was somewhat bird rich this morning, mostly it was the usual suspects. A few birds in song were a nice addition to the morning. One expects for White-throated Sparrows to be attempting song these days but you don't always expect to hear a Winter Wren in almost full song. It does happen at times, along with the White-crowned Sparrow as I heard also today.

The grown up portions of the Beanery proved to be the most sparrow rich with many birds easily flushing as I simply walked along. Of course as is usual for sparrows the majority decided to fly into cover rather than sit and allow me to observe.

Other birds from today, the first Fox Sparrow I've heard of for Cape May this fall was observed at the Cape Island Preserve by Bob Fogg. He also had a Clay-colored Sparrow there. A late White-eye Vireo and a Blue-headed Vireo were at Higbee. Also at Higbee were Black-throated Green Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler and Rusty Blackbird.

A number of American Pipits were flying about today over many locations it would seem. I had a good number of Eastern Meadowlarks at the Beanery and the Robin flight continues to be strong. Purple Finches are showing in good numbers and at least one report of Pine Siskin flight over Cape Island Preserve.

Jumping back to the Beanery, I've pasted a report from the JerseyBirds listserv from Mike Fritz (CMBO Associate Naturalist) who was birding the Beanery yesterday for a little while. I thought that many who may not keep up on all the listservs might like to see the additional sightings.

"I birded at the Rea Farm ("Beanery") in W. Cape May this afternoon and was surprised at the songbird diversity for Oct-30. I mostly birded the sunny, out of the wind pockets and had 9 warbler species including Yellow-rumped (hundreds), Palm (60-70), Blackpoll (3), Orange-crowned (2), Nashville (2), Black-throated Blue (2), Common Yellowthroat (1), Black-throated Green (1),...N. Parula (1) a bright male no less! There was also a Dickcissel, two E. Phoebe, lots of E. Bluebirds as well as the more expected species.Tree swallows were everywhere at Cape May Point, but I couldn't find any other swallow species in the flocks."

As usual my list form this mornings walk is below. Also, the list from Chuck Slugg (CMBO Associate Naturalist), from yesterday's CMBO Hidden Valley Bird Walk.


Location: The Beanery
Observation date: 10/31/08
Notes: 3003 steps = approx 2 miles
Number of species: 49

Mallard 1
Common Loon 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
American Kestrel 3
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 6
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Tree Swallow 10
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
Carolina Wren 4
Winter Wren 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 6
Eastern Bluebird 4
Hermit Thrush 2
American Robin 200
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 3
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling X
American Pipit 25
Orange-crowned Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) X
Palm Warbler 12
Blackpoll Warbler 10
Eastern Towhee 4
Chipping Sparrow 3
Field Sparrow 5
Savannah Sparrow 65
Song Sparrow 20
Swamp Sparrow 25
White-throated Sparrow 50
White-crowned Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 15
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Eastern Meadowlark 20
Common Grackle X
Baltimore Oriole 2
Purple Finch 8
House Finch 10
House Sparrow 6

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

Location: Cape May - Hidden Valley Ranch
Observation date: 10/30/08
Notes: The final Hidden Valley walk started with a gorgeous male Northern Harrier and very close looks at mature Bald Eagles. Waves of American Robins flew overhead and the third field held a flock of Eastern Meadowlarks looking golden in the morning sun.
Number of species: 41

Canada Goose 18
Wood Duck 16
Mallard 12
Common Loon 28
Double-crested Cormorant 40
Black Vulture 4
Turkey Vulture 20
Osprey 4
Bald Eagle 5
Northern Harrier 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 8
Cooper's Hawk 2
Red-tailed Hawk 5
American Kestrel 1
Merlin 2
Sanderling 12
American Woodcock 1
Herring Gull 7
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 15
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 10
Blue Jay 20
American Crow 35
Carolina Wren 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
American Robin 10000
Northern Mockingbird 20
European Starling 75
Cedar Waxwing 20
Yellow-rumped Warbler 15
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 75
Eastern Meadowlark 24
Common Grackle 10
Brown-headed Cowbird 15
House Finch 1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

More on Oystercatchers

When I got into the office this morning I did some more checking on American Oystercatcher high counts. According to Birds of New Jersey, fall high counts include 375 at Brigantine September 13 1996 and 350+ at Hereford Inlet October 25, 1994. I then checked the all time high count for NJ on E-bird - 500 on September 26, 2006 at Stone Harbor Point, reported by Willliam Keim.

Stone Harbor Point, Hereford Inlet, and Nummy Island are all more or less the same place - the complex of barrier island, salt marsh and estuary between Stone Harbor and North Wildwood, and extending inland, a marvelously rich area. Yesterday we counted our oystercatchers all from one point - well, technically two points, from each side of the base of the free bridge to Nummy Island. One wonders how many oystercatchers an aerial survey would find. Check the tide, pick low or close to it, and go, it's a wonderful spectacle!

Nummy Island on a Blowout Tide: 309 Oystercatchers!

The extreme west winds of the past two days created a "blowout" low tide on the southern Atlantic Coast this afternoon, exposing mudflats and mussel beds in the vicinity of Stone Harbor to a far greater extent than normal. The most remarkable result of these conditions was a concentration of American Oystercatchers near the free bridge to Nummy Island. There have been many oystercatchers around for weeks, but during CMBO's birding workshop today we did an actual, careful count and came up with 309, which is perhaps the highest count from a single location ever for Cape May County.

Also on the flats were single Marbled Godwit, Short-billed Dowitcher, and Western Willet. An immature male Common Eider was in Great Channel north of the free bridge, probably the bird that summered in the area. A female Red-breasted Merganser flew past, and the sight and sound of Atlantic Brant emphasized that winter seems to have come, although temperatures and winds are supposed to moderate in the next two days.

Dickcissel at Goshen, Wind in Cape May

Wind peaked at a rather brisk 63 miles per hour in Cape May Tuesday, and continues to blow a steady 20-30 today. Tuesday morning, our CMBO workshop braved the wind at the Concrete Ship for the first hour and a half of the day, where we saw a rather diverse mix of things that surprisingly didn't include jaeger or Bonaparte's Gull (our targets), but did include flyby Snow Goose, Black Skimmer, numerous Northern Gannets and Royal Terns, a few Forster's Terns, my first Bufflehead of the season, both dark-winged scoters, and a delightfully brave Palm Warbler which hunkered in the lee of one of the wooden car stops for many minutes before suddenly taking it into its head to try to fly into the gale. It jumped up into the wind and flapped steadily for several seconds, barely holding its own as if in a wind tunnel, before giving up. In the afternoon yesterday we went indoors at the Center for Research and Education in Goshen, where we were graced with a Dickcissel at the feeders.

This morning the Beanery was. . .windy. A couple Winter Wrens and many Savannah Sparrows and Killdeer were most of what we could manage. An adult Bald Eagle did fly over, 3 "Blue" Snow Geese passed with 3 white ones. I also saw three Snow Buntings fly past, but in the high winds they were gone before I could call them out to the group.

In late morning, the meadows held the assortment of ducks that has been building in Cape May in recent days, including the persisting Hooded Merganser that has now nearly completed its molt into breeding plumage, and three hen Bufflehead that dropped in while we watched. Many dabbling ducks are now well along towards breeding plumage. Drake Green-winged Teal, for example, are showing a nifty mixture of the mottled brown eclipse feathers and new gray ones on their flanks. Land birds at the meadows included Hermit Thrush, Field Sparrows, and numerous Savannah, Swamp and Song Sparrows.

Painted Bunting and Golden Eagle!

A female Painted Bunting was discovered at Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area Monday morning. When last seen, it was a short distance down the dirt road leading to the Morning Flight Platform/Fisherman's Parking lot, feeding on foxtail along the road edge.

A Golden Eagle was seen over the Beanery and later over the Hawk Watch, presumably the same bird was involved in both sightings.

Black-headed Gull Flyby at State Park

Among the highlights of the 176 bird species found during CMBO's Autumn Weekend was an immature Black-headed Gull which passed the Cape May Hawk Watch late Sunday morning. It was not relocated despite searching around Cape May Point, although during the search we found a Great Cormorant sitting on the Concrete Ship and a Parasitic Jaeger offshore.

Friday-Saturday Highlights: Eiders, Sparrows, Finches, Shorebirds

Despite less than ideal birding weather, at least from the standpoint of migrant landbirds and raptors, CMBO's Cape May Autumn Weekend is in full swing, and some good birds are turning up.

Immatures of both eider species were found near the Avalon Sea Watch yesterday, and Jon Kauffman called this morning to report that the immature male King Eider is still present at the end of JFK Boulevard in Sea Isle City. Good numbers of dark-winged scoters have been visible offshore from various points, as have Northern Gannets, Royal and Forster's Terns and both loons.

Virginia Rail and Wilson's Snipe were seen yesterday at the South Cape May Meadows.

Yesterday at Cape May Point State Park, 3 White-rumped Sandpipers (all juveniles), a Western Sandpiper (in mostly winter plumage), a Semi-palmated Sandpiper (in juvenal plumage), a Semi-palmated Plover, and a Greater Yellowlegs were visible all together from the Hawk Watch. A Least Sandpiper was also reported there. It should be noted that the default peep at this season is Western, but since most of these have largely molted into winter plumage, any peep that hasn't should be checked for something different. This morning the plover and yellowlegs were still on Bunker Pond and a White-rumped flew past. I also heard an Orange-crowned Warbler chipping from the brush south of the hawk watch. Bunker and Lighthouse Pond are hosting plenty of ducks, including 4 Ruddy Ducks.

Landbirds are generally few, although mutliple flocks of flyover Pine Siskins and Purple Finches were recorded yesterday. Blackpoll, Rusty Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlarks and Eastern Bluebirds were some of the highlights from the Higbee Beach/Hidden Valley complex yesterday and today. A Grasshopper Sparrow was found at the Beanery yesterday. Other warblers reported south of the Cape May Canal have included Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green, and Northern Parula.

The Fall Weekend field trip at Brigantine yesterday turned up Snow Buntings, Lesser Scaup, Blue-winged Teal (which have thinned out substantially in Cape May), Western and White-rumped Sandpipers, and Salt-Marsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow.