CMBO Cape May Point walk- 1/31/09

(Photo courtesy of Karl Lukens; http://home.comcast.net/~jklukens/)

Karl Lukens send word of the bird findings from today's Cape May Point walk. While cold and windy kept me inside today I am kicking myself for not getting you and seeing the White-winged Crossbills the group was graced with! After all 54 species on a cold January day is not all that bad.

"Another cold and windy day for the CMBO Cape May Point Walk. We were
rewarded however, by a visit of 13 White-winged Crossbills that sat down for
1-2 minutes in the Pine Trees at Whillden Ave. and the dunes before flying
off. Also a good variety of ducks including a female Redhead and what looked
like female Lesser Scaup. Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones were making
their rounds of the jetties."

Location: Cape May Point
Observation date: 1/31/09
Notes: CMBO Trip-K,T,CS,DL,+1.Clr,24,NW18.
Number of species: 54

Snow Goose 30
Canada Goose 10
Mute Swan 15
Gadwall 25
American Wigeon 25
Mallard 20
Redhead 1 fem
Ring-necked Duck 10
Lesser Scaup 1
Black Scoter 12
Bufflehead 1
Hooded Merganser 5
Ruddy Duck 5
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 4
Turkey Vulture 6
Cooper's Hawk 1
American Kestrel 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
American Coot 10
Ruddy Turnstone 5
Sanderling 4
Purple Sandpiper 5
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 12
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 15
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 5
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 8
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 2
Cedar Waxwing 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 12
White-throated Sparrow 10
Northern Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Common Grackle 1
House Finch 7
White-winged Crossbill 13
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 10

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings at birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory with additions by Don Freiday

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday, January 29, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of EARED GREBE, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, EURASIAN WIGEON, SANDHILL CRANE, SNOWY OWL, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, COMMON REDPOLL, ICELAND GULL, REDHEAD, TRI-COLORED HERON, KING EIDER, and results of CMBO's Winter Marsh Raptor Survey.

The EARED GREBE was seen from the Municipal Lot at 80^th Street and Ocean Ave. in Stone Harbor on Thursday January 22, 2009.

At least one of the RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS is still being seen at the feeders located at 711 New England Road, Cape May Point.

The female EURASIAN WIGEON was still being seen on the main pond at Villas WMA as of Saturday January 24, 2009. The male REDHEAD is also continuing on the pond. 2 COMMON REDPOLLS were seen at the WMA on Saturday January 24, 2009.

The flock of SANDHILL CRANES is still being seen on Husted Landing Road near Bridgeton in northern Cumberland County. There does appear to be a COMMON CRANE mixed in with the flock.

One of the Stone Harbor SNOWY OWLS was photographed in the southernmost dunes of Stone Harbor Point on Friday, January 23.

Numerous sightings of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS have been reported throughout the area of late including 2 birds at the CMBO/CRE on Monday January 26, 2009; 10 birds over St. Peters in Cape May Point on January 25, 2009, and some over Cape Island Preserve on Saturday January 24 2009.

An ICELAND GULL was seen at the Ocean Drive Fisheries Plant heading toward Wildwood Crest on Saturday January 24, 2009.

A KING EIDER was seen at the 8^th Street Jetty in Avalon on Thursday January 22, 2009.

2 TRI-COLORED HERONS were found on Nummy's Island on January 25, 2009.

CMBO conducted a winter marsh raptor survey on Sunday. Eleven locations in NJ's southern four counties were surveyed according to a standardized protocol in the hour surrounding sunset. The primary species of interest for this survey are Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl, and 92 harriers and 18 short-ears were tallied, as well as 3 Rough-legged Hawks (Jake's Landing and Mott's Creek), 15 Red-tailed Hawks, 17 Great-horned Owls, 18 Bald Eagles, and 1 Golden Eagle (at Turkey Point). Short-eared Owls were at many locations including Jake's Landing (4), Stipson Island Road (2), Tuckahoe (2), Thompson's Beach (1), Bivalve (1), Newport Landing (3), Ragged Island (2), and Mott's Creek (2). Thanks go out to the many volunteers observers who participated in the survey.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 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 Harper's Migration Mainline- Cape May lithograph poster, valued at $50. Call either CMBO center to ask an associate about joining today!


The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland, and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discount in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

Winter Finches, Glaucous Gull, and Results from CMBO's Marsh Raptor Survey

[Tony Klock photographed this Short-eared Owl at Newport Landing during CMBO's Winter Marsh Raptor Survey using a camera phone through a scope.]

Continuing the good year for White-winged Crossbills, Tom Magarian had two over the CMBO Center for Research and Education in Goshen on Monday January 26, and Vince Elia had 10 over St. Peter's Church in Cape May Point on Sunday, January 25. Vince told me they followed a typical morning flight migrant pattern in Cape May, apparently coming down the coast and swinging westward when they reached Cape May Point. White-winged Crossbills, like other finches, are believed to be diurnal migrants that occasionally "get up early," i.e. begin movement before sunrise.

On Saturday January 24, Bob Fogg found a Glaucous Gull at one of Cape May's better gull spots, the fisheries plant along Ocean Drive. This is the road leading from the traffic light at the south end of the parkway eastward toward the Wildwoods. The gull area can be checked from either side of the toll bridge on Ocean Drive - just be sure to park beyond any no parking signs, and expect to pay $1 to head west across the bridge.

Also on Saturday, I watched two Common Redpolls at Villas WMA as they left some pines in the center of the WMA, circled, and flew out headed west. Two Red-headed Woodpeckers were also at Villas, and the female Eurasian Wigeon and male Redhead continue on the pond there.

Brian Moscatello and Janet Sedocino found two Tri-colored Herons on Nummy's Island Sunday. Speaking of lingering birds, I understand one of the Rufous Hummingbirds is still coming to the feeder at 711 New England Road.

Up in northern Cumberland County, the crane flock continues to be seen. Kathy and Roger Horn saw the birds Saturday, and report: "They came bugling in at 4:50. Head out toward Husted Landing . Where it says 'marina to R & Sales & Service to the Left, go Left. They were in the empty plowed field on the right, just past the Husted house. Karl had them yesterday afternoon in the corn field right behind the house so it seems that's the area they come back to in the evening. We also had kestrel,sharpy, red-shouldered hawk , a huge flock of turkeys along with one very bright peacock and horned lark in the surroundeing area. K&R"

CMBO conducted a winter marsh raptor survey on Sunday. Eleven locations in NJ's southern four counties were surveyed according to a standardized protocol in the hour surrounding sunset. The primary species of interest for this survey are Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl, and 92 harriers 18 short-ears were tallied. Thanks go out to the many volunteers observers who participated in the survey! When all the results are in, we'll post more highlights here.

White-winged Crossbills over Cape May

After birding around West Cape May this morning, I heard from Tom Magarian that he had heard some White-winged Crossbills flying over Cape Island Preserve. Those birds were headed south ~9:45 AM so I figured I'd walk around Cape May Point with hopes that the birds will stop somewhere before the bay. It actually paid off, and ~10:25 AM I heard two White-winged Crossbills getting closer and finally fly over my head at Lincoln Ave and Cape Ave headed east towards St Mary's Church. One was a male and the other was an immature/female.

Later on, I rode my bike along beach drive checking the ocean for waterbirds. I didn't have my scope, but I had a few interesting birds at Poverty Beach including an adult Great Cormorant, a Horned Grebe, and a small bird sitting high on the water behind the grebe that showed a lot of white. It was hard to tell how much white the bird acutally showed since it was distant, but after seeing it pop up a few times I realized it was an alcid and tried to alert a few people with scopes. Unfortunately, after using the phone, the bird wasn't relocated despite a few people checking.


There were also 20 Snow Buntings on the beach at Cape May Point State Park yesterday, a dull Redhead (above) and a Lesser Scaup still continue on Lily Lake, and at least one if not both Rufous type Hummingbirds are still visiting the feeder at 711 New England Rd.

EARED GREBE- re-found in Stone Harbor

I just received word from Ms. Seawatch herself, Gail Dwyer, that she had re-found Sunday's (1/18) Stone Harbor Point Eared Grebe. The bird is being seen from the Municipal Lot at 80th Street and Ocean Ave. in Stone Harbor.

Other birds of interest reported from Gail were 300+ scaup from the Seawatch at 7th Street in Avalon. At the 8th Street Jetty there were a few Common Eider and a King Eider.

CAPE MAY BIRDING HOTLINE - THURSDAY, JANUARY 22 2009

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings at birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory with additions by Don Freiday

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Thursday, January 21, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of EARED GREBE, RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD, EURASIAN WIGEON, SNOWY OWL, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, PINE-SISKIN, ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, CACKLING GOOSE, PALM WARBLER, ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, CHIPPING SPARROW, REDHEAD.

An EARED GREBE was found at Cape May Harbor on Saturday January 17 2009. Another was seen in Stone Harbor near the free bridge to Nummy’s Island on Sunday January 18 2009.

One RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD was still being seen as of Saturday January 17, 2009 at 711 New England Road in Cape May.

A female EURASIAN WIGEON, perhaps the same bird seen January 14 on Lily Lake in Cape May Point, was seen on Monday January 19, 2009 at the Villas WMA. Other notable sightings at Villas WMA included a PALM WARBLER, a male REDHEAD, and a flock of 35 CHIPPING SPARROWS. Two WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS were seen at Villas WMA on Sunday January 18 2009. A PINE SISKIN was there the same day.

A CACKLING GOOSE was seen at Lily Lake on Saturday January 17 2009.

The darker, probably female SNOWY OWL was seen at the Stone Harbor Point parking lot on Thursday January 15 2009.

An ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER was seen at Cape May Point State Park on Monday January 19 2009. Another was seen at Cape Island Preserve on Wednesday January 21, 2009.

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWKS were reported this week at Jake’s Landing, Tuckahoe, Turkey Point and Newport Landing.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 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 Harper's Migration Mainline- Cape May lithograph poster, valued at $50. Call either CMBO center to ask an associate about joining today!

******CMBO Bookstore WINTER HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open Wednesday through Monday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Tuesdays. The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Mondays. ******

The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discounts in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

A little bit of snow on a cold morning

The image above was from my short walk around the TNC's Cape Island Preserve. I took the photo with the camera on my phone as the snow was blowing quite rapidly. It's kind of hard to tell from the low resolution of this image but the main reason that the trees in the distance are obscured/blurry was due to the quickly falling snow.

Aside from the beauty of the snow (I have to say there is just something about falling snow that seems to captivate ones attention) there was not a whole lot of activity around "the Preserve" this morning. I walked north along the railroad tracks and then back south through the fields a bit and came up with 32 species (see list below) which is not all bad in my opinion. While I was not able to dig up any unexpected species, it was just nice to get out for a cold walk before work.

I did meet up with Bob Fogg for the latter part of my morning jaunt who told me that had seen an Orange-crowned Warbler when he arrived near the trax/entrance gate area off Wilson St. Also toward the end of our walk we saw a raptor shoot in from the west low and ultimately perch in a tree reveling itself to be an adult Red-shouldered Hawk. Always a welcome sight to my eyes!

Before heading inside I decided to check out the patch of open water on Lily Lake. There are still loads of Gadwall and Wigeon (no Eurasian, best to try Villa WMA. See Don's post below). There was one Green-winged Teal and a female Bufflehead. No Redhead that I could see though I really did a rather quick scan/count. I had heard that there was at least one Redhead on this patch the other day. Also no Cackling Goose.

To my knowledge the Eared Grebe on Cape May Harbor has not bee refound in a few days. I've heard now word about the other grebe up at Stone Harbor.

I guess there is always tomorrow.

Location: Cape May - Lily Lake
Observation date: 1/21/09
Number of species: 14

Canada Goose 20
Mute Swan 22
Gadwall 95
American Wigeon 55
Mallard 15
Northern Shoveler 4
Green-winged Teal 1
Ring-necked Duck 25
Bufflehead 1
Hooded Merganser 3
Ruddy Duck 12
Double-crested Cormorant 1
American Coot 12
Ring-billed Gull 2

Location: Cape Island Preserve
Observation date: 1/21/09
Notes: 6326 steps = approx. 4.1 miles
Number of species: 32

Canada Goose 26
Mallard 4
Northern Pintail 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Herring Gull 3
Rock Pigeon 36
Mourning Dove 25
Downy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker X
Blue Jay 6
American Crow 12
Fish Crow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Carolina Wren 14
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 25
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 6
European Starling 45
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Eastern Towhee 4
Savannah Sparrow 45
Fox Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 10
White-throated Sparrow 55
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 3
Northern Cardinal 12
Red-winged Blackbird 25
House Finch 15
American Goldfinch 20
House Sparrow X

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2