Cape May Birding Hotline -- November 2nd, 2012

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call: (609) 884-2736 or email: coturnicops AT gmail DOT com
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties, NJ
Compiler: Tom Reed

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Friday, November 2, 2012. Included this week are sightings of CACKLING GOOSE, TUNDRA SWAN, EURASIAN WIGEON, CORY'S SHEARWATER, LEACH'S STORM-PETREL, BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, GOLDEN EAGLE, BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKE, SOUTH POLAR SKUA, POMARINE JAEGER, PARASITIC JAEGER, EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVE, WHITE-WINGED DOVE, CAVE SWALLOW, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, SNOW BUNTING, LARK SPARROW, PURPLE FINCH, RED CROSSBILL, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, PINE SISKIN, and EVENING GROSBEAK.


Without a doubt, this week's primary event was the passage of Hurricane/Superstorm Sandy during Sunday and Monday. The storm made landfall along the northern shoreline of Cape May County on Monday evening and resulted in major/severe beach erosion, coastal flooding and property damage. It also displaced thousands of birds throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. 

Much of Tuesday and the first portion of Wednesday saw a noticeable southbound push of land-driven seabirds past Sunset Beach, among which included: 1 CORY'S SHEARWATER, 1 BAND-RUMPED STORM-PETREL*, 1 LEACH'S STORM-PETREL*, 1 RED PHALAROPE, 3 BLACK-LEGGED KITTIWAKES, 130 POMARINE JAEGERS, and 8 PARASITIC JAEGERS. Observers to the north at Cook's Beach tallied 29 POMARINE JAEGERS and a CORY'S SHEARWATER in two hours during the afternoon of 10/30. A probable SOUTH POLAR SKUA* was seen flying south past the bayside of Cape May Point on 11/1. 

The finch invasion also continued this week, with multiple reports from Cape May Point of fly-over EVENING GROSBEAKS, RED CROSSBILLS and WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS on 11/1 and 11/2. Over 4,700 PINE SISKINS were counted over Cape May Point on 11/2, while over 3,000 were seen on 11/1. Over 100 PURPLE FINCHES also passed the Point on both days. 

A WHITE-WINGED DOVE* was found at the first field of Higbee Beach WMA on 10/31, and the same or another was seen flying past the Cape May Hawk Watch on 11/1. 

CAVE SWALLOWS have put in daily appearances on Cape Island since 10/30, with a high count of 10 from the Hawk Watch on 11/1. 

A LARK SPARROW was discovered at the entrance to Cape May Point State Park on 10/31. A very obliging LAPLAND LONGSPUR entertained birders at the 2nd Avenue Jetty in Cape May on 10/26 and 10/27. The season's first SNOW BUNTING flew past Cape May Point on 10/27.

The season's first GOLDEN EAGLE was seen over Cape May Point on 11/1, and another passed over the Cape May Hawk Watch on 11/2. A NORTHERN GOSHAWK was seen in Cape May Point on 11/1.

Up to 3 EURASIAN WIGEON appeared on Lighthouse Pond (Cape May Point State Park) this week. A CACKLING GOOSE has taken up residence on Lily Lake in recent days. The first TUNDRA SWANS of the season were spotted over Cape May Point on 11/2. 

Finally, Cape May Point's resident EURASIAN COLLARED-DOVES* continued to show regularly in the area of Lincoln, Whildin and Harvard Avenues.


* - denotes a Review List species in New Jersey, as designated by the New Jersey Bird Records Committee (NJBRC). Observers are strongly encouraged to submit documentation of such species to the Committee. Details should be sent to: report@njbrc.net
 

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).

Ditto!!

I couldn't think of a title for today's post so, since the birding was as amazing as yesterday...

Cape May Point State Park opened up its gates to the public again today and, though there weren't too many visitors, those birdwatchers that did venture into the park or anywhere else around the point, certainly had a fabulous day of birding. The onward flight of day migrants around the point was fabulous today; starting at daybreak, it was still under way at 11:30AM, some four and a half hours later. Michael O'Brien was engrossed in counting American Robins and Pine Siskins and I don't have the final tally yet, but I tallied Cedar Waxwings for a while and came up with a count of 3870, to which we have to add quite a number (perhaps 1500 or so) that had passed before I got involved with the counts. The usual mix of robins, blackbirds and finches passed through, as well as one or two warblers, including Blackpoll and Cape May Warblers. I also heard later of a Black-and-white Warbler at Higbee Beach this morning. Highlights in the finch flight at the point this morning were eight Red Crossbills and six White-winged Crossbills, with two more white-wings seen from the Hawkwatch. An Evening Grosbeak was heard but not seen. Raptors put on a great show today too, with Sharp-shinned Hawks being joined by a good flight of American Kestrels - over 50 at the Hawkwatch last I heard, and still counting. Two Golden Eagles came through together late morning and were noted from several locations around the point. At least three Cave Swallows were noted at the point today, while the Seawatch even had some landbird action with both Cave Swallow and White-winged Crossbill today.

A Cattle Egret flew past the point today, perhaps the one reported later in the day near Cape May Airport yesterday, and two Tundra Swans flew over the state park. This great flight looks set to continue over the next few days as we enter the period of the year that has a habit of turning up some unusual birds.

For an update on conditions at Brigantine NWR, take a look at the US Fish & Wildlife Flickr site.

Reports of single Cattle Egrets have come from several places in the past few days; this individual was near Cape May Airport on 1st [photo by Sam Galick].

A small flurry of Chimney Swifts has passed through Cape May over the last two days, perhaps reorienting after having been caught up in the recent storms [photo by Sam Galick].

The first Golden Eagle of the season breezed through Cape May on 1st, being seen at several locations from Stevens Street southward [photo by Sam Galick].

A day packed with birds...

Judging by all the text messages I was receiving, it was a really birdy day around Cape May today and it looks set to continue into the weekend. Though Cape May Point State Park was still closed today (it re-opens tomorrow), our hawk counter, Tom Reed, was allowed into the park to continue his counts, and he had quite a day of it. Starting with a White-winged Dove heading north-east, he later tallied five Evening Grosbeaks heading west, a handful of Cave Swallows and a fly-by Northern Goshawk, but for sheer spectacle, the Sharp-shinned Hawk flight of nearly 1000 birds will take some beating. I witnessed some of the Sharpie action further round on the dune-crossovers early morning; here the birds were flying very low, swooping through gaps in the vegetation - sometimes in groups of four or five at a time!! Pine Siskins and House Finches continue to pour through the point and head across the bay and today, Michael O'Brien managed to add White-winged Crossbill to the ever-growing list of northern finches that have passed this way this fall. Michael also reported a probable South Polar Skua which came into view briefly through a gap in the dunes from his watchpoint. Black-legged Kittiwake and Cave Swallow were at the re-opened Avalon Seawatch today and an odd bunch of four small Canada Geese types on Lake Lily appeared to be a family unit consisting of two Cackling Geese and two small Canadas which perhaps were hybrids - an interesting group. Late afternoon saw a real sign that November was upon us with the first Golden Eagle of the season heading south toward the point then turning back north - more will doubtless follow!

The Northwood Center feeders have been manic with bird activity today - Pine Siskins, Purple Finches (including some wonderful adult males), Red- and White-breasted Nuthatches and a whole array of juncos, towhees and sparrows have been feeding all day, while a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker remains faithful to one of the elm trees. My own yard was full of birds too this morning, including American Woodcock, Northern Parula and - surprisingly - more Palm than Yellow-rumped Warblers. A late Eastern Wood Pewee was beside Lake Lily this morning - Sibley's Birds of Cape May flags November 7th as the latest date for this species here. Finally, my day ended somewhat strangely with a Black-throated Blue Warbler, then the sight of a Blue Jay eating a Pine Siskin at the Northwood Center - unfortunately I did not see if the jay caught the siskin alive but it seems likely that it did.

Well, hopefully that all whetted your appetite for another big helping of Cape May birding - and help is at hand! With the hurricane causing us to cancel Louise Zemaitis's workshop this week, we have re-scheduled a two-day workshop for this coming Saturday and Sunday - Cape May with (almost) Everything on it! Short notice I know, but do think about coming down and joining us for a couple of days full of some great birding. Call us on 609-861-0700 to check on last-minute availability and give yourself a real treat - you've earned it!

Business as Usual

Cape May was back in business, though not quite back to full speed as yet. The streets are officially now open more or less throughout the area south of Cape May Canal, except for a few odd spots where water is still lying or sand still awaits clearance from the road. If you plan on visiting Cape May (and why wouldn't you?!) just be prepared for the occasional detour, but you should be able to get to most regular birding locations without any problem. All of the Cape island locations indicated on our bird map are open except for Cape May Point State Park. Park Superintendent, Lorraine McCay tells me that the intention is to re-open the park on Friday, once a full inspection and clean up of all the trails has been completed.

Further afield, all major routes through the county are clear but the situation on the barrier islands is likely to be difficult for some time as that area suffered the worst of the damage, particularly flooding. I heard today that Avalon Boulevard is already open to the public though, so it should be possible to now visit the Avalon Seawatch on 7th Avenue by crossing from exit 13 on the parkway.

Local birders have covered many areas for the first time since the storm today and reported plenty of the expected sparrows, Hermit Thrushes and other late fall birds in the area. A couple of hours of seawatching at Sunset Beach this morning produced a couple of storm-petrels which were likely Band-rumped or Leach's but perhaps too distant to call for certain, plus a few more Pomarine Jaegers (glorious in early morning sun!) and a smart juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake. Lesser Black-backed Gulls were at Sunset Beach and 2nd Avenue Jetty, as were Black Skimmers, while a flock of 12 Brown Pelicans circled over the point, moved east along South Cape May Beach, then north over the city. A White-winged Dove was reported from Higbee Beach, a Lark Sparrow was near the state park entrance and a third Eurasian Wigeon (another male) was discovered on Lighthouse Pond - viewable from Lighthouse Avenue. A Red Phalarope spent quite some time on the beach along the bayshore in Del Haven and five White-rumped Sandpipers were reported from there. Don Frieday sent news of a Red-billed Tropicbird that he identified from a photo, sent to him by a bird rehabilitator. At present, we don't know where the bird was picked up but it would be an excellent find in New Jersey.

Good news is, business as usual at our stores and on our walks! CMBO's regular events are back on schedule so, now that we are heading into November, that means our next walk will be at The Beanery on Saturday, November 3rd - we'll see you there!

Today's highlight for me was this juvenile Black-legged Kittiwake which flew out of Delaware Bay early this morning. Kittiwakes are graceful and agile fliers and that dark V across each wing makes it a very attractive bird [photo by Mike Crewe].

What a difference a day makes. If you saw the Lapland Longspur on 2nd Avenue Jetty last weekend, you might not recognize this as the place you saw it! Most of the stone jetty has been buried in tons of sand, all pushed up by the storm surge which actually built up some of Cape May's beaches rather than washing them away [photo by Mike Crewe].

Some streets remain to be cleared - this is the corner between Beach and Wilmington Avenues - the sand was some six feet deep where I was standing [photo by Mike Crewe].

Cape May's utilities people are being super efficient and much of the sand is off the road and awaiting transportation to somewhere more useful [photo by Mike Crewe].

You always wanted to do it - Sandy did it for you! Cape May's beach front parking meters were buried and out of the way, if only for a day! [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Post Hurricane Sandy

Cape May's mandatory evacuation was announced, people responded. We all held our collective breath and waited. I am sure you have all seen the reports, heard the outcomes. I hoped to put up some maps of the peak of the activity here, but I had no internet service (and it is still only intermitent it would seem) so was unable to follow the exact goings on, or download data. Still, it has been reported as an epic, record-breaking hurricane; a storm which spanned well over 400 miles across and set a new low record for recorded barometric pressure north of North Carolina. Having reached the coast and smashed through the Mid-Atlantic States - the damage done to the barrier islands still remains to be seen - Hurricane Sandy almost immediately became part of a massive low that was already dumping snow on the Appalachians. For Cape May, the one slight saving grace was that the power of the storm meant that it sped up considerably as it neared us, resulting in an earlier than expected landfall (around 6:00PM Monday rather than 2:00AM Tuesday) and a shorter amount of time spent in our airspace. With the eye of the storm passing roughly over Ocean City in the north of Cape May County, we endured nearly five hours of winds over 40MPH, with peaks of over 50MPH between 9:00 and 10:00PM (according to The Weather Channel data) and the rain fell and fell - nearly 6.5 inches was recorded for the region. Flooded basements and lawns were commonplace, but a lot of the rain had soaked away by the following morning.

Many of us were able to assess the damage this morning and with very few exceptions, little or no serious damage was done to property; indeed, many people found that the power had even managed to stay on throughout it all. With winds still whistling and another high tide only just falling back, some of us ventured down to Higbee Beach, then on to Sunset Beach once we were able to get there. Here's a picture story of our day.

My trustworthy, New Jersey Audubon feeder (available at NJA stores folks!) survived a good battering and provided much-needed sustenance to hungry birds, such as this very soggy Purple Finch which is about to land another big blob of water on its back [photo by Mike Crewe].

The canal jetty at Higbee Beach this morning. The rocks were almost completely covered with water and tree roots were strewn along the beach [photo by Mike Crewe].

Hearing that it was possible to get through to Sunset Beach, we arrived there to find the whole area covered in a thick layer of wind-blown sand, tree debris and all manner of other bits and pieces. For the second year running, huge thanks are due to the owners of the Sunset Grille for allowing us to use their deck as a watchpoint [photo by Mike Crewe].

So why Sunset Beach? Well, typically it has been found that birds swept into the coast by a hurricane, start to make their way back to the sea via any larger estuaries and rivers that they can find. Standing watching the bayshore is thus an ideal way to record what is flying out of the Delaware Bay the day after a storm. Typically, such storms bring birds of tropical origin, but this was no typical storm and several people remarked that they had never seen hurricane-driven Brant before! [Photo by Mike Crewe]

Checking every single bird is important on a day like today - note the female Lesser Scaup with the strong white wing bars, in this flock of Back Scoter [photo by Mike Crewe].

Scoter and Brant are to be expected in late October, but this adult Brown Pelican was much more of a surprise [photo by Mike Crewe].

Another typically northern bird caught up in this strange weather pattern, this is one of four Black-legged Kittiwakes that we logged today [photo by Mike Crewe].

With birds flying close to the coast to seek at least some shelter from the worst of the winds, post-storm seawatches can provide some great views of great birds. This Northern Gannet was so close over my head that this uncropped picture shows that I couldn't fit it all into the picture [photo by Mike Crewe].

How to deal with such close birds? Well, Tiffany Kersten felt she had the answer! [photo by Mike Crewe]

A great range of birds flew out of Delaware Bay today, the highlights for us being Band-rumped Storm-petrel and Cory's Shearwater, while others reported Sabine's Gull and Sooty Tern from much further up at Philadelphia. But the whole show was to be dominated by just one species - Pomarine Jaeger. Finding just one of these birds in Cape May is a notable achievement, but our day ended with a total count of 148 jaegers, the vast majority of which were Pomarines (with just a handful of Parasitics - I await Sam Galick's final tally for the day). It really was spectacular to see these birds coming through in groups of up to a dozen birds [photo by Mike Crewe].

But for most of us, the afternoon Pomarine Jaegers that started cutting right along the beach front were truly awesome and provided for some once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunities. The strongly-checkered underwing suggests that this is a second calendar year bird and it shows nicely the white patch on the primary wing coverts which is a good ID feature to tell it from Parasitic Jaeger [photo by Mike Crewe].

Cape May Point was still closed to non-residents today, with barricades at Bayshore Road and Broadway, but these had been removed by nightfall and it seems likely that the area will be open on Wednesday. If you are venturing down to Cape May Point, please be aware of possible access restrictions and take local advice at the time. The Northwood Center had power and was undamaged by the storm when I visited it today, so we do plan to be back to business as usual as soon as possible. Stay safe and have good birding!

Pre-hurricane preparations

As winds and rain start to pick up at Cape May on Sunday afternoon, we wish everyone good speed as they make their journeys away from what looks like being a very battered New Jersey coast over the next 48 hours or so. Though there is, of course, no good time to be slammed by a hurricane which looks set to merge with a storm moving in from the north-west to make what I hope is no more than a once-in-a-lifetime experience, it is fair to say that Sandy could hardly have picked a worse time to descend on CMBO. Though our Autumn Weekend participants enjoyed a wonderful two days of birding at Cape May, Sunday was marked as mandatory evacuation day and we had no choice but to call a terribly abrupt end to our Fall season. Though saying a premature farewell to all of our birding friends who were attending our festival was hard, for me it was particularly sad to have to make all too premature plans to see off our fabulous seasonal interpretive naturalists and counters. The comments that I have received from visitors to our seasonal monitoring sites this season have been nothing but glowing and CMBO is proud to have been represented to the public by such a stellar team of dedicated and professional people. Please join me in wishing them all the best in their forthcoming careers and thanking them for doing such a fabulous job. You can read short biographies of this year's team by clicking here.

A final morning's birding for me around Cape May Point revealed a community battening down for a heavy storm, with most people already well out of town. With the streets almost empty, it seemed that every other front yard was busy with bird activity as Chipping and White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, Yellow-rumped Warblers and American Robins stocked up with food, perhaps unaware of what they were about to face over the next couple of days. Pine Siskins are still swarming the area too - I saw some 40 birds at one feeder, while another front yard had around 120 Pine Siskins crowding over a pile of sunflower seed. Sadly, this latter group were attacked twice by a cat, allowed to roam at will by an inconsiderate owner. Maybe one day America's native wildlife will be protected from such unnecessary problems - they have enough natural things to worry about as it is!! Here's a few pictures from pre-Sandy Cape May.

The post I never got around to! Last week, I visited the north end of the county to capture some of the riotous Cape May fall color - such as this Pignut Hickory at Eldora. I guess by the time we return, those leaves will all be in a heap on the ground... [photo by Mike Crewe].

Saturday morning saw perhaps the first of the peculiar outer effects of a hurricane sky. Despite foreboding in the clouds, Tom Reed maintained his vigil at the Hawkwatch [photo by Mike Crewe].

Pine Siskins just keep coming and coming this year. Hopefully the flocks still cleaning out the sunflower feeders at Cape May Point will ride through the rough weather OK and be here to be enjoyed through November [photo by Mike Crewe].

The sign says it all - two years, two hurricanes for Cape May [photo by Mike Crewe].

 

Watch this space, we will be back soon...

Autumn Weekend & Hurricane Sandy

Well, the Cape May Autumn Weekend is well under way and today has been a fabulous, balmy day with warm sunshine and almost cloudless skies. But sadly this year, the elements conspire against us. As Hurricane Sandy looms ominously over the horizon, we have to follow local safety instructions, and as each hour passes, it looks more and more as if Cape May is going to be slapped clean in the face.

Following local advisories, we regret that we have had to make the decision to cancel all Autumn Weekend events as from first thing Sunday morning, and for the following week until further notice. Our Cape May With Everything On It workshop, scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday is therefore cancelled also, as well as our daily walks program. Please note also that Brigantine NWR has announced that it will be closed from Sunday morning through Tuesday.

On a much brighter note, tomorrow (Saturday) looks set to be another calm and sunny day with the promise of some great Cape May birding. Make the best of it, have fun, but please do keep in touch with local advisories regarding the hurricane. Today, two Eurasian Wigeon, a female and a first-winter male, were discovered on Lighthouse Pond, a Lesser Scaup was on Bunker Pond and a spectacular Double-crested Cormorant and scoter flight took place, with thousands of birds pouring past the Avalon Seawatch and Cape May Point. A male Lapland Longspur was found on 25th and continued all day today on the 2nd Avenue jetty and was today joined by two Purple Sandpipers. Long-billed Dowitcher and three Stilt Sandpipers were at The Meadows and Vesper Sparrows were lurking at The Beanery and Higbee Beach.

Good birding - but be careful out there.

Always a delight to work with, Purple Sandpipers can be very approachable with care and make for some great photo opportunities [photo by Mike Crewe].

A life bird for many of the Autumn Weekend visitors, this Lapland Longspur spent much of its time finding small larvae amongst the algae growing on the rock jetty at the corner of Beach and 2nd Avenues. Note the chestnut-edged greater coverts and the square-cornered, black edging to the ear coverts [photo by Mike Crewe].