Dovekies...

It was inevitable that we were going to get Dovekies at Cape May Point today. This might seem a pretty outrageous thing to say, given that this is a rare bird from land in New Jersey, and especially so at Cape May. However, we are going through some very strange weather trends this year, which all seem to be part of a continuing, longer-term trend of less predictable and seemingly more violent weather patterns. Water temperatures in the north-west Atlantic have been shown to be unseasonably high, especially off the north-east US, but even as far south as the Carolinas and we are currently witnessing an unprecedented southward movement of Razorbills - not just off north-eastern coastlines but way down into Florida, as far as the Keys and well into the Gulf Coast area. Such a good job of reporting on this has been done by eBird staff here, that I shan't repeat what has been written, but I strongly recommend following the link and reading the story so far.

With heavy rain overnight and associated windy conditions, it seemed likely that seabirds would have been pushed into Delaware Bay overnight, so an intrepid team gathered at our favorite viewing point at Sunset Grille and braced against the winds. It wasn't long before birds started to come out of the bay and, as well as a good showing of Northern Gannets and Long-tailed Ducks, little black and white shapes began to appear not too far out and gradually morphed into Dovekies. Though I haven't heard the final count yet, when I left the scene the count was up to 29, with a smaller scattering of Razorbills further out. This figure included at least four birds seen sitting on the water and the count represents by far the highest ever recorded from shore in the county. Most previous counts around Cape May have been of single birds, the highest count being of 16 on the 1932 Christmas Bird Count.

Windy weather, poor light and an inept photographer are not a good combination, but I did my best this morning on two of the Dovekies at Sunset Beach. In this shot from behind, notice the white flecks on the upperparts [photo by Mike Crewe].

Another shot of the two swimming Dovekies; note the stubby, deep-based bill, as well as the extensive white patch which extends well up into the back of the face [photo by Mike Crewe].

Two more Dovekies scuttle past the concrete ship. In flight, note the all dark underwing and very dumpy shape, both of which single them out from Razorbills. The thin black neck collar and extensive amount of white on the back of the face are useful too [photo by Mike Crewe].

Elsewhere in the region, the two Western Tanagers continue to show intermittently at Cape May Court House and the Townsend's Warbler continues to put in grudging views at Cape May Point State Park periodically. A Harlequin Duck was at the Two-mile Beach jetty on the north side of Cold Spring Inlet on 20th. Also this morning, small numbers of White-winged Scoters were passing out of the bay with Black and Surf Scoters. Interesting news from further afield includes a male Cape May Warbler coming to a feeder in Hunterdon County, while a remarkable number of butterfly sightings continue to be reported. Just two days ago, I saw three Red Admirals spiraling upward in what appeared to be a courtship flight, while December 18th provided no less than six butterfly species: Monarch, Questionmark, American and Painted Ladies, Orange Sulphur and Red Admiral.

This remarkable Orange Sulphur was so small that it was photographed sitting on a dime! Butterflies  can often be smaller and/or darker in color than usual as a result of environmental conditions during pupation [photo by Will Kerling].

Mr Tanager Strikes Again - and other news

What are we going to do with Will Kerling? Every time he goes out looking for butterflies, he finds another tanager! Yes indeed, Will found his - and Cape May's - third Western Tanager of the year. Yesterday (18th), Will was at the intersection of Hand Avenue and Dias Creek Road in Cape May Court House, the place that he had found a male Western Tanager on December 5th. The bird had not been reported for some time, but Will again found the same bird. After taking some quick 'record' shots of the bird, it flew off to the south and Will immediately became aware of a second bird, flying away with the first. Though views were brief, he got the impression of another Western Tanager. Today, this was confirmed when Will returned to the site and found a bird which was clearly different in plumage to the first. Nick Kontonicolas was also at the site today and sent me a nice series of photos of this second bird (you can see pictures of the first bird here.

Western Tanager at Cape May Court House today. The narrow, white wingbars, solid gray back and generally dull underparts of this bird suggest to me that it is a first-winter female [photo by Nick Kontonicolas]

I managed to escape to Cape May Point briefly this morning and discovered a great abundance of winter birds (which hopefully bodes well for our Kick Off Your Year List event which takes place down here on January 1st). What is most intriguing at present is the relatively large number of auks appearing on the east coast now - some even reaching right down into Florida. Off the point today, an impressive count of at least 14 Razorbills was made, with little groups of twos and threes ferrying back and forth or sitting on the water; Tom Reed totalled 42 Razorbills off Avalon this morning, with a further 21 unidentified auks further out.  On 18th, the highlight at the point was a Dovekie which spent a brief period on the water right off the jetties, but gradually drifted further out into the bay until lost from view. Dovekie remains a very rare bird from land in Cape May and I kicked myself for not being around for that one! Rather a bizarre sight for Doug Gochfeld was the combination of a Monarch and a Razorbill flying past 2nd Avenue at the same time on 18th!

Black-legged Kittiwakes have featured strongly recently too, with one past 2nd Avenue on 18th, two off Avalon on 19th (plus a Laughing Gull) and at least two off St Mary's today, together with a nice influx of Forster's Terns and Bonaparte's Gulls. A Black-headed Gull was also seen off Avalon on 17th. The first-winter male King Eider continues to head up a great array of ducks wintering around the point right now, with a White-winged Scoter and several Common Eiders often accompanying it. This bird is most often to be found between St Mary's and St Peter's but on Sunday it wandered as far as the Cape May Canal jetty off Higbee Beach. The Townsend's Warbler was seen a couple of times back at 108 Yale Avenue today, but remains difficult to find with fewer people looking for it right now. The Western Grebe is remaining faithful to its favorite buoy in Cape May Harbor and, finally, crossbills remain scattered around Cape May Point with one or two Red Crossbills jipping overhead while I was out this morning and a report of 24 White-winged Crossbills on the move.

Away from birds, Tom Reed reported a Humpback Whale feeding close to the bar off Townsend's Inlet this morning, nicely viewable from the Avalon Seawatch.

This winter certainly looks like being a very interesting one here at the point with bird activity continuing to be centered around the state park and the dunes along the edge of the point itself. There's surely still some surprises out there somewhere!

2012 Christmas Bird Count

As another year draws to a close, it can mean only one thing to local birdwatchers - the annual Christmas Bird Count. This event is run every year around this time and takes place not only right across North America, but increasingly further south too, well into the Neotropical region. Though these events can only give the briefest of insights into our bird populations, this has nevertheless become a fine tradition over the years and is a great excuse to get out and make your birding count. As the light closes in outside my window, the bulk of the count is done, with just a few sorties still to be made to look or listen for owls, or to maybe flush up a woodcock or two. Still to come though - the weigh-in; the evening get-together when totals are added up, stories are exchanged, and lots of food gets tucked away!

For me, the best bird has been a Least Sandpiper, only an irregular winterer this far north, but many other gems were found by others, both while scouting yesterday and on the count itself today. Yesterday's birds mostly came from Cape May Point State Park and around the point itself and included the continuing Townsend's Warbler as well as Black-and-white, Yellow-rumped, Palm and Nashville Warblers, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, two House Wrens and the continuing male King Eider. The Avalon Seawatch added Razorbill and a late Laughing Gull to the count-week birds and Tom Reed reported four Common Redpolls and an Eastern Phoebe at the Woodcock Trail off Rt 47 (part of the Cape May NWR, situated at the west end of Woodcock Lane). White-winged Crossbills were still to be found at Cox Hall Creek WMA yesterday.

Today's goodies included continuing Western Grebe, King Eider and Townsend's Warbler, a Black-headed Gull on the beach at Cape May Point, two Razorbills close to shore and a Little Gull off 2nd Avenue in Cape May, a Lesser Black-backed Gull at Lower Township MUA, an adult Black-legged Kittiwake at the Avalon Seawatch and a fly-over Tundra Swan at Seagrove Avenue. Prize for the big find of the day so far, however, goes to Doug Gochfeld for the LeConte's Sparrow which was found on a recently-purchased piece of state land on the east side of Rt 9, just north of the intersection with Rt 109.

Townsend's Warbler

Glen Davis started his day well today with a Townsend's Warbler in his side yard on Yale Avenue, Cape May Point. The bird was present for a little under an hour before disappearing between the houses to the north. Mid-afternoon, Megan Crewe reported it in the cedars near the North Pavilion, at the state park parking lot. This represents only the second fully documented Townsend's Warbler for Cape May County, the previous being at The Beanery on November 11th, 1988.

Townsend's Warbler at Cape May Point today. Michael O'Brien managed good looks at the wing of this bird and logged it as a first-winter female; this species is similar to Black-throated Green Warbler, but is yellower underneath and has darker ear coverts [photo by Mike Crewe].

Also at the point, Red Crossbills were very vocal and obvious this morning with - believe it or not! - four types being recorded. Previously recorded types 2, 3 and 10 were joined by a bird that was sound recorded by Michael O'Brien as it called from a pine on Yale Avenue and proved to be our first type 1 bird down here. A reasonable raptor flight took place this morning too with Red-tailed Hawks, and Black and Turkey Vultures being the main species involved. A Northern Goshawk was also present, while the male King Eider remained close to shore off St Mary's.

More Duckage and other things

As we head into winter, ducks certainly become a main draw around the waterways of Cape May. The latest addition to the species currently known to be hanging out at the point is a first-winter male King Eider. If you are coming down to Cape May in December, a route that takes in the Avalon Seawatch, Two-mile Beach Coastguard Ponds, Cape May Harbor and the ponds around Cape May Point and the state park will certainly provide you with a great variety of ducks (weather permitting of course!) and if you can take in Sunset Lake at Wildwood and some of the stone jetties around Cape May Point, all the better.

As ever, some interesting reports of out-of-season birds have come in and include a Little Blue Heron at Two-mile Landing on 9th, a Blackpoll Warbler in a Villas backyard until December 5th (feeding on suet, grape jelly and shelled peanuts) and a Brown Pelican off Avalon on 11th. A Yellow-breasted Chat was at The Beanery on 8th and Common Redpolls continue to tease - it might be worth walking areas with Beach Goldenrod in seed on the barrier islands or along the bayshore if you want to find one. A group of eight White-winged Crossbills at The Beanery on 9th were the first I had heard of for a while (still plenty of Red Crossbills around) and were particularly interesting as Roger and Kathy Horn reported them feeding on the spiky seedpods of Sweet Gum. Two Cave Swallows were over the point on 11th, at least one Northern Goshawk remains in the area and small numbers of Common Eider are slowly returning to the point. The Avalon Seawatch has been producing a small trickle of Razorbills over the past few days, as well as some nice scoter flights, while off the point itself, The Rips produced reports of a Black-legged Kittiwake and Pomarine Jaeger today. Sand pumping for beach replenishment work is currently taking place so do please be careful of machinery and other equipment if you come to the beaches here at the moment, and if you do, the beach works is a good place to check out the gulls, with five Lesser Black-backed Gulls there today.

First-winter male King Eider at Cape May Point today. Note the bill size and shape which is relatively much smaller than in Common Eider. Also note that a male Common Eider of this age would almost invariably show at least some white on its back once it had this much white on the chest [photo by Mike Crewe].

The two female Redheads continue to switch between Bunker Pond and the Plover Ponds at the state park. Compare the gray bills with black tips and silvery stripe with the all black bill of the Canvasback below [photo by Mike Crewe].

Female Canvasback at the Plover Ponds. Note the all black bill (the base is just wet and shiny here) and paler gray body compared with the Redheads above. Note also the long, sloping profile of the head and bill [photo by Mike Crewe].

 

Little Blue Heron at Two-Mile Landing. This species occasionally attempts to over-winter so is not overly unexpected on Christmas Bird Counts, but even so, it's always a nice find at this time of year [photo by Sam Galick].

The wonderful grunting chattering of Pale-bellied Brant is filling the backbays now and is one of my all-time favorite winter sounds. A quick check of birds around Cape May recently revealed almost no first-winter birds (there was just one with these birds, in a gathering of 50+ in Cape May Harbor last weekend) so it looks like our local wintering birds seem to have had a poor breeding season this year. After the collapse of eelgrass in the 1930s due to an infection, Brant numbers crashed throughout most of their range (eelgrass is their main food) and still remain much lower than they once were. Brant are slowly recovering however, thanks to continued protection from hunting in many winter-range countries [photo by Mike Crewe].

A typical December flurry of Baltimore Orioles provided these two birds at Cape may Point State Park last weekend. Keep an eye out for them at backyard feeders, especially if you provide half oranges or handfuls of raisins [photos by Sam Galick].

Sometimes birds don't understand the rules - and Orange-crowned Warbler is a shocker for this! They have a nasty habit of being constantly on the move and flatly refuse to pose for proper portraits. Orange-crowneds usually feed low in fairly dense vegetation at this time of year and often favor the marsh edge of reed fringe and Eastern Baccharis bushes in the state park [photo by Sam Galick].

keekeekerr back up

Apparently from Colombia, Bob was able to resurrect the keekeekerr text-messaging alert system for Cape May, but under the old system.  Thus, the recent addition of four-letter code translation will not be available.  The keekeekerr website will remain down until Bob's return later this month.

keekeekerr down; some bird news

Sometime between yesterday morning and this morning, the keekeekerr text-messaging bird-alert system for Cape May went down, as did the associated website. Unfortunately, Bob Fogg (who runs the system) is in Colombia and not expected back for a while. Should any additional news about keekeekerr pop up, we'll be sure to announce it.

We know keekeekerr worked yesterday morning, because Richard Crossley texted a message about the male Eurasian Wigeon that he found then on Lake Lily, Cape May Point. I went wandering around this morning looking for it, and finally found it on Lighthouse Pond, along with a male Blue-winged Teal.

[Male Eurasian Wigeon with male and female American Wigeon and male and female Gadwall at Lighthouse Pond, Cape May Point S. P. this morning. Photo by Tony Leukering; click on image(s) to see larger version(s).]

 
From the dune crossover at St. Peter's, I saw eiders (1 imm. male eider, 3 brown Commons) at the Coral Ave. jetty. I was at St. Pete's instead of Coral because of the heavy machinery associated with sand-replenishment operations being conducted at Coral at that time. From the St. Pete's crossover, I also counted five flocks of Red Crossbills, one of which obligingly landed in one of the Japanese Black Pines there.

[Male and female Red Crossbills, Cape May Point. Photo by Tony Leukering]

 Finally, the Eurasian Collared-Doves that were such a staple of Cape May Point birding for the past 1.5 years have become invisible, apparently, with few seeing them in the past few weeks, even Glen Davis, who lives within a few houses of the local epicenter for the species. So, I was fairly surprised to see two of them flying over town shortly before I left St. Pete's this morning.

 [Eurasian Collared-Doves flying past St. Peter's heading west and north. Photo by Tony Leukering]