Seawatch starts today at a new location!

New Jersey Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory began counting waterbirds at the Avalon Seawatch today at sunrise. This is the 22nd year of the count and the first with a proper seawatching structure! Thanks to Avalon mayor Martin Pagliughi and his team for building and installing a beautiful seawatching "hide" for our use in both counting the count, and bringing programming to the public. For those of you who have visited in the past, the new location is actually one block south of the old site, on the beach between 8th and 9th streets. You can park at the end of 8th (jetty entrance) or 9th and walk around the dune to the structure. Of course if you're not able to be here, you can watch migration in real-time via our Specteo page.  Fall is HERE! Come Birding!!

Click picture to enlarge

A Monday for the History Books

Monday morning turned into the proverbial bull in a china shop, not just breaking expectations but smashing them! A staggering 56,636 warblers were counted as they flew past the Higbee Dike and the smoke coming from Morning Flight counter, Glen Davis’s head could be seen for miles. As many of you already know, Cape May experiences an influx of birds follow a cold front from the northwest. Migrants get pushed to the coast during their southern migration and find themselves funneled to the Cape May peninsula as they follow the diversion line that is the ocean. The passing of a slow front and strong, northwest winds Sunday night and into Monday morning obviously moved more birds than any of us were expecting. As Glen himself declared, he’s done trying to predict the intensity of morning flight.

On the morning in question, the flight started of slowly. Then the skies opened up, or rather, the birds lifted up. Starting around 6:50am, over 40,000 birds passed by in an incredible 40 minutes! A team of counters had to be quickly assembled since it was entirely too much for one person to even comprehend, let alone count. Mike Lanzone, Tom Reed, and Glen Davis divided up the sky while CMBO Director, David La Puma took over data entry into the Specteo tablet. It is estimated that roughly 30 birds per second were passing by the dike during a period of time that morning. 30 birds per second…just let that image sink in, if it’s a spectacle you can even imagine.

The counting team, Glen Davis, Mike Lanzone, and Tom Reed hard at work trying to catch the intense Morning Flight that started Monday and continued into Tuesday, the 15th. David La Puma was tasked with inputting the constant flow of data in the Specteo tablet. [Photo by Margeaux Maerz.]

Worth noting is the incredible number of American Redstarts that were tallied Monday morning. 8,724 Redstarts were clicked, but to be clear, this is the number that could be positively identified within the mayhem of the morning. It is thought that Redstarts made up about 71% of the flight as a whole, bringing the estimated total to 40,729. To put that into perspective, the previous season record under the Morning Flight Project for Redstarts was 6,506 in 2010. It’s also fun to look at the Morning Flight count numbers for September 14, 2014, with 2,631 American Redstarts and 4,745 warblers overall. So again, Monday was a bull, a giant bull, in the china shop know as the history of morning flight in Cape May. Here at CMBO, we are both honored and humbled to have been witness to it and able to document such a historic moment.

For more information on Monday’s historic flight, visit Glen’s blog post at http://cmboviewfromthefield.blogspot.com/2015/09/morning-flight-14-september-2015.html

Since the word of Monday got out, the top of the dike was crowded come Tuesday morning, the 15th. At one point I counted 47 birders up there! If it hadn't been for Monday, Tuesday's flight would have been historic on its own, with 10,039 warblers tallied, including 7,251 American Redstarts. [Photo by Margeaux Maerz.]

A flyby Connecticut Warbler from Tuesday, September 15th. The day was not only filled with an incredible number of birds, but also a handful of uncommon birds. For moments like this we are thankful for spectators equipped with cameras to help ID some of the more interesting ones. [Photo by Sam WIlson.]

Another treat Tuesday came in the form of a flyby Red-headed Woodpecker, one of two that morning. Other unusual birds seen as flybys included White-winged Dove,Canada Warbler, and Golden-winged Warbler. [Photo by Sam Wilson.]

There's a whole lot of learning going on

I got to spend this morning on the Hawkwatch platform, enjoying a decent flight of accipiters and falcons. It has been a bit of a rough start to the counting season, having had only one decent cold front come through (until last night/tonight that is). As I sat there witnessing the seasonal interpretive naturalist pick out distant raptors and correctly identify them, a huge grin crossed my face, and at the risk of sounding patronizing, I was so proud. Coming into this job, their knowledge of birds and identification spanned from one extreme to the other. Yet, here they are, less than two weeks into the job, calling out birds like seasoned hawk watchers! It reminded me of my first couple weeks on the platform last year. To think of everything I have learned and experienced in my year in Cape May is staggering. There is an overwhelming amount of knowledge in this town, held in the minds and spirits of those who call this place home, as well as those who can’t help but visit year after year.

CMBO Program Director, Mike Crewe, and our 2015 Seasonal Interpretive Naturalists, Tara, Jacob, & Erin, receiving an in-depth lesson on raptor identification from Migration Count Coordinator, Tom Reed. Training sessions such as these allow interns to make the most of their time here in Cape May. Though Erin seems to already be feeling the effects of information overload after only one day! [Photo by Margeaux Maerz.]

When many of us think of fall, we think of cooler days, fresh apples, and back-to-school, but Cape May is an incredible place to come and learn no matter the season. Throughout the year, Cape May Bird Observatory offers guided walks and workshops on topics including trees, dragonflies and butterflies, and of course, birds. We have interpretive naturalists stationed at our three seasonal migration counts (Morning Flight, Hawkwatch, and Seawatch) to help orient you to the area and the wildlife that can be found here. There are also a whole host of locals and annual visitors who not only have a lot worth sharing, but love talking to others about the things they know. Some of them really love it, like good luck getting them to stop talking! All kidding aside though, we are incredibly fortunate to have a community full of people who are just as passionate about teaching as they are about the birds and plants they study.

A CMBO field trip to Barnegat Light to view winter specialties like Harlequin Ducks and Common Eiders. CMBO has trips and walks throughout the year that highlight the diversity of birds this state has to offer. [Photo by Megan Crewe.]

CMBO Program Director, Mike Crewe, explains the differences in plumage between adult and juvenile shorebirds. Details like that are only some of the things participants in Mike's half-day Shorebirds workshop learned. A variety of half-day, full-day, and even multi-day workshops are offered year-round through CMBO's School of Birding. [Photo by Hugh Simmons.} 

NJ Audubon and Cape May Bird Observatory have a long history of environmental education in this state, from the schools that visit our centers to the outreach and festivals we organize. Established two years ago and supported by NJ Audubon, New Jersey Young Birders Club works to bring kids and teens interested in birds and the environment together. They organize birding field trips around the state and even have their own World Series of Birding Team. Other centers, including NJ Audubon’s Nature Center of Cape May offer camps and specialty trips focused on birding in and around Cape May. Sometimes getting people involved in conservation is as easy as showing them what’s worth saving. Bringing kids into the fold at an early age has the potential to create lifelong environmental stewards and enthusiasts.

 

New Jersey Youth Birding Club members out on a walk at Cape May Point State Park with Tom Reed as part of a specialty workshop on Terns. Kids 17 and under are able to join and participate in birding field trips, workshops, and even competitions, all funded by NJ Audubon and their partners. [Photo by Sam Wilson.]

Campers from NJ Audubon's Nature Center of Cape May are joined by NJ Fish and Wildlife's Lindsey Brendel and NJ Audubon's Margeaux Maerz as they get a closer look at nesting Least Terns. Getting up-close and personal with one of NJ's endangered, beach-nesting birds gets kids excited about this species and its conservation. [Photo by Amanda Doyle.]

So make your way down the coast to see what all the fuss is about. From the ocean to the Delaware Bay, Cape May has it and everything in between. Take a stroll on one of our daily walks, participate in a workshop led by an expert, or even go for the full experience during our Fall Migration Festival October 23-25. You never know what you might learn!

For more information, check out the links below.

CMBO School of Birding: http://www.njaudubon.org/SectionCapeMayBirdObservatory/Programs/SchoolofBirdingWorkshops.aspx

New Jersey Young Birders Club:

http://njyoungbirders.weebly.com/

CMBO Fall Migration Festival:

https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1738196

Change in the weather, change in the birds

If you haven't made plans for the weekend yet, you might want to give serious thought to that first pilgrimage of the fall down (or up!) to Cape May. After what seems like an eternity of sweltering beach weather, St Swithin - who must surely be the patron saint of migration students - has visited us and provided us with a day of rain today. Strangely, if you were here, you would see smiles on the faces of the birders in town right now, for there is a fair chance that tomorrow is going to be a day to be at Higbee Beach. Of course, it is all too easy to cry wolf; to give a shout out for Cape May and a fall of migrants every time there is a whiff of Nor-westerly in the air. But the weather chart is looking pretty good. A good-sized cold front (one of those blue, spikey lines on the weather map) headed our way and immediately bumped into a warm front (the red, non-spikey line); the expected result was what is known as an occluded front, where pockets of warm air become separated out from the main air mass, rise aloft and can produce significant rain and thunderstorms.

Generally after such events, a cooler, drier air mass moves in behind - and behind that, the weather chart is showing a second cold front on its way and a significant drop in temperature. So why the smiley birders? Well, these are the events that really kick idle migrant birds up the undertail coverts and get them heading south - and the predominantly north-west movement of air has a habit of sending those birds our way.

So, enough of all the fancy stuff, let's cross fingers and be out at first light tomorrow to see what nature has provided - it's time to head to Higbee's and we will be there for you - join us for a 7AM walk at the Higbee fields. Let's see what we can find!

Bobolinks are common fall migrants through Cape May, but they are typically notorious for being invisible, 'binking' sounds, passing high overhead. But a front can drop them down and the fields at Higbee's are as good a place as any to see these birds before they head for Brazil for the winter [photo by Mike Crewe].

My How the Times Have Changed

Tuesday, September 1^st, was the start of Cape May Bird Observatory’s 2015 Hawkwatch at Cape May Point State Park. The excitement of another season at the point was palpable on this beautiful, sunny day with light northwest winds. The platform was full of friendly and familiar faces, none more so than Pete Dunne. Tuesday was especially memorable for Pete as it marked the 39^th anniversary of his first official day of counting migratory raptors for CMBO.  It doesn’t take long into a conversation about that September day in 1976 to realize how far we’ve come.

To start with, we were speaking with each other atop a large, multi-tiered wooden structure that can comfortably accommodate 100+ people. It’s a far cry from the self-constructed table Pete had to turn over every night. Then there was Cameron Cox, this season’s Hawkwatch counter, busy tallying the numerous raptors making their way through Cape May Point on an electronic tablet. The tablet is equipped with new software from Specteo that allows the public to watch a live stream of the count data via website. Apart from engaging a larger audience, the hope is the data set coming from this new program can be a potential source for scientific studies regarding bird migration. I can’t imagine what 1976-Pete would think of such a set-up!

A little digging through the archives later that day revealed the physical data sheet from that pioneering September day and the differences between then and now continued to mount. The first day of the count in 1976 produced a total of 18 birds spread across 4 species: 1 Broad-winged Hawk, 4 Ospreys, 1 Peregrine Falcon, and 12 American Kestrels. Compare that to Tuesday’s total of 175 birds across 8 species, including 156 Ospreys and only 4 American Kestrels. My how the tables have turned. If you ask Pete, 4 Ospreys in one day back in 1976 was an exciting number. Now, thanks to conservation efforts and the banning of pesticides such as DDT, Ospreys have made a remarkable comeback from the dwindling population of the 60’s & 70’s. The reverse can be said for American Kestrels. These raptors have lost not only highly sought after cavities for nesting, but large expanses of foraging habitat due to urbanization and re-forestation.

Pete Dunne poses with his first ever CMBO Hawkwatch data sheet from September 1, 1976 next to a framed photo of a Peregrine Falcon. Pete reported a Peregrine that day and was met with some significant doubt from other birders in the area until his report was confirmed by a second sighting by Clay Sutton. [Photo by David La Puma.]

The original paper data sheet from the first day of the official CMBO Hawkwatch on September 1, 1976 by Pete Dunne. A total of 18 birds across 4 species including Broad-winged Hawk, Osprey, Peregrine Falcon, and American Kestrel. Pete's notes on the Peregrine Falcon read as follows: "Peregrine (12:34 DST), unable to determine age due to distance of sighting. Moving NE ->SW on western side of Cape May Point (ie. towards bay) -bird flew direct with no apparent indecision." [Photo by David La Puma.]

As I watch Pete engage our three new Hawkwatch Interpretive Naturalists, recounting to them the stories of the past, I can’t help but be excited to be a part of the future. In less than 40 years we’ve gone from one counter standing on a rickety table to a team of young naturalists eager to share their enthusiasm for birding and conservation. So come visit us up on the platform this fall and have a conversation with the legends of old while absorbing the young energy of the future. I for one will be up there, eyes to sky, dreaming of what the next 40 years may bring, and honored to be a part of this long running tradition.

CMBO's 2015 Hawkwatch crew. From left to right: Margeaux Maerz (George Myers Naturalist), Cameron Cox (Hawkwatch Counter), Jacob Drucker (Interpretive Naturalist), Tara Camp (Interpretive Naturalist), Tom Reed (Count Coordinator), Erin Rawls (Interpretive Naturalist), and Clay Taylor (Swarovski representative & CMBO sponsor). [Photo by Mike Crewe.]

Kingbirds, Orioles, and Redstarts, Oh My!

It’s still amazing to me what a couple days of Northwest winds can do for birding in Cape May. Those of us who dragged ourselves out of bed and hiked up the Higbee dike before dawn were rewarded with the first big push of migrant songbirds. Birds are everywhere. Even now as I sit here at the Northwood Center writing this post, I can glance out the window and see a handful of warblers, vireos, and flycatchers working their way through the treetops. But like all migrations, there is a seasonality to our diversity and a few species have invaded us with impressive force.

A Chimney Swift heads north past the Higbee dike. One of many migrants that made their way to Cape May this week in what was our first big push of songbird migration. [Photo by Sam Wilson.]

Another songbird in flight past the Higbee dike, this Prothonotary Warbler was a special treat Sunday morning, signifying the beginning of a large influx of migrants. [Photo by Sam Wilson.]

It seems pretty much anywhere you look, whether it is the elevated view from atop the dike or walking the fields around Higbee, Eastern Kingbirds are abundant. Their chasing and diving after one another is nicely contrasted with a tendency to pose in the tops of trees. It’s quite the spectacle to behold when they all lift up at once, swirling and swarming in groups of a hundred or more. Our Morning Flight count for Eastern Kingbirds hit a high of 664 individuals on Thursday. With that many birds around, their presence is always apparent.

Another common sight this week, much to the pleasure of our photographer friends, are Baltimore Orioles. These vibrant, freshly molted migrants can be seen throughout Cape May right now and their sweet, whistled calls have been the soundtrack of Higbee mornings. There is nothing quite like watching a male Oriole flying past the dike at eye-level, with the rich blue water of the Delaware Bay as a backdrop, to remind yourself why you love birding so much.

An Eastern Kingbird taking a moment to rest and take in its surroundings before it undoubtedly puts on an aerial display with a couple hundred others. [Photo by Sam Wilson.]

This Baltimore Oriole, one of many seen around Higbee WMA, was one of the migrants moving through Cape May this week. [Photo by Sam Wilson.]

My personal favorite about town right now has to be our American Redstarts. Their striking plumage, seemingly incessant movement, and frequent tail fanning gives them a tenacity that you can’t help but love. Couple that with a foraging technique that looks like they suddenly took a tumble out of the tree and you have a warbler that never fails to entertain! With nearly 600 counted during Thursday’s Morning Flight, you would be hard pressed to go birding around Cape May and not see a few.

American Redstarts, like this one flying past the Higbee dike, are a common sight around Cape May this week. One of the easier warblers to pick out during Morning Flight thanks to their unique tail pattern and strong zig-zagging flight line. [Photo by Sam Galick.]

A couple other species worth noting (that didn’t fit into my catchy title) include Red-eyed Vireos and Black-and-white Warblers. For a relatively small bird, Red-eyed Vireos make a significant amount of commotion as they jump, hover, and sometimes crash through the trees looking for insects and berries. Our eyes can’t help but be drawn to all that movement, so I have found myself studying a disproportionate number Red-eyed Vireos this week. The trees are also crawling with Black-and-white Warblers, literally. This bird was once described to me as a “Zebra creeper” and I think it’s one of the better nicknames I have heard. It’s fascinating to watch them work their way along a branch or trunk as they check every nook and cranny for morsels of food. They are remarkably efficient and I doubt much gets left behind.

Black-and-white Warblers have a curious manner about them. This one outside the Northwood Center made sure he checked out everything, including our Geocache, though I doubt he stopped long enough to sign the log! [Photo by Mike Crewe.]

As August draws to a close, the weather has cooled and the birds are bountiful. Yes, Northwest winds do wonderful things for us in Cape May. Make sure your camera batteries are charged, your binoculars are clean, and keep an eye on the winds. Early mornings are much more enjoyable when you spend them outside, so get up and go birding! Fall is here and it’s downright delightful!

Real-time Data from the Cape May Bird Observatory

New Jersey Audubon’s Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO) was born on the premise that someone needed to be monitoring the massive spectacle of migration happening in and around Cape May each year. More precisely, it was the hawk movement as witnessed by those who were banding hawks here at the time that inspired the initiative to establish a bird observatory on the southern tip of New Jersey. Bill Clark was the bander, and New Jersey Audubon was the organization that would provide the nonprofit status to make it happen. That year was 1976, and the first official counter of the Cape May Hawkwatch was my predecessor, Pete Dunne. 

Pete Dunne atop the "platform" in 1976. Rosalind Holt stands by as one of the first official visitors.

It’s safe to say that migration monitoring is hardcoded into the DNA of this organization. 

Since then, the Monarch Monitoring Project (26 years old), the Avalon Seawatch (23 years old) and the Morning Flight Songbird Count (13 years old) have all been established to do the same thing: keep our finger on the pulse of migration through Cape May so that the long-term record may support necessary conservation efforts, and provide compelling information to engage the public, for true conservation is impossible without public support. All of this, of course, fits squarely within the mission of New Jersey Audubon: Connecting people to nature and stewarding the nature of today for the people of tomorrow.

One year ago the VP of Research for New Jersey Audubon, David Mizrahi, and myself, set out to bring these datasets into the modern era of “big data”. That meant rethinking the way we store and interact with the migration information to come up with a solution that would allow for wide collaboration with research partners, and the ability for public exploration and interaction with the data. It’s really quite simple in theory: create a cross-platform database system that is standardized across projects and provide an interface for both data entry as well as public interaction. Since we began this effort we have developed a database schema and, with the help of some wonderful volunteers, have begun normalizing the data to bring it into the database. We plan to have some of this historic data available to the public via our website this fall, although full implementation will take another year. 

This brings me to our big announcement: Last fall I was visited by a young entrepreneur and birder, Russell Conard. Russell founded a company called Ornicept, which makes a product called Specteo designed specifically to collect observational data in the field. To make a long story short, last spring we tested Specteo for collecting large amounts of waterbird data, and our experience proved to us that it was both stable and efficient at collecting the data we need, reduced the chance of data errors associated with transferring from paper to digital, and has the capability of transmitting this data in real-time time to servers in the cloud. As part of the Specteo Ambassador program, Specteo engineers have constructed several web portals for CMBO to display the data we are collecting this year. On these sites you will be able to view count data as it comes in, as well as explore data from the 2015 field season. During the season I will continue to reach out to you and let you know about the historical data on our website. In the meantime, enjoy the first ever live-streaming of migration data from our Morning Flight Songbird Count (live NOW!), Cape May Hawkwatch (begins Sept. 1) and Avalon Seawatch (begins Sept. 22). Thanks to Carol, Russell and K.C. at Specteo for helping us bring our data to the forefront of modern technology. 

Example of the daily and seasonal data on species composition produced by Specteo. 2015 Morning Flight Songbird Count.

If you are interested in supporting CMBO’s continuing efforts to collect, analyze, and disseminate these data, please consider both becoming a member of CMBO, and making a tax-deductible donation. You may do both on our new FeatherEdgeOptics.org website, and following the Member or Donate items in the top menu.


Thank you in advance for your support!

More Links:

View from the Field - Seasonal Research Blog

Background information on all four of our Migration Monitoring Projects