Today was my favorite kind of weather for birding. While it can never be too hot for my tastes, and I do love the heat of the dog days and amazonia; 60s-70s, 98% humidity, foggy and drizzly, like that typical of Cloud Forest, a fine appalachian May morning, England, or the Olympic penninsula, this is the kind of weather I think I like best of all, particularly for birding.

A misty walk around Higbee’s revealed, among lots of Robins and Whitethroats, a bright and strikingly fresh White-eyed Vireo in the second field. The grey nape, yellow and paddy-field green of this bird were so striking, that I was rather surprised to find it retained a dull grey, and not white eye. presumably then a young of the year, but far handsomer than the ratty breeding birds of the same hedges in summer.

Also, the same tail-less and quite silly looking Common Yellowthroat persists in top of the second field. Darned thing makes me look twice each and every time I find it. We’ll see if she lingers long enough for her tail to grow in, and then departs.

A quick turn around the ponds at the state park revealed one very cooperative Cave Swallow among the hordes of Tree Swallows. The best views were to be had from the plover ponds, where the bird really put on a show. Try as I might I could not turn him into more than one though. This bird was, however intensely rufous, and while most records have apparently been of the mexican/southwestern race, given this bird’s appearance, and the predominant weather pattern of the last several days, I wonder if this may not actually be one of the Caribbean/Dade Cty birds? Stuff to ponder.

The ponds around the point are chock full of ducks, and all of them getting better looking by the day (with the exception of the Ruddy Ducks; Ruddys stay cruddy till spring). One real surprise was a smart Blue-winged Teal which flushed with some Green-wings, Shoveler, and Pintail. A good-sized raft of flighty Coot are forming in the eastern pool as well.

Just over fifty Skimmers are still hanging out near second ave, and a couple of White-winged Scoter and adult Bonaparte’s Gulls were likewise in that neighborhood as well.

While yesterday there were dozens of Bottlenosed Dolphins frolicking in the cove, today I saw nary a one-like the lone Osprey I managed today, it is time for them to be seeking better fishing grounds, I suppose. There was however, a River Otter in the eastern channel at the Meadows come sunset-This has been an exceptional year for actually getting to see these lithe and limber mustelids around here.

Also, while it was too grey and rainy for bugs (and by that I mean Leps, really) I did find a strikingly orange and red-eyed adult male Box Turtle in his prime, a most cooperative, but hardly cold-numbed, and rather large Black Rat-snake, and both the odd peeper and Grey Tree Frog were calling intermittenly this wonderfully mild and damp November day.

Following the last few very birdy days, today was a bit on the lack-luster for migration connoisseurs (Could that possibly come off as any smugger? Sorry, I just had to run with it…)

What at first seemed like a quiet one, both for numbers and diversity, in fact turned out to be a day punctuated by a few noteworthy avian happenings:

Warbler and Gnatcatcher numbers were lower than they have been, but a little bit of looking turned up a handfull of Northern Waterthrushes, Yellows, Redstarts, plus the odd Black & White and Prothonotary.

Racier was the first Merlin I’ve seen this fall, which was at Higbee’s Beach first thing this morning. A nearly adult Bald Eagle coming down the hedge, headed south was, as always, not a horrible thing to see either.

Other items which stand out from not much time spent birding today were a nice little flock of adult Bobolinks in the Meadows, the males of which were white-naped, black-faced (so to speak) but getting buffy patches on their breasts. Handsome little parti-coloured beasts.

Also there are, all of a sudden, a gang of Black Skimmers roosting on the beach at South Cape May. I imagine they were looking over at their favoured spot on Second Ave with longing for Labor Day, waiting for the human crowds to depart.

After a rather dull couple of days birdwise, which correspondingly coupled with some busy ones humanwise, the odd early migrants I stumbled upon today were well appreciated.

Higbee’s Beach held, among others, my second migrant Worm-eating Warbler, one Black-billed Cuckoo, and 3 Bank Swallows, the latter decidedly heading south. The Worm-eating was foraging among Grape leaves, and whisper-singing every once in a while, though he was adding a prefix. Before every trill, he gave a tripartite set of paired phrases, reminiscent of a Waterthrush or Swainson’s melded with an Indigo Bunting. Good stuff.

The Cuckoo on the other hand was calling rather frequently and vigourously, so what exactly his purpose was on the eastern side of the third field this morning is quite an arguable point.

A Spotted Sandpiper was up top of the Dike, while a Greaterlegs and a couple of Least Sandpipers were in the Meadows, as was yet another, solitary Bank Swallow.

Perhaps the coolest sighting (avian) from over the weekend was an adult Bald Eagle trying to mug an Osprey of his fish. First time I have seen that in some time, and the first of many more as the season progresses, no doubt.

This time the Osprey got away. He rose in a series of tightening, concentric circles
which caused the Eagle to wear himself out in the heavy flapping pursuit. The Eagle swung wide on each of the Osprey’s quick turns, and the effort clearly wasn’t worth it. The Osprey made a bee-line away, and the eagle kettled up to catch his breath.

The obvious metaphor here just couldn’t go overlooked.

It is also worth mentioning that the Hooded Merganser remains at the Meadows, as does the funny white-patched younf Glossy Ibis, and there were nine Lesser Black-backed Gulls on that stretch of beach today while I was looking. Three of them were second year types, which is the first time I have seen this many of that age/stage there simultaneously since the birds began congregating here in May.

The Skimmers which are always present in the bit of wrack on the Meadows Beach will also bear watching-they were and have been acting very much like courting, nest prospecting birds the last few days.

Recently fledged juvenile Prairie Warblers and Common Yellowthroats are starting to tag along with flocks of tits and wrens, forming just the right little flocks to check for migrants.

On a non-avian note, both Tawny and Hackberry Emperors, as well as the occasional Snout have been around, at least where there are Hackberries, Buckeyes have very much increased, and today I saw a Little Wood Satyr in the State Park.

CJV

There was excellent birding and excellent birds to be had in Cape May today, and it also happened to be a spectacularly pleasant one on which to be out and about doing just about anything out-of-doors.

By far the most exciting find were three Sandwich Terns among the 200 Royal Terns and well over a thousand Black Skimmers on Champagne Island. While three Sandwich terns here in late June is not all that surprising, the exciting thing was that two were breeding plumaged adults, apparently going through some kind of courtship manouvres.

They were marching together in circles, quick-step time, side by side, wings slightly drooped, bushy crests raised, and necks arched. They kept this up for some time.

The interesting thing is that Sandwich Terns apparently form pair-bonds well before arriving on breeding turf. However the biirds showed no aggressive interaction, and stayed glued to each other’s side the entire timeI watched, even when not marching around together.

The other Sandwich was a first year, ousted from the middle of one cluster of Royal Tern nests by a garrulous Royal. The young Sandwich just flew a few feet to the edge of the nesters, and stayed within very close proximity to the colony. Last year, Sandwich Terns were landing among the actual nesting Royal Terns too, not just hanging out with the loafers as is typical of misfit terns.

I should not at all be surprised if Sandwich Tern is not among the next, if not the next bird added to NJ’s list of breeding birds.

Otherwise, there were 11 Brown Pelicans in that neighborhood, two roosting on the inlet side of Great Channel, the others all winging north off-shore, six of those being in one flock.

A young Great Cormorant left the flock of 50 roosting Double-cresteds roosting on the sandbars on the west side of the point, and headed to the north over the sea. This is the first I’ve seen or heard of an over-summering Great Corm at Hereford Inlet this year.

There was a decent little flock of shorebirds at the overflow pond at the base of Stone Harbor Point, including, 3 Red Knot, 9 Ruddy Turnstones, 11 Black-bellied Plovers, 13 Semipalmated Plovers, 3 Short-billed Dowitchers, 12 Western Sandpipers, and 5 Semipalmated Sandpipers.

One Tricolored Heron was at Nummy’s Island, but otherwise, the place belonged to the flies.

Cape Island was its effervescent summertime self and very birdy today.

I get the feeling that Yellow-billed Cuckoo eggs must’ve hatched. One because Yellow-billed Cuckoos were incredibly obvious, flying back and forth around the fields at Higbee’s in a way which they weren’t even just yesterday, and carrying food; and two because I found the discarded shell of a hatched Yellow-billed Cuckoo egg just near the Pond there today.

One Roseate Tern-beautiful bird, was hunting off the Point this morning, and the same bachelor flock of 4 Surf Scoters persists. Gannets also seemed to be a bit more in evidence today, I managed about 6, including one second-year type. Later, towards evening, there was a most unexpected, adult Black Tern hunting the rips. Odd time of year for one.

There were 9 Lesser Black-backed Gulls on the South Cape May Beach front this evening, including the dark near-adult and two second summers.

A first-summer Yellow-crowned Night Heron at the Meadows was a bit unexpected as it came in from the north and circled the place two or three times before settling in. A first summer Black-crown was also there and an adult Black-crown was in the park.

The same footless Lesser Yellowlegs was in the Meadows, but the Willets of the last fortnight have apparently departed.

Best of all, there were two broods of four Piping Plovers, one very new- maybe a day or two old, the other a couple of weeks old, and maybe a week away from fledgeling, give or take. With the 8 chicks there were 16 Pipers on the Beach tonight.

Numbers of endangered species aside, the scene at South Cape May was just about idyllic this evening.

In a lowering sun, with a perfect breeze, the adult Lesser Black-backed Gull, flushed by a walker, unwittinlgy settled too close to the newborn Piping Plovers. As they ran behind his bright yellow legs and the parents mobbed his ankles, one of the Dolphins, unaccompanied by newborn calves, decided smacking his flukes was the best idea to come into his delphinic mind, and began pounding the waves with all his might, like a beaver on steroids, to the tune of 30 smacks.

I don’t know which was better, four adorably wide eyed newborn Piping Plovers incongruously behind a well-plumaged European stray, or the echoing cetacean ebullience. Perhaps its best not to try and tease it apart-the whole scene was a gesamtkunstwerk of Maw Nature at her finest.

CJV

I received word this morning that 2 dozen Royal Terns are presently on nests on Champagne Island, so naturally had to go look for myself.

The long walk out to the end of Stone Harbor Point was a tremendous idea this absolutely gorgeous day, and both the Point and the Island were mercifully free of people, the birds and I had the place pretty much to ourselves.

There were just shy of 100 Royal Terns on the Island, and the breeding cluster contained about thirty birds. It is great to know that not only have they come back, but a number very near to what was there last year have settled down to nest, for the third documented nesting record of the species in the state. Many are still in handsome fully-black crested form, though some, like the four who were hanging out on St. Peter’s Jetty this morning, are already sporting increasingly white foreheads.

However the news from Champagne Island is not all good, as the shifting sands there have foundered a bit, and while at low tide its shores seems extensive, on the high, very little is exposed. As a result the nearly 1000 Skimmers there are a bit too crowded to all settle in and nest, and Common Terns look few and far between. There were just about 750 Skimmers visible from the end of Stone Harbor Point, which were a sight.

Most notable among odd-balls were two Sandwich Terns; an adult and an apparent first-summer. The adult was in high breeding colours, with a Roseate Tern-esque pinkish bloom from chin to vent. The bloom actually seems to have something of an apricot tone to it in fact, and the bird was, as “Dante” Gabriel Rossetti said of the prettier models he chose, “a stunner”.

A situation like this, with two more or less out-of-range species, on the edge of their range-limit, in a small colony with few partners to pick from, is just the recipe for hybridization. While more wishful thinking than anything, it would be a hoot to see a Sandwichx Royal hybridization by the end of the summer, the result of which would probably look a lot like a “Cayenne” or Elegant Tern, were it to happen.

Otherwise, a first-summer Lesser Black-backed Gull wa sroosting with the Gull flock, 2 Red Knot, one of which was crippled in the left wing, and a handful of Sanderling were around the inlet. 2 Western Sandpipers, 3 Semipalmated Sandpipers, and five Semipalmated Plovers were in the over-flow pond at the base of the Point, and a Tricolored Heron was dancing on the flats just to the north east of the free bridge to Nummy’s Island.

Willow Flycatchers are again on territory in the scrub near the parking lot there too, as per usual. And the first first-year Least Tern I have seen this year was in the sand flats on Stone Harbor Point.

CJV

It helps that there are lots of friendly folks around the place this week, to be sure!

A bit of sea-watching first thing turned up an odd, and single Greater Scaup, winging into the Bay. First one of those I have seen in weeks. Parasitic Jeagers were easy to see this morning, even in this wind. All were light morph-birds, maybe 5 en toto.

Then a text regarding a Cerulean Warbler at Higbee’s came in. Spring Ceruleans are even fewer and further between than August Ceruleans, and are a bit more outstanding in hue. I did indeed rush over-but the bird was singing, never seen, and moving North and West with the wind. Cerulean Warbler is another bird, like the Red Knot, and Rusty Blackbird which should really be listed and entitled to full protection under the law. NJ happens to have one of the highest breeding densities of Cerulean Warblers by the way. Centred in the Kittatiny/Watergap area, and largely neglected. I wonder what the fate of High Point might mean for Cerulean Warblers?

After that, and back to the point, an Orchard Oriole and a Baltimore, side by each in the little parking lot near the Lighthouse was a very nice comparison. While admiring Orioles, a passing birder posed the question, “How common are Sandhill Cranes around here, cause I am sure I saw one at the Zoo yesterday, seen bunches of them, and the keepers assure me its not one of theirs.” I thought, ya know, the habitat is ok, and I bet they have Crowned Cranes in the collection there, as most Zoos do in their africa exhibits, so the proposition is kind of good….

Well, needless to say, I went to the Zoo. And yup, there was a Sandhill Crane, in an open pasture. It is really mud-stained brown in the plumage, only grey on the neck, and is one of the taller (i.e. not tundra nesting) races. In waiting for the Zoo to open I also managed among other Warblers and Vireos a Black-poll, and an apparently nesting set of Eastern Bluebirds-which are not all that common here.

[EEEERP! Back-up! Turns out this bird is indeed a captive. The crane that is not the Blue-birds or warblers!. Just shows to go you, believe half of what you see, and none of what you hear are good words to live by! Sorry for pasing on faulty 411, but kinda really funny too!]

There was also a breeding plumaged Cattle Egret in the Zebra enclosure, too.

Thence I risked the transmission to go to Heislerville. I left before High Tide, at just afternoon, apparently a visit on an incoming tide-timed just right to miss the year’s first Curlew Sandpiper! Drat. However, the throngs of Dunlin, S.B. Dowitchers, Semi-sands and Plovers, Yellowlegs, etc. And a thick flock of 70 Black Skimmers were more than enough to keep me occupied for an hour or two. A sickly Red-throated Loon, in the back impoundment, and occaisionally hauling out on the lawn is an odd bird to be in the brackish water there.

Back to the Point and a fully breeding Black Tern, and a couple of fly-by Red Knot being very nice additions to my day-despite the best efforts of those friendly folks at Northwood.

Thanks to the genuinely nice guys from M.O.S. I wound up having not missed out on all the Curlew Sands in the area today, and got to see the one on the mussel beds at the North-east end of Nummy’s. Almost as good were the numbers of Royal Terns and Common Terns on Champagne Island. Twenty and over a hundred respectively. Forster’s Terns are settling in on the SE end of Nummy’s, a breeding plumaged Common Loon was in the Inlet, and like at Heislerville, there were a few trios of Red-breasted Mergansers hanging around.

Lots of Whimbrel, and a fine diversity of other Shorebirds were in the Hereford Inlet area.

Sadly though, an Osprey nest at the south end of Nummy’s Island, replete with a baby, is now sans a parent. It was road-killed near the toll-bridge there, and the chick is at an age when little can be done, and people who actually work on birds in NJ are too short-staffed to intevene. And yet, CMBO and NJAS are too busy paying nearly all employees to play big day at the moment to worry about birds which are vulnerable in NJ.

What a State in which to enjoy birds! (pun very much intended!). And thanks again to NJAS for saving me the trip I was going to make in the next day or two anyway. (I don’t expect anyone but Dunne and Gilmore’s Mafia to understand that remark) Good job folks, you done real good today!

CJV

A turn around the striving metropolis of Cape May Point the first couple of hours after sunrise was a rather birdy one. Likewise, the streets of Cape May itself were rife with Warblers this morning.

Orchard Orioles were chittering in many a yard at the Point, and Parulas, Black and Whites, Yellows, Common Yellowthroats, and stunning Butterbutts were not hard to come by. Three Black-thraoted Greens, a Black-throated Blue or two, and the odd American Redstart were also around. Baltimore Orioles, though not in flocks this morning, were also vocal and obvious. Five Red-breasted Nuthatches were likewise worth mentioning.

Most interestingly were two or three groups of three or four high-flying migrant Blue Jays which came in off the sea, and flew counter clockwise around the point for a while, obviously “redetermining” their path. A couple of flocks of Cedar Waxwings, numbering fifty or so all-told were doing the same, but not nearly as unexpected as flocks of migrant Blue Jays in May in southernmost New Jersey.

Eastern Kingbirds and the odd Indigo Bunting were also in the Dunes, but curiously, I found no Red-headed Woodpeckers from these excellent spots for viewing migrant “American Flag” woodpeckers. Ruby-crowned Kinglets as singletons or duos were also worth mentioning.

The most unexpected bird was a hen Common Eider swimming west-ward as seen from the pier on Brainard ave. I think she is the same part of the duo which has been lingering at the point jetties, though I hear from an active birder on the 7 Mile Beach that the young male has been frequenting the jetty at 7th Street in Avalon of late.

A flock of 35 ratty looking young Black Scoters, and some smart and displaying drake Surf Scoters were also off the point Jetties.

A beautiful little breeding coloured Pied-billed Grebe was Hell-diving on Lily Lake this morning, and is something of a very nice recent May record for the bird at the Point.

The most welcome sight though, were the flocks of newly arrived Least Terns in with the Forster’s and still oddly encountered Common Terns. I have to say, I simply do not believe the report of a Least Tern from the Meadows at the third week of April which recently appeared. Last year there was an early overshot Least, and the bulk did not arrive until after the first week of May, but as a rule they arrive like clockwork just near the first of May most years, and I chalk the report up to wishful thinking and inexperience on the part of the reporter. They seemed to think, that on the 22 of April that Least’s were “due back anyday”.

A couple of flocks of Black Skimmers, numbering 50 or so all told were coming in and rounding the Point heading up the Delaware Bay. Gannets were also easy enough to see off shore, and though armed only with bins, and naked in my scoplessness this morning’s walk, Parasitic Jaegers and both Loons were also easy enough to see from overlooks in the Point beaches.

The tall trees around Cape May itself were full of Warblers this morning, and I only wish I could’ve been birding more around the town itself today. No fewer than a dozen N. Parulas, ten Black and Whites, Black-throated Blue and Green, as well as Blackburnian and Chestnut-sided were all tallied on Washington Street alone as I hurried to work. (Which this Sunday was a day-job and a twelve hour commitment. I so very much begrudge when grown-up necessities like bill-paying get in the way of birding…) The tall oaks and such at the Physick Estate were particularly birdy, and home to the Blackburnian for the time being. The Great Crested Flycatchers which nest on that property have also vociferously returned to their breeding diggs.

Judging from the number of Clapper Rails and the lisps of dickey-birds in the fog and over the town this late evening, its time I stopped writing and rambling, and went to bed to see what might be found tomorrow around dawn, in this nice little bird-patch I call home.

CJV

(*some just personal, of course!!)

I did a fair bit of birding around some of my favorite patches today, and came across some great birds along the way.

Hidden Valley first thing was kind of on the quiet side in terms of migrants. A Northern Waterthrush was singing from the wet area near the Car-park, and a Parula was singing deep in the wet woods. Small flocks of chime-songed, and stunning Yellow-rumped Warblers were also in the wet woods, and 2 Red-breasted Nuthatches were the only other boreal migrants I came across. A Prothonotary seems to in fact be on territory there as well.

However the “best” bird at Hidden was one of the handsomest in the book- a breeding plumaged adult male Orchard Oriole, singing his guts out, and actively setting up a territory. What a bird. I am always struck by just how small and long-tailed Orchards appear, particularly in flight.

And at last, a territorial male Indigo Bunting has taken up shop in one of the hedgerows. Cape Island has few enough breeding birds and it is not with out reason that the return of Indigo Buntings and Blue Grosbeaks is such cause for celebration. I can’t wait till the full complement of Indigos, Blue Gros’s, Chats, and Orchard Orioles are back in the hedgerows they belong.

The Beanery just after Hidden likewise proved underwhelming in terms of migrants, though a pair of Blue-headed Vireos was well worth the walk. Also of note is the lingering Snow Goose which continues to linger there apparently! I had thought him gone, but today it was again accompanying some Canadas near Steven’s Street. 2 Rusty Blackbirds, one at Hidden Valley, and one at the Beanery, are now getting late in these parts. 2 Merlins were hunting the Beanery, zooming like spit-fires through the fields and woods. One was a perfect tiercel “Blue-jack” with reddish leggings and a battleship back, the other a falcon

A bit of Sea-watching from St. Peters proved to be time well spent. Nearly 200 Forster’s Terns were in the rips. More first years continue to trickle in daily, but the number of absurdly long streamer-tailed and blindingly white retriced breeding adults is impressive.

And then lo and behold, while looking at each and every Forster’s in “turn” so to speak, my scope hit my first Common Tern of the year. I am always struck by just how very different these two birds are. The plebian, stocky, dark grey, and comparatively stubby tailed Common Tern stood right out among all of his angelic white and paradise-tailed companions.

One fact which also helps in picking up on one’s first Common Tern of the year at Cape May is that they arrive nearly 2 months after the Forster’s, and by now there are literally hundreds of Forster’s around. While it may seem like the increase in Forster’s through April might be a hinderance in finding the needle in the fishing haystack as it were, there is nothing like looking through hundreds of one species, day after day, which makes picking out something different all that much easier when it does arrive.

If, in Cape May, Piping Plovers mean Spring is here, Common Terns mean Summer is not at all far behind.

Also in the same vein, I finally found my first Royal Tern of the year in the rips. Striking thing, in full black-crested breeding form, bill like a freshly peeled carrot. Ever since I saw my first one, being chased by a Frigate at sunset while reef-fishing in the Keys at the age of 10, I have always had a “thing” for this, second largest tern. They have always seemed like something from the tropics, who navigate the Spanish Main and Bermuda Triangle sans fear. Finding and watching the first successful colony of them in here in NJ, was definitely a hight point in my ornithological career. (Now I just have to finish writing the paper…)

While on the subject of my first tern sightings of the year, a quick stop at Beaver-dam revealed my first two Gull-bills of this year, plucking carpenter frogs from the lily pads, the way they do fiddler crabs on the flats at Stone Harbor, or whiptail lizards at Laguna Atascosa. If there is one Tern I like more than a Royal or even a Roseate, Gull Billed is it, though it all depends upon which one I am lookng at at the time, I daresay!

At least 5 Parasitic Jaegers were with the herds of Terns and Gulls in the Rips, some very close, and 4 were light-morph adults. Although, one which otherwise seemed adult in plumage was noticably lacking streamers. At one point I watched one come coursing along at wave top as they do, and then it just began ascending on a 45 degree, as if it was going to tower up to single out a successful Tern. However, I noticed it lacked the urgency of wing beat this usually calls for, and lo and behold, it was, in fact rising to meet 2 other high soaring Jaegers, and the three kettled like this for some time. Then one after another, they dropped and left the kettle to hone in on, each to its own, some distantly spied and unsuspecting victim. What animals…

A sublime breeding-plumaged Great Cormorant was sitting on St. Mary’s Jetty, not a usual spot, and dwarfed its D.C. chums. And most surprisingly was a courting flock of 40 Black Scoters just off the point, doing there “cour-cour-cour-deLAINE” calls and displaying to beat the band on this late date. Which is really odd, since the lack of the sounds & sight of courting Scoters was one of Cape May Point’s great deprivations this spring…

The bit of the back bays I checked out were blissfully birdy at a highishtide today-shore-birdy in particular. 19 Red Knot were on Nummy’s Island, many already in fine breeding plumage and a single, perfectly breeding plumaged bird was roosting in the pool at the Wetlands Institute.

Whimbrel were well represented, I saw nearly one hundred in the Shellbay/Stone Harbor area, and in-coming Short-billed Dowitchers have significantly increased in number, many also already in fine feather, the majority still assuming it though. Dunlin have likeiwse seen a surge, and are similarly becoming “Red-backed” Sandpipers once again. Breeding plumage Black-bellys were stalking, Thick-knee like, through the salt-hay, and more and more stunning harlequin Turnstones are coming in too seems.

I was very excited to find my first two Semipalmated Sandpipers in the main impoundment at Heislerville today, until five minutes later when I found just under a hundred in the back impoundment! Surprisingly few leasts were with them, but 115 Semipalmated Plovers made the 4 I saw at the Meadows today seem paltry. There were easily 225 Short-billed Dows at Heislerville too, and the place is full of drop dead, gorgeous black and white dappled Greater Yellowlegs. It seems like the ones leaving Pond Creek the other evening may’ve found a better staging place in Heislerville-but who knows really?

Perhaps the best part of Heislerville though were the 39 Black Skimmers in the main impoundment. They were all just roosting, sitting in the shallows and not on the island they usually frequent. Just the mere idea alone that Skimmers, Royal, Common, and Gull-billed Terns are all back in ‘the hood” made today a red-letter one, and my summer-longing spirits soar.

Otherwise, a Broadwing kettling over Cape May Point, and a third-year Bald Eagle doing the same were very nice this morning. Yellow warblers are now at the Beanery, the Park, and the Meadows, but one of the best birds of the day came second-hand from a friend who found a roosting eastern Screech Owl in the State Park this morning. Try as I might, I could not find the bird, but this is a very nice record, as Screeches are few and far between around Cape Island. I know only of a usual 2-3, and this is a new site.

The Killdeer nest on the west path at the Meadows in now possessed of the full complement of 4 eggs. With luck it will be unmolested by humans, though it is right on the path. However, people do walk their dogs around on the TNC property with impunity after hours, so it is only with guarded hope that this nest may be a success.

And finally, while this time of year, everyone is concerned with “firsts’ it seems like no-one emphasizes lasts. To that end I saw a Hermit Thrush at Higbee’s this afternoon, and wonder when will there be another before Autumn…

CJV

Champagne Island, a significant colonial beach-nester site in Cape May county was recently and mercifully closed off to boat-landing due to disturbance and outright vandalism it causes to Skimmer nests by an out-of control set of bird harassing ruffians, in an enlightned move bythe State of NJ. And the state conservation authorities took this very necessary action in the face of an extrememy vocal opposition. The State of NJ is to be commended and congratulated for this, especially given the unpopularity the action received from some quarters.

What follows is is a copy of a short note I wrote regarding Champagne Island which originally appeared in the ABA’s newsletter, “Winging it” in July 2007, when the crisis reached a boiling point. The number of Skimmers increased to nearly 1400 after this was published.

I would still urge folks to write to the address at the bottom of the note to express concern, and request (or actually, insist on!) a full-time conservation and preservation presence on the island and Hereford Inlet this year, considering just how vocal, vehement, and truly aggressive the opposition is to the recent closing off of this significant bit of breeding and migratory bird habitat in an irresponsibly exploited area.

More, and informative links regarding this very serious conservation situation in Cape May will soon be forthcomg

CHAMAPGNE IS FOR THE BIRDS!
BY CHRIS VOGEL
Champagne Island is a sandbar in Hereford Inlet, a crucial site for colonial beach-nesting birds in Cape May, New Jersey. This year, Champagne Island also harbors the northernmost nesting colony of Royal Terns in the world.
New Jersey’s second breeding attempt by Royal Terns was discovered in early June. Over the next few weeks, up to 200 Royal Terns were on Champagne Island, and it presently is home to 30 nesting pairs. This tiny island, also harbors 1,500 nesting Black Skimmers, 500 Common Terns, Gull-billed Terns, American Oystercatchers, and Piping Plovers. The surrounding flats often host other threatened or uncommon birds, including Brown Pelican; Great Cormorant; and Roseate, Sandwich, and Arctic Terns. The island’s sands also serve as a significant roosting site for the imperiled Red Knot, flocks of which commute to feeding sites along Delaware Bay during their spring migration.
Champagne Island is a great place for birds, but it is also much beloved of a more boisterous set of beachgoers. On a recent weekend, the bird colony was surrounded by approximately 420 people, unruly dogs, a floating hot-dog concession, volleyball nets, bars with generators, propane grills, tents, 80 boats, and 30 beached jet-skis. Clearly, something needs to be done.
The island is so small that the roped-off area set aside for the terns and skimmers is a little below the high-tide line; thus at high tide, hundreds of people and their dogs unavoidably stress the nesting birds. Some harassment is intentional, as when a father and son were seen to walk into the clearly marked area, panicking 1,000 Black Skimmers and picking up their vulnerable eggs.
The conservation staff responsible for monitoring Champagne Island has been placed in an overwhelming position, and local law enforcement agencies are spread thin. Further complicating the situation is confusion about who has jurisdiction over the island in the first place.
The Royal Tern has been an icon of bird and beach conservation ever since Teddy Roosevelt visited their colonies and was moved to create the National Seashores. It will be a shame if the Champagne Island colony should perish over a weekend game of Frisbee.

Please write or call the Commissioner of N.J. Department of Environmental Protection, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service-New Jersey Field Office, to urge that more be done to protect Champagne Island and the birds that use it: Commissioner NJDEP, New Jersey Field Office, 927 N. Main Street, Heritage Square, Building D, Pleasantville, New Jersey 08232. Tel. 609/646 9310, fax 609/646 0352; fw5es_njfo@fws.gov.
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Now, It should aslo be noted that for my speaking up regarding the preservation of birds in NJ, Eric Stiles, representing the, as I see it, fraudulent New Jersey Audubon Society, tried to have me fired from my position with a state conservation organization, and silence my on-line advocacy for bird conservation- since it was something they (and he) could take no credit for, and the New Jersey Audubon Society took it upon themselves to do their best to violate my first amendment rights to free speech through intimidation.

Just how a purported conservation organization like NJAS feels justified in trying to squelch the conservation efforts of concerned citizens, and threaten their jobs, livelihood, and pocket-books in the bargain is beyond me. It well illustrates the bullying and intimidation tactics employed by NJAS to protect their undeserved, and largely fraudulent image. An ugly side to the organization which naturally never gets revealed in their published and strictly promotional propoganda. The New Jersey Audubon Society, in an effort to maintain its reputation as the “biggest kid on the block” in the NJ conservation community, and ensure the salaries of its 80-90 employees- many of whom, while being supported my member’s dollars, are engaged in retail & marketing, and promoting their own tours and popular books, as opposed to conservation, education, or research in New Jersey- simply cannot tolerate seeing a missed oppurtunity for self-promotion (ie-the marketing of their out-right fraudulent product). They will also go to extreme lengths to preserve this image, since image, and not substance, is what keeps the donating members duped into supporting NJAS.

And the intimidation I received, and continue to receive from NJAS was because I was speaking out for bird conservation in the State of New Jersey-more than ironic, and not to mention kind of fascist, in my opinion!

It should also be noted that while others were doing the work and raising public awareness, NJAS had to be goaded into action, which to their credit, they eventually took, while continuing to sell binoculars, and using the oppurtunity to promote employees in order to maintain the perceived celebrity deemed necessary to generate revenue. To that latter end, the New Jersey Audubon Society subsequently took every opppurtunity to get themselves mentioned in every conceivable form of print media regarding the plight of the bird colonies in Hereford Inlet, in order to claim largely undeserved credit themselves, and maintain their largely lacking-in-substance image.

That being said- trying to steal a man’s livelihood, and pocketbook, as NJAS did, is a reprehensible and disgusting act in my opinion, which will never be forgotten, nor forgiven. Particularly when the person being so threatend was merely trying to preserve the nest site of some his favorite and most vulnerable birds- Royal Terns and Black Skimmers, and had only the best of intentions at heart.

Anyway, above was one piece I wrote, and provides some background information on the plight of the beach nesters on Champagne Island. Mercifully, just last week the situation was taken under control by the proper conservation authorities, but extreme concern for the safety of the colony cannot be urged enough, and I again encourage everyone to write their representatives to ensure the real protection of this unique-in the true sense of the word-bird colony here in Cape May.

More, and informative links regarding this very serious conservation situation in Cape May will soon be forthcomg, as will a lot more substantive information regarding the imperiled wildlife of Champagne Island in particular.

CJV

Recently Written

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