One of the wonderful things about living in the early 21st Century, is that one can time one’s outdoor activities with the bands of rain as seen on the Weather Channel, or as in my case, Weather Underground.com (Not to be confused with the late 60’s radical political movement which caused the president elect such consternation recently)

A well timed, though not so well-timed as to prevent me getting soaked “wet-through” (as per Richard Adams’), turn around a couple of spots at Cape May Point revealed among others:

2 Orange-crowned Warblers in the Cape Island Preserve. One which was seen twice, and the second time in the Sweet-gum just where I had parked my car on Wilson Ave.

One very soggy Pipit was actually walking along the path at the Meadows, and was about as drenched as I was at the time. Poor thing.

Now, while I hate, above all things, to be a “Monday Morning” birder….: Yesterday, at the fish-packing plant on Ocean drive just before the Draw-bridge, There was a bird which was most definitely a hybrid Herring/Iceland or a veritable second cycle Thayer’s Gull. The bird was not a Herring Gull. It had a just about completely black bill, primaries that were dark, yet pale edged, tertials that were completely dark centered and pale edged, and Icelandesque secondary coverts which were likewise funky for a Herring Gull.

In all respects the bird was perfectly intermediate between a Kumlien’s and North American Herring Gull-though in jizz, the face was much more like (as in: might as well have been) an Iceland than a Herring.

The most striking thing was that it didn’t have the nasty, sloping long drooping billed skeksi face of a Herring Gull, but had a sweetly sloped, dark-eyed face- like a proper Kumlien’s Gull. Trouble was it had dark, pale-edged primaries.

I shall go look for it manana, weather depending. But this bird was not a mere Herring Gull. Punto.

The inch of soaking rain which was forecast never materialized and the result was a wonderfully overcast and balmy, (albeit a bit windy and fog-shrouded at times) afternoon to go look for birds.

An imm. Little Blue Heron was in the creek just by Two-mile Landing, and surprisingly, was the only “white egret” I could squeak up.

The beach at Two-mile was awash with beach-pipers, though the jetty was a bit disappointing.

The gang of shorebirds was almost entirely made-up of Red Knot. I kind of had to do a little eye rub and double take. From a long way off, I just kind of assumed the couple of hundred dark grey shorebirds were Dunlin, especially since the beach was socked in with fog at points.

The schlepp to get closer revealed no, they were all Knot, so I counted them three times:246 was what I came up with. The tide was low, and the Knot were actively feeding, thigh deep, or digging, and not at all that concerned by my presence.

Now, most winters there is a flock of Knot which seems to go between Wildwood and Hereford Inlet (the ten miles, as the Knot flies being negligible) but its presence is largely ignored by researchers who’ve made careers out of studying Knots, largely in NJ.

There were a surprising number of Turnstones around as well, and disproportionately few Dunlin. Sanderling numbers were no great shakes really, and as far as lingerers go, 4 Semipalmated Plovers were the best I could do. I could find nary a Western or Least, or Black-bellied Plover among the other expected wintering shorebirds. Though there was a nice gang of Purples on the Jetty itself.

Otherwise, ten Great Cormorants were hanging around the inlet, and the coast guard ponds were full of brant, but surprisngly few other waterfowl.

The most bizarre thing a quick turn around Hidden valley turned up was an albino Starling in a large flock of Starlings taking advantage of the recently mown fields.

What was interesting about it was how it stood out from its brethren, and how it appeared significantly larger than its normally coloured chums. If I were an Accipiter (and most days I’m rather glad I’m not, actually!) I could see how it would be an unavoidable target. Poor thing might as well be tatooed in concentric rings of blue, yellow, and red.

A couple of Rusty Blackbirds and some seemingly quite agitated Hairy Woodpeckers were among the other more interesting birds at Hidden Valley.

I do not know whether it was a result of the stiff northerly blow we recentlyhad, or the mowing of the habitat, but Hermit Thrushes, Fox Sparrows, and even White-throats seem to be harder to find than they were not long ago, and unseasonably so, at least to my mind.

The most surprising thing I happend upon this utterly calm and nearly balmy early winter day was a River Otter lolling about in the middle of Lily Lake in broad daylight. It was chewing on a Sunfish, and was nonetheless appealing for doing so. Kind of the way fido is still cute when frothily halfway through a kind of gnarly rawhide chewie. Otters just got that face, I guess…

The Ash-throated Flycatcher found last Weds. continues in the little pine grove in the State Park. It seems to attract the attention of a territorial Mockingbird, who mobs it, bopping it on the head, and driving it back into the pine shadowier parts of the patch. It is always the subservient member of the duo in these interactions. It usually causes it to let go with a series of “bips”, and to climb higher into the trees.

For those unfamiliar, do not look for this flycatcher on high exposed branches. Out of season Ash-throated’s are usually within chest height or less of the ground, pouncing shrike-like rather than sallying. Interestingly, it seems to only call and ascend as a result of getting grab-assed by the mocker or otherwise disturbed. Also interesting is that the similarly sized, greyish, wing-barred, Myiarchus illicits a response from the mocker where a Phoebe does not.

It seems to be doing just fine on a diet of crickets and such-like though.

The Sedge Wren was easy to see today at Higbee’s beach. The entire patch has been mown now, save for one small field just north of the pond at the end of the central path. The wren definitely seems intent on gaining weight at Higbee’s, if not overwintering at this point.

There is much more to say, regarding Fox Sparrows and Hermit Thrushes, moulting ducks, Ipswich sparrows, and Cooper’s Hawks setting up winter territories, but that will have to wait.

Today was a great one on which to be out birding. Since taking a good long walk on Thanksgiving, this was the first time I’d been able to get out for a walk!

I was well rewarded for my patience.

In no particular order really, I turned up the following:

2 American Bitterns- One which I accidentally flushed in the State Park late this morning, the other which climbed out of the Meadows and headed into the sunset at dusk. The first revealed itself by clambering noisily through the High-tide bush/Groundsel Tree hedge along the last stretch of boardwalk. Thinking the rustling to be the result of a Mammal- I gave a squeak-and that was too much. The terrestrially noisy retreat ended and my rustling “mammal” flushed from about 10 feet away. It headed back towards the Bunker Pond.

1 Lincoln’s Sparrow- In the State Park at the little metal footbridge where the TNC Meadows Property meets the Park. This edge by the ditch can be very productive in Winter, and it was today. December is decidedly getting late for a Lincoln’s. Mid-winter (ie: post Christmas Count) records of Lincoln’s from around here are very scarce. The fact that there was one at Higbee’s Beach just last week renders this Calendar Rarity a little less surprising, though.

This same spot turned up 2 Orange-crowned Warblers, and two Rusty Blackbirds. There was a steady stream of Myrtle Warblers, Goldfinches, and the commoner sparrows down this edge today.

1 Nashville Warbler was along the dune in the Meadows this evening, paling around with a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the high-tide bushes.

I hear tell that the Dickcissel and the Ash-throated Flycatchers remain where they were over Thanksgiving.

Otherwise, Fox Sparrows and Hermit Thrushes remain abundant, Robins, Waxwings, Kinglets of both flavours, and Purple Finches are not difficult to find. Towhees and Thrashers don’t seem to be around in any great numbers though. A few Horned Larks and Pipits were overhead today, some hoary Ipswich Sparrows were on the Beach, and one Baltimore Oriole was all I could turn up on Bayshore Rd.

It was just a pleasantly and surprisingly birdy, relatively calm, early winter day. The calm part no doubt contributing heavily to the pleasant and birdy bit. Lincoln’s and Nashvilles are nice any day, doubly in December, and any day with brilliant looks at Bitterns and Orange-crowned Warblers is definitely alright.

On the day which might as well be a Turkey’s idea of Krystallnacht, and in not a lot of time, I turned up the following interesting birds:

1 Stunning American Bittern which flew across the Parkway west from the Great Saltmarsh and into the median around mm 1.5. It appeard to land in the cedars, but whether that was the final destination, or a hidden reed-bed just behind is unbeknownst to me. It was in perfect light, and the rich colours; bicouloured, pointed wings, etc. could all be easily made out. Not at all what I expected during the late afternoon in this neighborhood much frequented by night-herons.

A quick turn around the South Cape May Meadows revealed a continuing Dickcissel and Vesper Sparrow in the hedge, as well as three Cave Swalows with a flock of about 5 dozen Tree Swallows over the Dune. Whether these are a new result of the last few day’s southerlies and westerlies, or surviving southbound birds from the last few week’s incursion is agood question.

A real surprise while looking at the Red-breasted and Hooded Mergs, Bufflehead and Ruddy Ducks in the harbor, was a very easily diagnosed Black Brant with two or three regular Brant on the south edge of the Harbor. Last Black Brant I saw around here was in the Great Salt Marsh, in the second week of May, in 2003, just north of Ocean Drive on the way to Wildwood Crest-they just don’t seem to be nearly as regular around here as they are in places just 150 miles to the north-true of so many wintering birds. Somewhere around the middle of NJ seems to be the “holy line of demarcation” of regular occurrence a whole claque of more northerly occurring birds.

Among a whole lot of Hermit Thrushes, and the commoner Sparrows I managed to find, through some searching and a bit of slogging, the following around some choice spots in Cape May today:

1 Vesper Sparrow-in the path along the hedge at the Meadows. It was a very cooperative bird, which after flushing to the hedge, kept returning to the path, only to fly a few more feet. It seemed, in fact reluctant to leave the bare gravel of the path.

1 Dickcissel, which was in the hedge just by the gate at the railroad tracks off of Wilson Ave. Funny that there was no Dickcissel in the hedge at the Meadows today, but one who looked very similar to the one which had ben there was in this spot today. Likewise funny that just about this time last year this same spot hosted an Ash-throated Flycatcher, A Western Kingbird, and Least Flycatcher- all on the same day a Lesser Nighthawk turned up at the Hawkwatch. What a difference a year (or a day) can make!

A turn around the marsh at Cape Island Creek turned up three “Acadian” Nelson’s Sharptails (A.n. subvirgatus). As oxymoronic as it sounds, they are strikingly muted, compared to their immediate relatives. Otherwise it seems as if Salt Sparrows have moved on from this spot.

Perhaps the most interesting bird I stumbled upon today though was a Junco, whose wings were each adorned with one perfect white whingbar. A variant which I have seen a couple of times around Cape May, it was a “Slate-colored” with one white wing-bar on each wing, and could not be turned into anything else (Such as a proper White-winged Junco).

And I had another most excellent Woodcock and Auto experience this afternoon. This one involved a Woodcock in the middle (well, the right lane, actually) of New England Road, hunkered down in the lengthening shadows of the hedge near the Alpaca farm. The bird Was just sitting stock-still, and refused to move. I slowed down the car and inched forward debating on whether or not to get out. The bird remained motionless, utterly confident in its cryptic colouration. I inched forward, and happened to have my point and shoot in the dash. I got as close as I dared, and snapped a photo through the windshield. Then I concluded well, I am only an few feet away, it will surely flush.

Nope. I drove right over it.

In the rearview I watched it waddle back in its characteristic fashion towards the hedge, confident I suppose that its camouflage had worked on the big, unobservantly rumbling creature it was confronted by. It was wide-eyed an sitting up, and I am confident it was not a road-stunned bird.

I have long maintained that Timberdoodle are not the most intelligent of birds. And while I realise this is grossly anthropomorphic, and certainly a result of our (or my rather) understanding and biases towards such matters as relative “intelligence” and their own success with camouflage, as far as shorebirds go, Woodcock seem to be lacking in a certain quick-wittedness taken for granted in other scolopacids, not excepting the closely related snipe.

Otherwise, there continue to be excellent numbers of Waterfowl, including a marked increase in the number of Hooded Mergs and Black Ducks; very nice numbers of Fox Sparrows and an average number of Purple Finches about in Cape May.

While today I only had a literal couple of hours to go for a walk, and that in the afternoon, I decided to head for Higbee’s Beach.

I was well rewarded by numerous Hemit Thrushes, and quick looks at the Sedge Wren. Somewhat more surprising than the Sedge Wren being precisely where it was described as being last, were the murmurings of what could have been lord knows how many Turkeys coming from the wet woods.

Even more surprising though, was the Lincoln’s Sparrow just near the Port-a-johns at the trail-head (so to speak). Lincoln’s are not at all to be expected in Cape May past early November or so, and are far from common in these parts to begin with. I was most pleased to have stumbled into it.

Otherwise, there were fine numbers of Purple Finches chomping on Privets (the stout, and rather paunchy proportions of Purple Finches are only further emphasized by the fact that the birds are most often seen literally chowing down and making mush out of bluish berries, with all the table manners of some cardueline countryfair berry-eatin contest)

I hear tell that both Black-throated Green and Nashville Warblers were present in the State Park today as well-though I was not there.

A Whistling Swan on Lily Lake was a nice addition to a quick drive-by, as was a continuing Lesser Scaup.

And I honestly don’t know quite what to make of this putative Cackling Goose on Lily Lake. Which was likewise there today and if it is a Cackling Goose has been since the 12th of November. I like the head Shape, but do not at all like the length of the neck or the overall colour of the bird. Call me a stickler-but I do not like it Sam I am.

When I first saw it I got all excited by the shape of the head, and thought it must be a cackler, but talked myself out of it. The Richardson’s I found on Lily Lake a couple of years ago was still considerably smaller than this bird, and well, while I hear they are “not all that small” the nice thing about birding is you can do it anyway you like, and I am just not comfortable with this bird. Though this goose does have a distinctively shaped head.

That is what seperates the hobby from ornithology, and though birders do not like to hear it, some birds do indeed need to be inspected…more closely, shall I say…, and birders are “kind” to ornithologists; what Paleantologists would refer to fossil collectors as “Dino-kind”-as much as they think their field observations are the final word, it is most subjective, and first and foremost a hobby, and not a scientific endeavour.

While I didn’t give it much time today, and don’t have much time to write just now, a few passing observations from a couple of stops and a short walk or two about Cape Island follow:

If I thought Redtails were impressive the day before yesterday, well today just shot that right out of the water.

There were kettles of 20-30 Redtails over the point late this morning. Redtails of every description, small Red-tails and big Red-tails, dark Red-tails and light Red-tails, old Red-tails and young Red-tails.

It was a Red-tail kind of day.

As one might expect, or at least as a Hawk-watching one might-there were a lesser but corresponding number of Red-shoulders out and about too. A ratio of like 1-8 or so, being generous.

Hermit Thrushes continue to be just about everywhere, and in good and obvious numbers on Cape Island. Ditto for Goldfinches, Fox Sparrows, and Juncos.

And while I spent a fair amount of time looking, I turned up no Chats, or Orioles or other lingerers today. Until I stopped by the Hidden Valley “extension” on Bayshore rd late in the day, that is. Again this is that spot made famous by the male Bullocks Oriole-last Dec., I guess it was… Well, it seems like the 11 Baltimore Orioles I scrounged up at various spots yesterday have converged on that particular, Icterus favoured spot, cause no fewer than 10 flushed and ganged up together ( a “flock” more or less) as soon as I stopped the car.

Pretty nifty.

(What was the title of that Flannery O’connor Story? “Everything That Rises Must Converge” That it? Well, I suppose Baltimore Orioles must rise and head to Meso-america at some point, and that point may as well be Cape May Point; so…)

However two of the more striking wildlife tid-bits came while strolling back down Washington Street in the middle of the night. One was somewhat typical, but striking nevertheless for its altitude: A flock of very low Snow Geese lit from below as they hurtled west over “center city” Cape May. (I find that “center city”, Philadelphia sort of euphemism quaint, and kind of silly coming, as I did from New York).

The other was a Saw-Whet, which flushed from the plantings on the ground at a famous Cape May eatery. Again striking, but this time for its proximity and unexpectedness. The little Aegolius was only a yard off the side-walk, on the ground, and had likely pounced upon a vole or shrew as I passed and accidentally flushed it. Something to be said for a commute which inadvertently flushes a hunting Saw-whet Owl from a lawn next to the sidewalk, now isn’t there?

The place does, like as not, quite often live up to the hype. The bright red devil which keeps me in this tourist town. A Saw-whet on the ground, flushed from the lillies on the pumpkin-lined walkway to the Washington Inn.

As Arthur would’ve noted, that “doesn’t suck”.

Just a couple of notes from just a few hours tramping around some likely patches around Cape Island today turned up:

No fewer than 11 Baltimore Orioles. Four were together at the south end of the second field at Hidden Valley, another five were immediately along the road at the Hidden Valley extension, likewise, all perched up together, and two were along the northerly stretch of railroad tracks at Wilson Ave. All were young of the year, and the range of variation among hatch year Baltimore Orioles is nothing less than staggering. Each one was different. Among those I saw today, the gamut was run, from completley orange birds, to completely grey-bellied Bullock’s wannabees. It was most instructive to spend time with them, and try and tease out exactly why the grey-bellied, stripe-backed ones were not Bullock’s Orioles.

I happened upon two Chats today, one on a patch of Porcelain Berry on New England Road that I know from Christmas Counts past is a good spot for lingerers, the other was on the Railroad Tracks just immediately south of Wilson Ave. Both were handsome as chats always are, and not nearly as skulky as they can be in the breeding season.

One knock-out celata eastern Orange-crowned warbler was in the sun-warmed west side of the westernmost field at Hidden Valley. What a handsome thing, foraging among the goldenrod.

A Dickcissel continues on the Sunset Blvd hedge at the Meadows, but more impressive sparrow-wise were the nearly 40 Fox Sparrows I tallied. They have really started to come in, and that is one very good reason to like winter in Cape May.

Passerella iliaca, the striking eastern form of Fox Sparrow we are blessed with in these parts are a bird which, kind of like Royal Terns, I always have to raise my bins to check out-even while surrounded by a flock of a dozen or so “chacking” away in the hedge. Its like the sentiment expressed in “The Color Purple”. While a devout atheist, I just plain think that, the best way to put it, a la that wonderful book, is: When faced with something as lovely as a Fox Sparrow, well it just pisses God off, not to look up and take note of it. Same goes for male Kestrels, and well, just about every other bird I suppose…

Otherwise, the Red-tail flight seems to have quieted a bit since yesterday, though they were still all over. One raptorial interaction which caught my attention was a two-year old Harrier sitting in a Pumpkin patch, looking a bit owl-like and surprised, whose look of befuddlement only increased when a Merlin appeared out of nowhere and bopped it on the head! I could swear I heard the Merlin chuckling, gremlin-like, as it ploughed on, never looking back at the mischief it had caused.

And finally, yesterday evening, a Woodcock flushed from the side of the road, and hurled down the steet. Naturally I had to adjust my speed to clock it, as it showed no intention of veering, was using the same thoroughfare (just in an added dimension or so) and we were heading the same way. It seems like a woodcock, heading into the wind, goes about 22 Miles per hour. and that was not in their explosive evasive burst, and not in what I assume they hurtle past in migratory flight. Not bad for a bird with wings that stubby, not shabby at all. I should be so lucky as to clock 22 Mph on my own two legs!

(Sorry, the Wizard of Oz was on the night before last- and I make no apologies for that being one of my all time favorite pieces of cinema)

I was ony able to sneak out for a couple of hours, and that in the afternoon, but a turn around various parts of Hidden Valley revealed no fewer than 7 Baltimore Orioles, and a Blackpoll in the Porcelain Berry. A single House Wren in the cedars of the western edge ofthe westernmost hedgerow was also worth metioning. Fox Sparrows are definitely in in winter numbers, and in general it was a fabulous Sparrow day. Juncos arrived in the triple digits, singleton White-crowns were at the Meadows and Hidden Valley, Swamp Sparrows were abundant where yesterday they were scarce, and Robins and Bluebirds were everywhere.

I even saw just shy of fifty Bluebirds in, of all places, the Plain Trees which line Washington Street in the heart of the Gingerbread Belt of victorian Cape May. Most uncharacteristic habitat, and since I walk down Washington Street most days at around four o’clock, I can vouche for the fact that one almost never sees Bluebirds at all in the middle of shade-tree lined Cape May streets.

Hawkwise, there were goodly numbers of Red-shoulders about, but it seems like the wind was bit too strong for any real flight.

And that’s about all I have to say at present, but tomorrow is another day…

keep looking »

Recently Written

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• News and Notes from Cape May; Black-headed Gull, White-winged Crossbills, continuing Eurasian Wigeon, etc.
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