The last two days have finally brought “Fall” proper to Cape May-despite the continuing balmy temperatures.

The Hawkflights have been nothing shy of outstanding, especially if one has a fondness for Peregrine Falcons, which are decidedly building in numbers-to the tune of fifty an hour or so at one point today. Likewise, kettles of Broadwings, a novelty here on the beach at Land’s End, and modest by ridge-top standards have been rather easy to find.

With the kettles the last two days have been a cooperative immature Mississippi Kite, and today, a middling morph juvenile Swainson’s Hawk.

Also in western rarity news a female Yellow-headed Blackbird flew past the Dike yesterday morning ahead of a flock of Blue Jays. If yesterday Jays stole the show, today belonged to Woodpeckers-namely Yellow-shafted Flickers. Hundreds and Hundreds of Flickers were about today, and at least two dozen Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers and a goodly number of the allegedly non-migratory Red-bellies were in the mix. I must say, I admire sapsuckers greatly, like the torpedo shaped- Blackpolls, the morphology of these, the sleek and only long-distance migrant Boreal Woodpecker is so very well adapted to hauling ass.

The passerine flights at Higbee’s Beach have likewise been most satisfying, and today, the first large push of Myrtle Warblers announced their arrival with authority. Blackpolls and Parulas and Palms are somewhere near, just past, or rapidly approaching apogee, respecively, while Black-throated Blues are diminishing. Northern Waterthrushes, Yellows, Black & Whites, Redstarts, and Red-eyed Vireos are, on the other hand, decidedly getting scarcer. A couple of Connecticuts were flying past today, Golden-crowned Kinglets are beginning to become as numerous as Rubies, and on the subject of “musciacapids” the grand flights of Gnatcatchers are a memory.

I hear tell that Winter Wrens, Creepers, and Whitethroats are beginning to show themselves as well. Sparrow flights can not be too fat behind.

And finally, a striking adult N. Gannet was in the Rips today, as were a Parasitic jaeger or two.

Apologies for the randomness of the preceding note, and I’m sure I’ve forgotten much- Like The multiple Dickcissels, the White-breasted Nuthatch, the similarity a Connecticut can have in jizz to a waterthrush, what a pain in the ass a very distant juvenile Swainson’s Hawk can be, etc. etc. but unfortunately I continue to be pressed for time, and would that I could wax poetic about the birds, the in-bred weirdness that is the Cape May birding scene, and the utter dysfunctionality and underhandedness Pete Dunne’s bird Mafia continues to perpetrate and perpetuate, but- not today.

No worries, though not right now, as young Mr. Prufrock knew so well, there will be time, there will be time…

But who would’ve thought the Director of Birding Programs at CMBO would praise New Jersey Audubon Society research associates for trespassing and supressing significant records of rarities while in the process, and eschewing birding (and not to mention, non-sneaky, above-boards human) ethics in the bargain? And unsurprisingly, he was typically daft enough to publicly give thanks and praise for the junior research associate’s “cryptic text messages”, rather than upholding the ABA code of ethics, and his published pontifications, and those of his patron, and employer, Pete Dunne, and NJAS.

Someone needs to tell these people that not getting caught in a lie, is very different from being truthful. (and it seems that task has fallen on me….)

Just a short turn around the point today revealed a few birds of note, namely a Clay-colored Sparrow and a Nashville Warbler more or less in the same place in the scrub just east of Alexander Avenue.

Otherwise a handful or Red-breasted Nuthatches were nice, but the real news was the largest movement of Blue Jays I have yet noticed at Cape May Point.

Well over a hundred of this most dapper of eastern corvids were flyinf north today, in groups numbering from 8 to about 18 or twenty.

Robins are notably scarce however, and in other news: Piping Plovers continue at Stone Harbor Point, a small but interesting cadre of migrating warbler including Chestnut-sided & Black-throated Green about the point, and the biggest surprise was a Warbling Vireo at the end of the first field at Higbee’s Beach.

I also hear a Yellow-throated Warbler was seen from the Dike today, and a Eurasian Collared Dove was in the State Park yesterday, both most likely results of the tropical weather offshore. Dunny how only a day or two ago it felt like fall, and now again for all intents, it may as well be August again.

Forgive the terse update, but that’s all time will allow at present

While today wasn’t nearly as bad as had been forecast, and the temperature was downright balmy thanks to the tropical storm influences, it was still hardly the best day for birds or their watchers.

However I did manage to find a couple of smart Parasitic Jaegers not at all far from shore just off Alexander Avenue in the Point, and the little flock of Black Scoters which has been around the point jetties was obliging as well.

Some surprises were the juvenile Spotted Sandpiper hunkered down on the beach at Higbee’s and a soggy juvenile Broadwinged Hawk who, due to the rain, resisted the inclination to flush. It was only about ten feet off the ground in a little cherry tree of one of the sheltered bowers which seperate the fields and a lovely beast. These little compact hawks don’t get the praise they deserve compared to many of their flashier relatives.

Other good views at Raptors included a juv “regular” (read anatum restocked sort) sitting on a newly formed island in the newly formed lake on the beach at South Cape May, and a stunning very blonde juvenile tundrius perched next to a Cooper’s Hawk in the scraggly trees between Alexander Ave and Sunset Beach.

A smattering of Warblers were about, and a Swamp Sparrow in the State Park were also among the few birds of note I squeaked up on this grey, drizzly morning.

Otherwise, migration has kind of had its emergency brake cut for the time being, the beach at Southcape may was well breached by the storm tides and NE wind, rendering it a lake more than a dune, and overall the place was relatively birdless as a result of the weather.

Yes, today the wind and eventually the rain were a bit much, and I actually opted for indoor activities today.

In the brief time I was out, I did manage a couple of fine Parasitic Jaegers, along with a very nice feeding frenzy of Larids just off the point.

A first winter Lesser Black-backed Gull was hunkered down out of the wind with the other gulls at Sunset Beach, and I did actually squeak up a coupel of Black-throated Blues and a Waterthrush (Northern of course) or two at Higbees.

A quick jaunt to Two-mile Beach and Ocean Drive was more ambition than anything else, and like the Cooper’s Hawk which made a valiant, yet wind-aborted attempt at a Mourning Dove, I quickly gave up the chase.

Birding during this apparently interminable bout of northeasterlies is beginning to get a bit old…

Today the wind got to be on the oppressive side, and that is apparently nothing compared to what it is forecast to be like manana. Great.

That being said, there were still a couple of decent birds around the place.

A light adult and a dark juvenile Parasitic Jaeger were just over the beach off the Point this morning, affording not so typically spectacular views of typically spectacular Jaeger antics. Landbirding around the point was dull, but there were in fact a surprising number of Gnatcatchers about (ie about 6-7) given the date and the wind. A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and a Yellow Warbler were the most interesting birds at the dike during the relatively brief time I was there, though there was a steady trickle of Parulas, Blackpolls and a few Black & Whites etc.

There has been a small group of Common Terns around all of a sudden which normally would not be of any great interest. However this september there have been a dearth of Commons around the Point. I am chalking it up to the fact that there was no great colony of them in the Hereford Inlet neighborhood, and the point has gotten cheated out of the staging groups which usually linger here. Same goes for the notable lack of concentrations of Skimmers loafing on the beaches of Cape May. I’d wager that since both species had a less than great nesting season in the county, they just plain aren’t hanging around.

It is indeed noteworthy that a dozen or twenty Common Terns is noteworthy this autumn.

Otherwise, while attempting to locate an odd Godwit in the Nummy’s Island nieghborhood, and going away entirely God-witless (so to speak) I did manage a couple of very smart juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Herons and no fewer than four Tricolors. Caspian Terns were also easy to see there and a big gang of Double-crested Cormorants was fishing in the lee of Stone Harbor Point.

Sea-watching from Avalon got one little more than salt-coated lenses, and for eye-glass wearers or those with windshields this proved a little less than optimal. I saw no need to linger or even draw a scope from the trunk. The grandness of the Caspian Terns foraging off the seawall could well be appreciated and admired without a tripod. Which is good cause: A. I could never, ever, grow weary of admiring Caspian Terns, and B: They were pretty much the only birds there to be seen. (Though the madness of the sea itself was somethin’ else, and something one usually associates with November or Hurricanes- Spetember Nor-easters of this persistence are not the norm, really.)

And finally, a second summer/third winter type of Lesser Black-backed Gull wa smost oblingingly flying down the dunes in the State Park with a Great Black-back this evening, which along with a decent number of Snowy Egrets and Green-winged Teal was one of not a lot of birds to be found in this wind.

(Did I mention that it was windy today, and not a good kind of windy by the way…)

A Swainson’s Hawk got itself spotted from the Hawkwatch in Cape May today-with luck just the first of the season.

Also, a Black Rail got itself flushed by a competent observer from a location best not divulged at present.

In other completely odd-ball news, a Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow was found in entirely atypical habitat near the Ferry Terminal by utterly competent scandanavian birders (any port in a storm I guess, if the pun can be forgiven…), and I hear tell that an even later Mourning Warbler was found by a visiting tour group.

Otherwise, there was an exceptional push of Northern Parulas today, as well as a surprisingly decent hawkflight. I have been most impressed by the quality of the flights the last few days, especially given the persistent North-easterlies. I suppose when the birds gotta go, they just gotta go. Otherwise, an American Pipit, a perched Blackburnian, and a similarly posed Phildelphia Vireo were all well seen at Higbee’s Dike today. Again, given the wind, there was also a fine showing of migrants to be seen on the now sleepy streets of the striving metropolis of Cape May Point.

Two adult Bald Eagles really put on a show, and were present all around the point proper all day. One pirated a fish from an Osprey and ate it on the wing, a behaviour I usually have seen only over large bodies of water where there were no available perches. Another Eagle was far out over the concrete ship pirating the piracies of Black-backed Gulls.

Only two Lesser Black-backed Gulls continue on the Beach, Merlins were absurdly easy to see hunting around Cape May Point, and the family of Otters continues in South Cape May, no doubt much the happier for the lack of being molested the closure of the Meadows has blessed them with. I wonder how much they like the herbicide though?

There were surprising numbers of both raptors and passerines this morning, given the winds. Interesting was that the warblers continued slowly, but steadily to trickle out of Higbee’s heading north rather late into the morning.

A Parasitic Jaeger from the Dike, and one off the hawkwatch were also worth noting.

all for now

With not any time at all this weekend-just wanted to say thank-you to all those who called regarding Friday evening’s Wheatear!

I was at work and didn’t see the messages until well past midnight Friday (well Saturday morning I guess…). Drat-Its been nearly 13 years since I last saw a Wheatear in Cape May, and just about seven since I last saw one at all (And those were in the old world-I typically shun places as cold as where Wheatears spend the summer in the New World!

The really funny thing is that it was precisely the rarity I expected and had predicted with all of this North-east nonsense going on, and responsible for my frequent trips to the Magnesite Plant of late-it is such good habitat. (Shhh -don’t let on the there is method to the madness….)

Unfortunately, not having been birding, I have no bird news to report! But just wanted to pass along the grammercy.

As of today, the Federal Government owns 70% of all U.S. mortgages. It also owns the largest insurance firm. There are only two independent bank/investment firms left on Wall Street. Laissez-what exactly?

And with our economy nearly completely rendered de-facto socialist by the Bush administration, we still feel universal healthcare would be an infringement of our capitalist heritage, apparently…

ya gotta love the irony.

While it was rather quiet at first there wound up being some rather good birds around the place today.

There was a fine showing of Black-throated Green Warblers at the Dike, but far more interesting was “photo-finish” Yellow-throated Warbler which flew past and revelaed its true identity through the magic of digital photography and a quick index finger. I really don’t know what to make of this sort of birding, but am fairly certain I do not approve, and will return to the subject in later posts.

Also of interest was a strikingly fresh Blue-headed Vireo, an American Pipit, and the first Ruby-crowned Kinglet I’ve seen this fall.

A Wilson’s Warbler and more surpisingly, a first-fall Mourning Warbler were found by a quick turn around the base of the Dike. A cooperative Ruby-throated Hummer was feeding on Primroses in the shade down there as well. On the subject of Mourning and Yellow-throated Warblers though, I hear tell that a Golden-winged Warbler was also found in the first field today, and can’t help but wonder at the late spate of late-summer migrants occuring at this date.

While Empids have largely fled the place for warmer climes, We are in the period during which both Pewees and Phoebes may be seen more or less together, which is nice. Yellow-shafted Flickers are starting to come into their own, 40 or so were at the Beanery as was a flock of 15 Kestrels.

Three Stilt Sandpipers continue in the Bunker Pond, and Waterfowl numbers and composition continue to become more Autumnal with each passing day; ie: Pintail, Wigeon and sovelers increase, and Green Winged have far and away surpassed Blue-wings as the common Teal.

Bald Eagles were again prominent at the Hawkwatch, and an adult Red-shoulder was the first such migrant I’ve seen and a surprising age and stage for the date.

However, the real show-stoppers today were the Odes. The flocks (swarms, flocks? What does one properly call an inordinate-in the true sense- number of migrating dragonflies?!?) The Darners, Skimmers and Saddlebags made finding hawks in the clear blue unforgiving sky even harder than it should’ve been, but were an inspiring delight in and of themselves. The Ballet of Kestrels picking them off was not entirely unpleasing to the eye either.

While the butterfly-like flalcons were executing graceful Dragonfly snatches during the day, in the evening today the Merlins really cme into their own. There were plenty of them doing the thing they do best: just being the pugnacious virtuosos of flight that these, my favorite northern-hemisphere Raptors can’t not be.

If the Kestrels were performing a ballet, the Merlins were doing something akin to a Bedouin Sword-dance, or a Quechua Fight-dance. Merlins just seem to take the greatest delight in knowing that they are faster and better at what they do than everyone else. They were sitting on the Beach, Perched peaceably next to each other (and Kestrels I might add) at both the Park and the Magnesite Plant, and plummeting, hurtling, and hurling long after the sun had set at the Meadows. From bopping Red-tails on the back, looking over their shoulders and giggling, to snatching Palm Warblers or Dragonflies in Mid-air, the imps of Falcondom were in full form this afternoon and evening.

As an aside, yesterday evening there was a stunning “blue-jack” male Merlin perched on the same bough which later held a hunting Great Horned Owl. Also the fact that every pole at the banders’ station at the Magnesite Plant had a Kestrel sitting on it this evening, and no Hawk-banders to notice was worth noting. As I stood there looking at nearly a hundred Lesser Yellowlegs in the Creek, on innocent juvenile female Kestrel, killying all the way, came and landed on a pole not five meters away.

Why is it that the really cool things one sees always happen when by one’s self and sans Camera. Theres a mystery in it, no doubt…

While I know I am forgetting much, and have much more I could say, regarding the Palm Warbler who deftly snatched and held a damselfly perpendicular in its bill, or flaming coral-billed Caspian Terns being persued by begging babies, those are all the impressions of the birds in my patch I have in me for the present.

keep looking »

Recently Written

• Excellent Bayshore Birding: Lots of Shorebirds, Gulls, Silly numbers of Turkeys, and a Vesper Sparrow
• Dolphins, a Brown Pelican, A Cape Island Yellow-throated Warbler and a nice little “fall” around the point in the mist
• Some Eagle notes, etc.
• LAGU in Cape May, and a few other early spring notes
• After the snow in Cape May
• Lots and lots of ducks around Cape May
• Flowering Maples
• News and Notes from Cape May; Black-headed Gull, White-winged Crossbills, continuing Eurasian Wigeon, etc.
• Some nice looks at Short-eared Owls, etc.
• A seal, a balmy day, and the colour of a randy Mallards feet

Categories

• Beach Nesters
• behaviour
• birding norms
• Black Skimmers
• Breeding Birds
• Butterflies
• Champagne Island
• conservation
• Fall Migration
• Fish Crows
• Gulls
• Hawks
• Herons
• Herps
• ID
• Jaegers
• Mammals
• Not-birds
• Owls
• Piping Plovers
• raptors
• Rarities
• Royal Terns
• Rusty Blackbirds
• Seawatching
• Shorebirds
• Spring Migration
• Terns
• Uncategorized
• Warblers
• Waterfowl
• Winter Birds

Archives

• April 2009
• March 2009
• February 2009
• January 2009
• December 2008
• November 2008
• October 2008
• September 2008
• August 2008
• July 2008
• June 2008
• May 2008
• April 2008

Blogroll

• ABA “Peeps” - excellent birding updates from the American Birding Association
• American Bird Conservancy - dedicated to bird conservation
• American Museum of Natural History - specimen-based evolutionary, & biological research at its finest
• American Ornithologists Union
• Art & Science Collaborations, Inc. (ASCI) - Collaborations in…you guessed it!
• Ben Johnson Art - some fine photo-realism from a local artist
• Bent’s Life Histories-familiar birds - an edited and synoptic version of Bent’s volumes, an invaluable resource nevertheless
• Bill Hubick Photography - exceptional photos and website from a fine fellow
• Birdlife International - world bird conservation at large
• Conserve Wildlife Foundation of NJ - people who actually work hard on conservation in NJ
• ebird
• Huffington Post - commentary by reasonable Americans
• New Jersey birding - Birding in NJ
• Pioneer Birding - excelent blog from the commonwealth and beyond
• Point Reyes Bird Observatory Conservation Science - a legitimate Bird Observatory
• Portland Bird Observatory and Field Centre - another legitimate Bird Observatory
• Punkbirder-the unsound approach - We need a lot more “punk-birding” here in the States
• Save the Albatross - if 100,000 people were slaughtered per year, we’d call it genocide…
• Shorebirder - nice blog from CT
• Sibley Guides Notebook - better than the artwork even
• Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center - Dedicated to research for migratory birds
• Surfbirds - world birding news
• The Nietzsche Family Circus - “Beyond Good & Evil”-just hilarious juxtapositions
• The Onion - America’s “finest” news source-brilliant satire
• The Story of Stuff - will make you never want to shop again…

Admin

• Login
• Wordpress
• XHTML

Search