Cape May 12/4--Black Vulture, Eurasian Wigeon, Ash-throated Flycatcher

There were lots of interesting birds reported in Cape May this weekend so on Sunday we went twitching (looking for rarities). Our main target was a Painted Bunting that had been coming to a feeder on Bayshore Road. The owner of the property was kindly letting birders congregate in her driveway to view the bird. When we got there around 10 AM about 10 birders were already looking at the array of feeders; the bird had been seen earlier in the morning bathing and then sitting on one of the feeders. It wasn't out while we stood there for about half an hour. I didn't really expect to see it and since it wasn't a life bird (we've seen one in Florida where, while rare, it is part of their range) we figured we'd look around the Cape for other birds and then come back. While we were standing in the driveway a kettle of vultures circled overhead and surprisingly, most of them were Black Vultures, a bird we hadn't seen this year. Plus a good looking adult Bald Eagle was flying overhead too, so it was fine birding there in any case.

Our next stop was Lighthouse Pond in Cape May State Park to look for a Eurasian Wigeon that has been there for most of the autumn. There were lots of American Wigeons on the pond, along with coots, shovelers, Gadwalls & teal, but the EUWI wasn't in sight. A birder from the area told us that we'd be more likely to find the wigeon if we walked on the boardwalk to the western part of the pond, so I picked up our scope and off we went.  We didn't mind the walk; the weather yesterday was ridiculously warm for December and made birding the water a pleasure as there was nary a breeze. Another group of birders was already there and quickly pointed out the wigeon to us, a wonderfully plumaged drake.  The  last time we saw on of these birds was a few years ago at Jamaica Bay.

Photo: Shari Zirlin

Another duck on the pond that we don't see too often was trio of Ring-necked Ducks, all drakes.

Next we made a desultory pass at finding some Eurasian Collared Doves and a White-winged Dove that had been reported in the vicinity, but had no luck and again, since they weren't life birds, weren't too disappointed.

We made a stop at Lily Lake and found among the usual ducks and geese a couple of drake Hooded Mergansers, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet in the trees, and 3 Red-shouldered Hawks mixing in with a kettle of vultures.

We ate lunch on Broadway and since that was on the way to Cape Island Preserve (a new spot for us) we decided to take a stab at the Ash-throated Flycatcher. Out of all the birds on our list, the only one I really expected to see was the Eurasian Wigeon, since ducks tend to stick around and they stand out pretty well on a pond or lake.

When we got to the preserve I was pessimistic about  our chances. I didn't know the place at all and all I'd heard was that it had been seen in the "second field." Since the fields aren't numbered (for that matter the place looked like one big field to me) I had no idea where that might be. But we started to walk around, looking for other birders. We saw a couple off in the distance and when they saw us, waved us on. When we reached them, there in plain view, was the flycatcher, giving excellent diagnostic looks. (I have always relied on the kindness of birders.) We saw one of these this year in California. They're a rarity  in the east, but have been showing up relatively frequently this year. One  theory is that they are escaping the drought in their home range of the mid-west.

Photo: Shari Zirlin

With two good rarities for the day to our credit, we now took a another chance at finding the Painting Bunting. Arriving at the driveway the crowed had thinned out quite a bit. Then we heard the dreaded words, "You just missed it." We hung around for another half hour then gave it up. There were still a couple of hours of daylight left and I wanted to look out on the ocean. We went back to the state park.

Gannets and loons on the ocean, lots of gulls on the beach and in the pond by the hawkwatch, dozens of ducks, coots and geese, including a few molting Lesser Scaup. Okay, one more shot at the bunting.

Again. no luck. We stayed for an hour, saw lots of other birds at the feeders, but the bunting never showed for us. Of course, in the time we were at the state park it had popped out briefly. You can't say we weren't persistent. For the day we had 51 species and made it home in about 90 minutes. Today was significant to me because with the vulture, wigeon & flycatcher, my count for species in NJ this year is 171, exceeding my species count for NY during this year. Just another little proof that I live in Jersey now.

List for the day:

Brant

Canada Goose

Mute Swan

Gadwall

Eurasian Wigeon

American Wigeon

Mallard

Blue-winged Teal

Northern Shoveler

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

Ring-necked Duck

Lesser Scaup

Hooded Merganser

Ruddy Duck

Red-throated Loon

Pied-billed Grebe

Northern Gannet

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Egret

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Bald Eagle

Northern Harrier

Cooper's Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

American Coot

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Rock Pigeon

Mourning Dove

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Ash-throated Flycatcher

Blue Jay

American Crow

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Carolina Wren

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

American Robin

Northern Mockingbird

Yellow-rumped Warbler

White-throated Sparrow

Dark-eyed Junco

Northern Cardinal

House Finch

American Goldfinch

House Sparrow