January Summary--5 Cool Birds

Didn't quite make a 100 species for the month and 2/3 of our list was accumulated on New Year's Day in Cape May. No lifers this month either.  However, we did see some cool birds this month, birds not often viewed either in this area or by us.

The first 2 were during the field trip in Cape May: Dickcissel in dense shrubbery with a flock of House Sparrows (it pays to look closely at those common birds), and a western species, Bell's Vireo, seen at the entrance of The Beanery.

A few days later, at The New York Public Library, of all places, I was fortunate enough to see the Yellow-breasted Chat, a bird that has been kicked out of the warbler taxon and is in an ornithological limbo--perhaps related to the tanagers some think. Wherever it belongs in the taxonomic order, it doesn't belong in Manhattan in January.

A trip up to the Manasquan Inlet got us a Razorbill that obligingly flew in from the ocean and swam around very close to the jetty.

Finally, this weekend, we serendipitously stumbled upon 2 Ring-necked Pheasants.

I was in the WMA quite a bit this month and was happy to see bluebirds, creepers, and kinglets among the more common birds. No waterfowl on the lake though--I guess if it hasn't happened by now, it isn't going to happen this winter.

Our feeders attract a goodly number of birds, as well as squirrels, which keeps my cat, Peeve, very interested and out of mischief for whole minutes at a time.

94 species for the month.
Counties birded:
New Jersey: Atlantic, Cape May, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean.
New York: New York

Species                Location

Snow Goose      Brigantine

Brant      Nummy Island

Canada Goose     Cape May Point SP

Mute Swan     Cape May Point SP

Tundra Swan      Brigantine

Gadwall     Cape May Point SP

American Wigeon     Cape May Point SP

American Black Duck      Sandy Hook

Mallard     Cape May Point SP

Northern Shoveler     Cape May Point SP

Northern Pintail     Cape May Point SP

Green-winged Teal     Cape May Point SP

Ring-necked Duck     Cape May Point SP

Greater Scaup      Sandy Hook

Lesser Scaup     Cape May Point SP

Common Eider      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Surf Scoter      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Black Scoter     Cape May Point SP

Long-tailed Duck      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Bufflehead      Nummy Island

Common Goldeneye      Sandy Hook

Hooded Merganser     Cape May Point SP

Common Merganser      Lilly Lake

Red-breasted Merganser      Nummy Island

Ring-necked Pheasant      Lacey Road

Red-throated Loon     Cape May Point SP

Common Loon      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Pied-billed Grebe     Cape May Point SP

Horned Grebe      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Northern Gannet     Cape May Point SP

Double-crested Cormorant      Lilly Lake

Great Cormorant      Nummy Island

Great Blue Heron     Cape May Point SP

Great Egret     Cape May Point SP

Black Vulture     Cape May Point SP

Turkey Vulture     Cape May Point SP

Northern Harrier      Brigantine

Sharp-shinned Hawk     Cape May Point SP

Cooper's Hawk      Whiting WMA

Red-shouldered Hawk     Cape May Point SP

Red-tailed Hawk      Central Park

Merlin      18 Aberdeen Avenue

Peregrine Falcon      Brigantine

American Coot     Cape May Point SP

Black-bellied Plover      Stone Harbor Point

American Oystercatcher      Nummy Island

Marbled Godwit      Nummy Island

Ruddy Turnstone      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Red Knot      Stone Harbor Point

Sanderling      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Purple Sandpiper      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Dunlin      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Bonaparte's Gull     Cape May Point SP

Ring-billed Gull     Cape May Point SP

Herring Gull     Cape May Point SP

Great Black-backed Gull     Cape May Point SP

Forster's Tern     Cape May Point SP

Razorbill      Manasquan Inlet

Rock Pigeon     Cape May Point SP

Mourning Dove      Avalon--8th St. Jetty

Red-bellied Woodpecker      35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker      Crestwood Village

Downy Woodpecker      35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker      35 Sunset Rd

Northern Flicker     Cape May Point SP

Bell's Vireo      The Beanery

Blue Jay      Lilly Lake

American Crow     Cape May Point SP

Carolina Chickadee      35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse      Whiting WMA

White-breasted Nuthatch      Whiting WMA

Brown Creeper      Whiting WMA

Carolina Wren     Cape May Point SP

Golden-crowned Kinglet      Whiting WMA

Eastern Bluebird      The Beanery

American Robin     Cape May Point SP

Northern Mockingbird     Cape May Point SP

European Starling     Cape May Point SP

Cedar Waxwing     Cape May Point SP

Snow Bunting      Sandy Hook

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Cape May Point SP

Yellow-breasted Chat      New York Public Library

Fox Sparrow      35 Sunset Rd

Song Sparrow      Crestwood Village

White-throated Sparrow      Harvard & Whildin

Dark-eyed Junco      Whiting WMA

Northern Cardinal     Cape May Point SP

Dickcissel      Harvard & Whildin

Red-winged Blackbird      Brigantine

Brown-headed Cowbird      Sandy Hook

Baltimore Oriole     Cape May Point SP

House Finch      The Beanery

American Goldfinch      35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow      Harvard & Whildin

Ocean County 1/29--Ring-necked Pheasant

We decided to bird a few spots around the county today and do some errands afterwards. By far the highlight of the day was found in transit along Lacey Road. Shari spotted 2 Ring-necked Pheasants foraging along the side of the road. She pulled the car over a few hundred feet down the road, made a U-turn and drove back and found them still picking away at the leaf litter. She got this photo.

Checking eBird I saw that these birds are rarely reported in the county--the last time was in April of last year. Before that there are only a few sightings listed every year.

After seeing these birds, everything else was anti-climatic. The next best sighting was our last stop, at Marshall Pond between the Ocean County Mall and Seacourt Pavilion, where there was a huge flock of honking Canada Geese, all getting ready to take flight. They went off in squadrons, probably to a nearby golf course. A Cackling Goose has been reported there-- we didn't find it today. But what a great place, where even the shopping centers have bird sanctuaries!
Our list for the day: 24 species with stops at Bamber Lake, Eno's Pond, Forsythe-Barnegat, Barnegat Beach, & Marshall's Pond.

Canada Goose

Mute Swan

American Black Duck

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Long-tailed Duck

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Ring-necked Pheasant

Pied-billed Grebe

Horned Grebe

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Turkey Vulture Red-tailed Hawk

American Coot

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Mourning Dove

Blue Jay

American Robin

Yellow-rumped Warbler Dark-eyed Junco

Bird House

My mother had a bluebird box kit (Ages 7 & up, adult supervision recommended) that she was going to sell in one of her garage sales--probably for 50 cents. Instead Shari scooped it up, being over 7 and an adult and all. She put it together in about 20 minutes in the garage. Now, where to put it?

Next to our house is a field that people around here call "the slump."

It was one of the selling points of the house (no neighbors next door). It looks like it was dug out as a drainage catchment, though it would take The Flood to ever fill it. No one seems to know who owns the land. So we figured our bird house could squat among the prickly pear and half-dead pines.

For $12 at Lowe's we bought a pail, a post and 40lbs of cement. In another "I've never done this before" moment for me I dug a hole for the pail. It was both easier (basically digging in sand) and harder (lots of roots to cut through) than I thought it would be. I thought 40lbs of cement was way more than we needed. It wasn't; it didn't even fill the pail. Add water and stir. This morning, I'm happy to report, it was still standing.

Makes a great sundial too!

Now will the bluebirds nest in it? I often see them in the dead tree nearby, so they shouldn't have a hard time finding it. We read that you're supposed to put 2 boxes up: one for the House Wrens that are more aggressive for the bluebirds and one for the bluebirds. Why the wrens won't take over both boxes is not explained. Anyway, House Wrens would be OK too.

Bluebirds start looking for nests in February. It will be interesting to see if we attract a pair, especially since the guy next door, who has lived here a lot longer than us, says he's never seen bluebirds around here while I see them all the time.

Brig 1/28--Mostly Snow Geese

Our first trip of the year to Brigantine found the birding pretty sparse. Except for Snow Geese.

Photo: Shari Zirlin

Lots of Snow Geese:

As to ducks, it was mostly the expected: black ducks, shovelers, and pintails. Shari loves the pintails.

Photo: Shari Zirlin

Hence, the name:

Photo: Shari Zirlin

A year ago, trekking down to Brig only to find 25 species and nothing special would be a big disappointment, considering the time it would take and the tolls. Today, it was a pleasant drive around the loop on another spring-like winter day. Plus 4 more birds for the year list.

List for the day:
Snow Goose  2000
Canada Goose  180
Tundra Swan  3
American Wigeon  2
American Black Duck  300
Mallard  22
Northern Shoveler  100
Northern Pintail  250
Bufflehead  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Northern Harrier  5
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Peregrine Falcon  2
American Coot  50
Ring-billed Gull  100
Herring Gull  10
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  1    Experimental Pool
Eastern Bluebird  5    Experimental Pool
American Robin  15
European Starling  5
Song Sparrow  4    Experimental Pool
Red-winged Blackbird  15

To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail

Fantasy Me

Yesterday, in my ongoing effort to frustrate the squirrels who have been frustrating me by attacking the suet cage, I got out Shari’s tree trimmer pole and sawed off a branch that they have  been using to launch themselves, making heroic leaps (some of which failed, hilariously, the squirrels flailing their legs like cartoon characters) onto the cage. It took just a little time to get the technique, but once I did I easily cut off the branch. Then, thinking that the branch still afforded them a usable platform, I cut it shorter. In my almost 61 years, I’ve never sawed off a tree branch. I felt a giddy sense of accomplishment. And I started looking around to see if there were any more branches in need of a trimming.  Or even any branches that didn’t.

Wisely, I put the pole back in the garage. Since then, only chickadees, titmice and a couple of woodpeckers have been on the cage. Maybe I’ve finally won. Or maybe the suet is not enough incentive to find a way to the cage; perhaps the squirrels are waiting for a new seedcake.  

Because I know squirrels have to eat too, and because their acorn food source is scarce this year, I threw down a couple of cups of peanuts on the lawn. It amused me to see titmice taking 3 peanuts for every one the squirrels managed to munch. 

One Bird 1/13

We had to go into NYC today, so last night we stayed at the ancestral home in Iselin and arose this morning very early to take the 6:40 train into Penn Station, where we took the E to 53rd & Lex then switched for the 6 up to 77th Street and boy do I not miss commuting. When you do it every day you just accept it or you'll go mad, but when you haven't done it for a while then all the cramming and crunching and body odor seems pretty horrible.

So I didn't expect I'd see any birds today other than pigeons and House Sparrows and even those were rare in the wind gusts on the East Side. But back in Iselin, I just happened to look out into the backyard when I saw a falcon eating something on the lawn. I called Shari to come quick; I thought I might be hallucinating. We had no camera handy. I tried to take a photo with my cell phone but I got an image that was less than useless. No binoculars either. At first I thought it was a peregrine, but that would have made no sense--there are no high buildings (and certainly no cliffs) in Iselin for peregrines to nest on.  It was about the size of a Blue Jay. No strong mustache that I could see, a bluish gray back under a very gray sky. After eating whatever it was eating it flew off giving us a good glimpse of a light breast. A Merlin. One bird for the day, but one I never expected to see in my old backyard.

Manasquan Inlet 1/8--Razorbill

Photo: Shari Zirlin

It is either a conviction or a superstition of mine that you will not see the bird you are looking for until you truly, sincerely, have given up on seeing it. Then, magically, it will appear.

Today we drove the short distance to the Manasquan Inlet to see if we could find the Razorbill that's been reported there off and on the last few days. The inlet is formed by two huge jetties. And what great jetties they are: once you take a couple of step up from the sand on a couple of rocks, it is all smooth concrete all the way out. Walking out toward the jetty it seemed very familiar; then we realized that a few years ago we'd been here, looking for some rarity which we never found. And it looked like that was going to be the case today too. After a while desultorily scanning the ocean and the mouth of inlet and finding only the occasional loon, I had shouldered our scope and was just walking away when another birder called out that he had the bird. It was a good distance away and there were no "seamarks" to go by, just featureless ocean, but if you tracked a gull that was harassing the Razorbill every time it came up from a dive, you could find the bird. Distant and briefly, but unmistakably a Razorbill in winter plumage.

So we were pretty happy with that when suddenly the bird flew out of the water and toward all of us on the jetty, landing inside the inlet, very close to the rocks, where Shari was able to get these diganostic photos.

Photo: Shari Zirlin

 Not a life bird, not even a new Jersey bird for me (I'd seen one flying low over the water a few years ago at Sandy Hook). In fact, I can say that we've seen literally thousands of Razorbills when we visited the island they nest on in the Bay of Fundy. They look much different in breeding plumage.

Photo: Shari Zirlin

But it's still a cool bird!

A stop at Lake of Lilies turned up nothing new for the year. Lots of handsome Hooded Mergansers were there.

After that we went to Lowe's to pick up material for the bluebird box we'ere going to set up in the field next the house. I'm sure that project will provide a few amusing posts.

Lists for the day:
Manasquan Inlet
12 species
Brant  3
Long-tailed Duck  1
Red-throated Loon  1
Common Loon  5
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Purple Sandpiper  20
Bonaparte's Gull  1
Ring-billed Gull  50
Herring Gull  40
Great Black-backed Gull  50
Razorbill  1  
Rock Pigeon  10
Lake of the Lilies
 7 species
Canada Goose  27
Hooded Merganser  20
American Coot  25
Ring-billed Gull  10
Herring Gull  15
Great Black-backed Gull  1
American Crow  2

Sandy Hook 1/7--Common Goldeneyes

Shari has a new bike and with the warm winter temperatures we've been having, she wants to ride it as much as possible. Sandy Hook has a bike path running the length of the peninsula, so we loaded the bike on the new bike rack (note to self, be careful closing the trunk when the bike rack is mounted--we've both clobbered ourselves by not standing to the side when we close it) and headed up the Parkway. I act as her support team. She rides up and down the path & I bird an area, then zip up the road to meet her with her coat, her keys, her lunch.

My first stop today was the best stop: Spermaceti Cove. No wind happily, so I was able to scope out the water comfortably. My first American Black Ducks of the year (missed them at Cape May) were on the water in good number, along with Brant and lots of gulls. Mixed in with some Greater Scaup (round heads) was a duck I didn't at first recognize. Brown head, gray body...and a distinctly golden eye--I hadn't seen a Common Goldeneye in so long that I wasn't sure if I was seeing a hen or something else until I saw the drake and with the round white patch on its face (not crescent-shaped--too bad, that would have been a Barrow's).

Nothing different was at Horseshoe Cove and the Boy Scout Camp had nil. Meanwhile, Shari was scooting up and down the hook, having a grand old time. We stayed in touch via cell phone. I scoped the water from in front of the former SHBO and found more black ducks plus a nice flock of Red-breasted Mergansers and a few Long-tailed Ducks. At the ferry slip, amid a ton of starlings, were 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds.

K-lot was empty of birds, but from the hawkwatch I saw, briefly, a flock of Snow Buntings, a Northern Gannet loping along, and Shari found 6 cormorants sitting on a tower in the water. Razorbills were reported yesterday off the Fisherman's Beach but of course, they weren't there today, just some more Long-tails, another gannet flying very low and close in, a flock of scoters flying south and a loon. By this time Shari had biked 10 or 11 miles, I'd seen 26 species and the temperature was a ridiculous 64 degrees.
List:
Brant  55
Canada Goose  190
American Black Duck  115
Greater Scaup  5    Spermaceti Cove
Black Scoter  20    Off fisherman's Beach
Long-tailed Duck  9
Bufflehead  6    Spermaceti Cove
Common Goldeneye  2    Spermaceti Cove
Red-breasted Merganser  14
Red-throated Loon  2
Common Loon  1
Horned Grebe  2
Northern Gannet  2
Double-crested Cormorant  6
Turkey Vulture  8
Ring-billed Gull  200
Herring Gull  10
Great Black-backed Gull  20
Rock Pigeon  6
American Crow  4
European Starling  250
Cedar Waxwing  5
Snow Bunting  20
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
Brown-headed Cowbird  2    Ferry Slip mixed in with starlings
House Sparrow  1    Ferry Slip mixed in with starlings

New York Public Library 1/5--Yellow-breasted Chat

I had to go into New York today for a 20 minute appointment. I went early so I could get in some birding and not waste the entire day. Since the bus dropped me off on 42nd St I walked over to the NYPL to see if I could find the Yellow-breasted Chat that's been reported there for about a month.  I stood on the northeast corner of the library, looking into a couple of evergreen still decorated for the holidays. Another guy there said if I was looking for the chat it was in the tree on the right, just starting to move around. I caught a glimpse of its yellow breast and then it went deeper into the tree. "It's just waking up," the other birder said. Apparently he knows its routine, because just then the bird popped out of the tree onto the plaza, perched for a few seconds on the crossbars of a chair, then hopped around with the White-throated & House Sparrows. Wow, what a weird bird for Manhattan in January. It's been a couple of years since I've seen this species, so the day was already a success, assuming the appointment went well (it did).

Chats are an oddball species, formerly grouped with the wood-warblers, but compared to other warblers it's a bruiser, about 50% larger than the other warblers. The taxonomists have lately taken it out of the warbler family, but where it belongs is still undecided. Right now it's one of those monotypic taxons that I like so much.

I still had plenty of time so I went up to Central Park, entering at 60th Street which I never do, so I had a much different route through the park than usual. The first thing I saw as I entered was a flock of pigeons take off. At the same time I saw a Red-tailed Hawk land on a low branch. Blue Jays were surrounding it, screeching, one practically screaming in its ear, but the hawk paid them no mind.

Wandering around the park, the time started to get away from me, so I didn't have time to go up to the reservoir as I planned; instead I made my way to the feeders which were very active, especially with House Finches. I saw all the usual winter birds there except the one bird I could really "use" for the year list--Black-capped Chickadee. How could I miss that one?

19 species in Central Park plus the chat--the chat made the long bus rides worth it.
Canada Goose  5
Mallard  100
Northern Shoveler  20
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Ring-billed Gull  50
Rock Pigeon  40
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  8
Tufted Titmouse  6
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
American Robin  1
European Starling  25
Yellow-breasted Chat   1
White-throated Sparrow  20
Dark-eyed Junco  3
House Finch  10
American Goldfinch  5
House Sparrow  70

New Yard Bird--Fox Sparrow

It has been way too cold for me to go outside for anything but the mail. I've been watching birds the last couple of days by peering over my computer screen (sometimes the cat sitting on a shelf behind it) to the feeders we've placed in the backyard. Right now we have a thistle feeder, a seed feeder, and a seed cake which is a big squirrel magnet. Squirrel baffles don't. The squirrels are seemingly desperate since, according to the NY Times, the acorn crop this year was very low. I've actually started to feel sorry for the little critters and have left peanuts and acorns I've gathered from other spots on the ground (stealing from their friends down the road, I know), hoping it will also distract them from the seed cake--which works if you have an inexhaustible supply of peanuts and acorns. (For pictures of acrobatic squirrels on the seed cake, see Shari's blog: All Me All the Time)

Photo: Shari Zirlin

However, the squirrels do occasionally hop off the metal cage, leaving it free for the chickadees and titmice to peck away at. This morning I was very surprised to find a Carolina Wren poking away at the cake. I don't think of wrens as feeder birds, but it's cold and bugless right now.

The real surprise came when I called Shari to see the wren. She spotted a brown sparrow on the ground and I said, without looking, that it was probably a White-throated Sparrow, which we have but not in the numbers I would have expected. But it pays to look, because the bird was instead a fine looking Fox Sparrow, our first one here and always a good winter bird to see.

Photos: Shari Zirlin

Fox Sparrow was one of the 3 birds on my winter wish list--the other 2 are Pine Siskin and Red-breasted Nuthatch. Shari is hoping for crossbills and redpolls, but I think those are extremely unlikely. Even siskins seem improbable according to eBird research I've done. But that's what's great about birds--they have wings and can wind up anywhere. Right now there's a Common Chaffinch in Hunterdon County--we've seen them--in the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris!
Little list for the day.
9 species
Mourning Dove  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Carolina Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  2
Carolina Wren  1    
Fox Sparrow  1   
White-throated Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  4
American Goldfinch  3

#4 in NJ

Right now I rank #4 for the year on eBird's New Jersey list with 71 species.

It won't last.

This morning I was #3.

So let me bask in the already fading glow.

Cape May New Year's Day

The first bird of the year was an American Goldfinch, heard flying overhead as we were packing the car for our all day field trip sponsored by the Cape May Bird Observatory (CMBO). A happy bird to start the year. The 2nd was a Carolina Chickadee calling in one of the trees. There was a 3rd before we left, but I can't remember what it was. Probably a robin.

We had a roaring start to the birding year in Cape May. Despite my misgivings about field trips with large groups--and 26 people counts as really large to me--good leadership and good birders led to some terrific finds. Mostly what I don't like about large groups of birders (or large groups, period) is all the excessive chat. I always want to say, "Less talking, more looking." I told myself today that whenever I heard an irritating conversation, I would turn in the opposite direction and scan for birds. As we were waiting for everyone to gather this morning I started to to do that, but quickly realized that with my low irritation trigger, standing in the middle of a group would have me spinning around like a top. Fortunately for me, there was enough bird action to keep everyone's attention mostly on the birds in front of us and not on stories of "birds I have seen."

Each place we stopped had at least one very unusual or interesting species along with a good mix of other birds.

Cape May Point State Park: 2 Baltimore Orioles, m & f, were the good finds here. It has been so warm this winter--today another day in the 50's--that these birds have been able to hang around. Once the cold weather sets in for good and it will eventually, won't it? the guys better head south or they're goners.

Lily Lake: 2 hen Common Mergansers on the lake. It was also fun to watch a Great Blue Heron fly at and seem to karate kick at the head of a Great Egret. Fun factoid I learned today: Although both birds are roughly the same size, Great Blues weigh about twice as much as Great Egrets.

The group walked from the lake to the corner of Whidin & Harvard (only in Cape May could 26 people with scopes and binoculars walking down the middle of the street not draw stares or the ire of motorists). There, in a bush filled with squeaking House Sparrows was a first year male Dickcissel. Very rare in NJ (this is the 2nd one we've seen) and especially rare in the winter.

The Beanery: The best find of the day was here, a Bell's Vireo flitting around in the brush near the entrance. At first I thought it was a lifer for us but my records show that we got this one in Arizona, where it belongs. What this western bird is doing here is a mystery, but birds have wings and they use them.

Avalon: Purple Sandpipers. Now I don't have to go on the jetty at Barnegat Light this year--at least for this species. Maybe we'll find Harlequin Ducks somewhere else.

Stone Harbor Point: Completely unexpected by us, 2 Red Knots were on the beach, standing out nicely from the 100 or so Sanderlings running along the beach. Red Knots in winter are another gray & white peep, although bigger than Sandlerlings, which are bigger than most peeps.

Nummy Island: The last stop of the day in dwindling light. Across the water by the toll bridge was a large flock of American Oystercatchers (Happy New Year, Shari [her favorite bird]) and in among that flock, definitely a BVD*, was a Marbled Godwit. A flyover flock of Red-breasted Merganser filled the merganser list for the day and a Great Cormorant was also a good find.
*Better View Desired

In all, 67 species to start the year. I've entire months without seeing that many birds.
The full list:

Species   Count         First Sighting
Brant   500         Nummy Island
Canada Goose   10         Cape May Point SP
Mute Swan   7         Cape May Point SP
Gadwall   40         Cape May Point SP
American Wigeon   12         Cape May Point SP
Mallard   10         Cape May Point SP
Northern Shoveler   9         Cape May Point SP
Northern Pintail   5         Cape May Point SP
Green-winged Teal   1         Cape May Point SP
Ring-necked Duck   1         Cape May Point SP
Lesser Scaup   1         Cape May Point SP
Common Eider   14         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Surf Scoter   12         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Black Scoter   1         Cape May Point SP
Long-tailed Duck   3         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Bufflehead   3         Nummy Island
Hooded Merganser   1         Cape May Point SP
Common Merganser   2         Lily Lake
Red-breasted Merganser   15         Nummy Island
Red-throated Loon   1         Cape May Point SP
Common Loon   3         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Pied-billed Grebe   1         Cape May Point SP
Horned Grebe   1         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Northern Gannet   2         Cape May Point SP
Double-crested Cormorant   1         Lily Lake
Great Cormorant   1         Nummy Island
Great Blue Heron   1         Cape May Point SP
Great Egret   1         Cape May Point SP
Black Vulture   1         Cape May Point SP
Turkey Vulture   10         Cape May Point SP
Sharp-shinned Hawk   1         Cape May Point SP
Red-shouldered Hawk   1         Cape May Point SP
American Coot   90         Cape May Point SP
Black-bellied Plover   1         Stone Harbor Point
American Oystercatcher   50         Nummy Island
Marbled Godwit   1         Nummy Island
Ruddy Turnstone   8         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Red Knot   2         Stone Harbor Point
Sanderling   100         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Purple Sandpiper   5         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Dunlin   2         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Bonaparte's Gull   2         Cape May Point SP
Ring-billed Gull   1         Cape May Point SP
Herring Gull   4         Cape May Point SP
Great Black-backed Gull   5         Cape May Point SP
Forster's Tern   6         Cape May Point SP
Rock Pigeon   3         Cape May Point SP
Mourning Dove   1         Avalon--8th St. Jetty
Northern Flicker   1         Cape May Point SP
Bell's Vireo   1         The Beanery
Blue Jay   2         Lily Lake
American Crow   1         Cape May Point SP
Carolina Chickadee   1         35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Wren   2         Cape May Point SP
Eastern Bluebird   3         The Beanery
American Robin   5         Cape May Point SP
Northern Mockingbird   1         Cape May Point SP
European Starling   1         Cape May Point SP
Cedar Waxwing   3         Cape May Point SP
Yellow-rumped Warbler   4         Cape May Point SP
White-throated Sparrow   1         Harvard & Whidin
Northern Cardinal   2         Cape May Point SP
Dickcissel   1         Harvard & Whidin
Baltimore Oriole   2         Cape May Point SP
House Finch   1         The Beanery
American Goldfinch   1         35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   20         Harvard & Whidin