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 | |
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