Sunset Lake 2/8--Common Murre

Common Murre
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Today we went chasing again in Cape May County, this time with success. Since Thursday, Wildwood's Sunset Lake (which is not a lake at all, but one of many "sounds" in the marshes that separate the barrier island from the mainland) has had a Common Murre swimming and diving. This alcid (in the same family as puffins and Razorbills) is a pelagic species and is rarely seen from land during the winter (in the summer, they nest on rocky cliffs). It is extremely rare to find one "inland" as this one is, even if the lake is separated from the ocean by about 5 blocks.

One of the advantages of twitching is that it sends  you off to places you wouldn't normally bird--this is probably only the 3rd time we've been to Sunset Lake. We arrived down there just before 10 A.M., driving along the road that runs along the shore of the lake until we saw a lone birder with a scope. We stopped, asked, he said, "Right there," and we had our first NJ murre. I thought there would be many more people there, as there was last week at Stone Harbor for the Smith's Longspur. I guess this one doesn't rate as highly on the rarity chart. I'm happy to get one without having to get seasick.

Our Sunset Lake list: 11 species

Species      Count

Brant      73

American Black Duck      5

Lesser Scaup      10

Bufflehead      50

Red-breasted Merganser      2

Ruddy Duck      25

Common Loon      1

Horned Grebe      1

Common Murre      1

Herring Gull      2

Great Black-backed Gull      1

Wildwood in the summer is the exciting alternative to staid Cape May 4 miles farther south and even the Wawa there has a wacky retro look in contrast to all the other stores I've seen, where the logo is comparatively small on a white background. Inside, though, it was exactly like every other Wawa. At this point, I could ambulate through one in my sleep.




After spending a half hour in Wildwood we discussed various birding spots we could go to but considering the rawness of the day we chose Brigantine, always our fall back site, because we could get a lot of birds and still stay relatively warm, "using our car as a blind."

We were happy to see that, in contrast to our last trip about 3 weeks ago, most of the water in the impoundments and the bay was open, so ducks and geese were abundant. Also in contrast to our last visit, when we were trying to get our friend Sue a lifer Snowy Owl, there was one to be found, a few hundred yards out on the bay side of the drive, but easily scoped.

Last week, the New York Times had an article about Snowy Owls, so you know that at this juncture they have "jumped the shark." But it was still fun to show them to the casual birders who made the trip specifically to see one. This one was showing nicely, almost its full body visible. Black ducks casually walked by it. They don't realize they are potential dinner.

The owl was the only truly noteworthy bird, but it is always enjoyable to watch long skeins of Snow Geese flying serpentine over the refuge and to find a Peregrine Falcon perched on a post on the side of the road.

Peregrine Falcon
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Our Brig list: 31 species:

Species     Count

Snow Goose     2500

Brant     100

Canada Goose     200

Mute Swan     2

Tundra Swan     66

Gadwall     10

American Wigeon     8

American Black Duck     500

Mallard     115

Northern Pintail     100

Green-winged Teal     4

Ring-necked Duck     7

Greater/Lesser Scaup     100

Bufflehead     50

Hooded Merganser     16

Red-breasted Merganser     2

Great Blue Heron     2

Northern Harrier     1

Red-tailed Hawk     1

Dunlin     1000

Ring-billed Gull     1

Herring Gull     25

Great Black-backed Gull     2

Snowy Owl     1

Peregrine Falcon     1

Blue Jay     1

Carolina Chickadee     1

Carolina Wren     1

American Robin     20

Song Sparrow     5

Northern Cardinal     1

Red-winged Blackbird     2