Great Bay Blvd 5/14--Red Knot

Continuing my shorebird weekend, I drove down to Tuckerton this morning in search of Red Knots. While the big gathering of this endangered species is along the Delaware Bay shoreline in Cape May, I know that few reliably show up at the beach at the end of the road. So I made my way down the 4 mile stretch, stopping at the spots where I usually have luck. The first stop, up before the first bridge in the cedar allee, got me a couple of county species for the year--the biggest flock of Black Skimmers I've ever seen on Great Bay Blvd, and 11 Gull-billed Terns, which breaks eBird's filter for the county--exact count, though. Shorebirds & waders were abundant, (albeit not Brig abundant in the thousands) though all were expected species--dowitchers, Dunlins, plovers, peeps, egrets, ibises...In the marsh after the second wooden bridge two Least Terns alighted, another county bird for the year. 

By the time I got down to the inlet, the tide was dropping. At first, it appeared there were no shorebirds feeding on the mud flats, but a quick scan revealed them to be just up a little farther than usual--and among the Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlins, and Short-billed Dowitchers, there was one Red Knot. I walked north into the mucky part of the marsh where a few Least Sandpipers were feeding, then saw a big flock of shorebirds lift off and fly back to where I'd started. When I got back there, the numbers had increased and there were Ruddy Turnstones mixed in with 6 Red Knots. That seemed like a pretty good number to me and though I couldn't make the 40 species mark (not much in the way of passerines in the gusty conditions), I was satisfied with my tallies.

4.5 mile(s)
39 species
Canada Goose  4
Mute Swan  2
Mallard  5
Mourning Dove  3
Clapper Rail  10
American Oystercatcher  1
Black-bellied Plover  60
Semipalmated Plover  12
Ruddy Turnstone  9
Red Knot  6
Dunlin  35
Least Sandpiper  15
Semipalmated Sandpiper  10
Short-billed Dowitcher  35
Greater Yellowlegs  8
Willet  30
Laughing Gull  60
Herring Gull  30
Least Tern  2
Gull-billed Tern  11     
Forster's Tern  3
Black Skimmer  75
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Great Egret  35
Snowy Egret  20
Black-crowned Night-Heron  2
Glossy Ibis  45
Osprey  1
Willow Flycatcher  1
Tree Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  25
Gray Catbird  2
Seaside Sparrow  3
Song Sparrow  3
Red-winged Blackbird  100
Boat-tailed Grackle  75
Common Yellowthroat  2
Yellow Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  1

Red Knot with Black-bellied Plover