BirdCapeMay.org

CMBO's Winter Birding Sampler workshop enjoyed great looks at the Bivalve Snowy Owl today at about 1:30 p.m. at the Bayshore Discovery project site. We saw the bird initially perched on an ice flow out on the marsh. It then flew in, perhaps weary of gradually drifting out towards the bay on the outgoing tide, and perched on the walkway railing, and eventually took off and flew south across the Maurice River, possibly towards Heislerville/Matt's Landing. We met a local gentleman who said he had been seeing the bird regularly, perched on the walkway railing, for at least two weeks. It's easy to see why - there was lots of potential prey at Bivalve, including at least 175 Northern Pintails, zillions of gulls, and smaller numbers of Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, Black Ducks, and Mallards. Snowies are known for eating lemmings, but on the wintering grounds they consume a variety of prey, including some pretty hefty birds.

In the negative owl department, we watched at Turkey Point from before sundown until near dark and saw neither Short-eared Owl nor Great-horned, though we heard several of the latter. Another bird surprisingly absent was Rough-legged hawk - and we were in good habitat all day. Bald Eagles, however, were everywhere, including an adult at Beaver Swamp, and mutliple adults and immatures at Heislerville, Bivalve, and Turkey Point.

The impoundments at Heislerville were 95% frozen, but tidal areas along the bayshore are still partially to mostly open.

Bindi the Jungle Girl may have some competition!

Since I was just back home in Florida for Christmas, I had decided to check the local listserv to see what "birding adventures" we might have missed since returning to Cape May. I came across some info on a post that I wanted to share.

It seems that there is a new television show that has hit the airwaves with the hopes of taking the ranks of The Croocidile Hunter and The Jeff Corwin Experience. But of course the focus is primarily birds.

Birding Adventures T.V. launches to the airwaves, today in fact, with a three part series covering Guyana. I just watched the preview and it seems like a pretty well put together program. The host, James Currie, definitely has a spin toward the Jeff Corwin angle. But then again, how many ways are there to be a charismatic host of a nature program. I was glad to see that while the focus is on birds, there is coverage of other wildlife without seemingly trying to duplicate the Animal Planet heavy hitters.

While the Birding Adventures website is still new, like the show, and needs a bit of work yet, it is easy to navigate to find most of what you are looking for. For most folks this will be the air time schedule. What I quickly found was that those of us in parts of the country other than the southeast will not be able to view the program as its focused audience for the time being is centered on Florida. It is carried on a the Comcast Southeast division so with some success (and possibly some contact from interested parties to Comcast asking them to carry the program) of the show it may find it's way to other markets. The funniest part is that the program airs in the morning when most birders are out pursuing birds! I guess that's way they make DVRs.

Don't be alarmed by the website header which depicts a Barn Owl, Indiana Jones style complete with wool fedora. You gotta love marketing!! The show also claims to be "the first birding TV program that focuses on destination and adventure bird-watching." This is partly true. Many of you may remember the Animal Plant show All Bird T.V., hosted by University of Montana professor Ken Dial. All Bird T.V. seemed to focus more on avian conservation research projects (covering NJAS's own Dr. David Mizrahi's shorebird research). This new Birding Adventures program is more focused at the excitement with in birdwatching and "birding" as is evidenced by the Leica optics plug in the preview (they're even using the new Leica scope!). Personally, I think the program would do well to try to bridge the gap between the "Birding Adventure" programming and highlighting some of the excellent research that is going on in the world. And, this may be the case as the second episode is focused on the Florida Scrub Jay Trail (I have to plug Fla. Scrub Jays...one of my favorite birds and the reason I decided to put this info out for you to review).

I am in favor of most things that will help get more people excited about nature and birds and wish this program success in doing just that. After all, the more folks who re-awaken the inner child and learn to find not only beauty but exhilaration in nature, the more chance we have for a clean, bright and birdy future.

It was yet another interesting day to watch the weather, as well as the birds, in Cape May. A clipper system moved through during the middle of the day, accompanied by an hour's worth of snow showers and quite a bit of wind- but after the past few days, the wind no longer comes as much of a surprise...

CMBO's Winter Birding Sampler workshop ended with roughly five Short-eared Owls at Jake's Landing at dusk tonight.

Hotline: Cape May Birding Hotline
To Report: call (609) 884-2736, or email sightings at birdcapemay.org
Coverage: Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic Counties , NJ
Compiler: David Lord, Cape May Bird Observatory with additions by Don Freiday
URL: http://www.njaudubon.org ; http://www.birdcapemay.org

This is the Cape May Birding Hotline, a service of New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory. This week's message was prepared on Friday, January 2, 2009. Highlights this week include sightings of RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS, GLAUCOUS GULL, SNOWY OWL, HARLEQUIN DUCKS, COMMON EIDER, LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, SEDGE WREN, RED-HEADED WOODPECKER, PALM WARBLER, NASHVILLE WARBLER, EASTERN PHOEBE, RED-SHOULDERED HAWK.

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRDS are still being seen at 711 New England Road in Cape May, with the most recent sighting being on Thursday January 1, 2009.

A GLAUCOUS GULL appeared on Bunker Pond at Cape May Point State Park Friday, January 2.

Two SNOWY OWLS were seen at Stone Harbor Point on Tuesday December 30. One of the Stone Harbor birds was last seen on Thursday, January 1st 2009, from 111th street and also at the Stone Harbor Point parking lot at dark. Another SNOWY OWL was seen near the Bayshore Discovery Project in Bivalve, Cumberland County on Friday, December 26 2008.

3 HARLEQUIN DUCKS were seen at Two Mile Beach on Tuesday December 30, 2008.

A female COMMON EIDER was seen from Stone Harbor Point on Monday December 29, 2008.

LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER and SEDGE WREN were found on the Cumberland CBC at Turkey Point, near Dividing Creek, Sunday December 28, 2008.

Two RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were seen at the Villas WMA on Thursday December, 25, 2008.

A NASHVILLE WARBLER and two PALM WARBLERS were seen at Cape May Point State Park, along the Red Trail, on Thursday January 1, 2009. Also there was an EASTERN PHOEBE.

Northwest winds precipitated a New Year’s Day hawk flight at Cape May Point that included upwards of 15 RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS, as well as NORTHERN HARRIERS, BALD EAGLES, SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS and many RED-TAILED HAWKS.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: CMBO is offering a special to new and upgraded membership renewals. Join CMBO for the first time or upgrade from Individual or Family to The Hundred and receive Charley Harper's Migration Mainline- Cape May lithograph poster, valued at $50. Call either CMBO center to ask an associate about joining today!

******CMBO Bookstore FALL HOURS are as follows: Northwood Center on East Lake Drive in Cape May Point is open 7 days a week, 9:30am to 4:30pm The Center for Research and Education on Rt. 47 in Goshen is open Tuesday through Sunday, 9:30am to 4:30pm; closed Mondays. ******

The Cape May Birding Hotline is a service of the New Jersey Audubon Society's Cape May Bird Observatory and details sightings from Cape May, Cumberland, and Atlantic Counties. Updates are made weekly. Please report sightings of rare or unusual birds to CMBO at 609-884-2736. Sponsorship for this hotline comes from the support of CMBO members and business members, and should you not be a member, we cordially invite you to join. Individual membership is $39 per year; $49 for families. You can call either center to become a member or visit. Become a member in person and you'll receive a FREE gift (in addition to member discount in the stores).

Good Luck and Good Birding!

Upon walking in to the Northwood Center this morning, a phone call was received from Tom Parsons indicating that there was a GLAUCOUS GULL at the Cape May Point State Park. Wanting to delay the return to real work just a little longer, Laura and I headed out to see if the bird was still there.

Sure enough, when we arrived we found Tom siting on the hawkwatch platform looking at a small group of gulls on the Bunker Pond ice. Even naked eye you could make out the gleaming white plumage of the Glaucous. In a quick look through the scope (it's cold and windy here in Cape May and we hadn't dressed for the weather) you could note the size, body size slightly larger, in comparison to the surrounding Herring Gulls. For me this immediately removed any chances that this bird might be an Iceland Gull. Also of note were the blocky head with a sloping forehead (somewhat reminiscent of a Great Black-backed Gull in my mind) in comparison to the more rounded head of an Iceland Gull.

[This Cape May Point State Park Eastern Phoebe hung on to be tallied on CMBO's New Year's Day field trip. Photo by Don Freiday.]

The coolest thing about today in Cape May was the raptor movement in response to the passing front and northwest winds. CMBO's second annual "Kick Off Your Year List in Cape May" field trip tallied at least 15 Red-shouldered Hawks, 35 Red-tailed Hawks, 3 harriers, 2 Bald Eagles, and a few accipiters at Cape May Point Stae Park- not bad for the first of January!

It was windy and cold, but the sheltered areas along the Red Trail at the State Park held a number of interesting landbirds, highlighted by a Nashville Warbler initially found by Vince Elia (thanks, Vince!), Eastern Phoebe, Palm Warbler (another Vince find), Gray Catbird, Brown Thrasher, both kinglets, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, and Eastern Bluebird. We flushed a Common Snipe near where the Red Trail joins the trail at the base of the dunes.

Waterfowl were moving actively, with most winding up at Lily Lake, which is still entirely open. The state park ponds will likely be solid ice tomorrow. Snow Geese, Northern Pintails, shovelers, Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, American Wigeon, Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Scaup, and Ring-necked Ducks were among the highlights. Lily Lake also held it's customary Pied-billed Grebe - which we actually saw fly! - and American Coots.

We dipped on the Snowy Owl (s) at Stone Harbor, though others reported one bird in the morning at 111th street, and I heard of another on a light post at the parking area after 5 p.m. Stone Harbor Point had some interesting shorebirds, including a Red Knot with an injured leg, two Purple Sandpipers, and multiple Semi-palmated Plovers. Nummy Island added 3 "Western" Willets and Western Sandpiper.

I heard from Beth Ciuzio that she and Michael O'Brien had both of the Rufous Hummingbirds today, the one at 711 New England Road and the other at Bev Linn's house nearby on Foster Avenue.

Below is our list just from the state park. We wound up having 80 species on the day between the park and the Stone Harbor area.

Location: Cape May Point SP
Observation date: 1/1/09
Number of species: 55
Snow Goose 15
Canada Goose 300
Mute Swan 6
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 35
American Black Duck 1
Mallard 10
Northern Shoveler 4
Northern Pintail 5
Green-winged Teal 1
dark-winged scoter sp. X
Hooded Merganser 1
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Black Vulture 8
Turkey Vulture 15
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 2
Cooper's Hawk 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 15
Red-tailed Hawk 35
Killdeer 5
Wilson's Snipe 1
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 5
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Rock Pigeon 10
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 5
Eastern Phoebe 1
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 10
Carolina Chickadee 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 3
European Starling 25
Nashville Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 40
Song Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 10
Dark-eyed Junco 10
Northern Cardinal 8
Red-winged Blackbird 10
American Goldfinch 5
House Sparrow 5

At the Two Mile Beach unit of Cape May NWR, there were 3 Harlequin Ducks- a male and two females. The beautiful ducks, while common at Barnegat Light, are a scarce species elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic, including the Cape May area. The trio was feeding along the north side of the northern-most jetty at Cold Spring Inlet, where there were also several individuals of all three scoter species, numerous Long-tailed Ducks, a few Common Loons and a handful of Bonaparte's Gulls. Razorbills are starting to appear in the region, and while there were none there today, this inlet is perhaps the best place to look for alcids in Cape May. 

[Karl Lukens took this marvelous photo of the Stone Harbor Snowy Owl on Monday December 29. This bird apparently has decided to winter -we all hope!]

I visited Stone Harbor on Monday, more for a beach walk than a bird walk - but as we often say, we're never not birding. I was with my kids, and we sandwiched some pretty fancy birds between admiring the sand and shadow patterns in the low-angle winter sun. The star of course was the Snowy Owl - thank-you to Roger and Kathy Horn for tipping us off as to it's exact location.

We had a couple other fancy raptors. A Peregrine Falcon came tearing down the beach, waist high and passing only 25 yards away, and we watched it until it disappeared over North Wildwood. Bizarrely, as we were walking back to the parking lot, a Great-horned Owl flew from behind us (out of the bayberry thicket?) and took off north over the elaborate houses of Stone Harbor.

All the usual "rockpipers" were present on the jetty at Stone Harbor, including a single Purple Sandpiper. Kathy and Roger reported finding Red Knots. Quite a few scoters floated offshore, with plenty of Long-tailed Ducks, a few Red-throated Loons, and one female Common Eider.


[Roger Horn took this photo Monday, a nice comparison shot of a male Black Scoter and female Surf Scoter.]

Sunday's Cumberland Christmas Bird Count apparently turned up nothing particularly bizarre. Mike Fritz told me a Snowy Owl had been found a couple days earlier, but just outside the count circle in or near Bivalve, and I'll be sure to post furthur details if this bird sticks. Pete Dunne and I covered Turkey Point as we always do, where the highlight this year was simply the mass of Snow Geese, 4,500 or more, flying over. A single Long-billed Dowitcher and a Sedge Wren were other highlights. Bird numbers seemed low, perhaps because of last weeks severe cold snap - e.g. we somehow missed Gray Catbird in a whole day's birding. An exception was Bald Eagle, which we literally found in small flocks occasionally and singles almost constantly.

Speaking of eagles, the day after Christmas found me up at Mannington Marsh in Salem County near sundown, where at least 17 different Bald Eagles appeared in the span of a half hour or so - there's a roost somewhere up there. What an impressive sight - eagles dueling, standing on the ice (and falling through), hunting, or roosting, with 4-5 in one scope view at a time.