BirdCapeMay.org

CMBO has established a long term survey of raptors wintering in the coastal marshes of southern New Jersey. Volunteer observers conduct point counts on designated weekend evenings (once in mid-January and again in mid-February) at selected points in Cape May, Cumberland, Salem and Atlantic counties. 360 degree scans with binoculars and/or telescopes are conducted every fifteen minutes from one hour before sunset to one-half hour after sunset. Counts of all raptor species are recorded, but the survey is focused on Northern Harrier and Short-eared Owl.

Here are the results from the survey conducted January 23, 2010:

winter marsh raptor survey results January 23 2010.pdf

This year's survey is only somewhat comparable with last year's pilot survey, since we extended the survey period by one half hour and added several sites. With that in mind, we can look at the results normalized to birds per site. Northern Harrier numbers were close to last year's survey, with an average of 9 birds per site. There were fewer Short-eared Owls compared to last year's excellent showing by this species. Eagle numbers were up, but that could be an artifact of the survey starting one half hour earlier.

The second 2010 survey will be February 20, with a weather date of February 21. Heartfelt thanks to all who participated!

Ladies and gentlemen, that's a wrap. The beginning of winter has finally arrived, and with it so too has the end of the fall counting season here at Cape May. It was certainly an enjoyable autumn of counting seabirds (not to mention all the other birds), and I know Nick joins me (from Maryland) in saying a big "Thank you!" to the Cape May birding community, all the visitors to the Avalon seawatch, and the CMBO for helping to make it so.

Can you ID the mid-dive Scoter?

It wouldn't be a fitting end to the season without a photo of these guys

There was no Alcid for the conclusion of the seawatch, nor did the Gannet number overtake the Cormorant number, but the season did end with at east one very notable, and for a change cooperative, bird. From sunrise onward Bonaparte's Gulls were making their presence felt in a big way, and at around 9:40 in their distant midst all of a sudden an adult Black-headed Gull appeared. Over the next several hours it stayed in view most of the time, and it eventually moved closer and more than satisfactory views were had by all the visitors (5) who came out for the last day of the Seawatch.

Long-tailed Ducks were again moving in good numbers, especially for the first 3 hours after sunrise, and Red-breasted Mergansers were no slouches today either. Highlights on the water included a single drake Common Goldeneye showing off very nicely in the bright sun for a brief period, and a couple of Horned Grebes around the inlet. A single Red Knot heading south in the company of 3 Black-bellied Plovers was the first I've seen in a while at Avalon, and the flock of 7 Wood Ducks heading into the inlet from out over the ocean was a bit of a surprise as well. Non-waterbird wise there were a couple of notables: American Pipit, Savannah Sparrow, and the last raptor I saw during the counting season (I know one hawk counter who'd love this) was a juvenile Northern Harrier booking south well offshore through the swathes of Bonaparte's Gull.

Below is the list from today, and below that are the totals from the year:

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/22/09
Notes: Final day of the Seawatch. Clear skies, west wind (~12+ MPH). BHGU
stayed around from when it was found (~9:30 AM) until dusk at which time it was
roosting on the ocean just outside the inlet.
Number of species: 43

Brant 11
Canada Goose 176
Wood Duck 7
American Black Duck 58
Mallard 11
Lesser Scaup 2
Common Eider 2
Surf Scoter 239
White-winged Scoter 38
Black Scoter 332
Long-tailed Duck 164
Bufflehead 2
Common Goldeneye 1
Red-breasted Merganser 57
Red-throated Loon 387
Common Loon 27
Horned Grebe 2
Northern Gannet 175
Double-crested Cormorant 36
Turkey Vulture 5
Northern Harrier 1
Black-bellied Plover 3
Red Knot 1
Sanderling 20
Purple Sandpiper 18
Dunlin 4
Bonaparte's Gull 563
Black-headed Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 289
Herring Gull 697
Great Black-backed Gull 14
Carolina Wren 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling X
American Pipit 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Savannah Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Boat-tailed Grackle 49
House Sparrow X


SEASON TOTALS (all-time high numbers in bold, all-time low in italics)
Snow Goose 2684
Brant 3554
Canada Goose 5593
Goose, sp. 42
Tundra Swan 96
Wood Duck 822
Gadwall 43
American Wigeon 124
American Black Duck 2323
Mallard 456
Mallard/Black Duck 70
Blue-winged Teal 104
Northern Shoveler 42
Northern Pintail 2858
Green-winged Teal 7077
Canvasback 10
Redhead 0
Ring-necked Duck 49
Greater Scaup 623
Lesser Scaup 557
Scaup sp. 334
Aythya, sp. 325
King Eider 5
Common Eider 851
Harlequin Duck 13
Surf Scoter 110987
White-winged Scoter 895
Black Scoter 122090
Dk-wing Scoter 85543
Scoter sp. 4618
Long-tailed Duck 1793
Bufflehead 634
Common Goldeneye 58
Hooded Merganser 115
Common Merganser 0
Red-breasted Merganser 1549
Ruddy Duck 21
Red-throated Loon 63066
Common Loon 1477
Loon sp. 15
Horned Grebe 29
Red-necked Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 119001
Brown Pelican 635
Double-crested Cormorant 119888
Great Cormorant 78
Americam Bittern 0
Great Blue Heron 875
Great Egret 521
Snowy Egret 182
Little Blue Heron 3
Tricolored Heron 9
Egret sp. 0
Green Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 0
Glossy Ibis 1
Laughing Gull 6731
Bonaparte's Gull 1259
Ring-billed Gull 19425
Herring Gull 13847
Iceland Gull 0
Lesser Black-backed Gull 7
Great Black-backed Gull 2676
Black-legged Kittiwake 2
Gull, sp. 812
Caspian Tern 114
Black Tern 0
Common Tern 113
Forster's Tern 2919
Royal Tern 1092
Tern sp. 0
Black Skimmer 280
Parasitic Jaeger 71
Jaeger, sp. 1
Razorbill 0
Alcid, sp. 0
Cackling Goose 1
Pacific Loon 1
Cory's Shearwater 1
Black-headed Gull 1
Dabbler sp. 404
American Oystercatcher 770
Duck sp. 685
Teal sp. 8
Red Knot 1
Killdeer 1
Pied-billed Grebe 2
Greater Shearwater 1
American Coot 1
American Black Duck x Mallard 1
Willet 1

TOTAL 713968

And now I sleep.

If you're the kind of person who gets excited about counting really distant Canada Goose flocks (and c'mon, who isn't?) than man was Monday your day. For the rest of you it would have been a rather slow day, although the always exciting Herring Gulls were moving throughout. The highlight came at the crack of dawn with two Bald Eagles chasing each other around more than a mile out over the ocean. Long-tailed Ducks were the only other waterbird that moved in notable numbers, with over a hundred.

Well, the intern house is now down to one person left, and the Seawatch is down to one day left. The real drama today will be seeng if there's a Gannet flight that would make this the first season ever where more Gannets (all time high for a a season) were counted than Cormorants (all time low for a season), and seeing if we can break our Alcid shutout. Today should be interesting regardless...

Snow Goose 3
Brant 7
Canada Goose 1,264
American Black Duck 141
Mallard 39
Greater Scaup 3
Lesser Scaup 6
Common Eider 24
Surf Scoter 226
White-winged Scoter 59
Black Scoter 68
Dark-winged Scoter sp. 52
Unidentified Scoter 7
Long-tailed Duck 124
Common Goldeneye 3
Red-breasted Merganser 78
Red-throated Loon 137
Common Loon 24
Northern Gannet 74
Double-creasted Cormorant 14
Great Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 2
Bonaparte's Gull 24
Ring-billed Gull 439
Herring Gull 271
Great Black-backed Gull 24
Duck Sp. 14

Well, today was my last official day of counting. It turned into a sunny, though a bit of a nippy day with the wind.

Nothing particularly amazing or rare popped up for my last day. I had a Great Egret and I had a large flight of Canada Geese. Other than that it was a day like any other at the Sea Watch, plus the snow.

Here is the list of birds seen today:

Snow Goose 142
Canada Goose 1072
Brant 182
American Black Duck 48
Mallard 31
Common Eider 2
Surf Scoter 105
White-winged Scoter 17
Black Scoter 111
Scoter Sp 304
Long-tailed Duck 45
Bufflehead 4
Common Goldeneye 2
Red-breasted Merganser 85
Red-throated Loon 121
Common Loon 10
Northern Gannet 231
Double-crested Cormorants 39
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Bonaparte's Gull 19
Ring-billed Gull 90
Herring Gull 24
Great Black-backed Gull 2
American Oystercatcher 1

Can the Sea Watch be said to be snowed out, if the counter makes it through only to find that there is no snow on the ground in Avalon (I saw green lawns!), and more of a mix of rain and salt spray coming at you at 30mph, than of snow?

I will say no (we'll just call it an early day), since technically there was 30 minutes of survey conducted in which...

30 Scoter sp
15 Ring-billed gulls
5 Red-breasted Mergansers

...went south. I say "went south" because I would say with the exception of the gulls, that the other birds were unwillingly blown south after fighting to make ground heading into the inlet, but giving up the struggle. Their were some birds that were able to fight their way back to the inlet, like a few Long-tails, a loon, or some tenacious Red-breasted Mergansers, but most (again except gulls) gave up.

It was blowing hard enough for the Long-tails to hover temporarily as they decided between which raging wave they wanted land on the water after and be next to the jetty. Today would have been a fun day to be an albatross with the wind, percipitation, and torrent of waves, and to ride it all with out much effort.

From what I hear on the radio, it is supposed to only get worse as the day goes. I am not sure how much snow we will get here, but I may not be able to safely make it to the Sea Watch tomorrow for my last official day, before the swing counter takes his last days up there. Tomorrow will probably be the first day in Sea Watch history that we get snowed out. What a year it has been to be the Sea Watch counter.