Avalon Seawatch - December 18, 2011

It finally felt like December in Avalon today, with temps struggling to reach the mid-30s and a stiff north wind all day. A goose flight that had started the night before spilled over into the morning hours, and included over 1,000 Snow Geese, several hundred Canada Geese and a Cackling Goose. Another Razorbill passed by during the first hour of the day, followed a bit later by two Black-legged Kittiwakes. An appreciable movement of Ring-billed Gulls developed late in the day.

The Seawatch is also included in the Cape May Christmas Bird Count, so today was the only day of the season in which "all" birds were tallied. Thanks go to Kevin Karlson for his assistance with the CBC portion of today's effort.


Snow Goose - 1,067
Brant - 51
Cackling Goose - 1
Canada Goose - 728
American Black Duck - 111
Mallard - 12
Greater Scaup - 1
Common Eider - 1
Surf Scoter - 208
White-winged Scoter - 10
Black Scoter - 153
dark-winged scoter - 237
scoter, sp. - 106
Long-tailed Duck - 22
Hooded Merganser - 8
Horned Grebe - 3
Northern Gannet - 385
Double-crested Cormorant - 72
Great Egret - 9
Bonaparte's Gull - 32
Ring-billed Gull - 520
Herring Gull - 93
Black-legged Kittiwake - 2
Razorbill - 1

(Total = 4,181)

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