Sea Watch Tuesday December 22, 2009

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.

(all photos copyright Doug Gochfeld)

The star of the final day, an adult Black-headed Gull (top), wth an adult Bonaparte's Gull below it

The spiffy drake Common Goldeneye that dropped into the seawatch briefly this morning

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.