Sea Watch Wednesday September 29, 2010

Well, I'll start with what will probably be the bird of the season from the Avalon Seawatch: Brown Booby! This juvenile bird flew by the seawatch going west-to-east along the bar fairly close before heading around the jetty and continuing south. I'm not aware of it being re-found, despite searches from points to the south by others (Video and poor photos were obtained).

And since the seawatch is all about migration in numbers, it would be remiss not to mention the rest of the flight, which (apart from the puzzling absence of waterfowl) was great for late September. 5,789 Double-crested Cormorants were tallied, in addition to 94 Brown Pelicans. Parasitic Jaegers (7) also put on a nice showing, including a fresh juvenile (the first juv. PAJA I've seen this year). Most of the Jaegers were pretty close, giving ample opportunities for satisfying views.

A poor photo of the star of the show (photo copyright Doug Gochfeld)

*A quick caveat on the identification of the Booby: It seems to be a fairly straightforward Brown to me, but not being familiar with juveniles of either Brown or Red-footed Booby, I suppose I'm not 100% able to eliminate Red-footed without at least some cursory research, which I have yet to conduct.

Also, if you're interested in fun natural spectacles other than birds, many Bottlenose Dolphins, such as these above) have been putting on a great show at Avalon. (photo copyright Doug Gochfeld)

Complete eBird list below (with migrants in bold):
6,975 Migrant waterbirds were counted.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 9/29/10
Notes: Mostly overcast. NW winds shifting to NE.
Number of species: 43

Wood Duck 1
American Black Duck 1
teal sp. 7 Probably Blue-winged
Common Eider 1
Surf Scoter 7
Black Scoter 11 Northbound
duck sp. 3 High overhead
Common Loon 2
Brown Booby 1 Video taken (also poor photos).
Northern Gannet 56
Brown Pelican 94
Double-crested Cormorant 5789
Great Blue Heron 7
Great Egret 60 Townsend's Inlet Heron Roost
Snowy Egret 20 Townsend's Inlet Heron Roost
Tricolored Heron 2 Townsend's Inlet Heron Roost
Turkey Vulture 5
Osprey 18
Bald Eagle 1 Chasing an Osprey with a fish over Sea Isle City.
Peregrine Falcon 7
Black-bellied Plover 50
Semipalmated Plover 8
American Oystercatcher 6
Ruddy Turnstone 6
Sanderling 200
Least Sandpiper 4
Laughing Gull 452
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 37
Great Black-backed Gull 243
Caspian Tern 6
Common Tern 6
Forster's Tern 117
Royal Tern 136
Parasitic Jaeger 7
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Tree Swallow 400
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 Heard only
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling X
White-throated Sparrow 1 Heard only
Red-winged Blackbird X
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
House Sparrow 8