Sea Watch Wednesday December 22, 2010

Well, at the very least I can say that the last day of the 2010 CMBO Avalon Seawatch saw nice weather...much nicer than those days bracketing it especially. Bird-wise however, it was slow, at times almost excruciatingly so. 3 Great Cormorants migrating together were notable, and this is one of the few days, or possibly the only day, that Greats (3) outnumbered Double-cresteds (1) as migrants at Avalon. The persistent (going on something like two plus weeks at this point) strong northwesterlies stunted our detection of seabirds late in the season, but it also gave us a few sights we wouldn't have seen otherwise. The drake Harlequin Duck was around today once again, and has presumably settled in for the winter.

The species highlight was a young Black-headed Gull which came by very close to the Seawatch and then landed out by the jetty and then briefly on the beach before continuing on its way. Amazingly, this is the second year in a row that a Black-headed Gull has appeared at the Avalon Seawatch on the final day of the count (last year's was an adult during a large BOGU (Bonaparte's Gull) movement, while yesterday's young bird was on a day with only 14 BOGU throughout)!

The young beastie (mentioned right above) during its very brief stay on the beach.

It has been a truly amazing season, and once again a huge thanks go to to everyone at CMBO and the whole Cape May birding community. Without you guys it wouldn't have been nearly as enjoyable (or possible for that matter). On behalf of Steve and Myself, Thanks!!!!

**Also, be sure to check out Steve's re-cap of the season which should be coming within the next couple of days once he's completed his long trip home to Ohio.

Total Individuals counted: 1,589

Location:     Avalon Seawatch
Observation date:     12/22/10
Notes:
Number of species:     42

Brant (Atlantic)     9
Canada Goose     3
Mallard     3
Lesser Scaup     3
Greater/Lesser Scaup     2
Common Eider     32     (10 migrants)
Harlequin Duck     1
Surf Scoter     476
White-winged Scoter     23
Black Scoter     346
Surf/Black Scoter     122
scoter sp.     99
Long-tailed Duck     92
Bufflehead     2
Hooded Merganser     5
Red-breasted Merganser     19
duck sp.     10
Red-throated Loon     52     (47 migrants)
Common Loon     6     (2 migrants)
Horned Grebe     1     Northbound
Northern Gannet     20     (6 migrants)
Double-crested Cormorant     1
Great Cormorant     6     (3 migrants, 3 juveniles sitting on jetty)
Great Blue Heron     1
Turkey Vulture     1
Ruddy Turnstone     1
Sanderling     4
Purple Sandpiper     35
Bonaparte's Gull     14
Black-headed Gull     1     Young bird, photos obtained
Ring-billed Gull     187
Herring Gull     96
Great Black-backed Gull     4
gull sp.     3
Rock Pigeon     X
Downy Woodpecker     1
American Crow     X
Red-breasted Nuthatch     4
American Robin     2
European Starling     X
American Pipit     1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)     2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored)     8
Northern Cardinal     2
Red-winged Blackbird     100
House Finch     1
American Goldfinch     1
House Sparrow     X

Avalon Seawatch December 21, 2010

Today was another fun day at the seawatch! My last day of counting went by with a couple of highlights, but rather slow migration otherwise. Remember to visit Doug Gochfeld tomorrow at the seawatch, as it is the final day of the 2010 count.

Today's highlights were 2 Razorbills and 2 Glaucous Gulls. The Razorbills went by in the afternoon, and one of them (spotted by Doug) passed by rather close. The Glaucous Gulls both were spotted over the city. One was a very pale white color, and the other was darker.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

917 migrants today

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/21/10
Number of species: 46

Brant 7
Canada Goose 197
American Black Duck 4
Mallard 3
Green-winged Teal 4
Greater Scaup 1
Lesser Scaup 1
Common Eider 11
Harlequin Duck 1
Surf Scoter 82
White-winged Scoter 7
Black Scoter 95
Surf/Black Scoter 55
Long-tailed Duck 80
Bufflehead 2
Red-breasted Merganser 29
Red-throated Loon 96
Common Loon 5
Horned Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 20
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Cormorant 2
Turkey Vulture 8
Bald Eagle 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Killdeer 1
American Oystercatcher 3
Ruddy Turnstone 6
Sanderling 4
Purple Sandpiper 30
Dunlin 10
Bonaparte's Gull 75
Ring-billed Gull 28
Herring Gull 81
Glaucous Gull 2
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Razorbill 2
Rock Pigeon 15
Mourning Dove 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
European Starling 50
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Dark-eyed Junco 6
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
House Sparrow 10

Avalon Seawatch December 20, 2010

It was cold this morning at the seawatch, but with the sun out it warmed up nicely and made for a rather pleasant day in Avalon. Unfortunately, there weren't too many migrants, but all of the local birds milling around throughout the day made up for it. Great Cormorants, Surf, Black, and White-winged Scoters, lots of Common Eider, Long-tailed Ducks, and both expected loons were all hanging out around the jetty all day.

Migrant highlights were a flock of 3 Great Cormorants going south and a single Razorbill.

The seawatch has only two days remaining in the 2010 season. My final day is tomorrow, and Doug finishes up the season on Wednesday. Be sure to stop by and say goodbye!

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

944 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/20/10
Number of species: 40

Brant 19
Canada Goose 121
American Black Duck 1
Mallard 7
Northern Pintail 6
Common Eider 29 (3 migrants)
Surf Scoter 172
White-winged Scoter 8
Black Scoter 95
Surf/Black Scoter 54
Long-tailed Duck 38
Red-breasted Merganser 31
Red-throated Loon 113
Common Loon 5
Northern Gannet 45
Double-crested Cormorant 23
Great Cormorant 3
Turkey Vulture 6
Northern Harrier 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Ruddy Turnstone 6
Sanderling 5
Purple Sandpiper 45
Dunlin 10
Bonaparte's Gull 84
Ring-billed Gull 7
Herring Gull 17
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon 40
Mourning Dove 6
Downy Woodpecker 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 60
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Dark-eyed Junco 9
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Boat-tailed Grackle 12
House Sparrow 10

Avalon Seawatch December 19, 2010

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

2,736 migrants today

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/19/10
Number of species: 38

Canada Goose 4
American Black Duck 53
Mallard 5
Northern Pintail 7
Green-winged Teal 11
Lesser Scaup 1
Common Eider 12
Surf Scoter 777
White-winged Scoter 127
Black Scoter 996
Surf/Black Scoter 122
Long-tailed Duck 62
Bufflehead 2
Common Merganser 2
Red-breasted Merganser 13
Red-throated Loon 65
Common Loon 6
Horned Grebe 2
Northern Gannet 37
Double-crested Cormorant 22
Great Cormorant 2
Turkey Vulture 2
Cooper's Hawk 1
Ruddy Turnstone 3
Sanderling 2
Purple Sandpiper 50
Dunlin 15
Bonaparte's Gull 160
Ring-billed Gull 6
Herring Gull 16
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon 20
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 200
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 3
House Sparrow 20

Avalon Seawatch December 18, 2010

Today was another very enjoyable day at the seawatch. Solid numbers of scoters, along with some Red-throated Loons, and a smattering of other ducks.

Today's highlights were a Gadwall with a flock of scoters, 67 White-winged Scoters, and 2 Great Cormorants. A total of 3 (!) Red-necked Grebes were seen today: two flying north while one sat on the water. Three Redhead came in to join the local raft to forage by the jetty for a little bit this morning.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

6,625 migrants today

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/18/10
Number of species: 45

Brant 11
Canada Goose 23
Gadwall 1
American Black Duck 18
Mallard 10
Northern Pintail 3
Green-winged Teal 12
Redhead 3
Greater Scaup 8
Lesser Scaup 11
Common Eider 13
Surf Scoter 1128
White-winged Scoter 67
Black Scoter 2974
Surf/Black Scoter 313
Long-tailed Duck 74
Bufflehead 2
Red-breasted Merganser 24
Red-throated Loon 496
Common Loon 2
Horned Grebe 6
Red-necked Grebe 3
Northern Gannet 44
Double-crested Cormorant 7
Great Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 7
Turkey Vulture 4
Northern Harrier 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Killdeer 1
Ruddy Turnstone 5
Sanderling 3
Purple Sandpiper 40
Dunlin 20
Bonaparte's Gull 442
Ring-billed Gull 5
Herring Gull 182
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon 30
Mourning Dove 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
European Starling 75
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 12
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
blackbird sp. 20
House Sparrow 30

Avalon Seawatch December 17, 2010

It was a wonderful day today at the seawatch! The sun was out, the wind was quiet, and it wasn't too cold. There were quite a few birds moving as well. Nice numbers of scoters (especially Black Scoters), Red-throated Loons, and Bonaparte's Gulls dominated the flight.

There were a couple highlights today. First was a Razorbill that went past very close inside the bar; easily the best look I've had this fall. Next, a female Common Merganser flew south with a small group of Red-breasted Mergansers. Finally, a Harbor Seal was seen two times hanging out in front of the jetties.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

5,946 migrants today

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/17/10
Number of species: 44

Snow Goose 57
Brant 29
Canada Goose 144
American Black Duck 16
Mallard 8
Greater Scaup 9
Lesser Scaup 1
Common Eider 18 local group
Surf Scoter 727
White-winged Scoter 55
Black Scoter 2589
Surf/Black Scoter 488
Long-tailed Duck 67
Common Goldeneye 1
Common Merganser 1
Red-breasted Merganser 37
Red-throated Loon 327
Common Loon 2
Horned Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 90
Double-crested Cormorant 7
Great Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 7
Turkey Vulture 16
Bald Eagle 2
Cooper's Hawk 1
Killdeer 1
Ruddy Turnstone 3
Sanderling 5
Purple Sandpiper 45
Dunlin 10
Bonaparte's Gull 700
Ring-billed Gull 27
Herring Gull 194
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Razorbill 1
Rock Pigeon 20
Mourning Dove 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 50
Dark-eyed Junco 3
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
blackbird sp. 20
House Finch 1
House Sparrow 10

Sea Watch Thursday December 16, 2010

Ooooh man, it's that time of year again...officially. The Avalon Seawatch got a bit of a northern makeover on Thursday, and it finally looked (although it has felt like this for some time now) like a place that should be simply teeming with Alcids and other cold-weather seabirds.


But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. Before the Avalon turned into a Winter Wonderland, there were still (as usual) migrating animals of the feathered variety. There were two obvious highlights, both initially found sitting on the water. The first was a Razorbill found sitting on the water by visiting birder (from Florida) Andy Bankert, and it was not only a good bird for the seawatch, but a life bird for Andy:


A bit later on, a bird which is extremely unusual at the seawatch, much more so than Razorbill, was found sitting on the water:

This Pied-billed Grebe was likely pushed off whatever body of freshwater it had been inhabiting by the recent freeze, and may have had no alternative but to plop down in Townsend's Inlet.

And then of course the weather rolled in, and even the now-local Horned Grebes were hunched up to guard against it:

As soon as the snow rolled in visibility dropped way down, and the second to last hour saw a whopping 0 birds counted:


Total Individuals Counted: 2,839

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/16/10
Number of species: 41

Snow Goose 124
Brant (Atlantic) 20
Canada Goose 226
goose sp. 160
American Black Duck 19
Mallard 29
Greater Scaup 43
Lesser Scaup 14
Greater/Lesser Scaup 4
Aythya sp. 6
Surf Scoter 314
White-winged Scoter 7
Black Scoter 224
Surf/Black Scoter 224
scoter sp. 730
Long-tailed Duck 121
Bufflehead 6
Common Goldeneye 7
Hooded Merganser 2
Red-breasted Merganser 92
duck sp. 132
Red-throated Loon 39
Common Loon 10
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Horned Grebe 8
Northern Gannet 1
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Ruddy Turnstone 4
Red Knot 2
Sanderling 6
Purple Sandpiper 70
Bonaparte's Gull 117
Ring-billed Gull 94
Herring Gull 57
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Razorbill 1
Rock Pigeon X
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
European Starling X
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 4
Northern Cardinal 4
Boat-tailed Grackle X
House Sparrow X

Sea Watch Wednesday December 15, 2010

Whew, it was a real scorcher up at Avalon today. The downright balmy (or tolerable, as Steve put it more aptly) temperatures made for some interesting sights along Townsend's Inlet:

The 6 Buoy was insulated from the cold today...by ice.

And speaking of ice, that's not (although I suppose it once was) a water droplet on the tip of this Herring Gull's bill

However, if you could tolerate the frigid temperatures (as about two visitor's did), today's diverse waterbird flight that you would have seen was actually really enjoyable. Species were tallied across the board, with decent numbers of dabbling ducks (including two Gadwall, eight American Wigeon, and a flock of 31 (!) Northern Pintail), a good mixed Goose flight (over 3,400 individuals), and a good variety of diving ducks, including 2 Common Goldeneye, 4 Redhead (as they continue their abnormally good showing this fall), and the first Canvasbacks (a flock of 10 to boot) recorded at the Seawatch this season. There was even a late Black Skimmer to boot!

This young Black Skimmer (missing either and inner primary or an outer secondary) flew circuits around the jetty for a a bit before taking up residence on said jetty.

"Nice Can(v)s!" is surely what Steve would have said if he were present for the flyby of these 10 Canvasbacks this afternoon. Unfortunately this not-very-well-lit photo was the only one I was able to snap of them, but fortunately Canvasbacks have a very distinctive shape: note the long sloping head and bill which separates this species from all other Aythya.

Two other standouts that jump to mind were the Red-necked Grebe which plopped down on the water by the ice-encrusted 6-Buoy, and an adult Little Gull (seen twice) associating with the horde of Bonaparte's Gulls hanging out around the bar. Karl Lukens made a successful twitch for the latter in the early afternoon, but the bird vanished after that.

In the meantime the raft of mixed sea ducks in the inlet is really building up, and now contains at least 34 Common Eider, several White-winged Scoters, and a bunch of singing Long-tailed Ducks and Black Scoters amid the throngs of Surf Scoters. There are also scattered Horned Grebes and Common and Red-throated Loons.

**As a sidenote, count period for the Cape May County Christmas Bird Count begins tomorrow (actually in about an hour and a half, why am I still awake?), so if you haven't been out birding lately because of the one-or-two degree temperature drop now you have yet another reason to get back out there and look at some birds!

Total Individuals counted: 6,019

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/15/10
Number of species: 44

Snow Goose 1052
Brant (Atlantic) 17
Canada Goose 2355
goose sp. 126
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 8
American Black Duck 50
Mallard 39
Northern Shoveler 1
Northern Pintail 31
Canvasback 10
Redhead 4
Greater Scaup 19
Lesser Scaup 5
Greater/Lesser Scaup 15
Aythya sp. 9
Common Eider 34
Surf Scoter 460
White-winged Scoter 52
Black Scoter 75
Surf/Black Scoter 33
scoter sp. 120
Bufflehead 7
Common Goldeneye 2
Red-breasted Merganser 76
duck sp. 113
Red-throated Loon 89
Common Loon 9
Horned Grebe 2
Red-necked Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 4
Double-crested Cormorant 29
Great Cormorant 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Bald Eagle 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Ruddy Turnstone 3
Sanderling 3
Purple Sandpiper 80
Bonaparte's Gull 469
Little Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 437
Herring Gull 73
Great Black-backed Gull 5
Black Skimmer 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
European Starling X
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 8
Northern Cardinal 1
House Sparrow X

Avalon Seawatch December 14, 2010

It was quite cold and windy this morning at the seawatch. However, with 2 pairs of socks, 4 pant layers, 7 shirt layers, a balaclava, and gloves with handwarmers, it was downright tolerable to be outside counting migrants. Unfortunately there was some intense heat distortion, and this along with some snow flurries and the strong northwest winds pushing birds futher offshore all added up to less than ideal conditions for observation.

Some geese were moving throughout the day, along with a handful of Red-throated Loons and Northern Gannets. Long-tailed Ducks put in a good showing with 78 counted. The bulk of the birds moving today were gulls: Bonaparte's Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, and Herring Gulls were all moving throughout the day.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

1,560 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/14/10
Number of species: 40

Snow Goose 115
Brant 16
Canada Goose 119
Gadwall 2
American Black Duck 17
Mallard 6
Northern Pintail 6
Common Eider 25
Surf Scoter 9
White-winged Scoter 1
Black Scoter 4
Surf/Black Scoter 63
Long-tailed Duck 78
Bufflehead 1
Red-breasted Merganser 12
Red-throated Loon 151
Common Loon 2
Horned Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 76
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Killdeer 21
Ruddy Turnstone 4
Sanderling 5
Purple Sandpiper 20
Dunlin 15
Bonaparte's Gull 286
Ring-billed Gull 270
Herring Gull 287
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon 16
Mourning Dove 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
European Starling 75
American Pipit 2
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 6
House Sparrow 10

Avalon Seawatch December 13, 2010

It was a windy and cold day at the seawatch today, and again there weren't too many birds moving.

The bird of the day was a Razorbill that winged by going south fairly close. Other highlights were the local birds today: a young Great Cormorant and the male Harlequin Duck were among the usual throngs of scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, and Common Eiders.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

1,014 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/13/10
Number of species: 35

Brant 2
Canada Goose 8
American Black Duck 45
Mallard 11
Northern Pintail 20
Lesser Scaup 1
Common Eider 1
Harlequin Duck 1
Surf Scoter 97
White-winged Scoter 3
Black Scoter 18
Surf/Black Scoter 27
Long-tailed Duck 25
Bufflehead 1
Common Goldeneye 1
Red-breasted Merganser 25
Red-throated Loon 317
Common Loon 12
Horned Grebe 2
Northern Gannet 91
Great Cormorant 1
Turkey Vulture 5
Ruddy Turnstone 4
Sanderling 2
Purple Sandpiper 30
Dunlin 20
Bonaparte's Gull 251
Ring-billed Gull 17
Herring Gull 9
Razorbill 1
Rock Pigeon 30
Mourning Dove 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
European Starling 50
Dark-eyed Junco 3
House Sparrow 10

Avalon Seawatch December 12, 2010

The good news about today was that there wasn't as much rain as I thought there might be. It was raining when I arrived at the seawatch but it soon cleared a little, and the rain held off until the last few hours before sunset.

Bird-wise, it was even more bleak than the weather. Visibility wasn't great, and the seas were high. There were very few birds migrating. The local raft today contained 4 Lesser Scaup along with the usual characters: Black, Surf, and White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Brant, Red-breasted Mergansers, and Common Eider.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

588 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/12/10
Number of species: 24

Brant 11
Lesser Scaup 4
Common Eider 12
Surf Scoter 354
White-winged Scoter 5
Black Scoter 25
Long-tailed Duck 9
Red-breasted Merganser 26
Red-throated Loon 18
Common Loon 3
Northern Gannet 113
Sanderling 2
Purple Sandpiper 24
Dunlin 5
Bonaparte's Gull 13
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull 21
Great Black-backed Gull 10
Rock Pigeon 20
Mourning Dove 2
European Starling 40
Dark-eyed Junco 4
House Sparrow 10

Avalon Seawatch December 11, 2010

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

6,199 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/11/10
Number of species: 40

Brant 7
Canada Goose 7
American Black Duck 18
Mallard 4
Northern Pintail 17
Green-winged Teal 3
Greater Scaup 3
Lesser Scaup 1
Common Eider 12
Surf Scoter 789
White-winged Scoter 54
Black Scoter 1069
Surf/Black Scoter 60
Long-tailed Duck 32
Hooded Merganser 15
Red-breasted Merganser 51
Red-throated Loon 3022
Common Loon 8
Horned Grebe 2
Northern Gannet 329
Double-crested Cormorant 9
Turkey Vulture 4
Bald Eagle 2
Killdeer 1
Ruddy Turnstone 5
Sanderling 20
Purple Sandpiper 30
Dunlin 5
Bonaparte's Gull 222
Ring-billed Gull 128
Herring Gull 77
Great Black-backed Gull X
Razorbill 1
Rock Pigeon 30
Mourning Dove 3
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
European Starling 100
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Dark-eyed Junco 9
House Sparrow 10

Avalon Seawatch December 10, 2010

It was a really good day today at the seawatch! Almost 11,000 migrants were counted, with a number of exciting birds. Geese were flying early in the morning; an aftershock from yesterday's huge flight. They quieted down significantly as the wind shifted, but Red-throated Loons were moving well throughout the day, along with a nice number of ducks. Gulls were moving throughout the day, with numbers of Ring-billed Gulls and Herring Gulls. A few hundred Bonaparte's Gulls made their way to Avalon in the mid-afternoon, and amongst them was an adult Little Gull spotted by the multi-talented (and budding seawatcher) Melissa Roach!

Other highlights from today included: 23 American Wigeon, 230 White-winged Scoters, 5 Common Goldeneye, 9 Redhead, 1 Ruddy Duck, 12 Horned Grebes, 1 Parasitic Jaeger and 3 Great Cormorants.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

10,983 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/10/10
Number of species: 52

Snow Goose 470
Brant 11
Canada Goose 3110
Wood Duck 1
American Wigeon 23
American Black Duck 246
Mallard 41
Northern Pintail 9
Green-winged Teal 6
Redhead 9
Greater Scaup 10
Lesser Scaup 17
Common Eider 15 local
Surf Scoter 1079
White-winged Scoter 230
Black Scoter 1426
Surf/Black Scoter 115
Long-tailed Duck 47
Bufflehead 1
Common Goldeneye 5
Hooded Merganser 3
Red-breasted Merganser 50
Ruddy Duck 1
Red-throated Loon 2428
Common Loon 12
Horned Grebe 12
Northern Gannet 89
Double-crested Cormorant 82
Great Cormorant 3
Turkey Vulture 4
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 1
Ruddy Turnstone 5
Sanderling 5
Purple Sandpiper 30
Dunlin 100
Bonaparte's Gull 319
Little Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 486
Herring Gull 482
Great Black-backed Gull X
Parasitic Jaeger 1
Rock Pigeon 25
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
European Starling 40
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 25
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 10

Sea Watch Thursday December 9, 2010

Despite the nearly frigid weather at Avalon, or quite possibly due to it, the waterbird flight was most enjoyable. The Goose flight once again stole the show, and was like yesterday on steroids. The single day Canada Goose record was shattered, and it was actually nearly beaten in just the first three hours of the day. Once again, Canadas dominated early and gradually gave way to Snow Geese as the day progressed. The single season record for the Avalon Seawatch for Canada Goose was apparently broken as well. Spicing up the Goose flocks were intermittent Blue morph Snow Geese (6-8), as well as 5 Cackling Geese, including one mixed in with a Snow Goose flock. Double-crested Cormorants also put on a nice showing for December, topping out at almost 200, and there was yet another group of (11) Redheads. Ring-billed and Bonaparte's Gulls continued to move, and 2 Great Egrets were my first from here in quite a while. The number of Purple Sandpipers hanging around the jetty is now up to 38.

There are currently thousands of Snow Geese migrating overhead around here, most visible. Tomorrow should be yet another decent day for them, at least in the morning before the winds shift completely around.

Total Individuals counted: 31,102

Location:     Avalon Seawatch
Observation date:     12/9/10
Number of species:     44

Snow Goose     6610
Brant     9
Cackling Goose     5
Canada Goose     20325
Tundra Swan     5
Wood Duck     1
American Black Duck     93
Mallard     54
Northern Pintail     1
Redhead     11
Ring-necked Duck     17
Greater Scaup     11
Lesser Scaup     2
Greater/Lesser Scaup     5
Aythya sp.     39
Common Eider        24 (no new migrants)
Surf Scoter     186
White-winged Scoter     10
Black Scoter     26
Surf/Black Scoter     26
scoter sp.     24
Long-tailed Duck     59
Bufflehead     16
Common Goldeneye     9
Hooded Merganser     33
Red-breasted Merganser     42
duck sp.     38
Red-throated Loon     1219
Common Loon     9
Horned Grebe     2
Northern Gannet     418
Double-crested Cormorant     197
Great Cormorant     2
Great Blue Heron     15
Great Egret     2
Turkey Vulture     6
Bald Eagle     1
Sharp-shinned Hawk     1
Cooper's Hawk     1
Red-tailed Hawk     1
Killdeer     2
Ruddy Turnstone     3
Sanderling     4
Purple Sandpiper     38
Dunlin     4
Bonaparte's Gull     391
Ring-billed Gull     833
Herring Gull     332
Great Black-backed Gull     5
Rock Pigeon     X
Red-breasted Nuthatch     2
American Robin      55
European Starling      X
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle)      1
Song Sparrow      1
Dark-eyed Junco      2
Red-winged Blackbird      X
Boat-tailed Grackle        2
House Finch       1
House Sparrow        X

Sea Watch Wednesday December 8, 2010

GEESE!

Two of the dozens of flocks of Geese that came by Avalon today. The photo on the left depicts what a lot of them looked like during the morning, before the flight markedly shifted from Canada Geese to Snow Goose. The right photo was taken in the afternoon and is a pretty standard depiction of what the Goose breakdown was in the afternoon (4,040 Snows- 343 Canadas during the final 3 hours)

Duck, duck, goose anyone? Actually it was more like goose, goose, goose at Avalon today. From the start of the count there were flocks of both Canada and Snow Goose going by the seawatch today. It started off as just a good movement of Geese, dominated in the early going by Canadas, but the breakdown shifted to mostly Snows by midday and then increasing in numbers building to a crescendo of over 3,000 Snow Geese over the final two hours. Considering that this two-hour total was more Snow Geese than we tallied all of last season at the Seawatch, it was indeed a big day. Of course, being Cape May, there wasn't just one storyline. A couple of interesting ducks came in and landed in front of the seawatch, including a Horned Grebe and a Common Goldeneye:

This spiffy Common Goldeneye dropped into the area and spent some time hanging around this morning. Bill and head shape and bill color (extent of yellow) are the main distinguishing field marks to differentiate COGO from Barrow's Goldeneye in this plumage.

The aural sensations at seawatch continue to multiply, as male Long-tailed Ducks are now singing and doing some halfhearted courting just off the seawall (this in addition to the constant whirring of Surf Scoter wings). Gull-wise Ring-billed and Bonaparte's were going by in good numbers throughout the day. Mallards were moving in good numbers, outnumbering American Black Ducks for one of the few times this season. Another strong showing was put forth by Redheads today, once again. This is turning out to be a well above average for them at Avalon, and they came by in four different groups today: 9 w/ Aythya sp., 3 w/ Lesser Scaup, 1 w/ Lesser Scaup, and most surprisingly 1 w/ American Black Ducks:

Normally Redhead are either in pure flocks or with other individuals of their own Genus (Aythya). This confused adult male however, flew by with a group of American Black Ducks this afternoon.

Less sharp, but showing the color really well.

Steve Bauer took this photo of these spiffy male Common Eiders out in front of the Seawatch today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/8/10
Notes:
Number of species: 45

Snow Goose 5274
Brant (Atlantic) 18
Canada Goose 1926
American Wigeon 6
American Black Duck 18
Mallard 58
Green-winged Teal 7
Redhead 14
Greater Scaup 20
Lesser Scaup 11
Aythya sp. 34
Common Eider 4
Surf Scoter 82
White-winged Scoter 7
Black Scoter 10
Surf/Black Scoter 26
scoter sp. 10
Long-tailed Duck 77
Bufflehead 7
Common Goldeneye 1
Red-breasted Merganser 44
merganser sp. 1
duck sp. 33
Red-throated Loon 516
Common Loon 2
Horned Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 277
Double-crested Cormorant 54
Great Blue Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 5
Bald Eagle 4
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Killdeer 1
Sanderling 2
Purple Sandpiper 22
Dunlin 4
Bonaparte's Gull 520
Ring-billed Gull 527
Herring Gull 984
Great Black-backed Gull 3
Rock Pigeon 20
Mourning Dove 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
American Robin 2
European Starling 45
Dark-eyed Junco 1
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 20

Avalon Seawatch December 7, 2010

It was another blustery day at the seawatch today but a very enjoyable one with nice diversity of migrants.

Hundreds of Bonaparte's Gulls were milling about all day, and a beautiful male Harlequin Duck was sitting out front in the morning. Other highlights were good numbers of both scaup species, 4 Tundra Swans, and 6 Common Goldeneye.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

3,486 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/7/10
Number of species: 48

Snow Goose 136
Brant 200
Canada Goose 1855
Tundra Swan 4
Wood Duck 15
American Wigeon 3
American Black Duck 7
Mallard 7
Green-winged Teal 3
Greater Scaup 49
Lesser Scaup 61
Common Eider 20
Harlequin Duck 1
Surf Scoter 111
White-winged Scoter 1
Black Scoter 98
Surf/Black Scoter 13
Long-tailed Duck 51
Bufflehead 41
Common Goldeneye 6
Hooded Merganser 7
Red-breasted Merganser 18
Red-throated Loon 217
Common Loon 3
Northern Gannet 107
Double-crested Cormorant 8
Great Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 5
Peregrine Falcon 1
Black-bellied Plover 2
Ruddy Turnstone 4
Sanderling 16
Purple Sandpiper 10
Dunlin 20
Bonaparte's Gull 333
Ring-billed Gull 89
Herring Gull 29
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Rock Pigeon 30
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
European Starling 75
Song Sparrow 2
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Boat-tailed Grackle X
House Finch 3
House Sparrow 20

Avalon Seawatch December 6, 2010

We heard geese (both Snow and Canada Geese) going over last night in Cape May, and lo and behold, there were geese moving today at the seawatch. It was cold and windy, but it was still an enjoyable day to be counting migrants.

A few species put in good showings: 14 American Wigeon, 79 Mallards, 65 Long-tailed Ducks, 17 Bufflehead, 11 Hooded Mergansers, and 290 Bonaparte's Gulls.

The local raft of birds today had lots of fun stuff in it: the three species of scoters, Common Eider, Long-tailed Duck, Brant, Hooded Merganser, Bufflehead, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, and Greater Scaup.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

2,921 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/6/10
Number of species: 45

Snow Goose 435
Brant 32
Canada Goose 853
Wood Duck 3
American Wigeon 14
American Black Duck 10
Mallard 78
Northern Pintail 1
Green-winged Teal 4
Greater Scaup 39
Lesser Scaup 49
Common Eider 12
Surf Scoter 201
White-winged Scoter 8
Black Scoter 160
Surf/Black Scoter 70
Long-tailed Duck 65
Bufflehead 17
Hooded Merganser 11
Red-breasted Merganser 9
Red-throated Loon 22
Common Loon 5
Northern Gannet 225
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Turkey Vulture 4
Black-bellied Plover 2
Killdeer 1
American Oystercatcher 1
Ruddy Turnstone 4
Sanderling 14
Purple Sandpiper 5
Dunlin 20
Bonaparte's Gull 290
Laughing Gull 4
Ring-billed Gull 85
Herring Gull 50
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon 15
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
European Starling 40
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Red-winged Blackbird 5
Common Grackle 20
House Finch 2
House Sparrow 10

Avalon Seawatch December 5, 2010

A chilly, windy, and mostly sunny day at the seawatch today saw another less-than-stellar amount of migration. Red-throated Loons weren't as numerous today as they have been for the past few weeks, but Northern Gannets were again moving in decent numbers.

Today's highlights were 11 Tundra Swans, 18 Great Blue Herons, and a Ruddy Duck leading a scoter flock.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

3,908 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/5/10
Number of species: 43

Snow Goose 112
Brant 19
Canada Goose 159
Tundra Swan 11
Wood Duck 4
American Black Duck 14
Mallard 16
Northern Pintail 1
Greater Scaup 3
Lesser Scaup 15
Common Eider 1
Surf Scoter 376
White-winged Scoter 3
Black Scoter 440
Surf/Black Scoter 253
Long-tailed Duck 8
Bufflehead 5
Red-breasted Merganser 16
Ruddy Duck 1
Red-throated Loon 299
Common Loon 5
Horned Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 1443
Double-crested Cormorant 78
Great Blue Heron 18
Turkey Vulture 5
Black-bellied Plover 1
Ruddy Turnstone 6
Sanderling 14
Purple Sandpiper 25
Dunlin 400
Bonaparte's Gull 8
Laughing Gull 2
Ring-billed Gull 216
Herring Gull 96
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon 15
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
European Starling 200
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Northern Cardinal 1
House Finch 16
House Sparrow 20

Avalon Seawatch December 4, 2010

A pretty slow day again today at the seawatch. Red-throated Loons and Northern Gannets made up the majority of the flight again.

Today's highlights were 23 White-winged Scoters, 44 Snow Geese, 4 Bufflehead, 8 Long-tailed Ducks, 1 Horned Grebe, and 1 Great Cormorant. A single Black Skimmer going south is getting late.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

4,591 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/4/10
Number of species: 39

Snow Goose 44
Brant 8
Canada Goose 131
American Black Duck 18
Mallard 6
Greater Scaup 4
Lesser Scaup 6
Common Eider 4
Surf Scoter 583
White-winged Scoter 23
Black Scoter 280
Surf/Black Scoter 175
Long-tailed Duck 8
Bufflehead 4
Red-breasted Merganser 21
Red-throated Loon 889
Common Loon 13
Horned Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 1352
Double-crested Cormorant 62
Great Cormorant 1
Turkey Vulture 4
Black-bellied Plover 17
Semipalmated Plover 1
Ruddy Turnstone 4
Sanderling 20
Purple Sandpiper 29
Dunlin 20
Bonaparte's Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 282
Herring Gull 173
Great Black-backed Gull X
Black Skimmer 1
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 60
Dark-eyed Junco 1
House Sparrow 10

Avalon Seawatch December 3, 2010

Today was a little chilly in the morning, but with some sun peaking through the clouds it eventually warmed up. Unfortunately, the numbers of migrants did not follow suit, and it ended up being a relatively slow day at the seawatch. Good numbers of Red-throated Loons and a decent number of Northern Gannets were again the dominant species. Some scoters were moving, but almost all were fairly distant.

Today's highlights were 3 Great Cormorants, 6 White-winged Scoters, and 13 Long-tailed Ducks. The local raft today included the three expected scoter species, Long-tailed Duck, Common Loon, Brant, and as many as 37 Common Eider.

An eBird list of species detected follows, with counted migrants in bold:

5,341 migrants today.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/3/10
Number of species: 37

Brant 26
Wood Duck 1
Mallard 2
Lesser Scaup 1
Common Eider 10
Surf Scoter 940
White-winged Scoter 6
Black Scoter 928
Surf/Black Scoter 208
Long-tailed Duck 13
Red-breasted Merganser 42
Red-throated Loon 1640
Common Loon 7
Northern Gannet 474
Double-crested Cormorant 152
Great Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 4
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
American Oystercatcher 1
Ruddy Turnstone 6
Sanderling 10
Purple Sandpiper 28
Dunlin 50
Bonaparte's Gull 6
Laughing Gull 3
Ring-billed Gull 121
Herring Gull 104
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull X
Rock Pigeon 10
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 30
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 2
House Sparrow 10

Sea Watch Wednesday December 1, 2010

Frontal passage day! For all good bird movements associated with cold fronts we must pay the price of a day or so of inclement weather on the leading edge. Today was one such day, and if you think that the fouler the weather is the better the bird movement following it will be then tomorrow should be great for birds, because today sure was a doozie. The only notables were a single Black Skimmer struggling into the strong SE gale, and later on a small pulse of Laughing Gulls heading south just after the rain let up and the wind shifted. Visibility for most of the day was less than a mile, and during the strongest of the rain it diminished to only a couple of hundred meters.

This Ruddy Turnstone was clearly perplexed as to why I would willingly stand outside for 9 and a half hours in today's weather.

The tide even pushed this Purple Sandpiper up onto the seawall right in front of the Seawatch as the front finished passing through.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 12/1/10
Notes: Rain for much of the day, intense at times. Strong SE winds shifting
around to the W as the front passed and the sky cleared between 1:30 and 2:30
PM.
Number of species: 29

American Black Duck 2
Greater Scaup 3
Common Eider 18
Surf Scoter 261
White-winged Scoter 3
Black Scoter 56
scoter sp. 4
Long-tailed Duck 2
Red-breasted Merganser 18
duck sp. 17
Red-throated Loon 137
Common Loon 4
Northern Gannet 248
Turkey Vulture 3
Peregrine Falcon 1
Black-bellied Plover 1
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Purple Sandpiper 28
Bonaparte's Gull 14
Laughing Gull 40
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 1749
Great Black-backed Gull 11
gull sp. 2
Forster's Tern 2
Black Skimmer 1
Rock Pigeon 1
Mourning Dove 3
European Starling X
Song Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 1
House Sparrow 12