30 August 2011 - Morning Flight

After a light to moderate flight yesterday, the floodgates opened for songbird migrants last night - warblers poured forth from Higbee Beach this morning, with around 1500 warblers of 20 species noted, including an excellent count of 912 American Redstarts. Other interesting things today included big counts of Chimney Swift and Black-and-white Warbler, a Cerulean Warbler, and an early Connecticut Warbler (photographed). A small number (but at least 10) of warblers had messy tails and wings today; this could be a result of wind/ water damage during the passage of the hurricane. I usually don't notice any misplaced feathers on warblers at the dike, so seeing a few during the course of one morning aroused my suspicions about potential storm effects. The sky is forecast to be clear tonight with but a light northerly wind, so I anticipate another nice flight tomorrow morning (likely fewer birds than today though). A full species eBird list from today can be found below.

Today was the second day this August with a substantial number of Ovenbirds seen "flying out" at Higbee Beach. I think that this very common warbler is undersampled by morning flight counts, presumably because the species has a lower tendency to reorient after daybreak than other species.

Chimney Swifts were certainly on the move this morning in Cape May. Mixed in with a steady stream of Purple Martins and Barn Swallows, 65 Chimney Swifts were tallied moving north along the bayshore, a nice August count here. Despite looking carefully, we didn't see the unidentified large swift that was found on Sunday at Sunset Beach.

Unlike their robin cousins in the genus Turdus, thrushes of the genus Catharus are generally rather reticent to undertake extended flights across open spaces during the daylight. While they are often highly conspicuous during nocturnal migration due to their loud flight calls, it is pretty rare to see one "flying out" at Higbee Beach. This morning, several Veeries made large circles around the crowd on the dike, including this individual, which flew to at least 75 feet above the ground before it returned to its senses and zoomed back into the undergrowth along the dunes.


Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike, Cape May, US-NJ
Aug 30, 2011 6:11 AM - 10:26 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: light NNE wind last night, clear
94 species (+3 other taxa)

Canada Goose 15
Mallard 4
Double-crested Cormorant 45
Great Egret 1
Green Heron 1
Osprey 2
Bald Eagle 3
Northern Harrier 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Broad-winged Hawk 4
Black-bellied Plover 1
Killdeer 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Ruddy Turnstone 10
Sanderling 20
Semipalmated Sandpiper 30
Least Sandpiper 15
White-rumped Sandpiper 2
Laughing Gull 80
Ring-billed Gull 1
Herring Gull 8
Great Black-backed Gull 15
Least Tern 2
Black Tern 2
Common Tern 6
Forster's Tern 13
Royal Tern 5
Rock Pigeon 9
Mourning Dove 6
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 65 *high - moving north along bayshore in small bursts of 3-5
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 10
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Least Flycatcher 1
Empidonax sp. 9
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Eastern Kingbird 908 *high
White-eyed Vireo 2
Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 27
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
crow sp. 2
Purple Martin 250
Tree Swallow 55
Bank Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 110
Cliff Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 67
Veery 7 includes 5 that attempted morning flight!
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 140
Cedar Waxwing 332
Ovenbird 8
Worm-eating Warbler 2
Northern Waterthrush 64
Black-and-white Warbler 69
Prothonotary Warbler 1
Tennessee Warbler 6
Nashville Warbler 1
Connecticut Warbler 1 *early
Common Yellowthroat 1
American Redstart 912
Cape May Warbler 5
Cerulean Warbler 1
Northern Parula 19
Magnolia Warbler 3
Blackburnian Warbler 9
Yellow Warbler 165
Chestnut-sided Warbler 8
Blackpoll Warbler 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler 14
Prairie Warbler 5
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Canada Warbler 1
warbler sp. 255
Clay-colored Sparrow 1 pale Spizella flying past dike with thin, short flight call
Scarlet Tanager 3
Northern Cardinal 2
Blue Grosbeak 5
Indigo Bunting 11 Dickcissel 1
Bobolink 232
Red-winged Blackbird 600
Common Grackle 16
Brown-headed Cowbird 24
Baltimore Oriole 48
House Finch 25
American Goldfinch 8
House Sparrow 20

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)

29 August 2011 - Morning Flight

Today's morning flight was weaker than I expected, but it was interesting anyway. Last night, there were light northwest winds following the clearing of Hurricane Irene to the northeast, and I expected a big flight. It wasn't bad though, with 183 individual warblers and some great shorebird highlights, including Hudsonian Godwit and Red-necked Phalaropes.

Yellow Warblers are early season migrants at Cape May, with most individuals of this species passing before September 15th (many were even gone by mid August).


Not seen from the Dike, these White-tailed Tropicbirds were part of the remarkable hurricane flight witnessed on 28 August from Cape May Point. Check out Tony Leukering's writeup of this spectacular event at View from the Cape.



Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike, Cape May, US-NJ
Aug 29, 2011 6:10 AM - 9:25 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: day after the passage of Hurricane Irene along the Jersey shore; winds light and NNW overnight
87 species (+5 other taxa)

Mallard 2
Blue-winged Teal 4
Double-crested Cormorant 10
Great Blue Heron 1
Snowy Egret 9
Plegadis sp. 2 presumably Glossy
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 5
Northern Harrier 1 molting male
Peregrine Falcon 1
Black-bellied Plover 3
Semipalmated Plover 6
Killdeer 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Willet 1 distant flyby
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Whimbrel 2
Hudsonian Godwit 1 *rare - adult
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Sanderling 45
Semipalmated Sandpiper 20
Western Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 5
Red-necked Phalarope 13 flying over bay, viewed with scopes; one overhead late morning
shorebird sp. 20
Laughing Gull 40
Herring Gull 3
Great Black-backed Gull 10
Least Tern 2
Caspian Tern 2
Black Tern 2
Common Tern 15
Forster's Tern 20
Sterna sp. 75
Royal Tern 4
Rock Pigeon 9
Mourning Dove 6
Common Nighthawk 1 high at dawn, heading south
Chimney Swift 6
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Empidonax sp. 2
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 125
White-eyed Vireo 1
Philadelphia Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 2
Fish Crow 4
Purple Martin 180
Tree Swallow 30
Bank Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 110
Carolina Chickadee 3
Tufted Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 10
Veery 1
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 90
Cedar Waxwing 155
Northern Waterthrush 26
Black-and-white Warbler 4
Common Yellowthroat 1 *chipping in phragmites (not in morning flight)
American Redstart 62
Cape May Warbler 1
Yellow Warbler 54
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler 3
Prairie Warbler 3
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Canada Warbler 1
warbler sp. 23
Clay-colored Sparrow 1 flyby - thin short flight call
Northern Cardinal 3
Blue Grosbeak 5
Indigo Bunting 8
Dickcissel 1
Bobolink 200 *estimate - 123 counted in northbound flight, others flying around too
Red-winged Blackbird 250
Common Grackle 9
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Baltimore Oriole 16
House Finch 20
American Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow 10

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)

24 August 2011 - Morning Flight

There was but a small flight of northbound passerines this morning at Higbee Beach, mostly a mix of Yellow Warblers and American Redstarts with a few other species sprinkled in for flavor. These included Prothonotary Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, and Chestnut-sided Warbler, and another apparent hybrid Blue-winged x Golden-winged Warbler flew past as well (heading south).
There are two stereotypical phenotypes of Blue-winged x Golden-winged hybrids that have been named Brewster's Warbler and Lawrence's Warbler; while many of the increasing number of hybrids of this species pair "fit" Brewster's or Lawrence's quite nicely, there are other hybrids out there that can appear as anything on the spectrum between typical Blue-winged and Golden-winged Warblers. Indeed, plumage doesn't always reflect on the true ancestry of these birds: a recent study (including one here) demonstrated through DNA analysis that pure-looking Golden-winged Warblers often show genetic mixing with Blue-winged Warbler.
Since phenotypic analysis of any individual bird's genetic history is plagued by variation and uncertainty, it is usually a good idea to label birds like this (seen in the field and lacking a tissue sample) as "apparent" or "presumed" hybrids.

Here is a photo of the presumed hybrid "winged" warbler flying past at Higbee Beach this morning.

23 August 2011 - Morning Flight

Clear skies and light north winds last night switched on to help produce a splendid songbird flight this morning at Cape May. Warbler numbers and diversity were excellent, with 1439 warblers of 19.5 species past the Higbee Dike. The extra half species was a hybrid Blue-winged x Golden-winged Warbler that I had identified in the field as a Blue-winged and photographed at the time. A thorough review of the photos this afternoon revealed some nice yellow wingbars and a funky darkish hood on the bird, suggesting mixed ancestry. Other warbler goodies included good counts of Worm-eating, Canada, Black-and-white, and Chestnut-sided.
Additionally, numbers of Eastern Kingbirds, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Baltimore Orioles were superb.
Photos and a full species eBird list for the morning are below.

Baltimore Orioles were downright abundant, with 271 counted this morning. They were moving north in small groups of 5-10, giving their quiet yelping flight calls as they passed over.

Warbler diversity was great, and there were strong numbers of some less common species such as this Chestnut-sided Warbler.

Eastern Wood-Pewees can be identified in flight by their lanky proportions, somewhat bounding flight, drab upperparts, and dusky vest below.

Blue-winged x Golden-winged Warbler hybrid (apparently) - I thought this was a Blue-winged Warbler when I saw it in flight, but a review of a few photos suggests some Golden-winged ancestry (especially the yellow wingbars and head pattern) to me.

Many Eastern Kingbirds moved north this morning along Delaware Bay, including this striking, pigment-challenged individual.

This Common Nighthawk was flying north with a group of Purple Martins about an hour and a half after sunrise.



Aug 23, 2011 6:05 AM - 9:20 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: morning flight count at Higbee Dike
82 species (+8 other taxa)

Double-crested Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 1
Snowy Egret 2
Green Heron 2
Bald Eagle 1
Semipalmated Plover 15
Killdeer 2
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Sanderling 75
Semipalmated Sandpiper 40
Least Sandpiper 1
peep sp. 50
Laughing Gull 130
Herring Gull 5
Great Black-backed Gull 15
Least Tern 1
Common Tern 3
Forster's Tern 25
Sterna sp. 50
Royal Tern 1
Black Skimmer 2
Rock Pigeon 4
Mourning Dove 6
Common Nighthawk 1 moving past low with martins in the second hour after sunrise
Chimney Swift 20
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 4
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 2
Empidonax sp. 4
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 740
White-eyed Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 19
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
crow sp. 5
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 6
Purple Martin 400
Tree Swallow 70
Bank Swallow 8
Barn Swallow 350
Cliff Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 1
House Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 202
Veery 1
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 290
Cedar Waxwing 120
Ovenbird 8
Worm-eating Warbler 6
Northern Waterthrush 72
Louisiana/Northern Waterthrush 1
Blue-winged Warbler 4
Blue-winged x Golden-winged Warbler (hybrid) 1 photos
Black-and-white Warbler 95
Prothonotary Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
American Redstart 731
Cape May Warbler 1
Northern Parula 2
Magnolia Warbler 4
Blackburnian Warbler 8
Yellow Warbler 152
Chestnut-sided Warbler 10
Bay-breasted/Blackpoll Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 19
Prairie Warbler 19
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Canada Warbler 6
warbler sp. 297
Northern Cardinal 2
Blue Grosbeak 4
Indigo Bunting 2
Dickcissel 3
Bobolink 350
Red-winged Blackbird 400
Common Grackle 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 20
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 271
House Finch 9
American Goldfinch 4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)

19 August 2011 - Morning Flight

The flight today was nonexistent. A few (less than 5) warblers tried to fly out at Higbee Beach, but there was no unifying dynamic to the movement. Terns were really nice at the state park, with Caspian, Sandwich, and Black Terns in addition to the typical local suite of species.

18 August 2011 - Morning Flight

Cape May was washed by south winds overnight, and there was virtually no morning flight this morning. I saw only a small trickle of Yellow Warblers and American Redstarts, though numbers of warblers were milling around in the woods (likely the same birds present yesterday). I did want to share a really cool photo taken by Doug Gochfeld yesterday of a Louisiana Waterthrush in flight at the Dike. Louisiana Waterthrushes are infrequently detected as fall migrants here in Cape May, perhaps due mainly to difficulty in separating them from the similar and much more abundant Northern Waterthrush. This species, however, migrates early in the fall, primarily in July and August, whereas Northern Waterthrush migration peaks later in the season (September). The large bill, contrastingly white and broad supercilium (especially behind the eye), and sparse, blurry streaks on the underparts are all good Louisiana marks to look for in Doug's photo below. During the observation, a sharp chip note was the first cue that led us to focus on this individual; views then allowed us to see the broad, white supercilium and stocky bill. Since Louisiana Waterthrush is so uncommon at the Dike, and photographing warblers in flight is so tricky, there are precious few photos of the species out there - this is certainly the nicest I've seen. Nice work, Doug!

Louisiana Waterthrush at Higbee Beach (photo by Doug Gochfeld)

17 August 2011 - Morning Flight

This morning's flight at Higbee Beach was moderate in overall volume of birds, but involved a bit more diversity than yesterday. Wow - we've had two solid mornings in a row to kick off the fall count! Highlights this morning included a good showing by Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, a heard-only Dickcissel, and quick but satisfying views of Canada, Blackburnian, and Chestnut-sided Warblers flying past. Three species of warblers have dominated both of the last two mornings: Northern Waterthrush, American Redstart, and Yellow Warbler.

Black-and-white Warbler in redirected migration over Higbee Beach



Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike, Cape May, US-NJ
Aug 17, 2011 5:59 AM - 9:14 AM
Protocol: Stationary
75 species (+6 other taxa)

Double-crested Cormorant 8
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 2
Green Heron 3
Bald Eagle 2
Cooper's Hawk 1
Peregrine Falcon 1
Black-bellied Plover 1
Killdeer 5
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Willet 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Sanderling 250
Semipalmated Sandpiper 25
peep sp. 30
Laughing Gull 85
Herring Gull 4
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Forster's Tern 10
Royal Tern 4
Rock Pigeon 1
Mourning Dove 18
Chimney Swift 7
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 8
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Empidonax sp. 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Eastern Kingbird 80
White-eyed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 4
crow sp. 2
Purple Martin 8
Tree Swallow 7
Bank Swallow 4
Barn Swallow 55
Carolina Chickadee 3
Carolina Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 50 includes 48 counted in northbound morning flight
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 22
Cedar Waxwing 40
Worm-eating Warbler 2
Louisiana Waterthrush 1
Northern Waterthrush 33
Louisiana/Northern Waterthrush 1
Black-and-white Warbler 10
Common Yellowthroat 1
American Redstart 68
Northern Parula 4
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler 105
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Prairie Warbler 7
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Canada Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 1 *heard calling; did not appear to "fly out"
Yellow-breasted Chat 1 *viewed below dike - did not "fly out"
warbler sp. 42
Field Sparrow 1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Blue Grosbeak 3
Indigo Bunting 10
Dickcissel 1
Bobolink 175
Red-winged Blackbird 300
Common Grackle 7
Brown-headed Cowbird 30
Orchard Oriole 3
Baltimore Oriole 2
blackbird sp. 150
House Finch 18
American Goldfinch 4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)

16 August 2011 - Morning Flight

The first day of the Morning Flight count at Higbee Beach dawned to a light west wind and very pleasant temperatures, a nice departure from recent days of sweltering heat and humidity. I enjoyed good company and a modest flight of warblers (over 300 individual warblers).
There is potential for a good songbird flight tomorrow morning- winds are forecast to be less than 10 mph out of the north tonight with clear skies. Actually, the skies aren't completely clear, as there are good numbers of warblers calling overhead right now as I write this at 9:30 PM in a well-lit part of Rio Grande (just north of Cape Island), with some birds visible in the streetlights.

Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike, Cape May, US-NJ
Aug 16, 2011 5:58 AM - 9:13 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: morning flight count at the dike - w/ Cameron Rutt, Doug Gochfeld, and Brian
68 species (+8 other taxa)

Mallard 2
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 2
Snowy Egret 1
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned/Cooper's Hawk 2
Peregrine Falcon 2
Black-bellied Plover 15
Semipalmated Plover 20
Killdeer 1
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 8
Ruddy Turnstone 6
Sanderling 3
Semipalmated Sandpiper 40
Least Sandpiper 5
peep sp. 160
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher 1
Laughing Gull 55
Herring Gull 4
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Least Tern 1
Common Tern 2
Forster's Tern 90
Royal Tern 6
Black Skimmer 2
Rock Pigeon 12
Mourning Dove 4
Yellow-billed/Black-billed Cuckoo 1 CR only
Chimney Swift 3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 9
Downy Woodpecker 1
Least Flycatcher 1
Empidonax sp. 1
Eastern Kingbird 215
White-eyed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Purple Martin 18
Tree Swallow 15
Barn Swallow 75
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Gray Catbird 4
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 165
Cedar Waxwing 40
Northern Waterthrush 65
Louisiana/Northern Waterthrush 1
Black-and-white Warbler 6
Common Yellowthroat 1
American Redstart 85
Northern Parula 2
Magnolia Warbler 2
Yellow Warbler 115
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Prairie Warbler 8
Canada Warbler 1
warbler sp. 82
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Blue Grosbeak 9
Indigo Bunting 3
Bobolink 4
Red-winged Blackbird 110
Common Grackle 14
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
Baltimore Oriole 1
blackbird sp. 50
House Finch 10
American Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow 4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org)


Long-billed Dowitcher - molting adult heading off from Cape May Point State Park to Delaware and points beyond


Bald Eagle - adult cruising past the Higbee Dike this morning