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)