6 October 2011 - Morning Flight

A modest morning flight of songbirds passed Higbee Beach this morning, though virtually the entire flight was within the first hour of daylight. A juvenile Upland Sandpiper was hanging out in the third field at Higbee, and provided for a close encounter. After Nick Bonomo and I sat down, the bird approached us very closely, and even ate some crickets about 3 feet away from my leg - wow! This is very late for this species in Cape May; most are gone by mid-September.

Upland Sandpiper at Higbee Beach today

Morning flight birds only in this eBird checklist:

Red-bellied Woodpecker 6
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 5
Northern Flicker 60
Eastern Phoebe 4
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Brown Creeper 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 22
American Pipit 2
Tennessee Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 2
Connecticut Warbler 2
American Redstart 2
Northern Parula 18
Yellow Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 61
Black-throated Blue Warbler 6
Palm Warbler 38
Yellow-rumped Warbler 137
Black-throated Green Warbler 4
warbler sp. 69
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 4
Dickcissel 2
Bobolink 4