Morning Flight - Friday, August 3, 2018

Day 3 brought more of the same, but who can complain!

The Purple Martin movement continued today, albeit in lighter numbers, but with a still wonderful 145 individuals. It was really neat to watch a juvenile Purple Martin decapitate a Swamp Darner (?) in midair and then repeatedly play with its corpse by dropping it and swooping down to catch it before finally gobbling it down the hatch. Those little magic moments of natural history and behavior have a way of happening more frequently at Cape May (more birds = more chances), and it’s one of the reasons I love being here.

Notice how the martin went for the back of the neck to kill the dragonfly.

Gives “PUMA” a whole new meaning!

A welcome surprise came not too long after the count started when I was greeted by a flock of 7 Brown Pelicans headed south over the Delaware Bay! A flock of 14 took the same course later that morning, tripping the county eBird filter (always a fun feeling).

Always a pleasure to see these big flappers around here where they’re uncommon.

Warbler flight was once again overwhelmingly Yellows, although a Prothonotary made a brief pass (and yours truly choked on the photo). A brief cold front is forecast to roll through Cape May early Sunday morning, and there’s another one lined up for early Thursday morning! Make whatever prayers and/or sacrifices you need to in to make that forecast be correct. We could have some fun, warbler-y flights (with probably our best chance for a Cerulean on the official count) if the forecast ends up being correct.

The blackbird train continues unabated, with just 441 southbound Red-wings but with 368 Common Grackles! Most blackbird movement at Higbee occurs east of the dike, so flocks are almost always horribly backlit, but enough individuals manage to come down the west side for photo ops.

Somehow this hot mess is a champion of the Anthropocene. Oof.

House Finches are moving in similar numbers as well, but today marked a notable uptick in American Goldfinches with 13 southbound individuals. They may be the most ubiquitous songbird in flight across eastern North America, right up there with Red-winged Blackbird and Tree Swallow, and we’re lucky to have such dapper birds be so entertaining.

It’s hard to get good photos when you have to track those bold undulations!

The dike is also a fun place to observe insects as well, if you look closely. I am still learning my Odonates, but watching Swamp Darners migrate overhead (along with like 6 Comet Darners on July 29th!) has been quite enjoyable. Today was the first day I noticed Wandering Gliders. Monarch, Black Swallowtail, and a couple of skippers that I couldn’t pay attention to were also in attendance today. We have so much more to learn about insect natural history, especially when it comes to migration. And their local abundance is a big part of the reason why Cape May is such a great place for birds. It’s all connected y’all.

A Wandering Glider wanders past the dike during a slow moment.

As always, you can find the link to the official count on Trektellen here and the complete eBird checklist here.

Bring on Day 4!