Morning Flight - Thursday, August 9, 2018

With a cold front on the way but not coming fast enough to arrive the night before, this morning was bound to be an interesting lesson on pre-frontal migration (for me at least, since I've never counted morning flight in those conditions before). Fortunately, it turned out to be a good one!

Cloudier skies and a constant breeze on the dike provided much nicer conditions for sustained observation than stifling heat and glaring sun as with previous days. Today marked the first day of the count that American Redstart was the most abundant warbler, overtaking Yellow Warbler by a healthy margin of 55 to 15 (counting northbound birds only).

The best part of the day came when we added another two warblers to the official fall tally this morning as well: Yellow-throated Warbler (2), which we don’t see a lot of past the dike despite the many that breed in the northern part of the county, and an early Tennessee Warbler that landed in vegetation on the dike before taking off again. Tom Johnson and I recorded both of these species on July 29th, but not since-- that just goes to show you the power of cold fronts!

Ah, what a beaut. What else can I say except "Safe travels, pal!"

Another treat of the day was the noticeable uptick in Eastern Kingbirds and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, with 26 and 12 northbound individuals, respectively. I really can’t wait to see big flocks of kingbirds soon! They make a brief but spectacular passage through Cape May (peaking in late August and largely out by mid September), so folks who only visit from mid-September onwards miss much of this wonderful early fall spectacle.

A dredge site now, the pristine beach line of the Guinean Shield later on. Shorebirds continue to mystify.   

Shorebirds were also in good attendance today, potentially also in association with the approach of the front. A large flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers gorged themselves on the biofilm lining the “watering hole” on top of the dike, while Solitary, Spotted, and Least Sandpipers along with Semipalmated Plovers also joined in.

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

Bring on Day 10!

Juvie mockingbird with lots to add to its repertoire. 

Swamp Darners seemed to be moving today, but I have to make sure I count all the birds first!