We had an unexpectedly fun morning at the Higbee dike today! I was expected another slow day since there was a lot of precipitation over northern NJ last night and very little up on the radar as I went to bed. The birds clearly had something else in mind though!
Just as I had gotten set up pre-sunrise, 23 (!) Common Nighthawks flew north in a long strand over the far treeline. This is a good number to see in Cape May during their peak passage in early September, but it’s very notable for October! Add that to the list of late things we’ve had this fall...
I’ve mentioned that nighthawks are a good omen before, and this morning was no different! The winds started out of the SW but then transitioned to WNW later in the morning as this front came through, and songbirds were migrating in good numbers on the leading edge of that despite the empty radar signature. Groups of Blackpoll Warblers started “zeeping” high overhead as the sun rose, and nuthatches began jumping out from the treeline. Few flickers were flying, which is fortunate because I needed to focus all of my attention on the warblers and nuthatches! We had 477 northbound Blackpoll Warblers, which luckily settled lower as the morning went on. This was our peak flight of them for the season so far, but we still have the potential for bigger days of them! Parulas, Palm Warblers, and Cape May Warblers followed behind the Blackpolls with 44, 24, and 21 northbound individuals, respectively.
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| Zeep zeep! |
Red-breasted Nuthatches put in another great flight, as we had 174 bounce their way north up the bayshore. 195 Blue Jay and 126 American Robin were also nice totals for the morning!
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| There were flocks, I tell you! Flocks! |
A diversity highlight came when Jesse Amesbury (former interpretive naturalist and current Hawk Mountain counter) spotted our first northbound Eastern Meadowlark of the count. A late-season mover, they have experienced a precipitous decline much like American Kestrels over the past several decades (and both species are grassland breeders losing lots of habitat). Just check out this graph of season totals from 2003-2017. Hopefully we’ll have a better season for them this fall than last!
Later on in the morning, Monarch numbers started picking up big time, and they were flying in full force by the time the count finished around 11:15. This ended up being a spectacular day for migration in Cape May on all levels, from songbirds to Monarchs to raptors! If your enthusiasm for migration doesn't have taxonomic boundaries, check out the Monarch Monitoring Program's blog for more updates on the movements of that special scaly-winged spectacle.
Huge thanks to Jerald Reb for covering birds going through the gap this morning! The Blackpoll and nuthatch total is far better for it. As always, you can find our official count totals on Trektellen here, and our complete eBird checklist of the day’s observations here.
Bring on the next day!
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| Come for the warblers, stay for the robins. |
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