There were still birds moving today on the final day of the count! 885 American Robins and 391 American Goldfinches made their way north past the count, with a fair number of other species present as well, albeit in small numbers. Raptors provided a classic backdrop to the flight as several Northern Harriers and a Merlin lifted off on developing thermals to join the Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures streaming towards in good numbers. A few sharpies, coops, Red-tails, and a lone kestrel joined the party shortly afterwards.
Although the scoter peak is behind us, the duck action still provided welcome company much the same way that shorebirds did back at the start of the season. 43 Hooded Mergansers, 12 Black Ducks, 7 Wood Ducks, 4 Greater Scaup and a Long-tailed Duck were the bonus waterfowl highlights.
After this surprising amount of activity for two hours, the count was ended by icy rain! We still had a northbound Blackpoll Warbler today, which I consider a fitting end to a stellar count season (at least in the latter half).
I would love to do a full-season report here, but I’ll have to save that for the “The Peregrine Observer,” CMBO’s annual publication. Members of the Cape May Bird Observatory get a copy of annual “The Peregrine Observer” included with membership, so if you appreciate the research, stewardship, and outreach work that CMBO does, please consider signing up to become a member! I promise it’ll be well worth 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 season!
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