Monarch Monitoring Project Week 6

Week 6 was another great one with a season high of 97.23 monarchs/hour! On the 10th, residents on Alexander Avenue may have heard me squealing like a 3 year old as I spent a good part of the morning tagging up a storm as Monarchs gathered on Eupatorium and Seaside Goldenrod. That day,we went from a census count of 113 monarchs at 9 AM to 8 monarchs by 3PM that afternoon, which goes to show how quickly things can change.

It's hard to believe that the Monarch season is coming to a close in the matter of a couple of weeks. This means that we have arrived at our last week of official tagging demonstrations *tear*. If you haven't had the opportunity to see us in action at the State Park, please stop on by to catch one of our final 4 demos (this Wednesday and Friday-Sunday at 2PM). The Monarch team will also be making appearances during Autumn Weekend.

Hopefully you have already registered for all of the exciting festivities in store for this year's 63rd annual Autumn Weekend, but there will still be other events in case you missed the October 5th deadline. All information, events, and special workshops happening that week can be found at this link:

http://www.birdcapemay.org/autumn.shtml

This past Sunday, Cape May Point had a very special visitor found by the Monarch Team and it only makes sense that this exceptionally beautiful butterfly should be...

Week 6's Butterfly of the Week: The Sleepy Orange (Eurema nicippe)




This picture was snapped by Michael O'Brien, who took time out from the record breaking Big Sit (with a grand total of 146 species counted!) this weekend at the Hawkwatch to get this shot.

Identification Points: Average Wingspan of 1.65" Deep orange above with diagonal brown markings on the hindwing (seen from below); Antennae are black as opposed to bright pink found in Orange Sulfurs.

Habitat: Wet meadows, open fields, and road sides

Host Plants: Sennas and chamaecristas; Specifics include: Wild Senna, Wild Sensitive Plant, and Partridge Pea.

Interesting Facts: The Sleepy Orange is another tropical butterfly species (just like our Monarchs). This butterfly resides year-round in the Deep South and colonizes areas rarely further north than North Carolina each year, making this appearance in Cape May on October 11th a very rare sighting. The Sleepy Orange flies considerably closer to the ground than the Orange Sulfur with much weaker wingbeats - if you catch a glimpse of this butterfly, you will undoubtedly be looking down at it. The Sleepy Orange is also often called a "Rambling Orange."

This week, we have a special treat for everyone: Several members of the community have spent parts (or all) of some recent afternoons sitting and waiting for the emergence of a Monarch from its chrysalis. All their patience paid off and Michael O' Brien was there to capture the rare sequence. Enjoy!

Monarch Monitoring Project Week 5

Greetings All!

Week 5 has been by far our most successful week with 88.12 monarchs/hour! Although the numbers aren't quite as good as they were this time last year, it's truely exciting to see the small hundreds of Monarchs coasting the dunes while out tagging. It's hard to say what Week 6 will bring, but Team Monarch is hopeful for another repeat performance of this week.



A very special thanks to Arthur Nelson for this picture of one of our tagged Monarchs!

As for my additional segments, they may not be posted till later this week or until I can be sure that my facts are straight (so as not to misrepresent/mispost the work that people have done to contribute to my posts) - whichever comes first. My apologies for any inconvenience.


Till then, Happy Friday everyone :)

Morning Flight Wednesday October 7 2009

There was a brief shining moment where it looked like it might be a good morning followed by disaster. I stood atop the Dike just as dawn broke and the sun reached though a gap in the clouds creating the illusion of a brilliant orange crack in a solid gray shroud. For that one moment the light was so bright that I had to turn my head away only to immediately pick up a female Peregrine winging lazily across the sky right in front of me. But the clouds closed ranks, the Peregrine flew away, the rain began, and I got shut out on migrating passerines. In fact if given the choice between counting this morning over again, after the sunrise moment, or battering my head against a brick wall, I would have to spent a few seconds considering the pro's and con's of each possibility before making my decision. Tomorrow should be a bit better.

Morning Flight Tuesday October 6 2009

Tuesday brought a second day of solid movement at the dike. Clearly we are into the later part of fall but with enough remnants of the warmer months to keep the diversity high. While there were 19 species of warblers, today was the first day that Yellow-rumpeds absolutely dominated. There was an excellent raptor flight including a kettle of 32 Broad-wings that formed directly over the Dike. We also had a fantastic look at a Connecticut Warbler, perhaps the last of the season, and 9 Red-breasted Nuthatches.

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 10/6/09
Number of species: 105

Canada Goose 15
Mallard 2
Blue-winged Teal 5
Northern Shoveler 5
Green-winged Teal 4
Surf Scoter 8
Black Scoter 6
Double-crested Cormorant 35
Great Blue Heron 9
Great Egret 1
Snowy Egret 3
Black Vulture 6
Turkey Vulture 12
Osprey 5
Bald Eagle 4
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 80
Cooper's Hawk 15
Broad-winged Hawk 32
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 4
Peregrine Falcon 1
Black-bellied Plover 1
Semipalmated Plover 3
Killdeer 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Least Sandpiper 3
Laughing Gull 55
Ring-billed Gull 6
Herring Gull 25
Great Black-backed Gull 45
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 8
Royal Tern 4
Rock Pigeon 35
Mourning Dove 15
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 4
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 39
Eastern Phoebe 3
Red-eyed Vireo 6
Blue Jay 35
American Crow 140
Fish Crow 3
Tree Swallow 150
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 2
Red-breasted Nuthatch 9
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 6
Golden-crowned Kinglet 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Gray-cheeked Thrush 1
Swainson's Thrush 1
Wood Thrush 1
American Robin 400
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 3
European Starling 175
American Pipit 2
Cedar Waxwing 81
Tennessee Warbler 7
Nashville Warbler 4
Northern Parula 73
Yellow Warbler 3
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 2
Cape May Warbler 3
Black-throated Blue Warbler 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1686
Black-throated Green Warbler 23
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 245
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 28
Black-and-white Warbler 5
American Redstart 5
Connecticut Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 8
Scarlet Tanager 9
Chipping Sparrow 4
Savannah Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) 1
Northern Cardinal 12
Indigo Bunting 20
Dickcissel 2
Bobolink 3
Red-winged Blackbird 35
Eastern Meadowlark 7
Common Grackle 2
Boat-tailed Grackle 3
Brown-headed Cowbird 18
Baltimore Oriole 2
Purple Finch 1
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 45
House Sparrow 8

Morning Flight Monday October 5

Finally! A huge and somewhat unexpected flight! I thought the wind would be too strong for a big movement of passerines but was quickly proven wrong. As expected for this time of year, Palms and Yellow-rumpeds were the dominate species. The overall diversity was fairly good though and 20 species of warblers were observed. The total number of individual warblers was 1750 including 921 unidentified warblers. Early on I got a call from Doug, who was counting at the Seawatch, about a goose that was flying with 4 Canada Geese that he believed was a Cackling Goose. Forty-five minutes later a Cackling Goose with 4 Canada Geese appeared! Number 210 for the Dike species list this fall!

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 10/5/09
Number of species: 94

Cackling Goose 1
Canada Goose 30
Wood Duck 5
Mallard 4
Blue-winged Teal 6
Northern Shoveler 5
Green-winged Teal 4
Black Scoter 1
Double-crested Cormorant 15
Snowy Egret 3
Black Vulture 6
Turkey Vulture 15
Osprey 3
Bald Eagle 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 65
Cooper's Hawk 12
Broad-winged Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Kestrel 3
Merlin 4
Peregrine Falcon 1
Semipalmated Plover 3
Killdeer 47
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Least Sandpiper 4
Laughing Gull 55
Herring Gull 15
Great Black-backed Gull 35
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 6
Royal Tern 4
Rock Pigeon 8
Mourning Dove 3
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 76
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
Warbling Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 15
American Crow 30
Fish Crow 12
Tree Swallow 200
Carolina Chickadee 4
Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 3
House Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 8
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 95
Cedar Waxwing 250
Blue-winged Warbler 1
Tennessee Warbler 8
Nashville Warbler 8
Northern Parula 71
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 5
Cape May Warbler 4
Black-throated Blue Warbler 42
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 250
Black-throated Green Warbler 7
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Pine Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 363
Bay-breasted Warbler 3
Blackpoll Warbler 41
Black-and-white Warbler 8
American Redstart 11
Northern Waterthrush 2
Connecticut Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 6
Scarlet Tanager 9
Eastern Towhee 1
Chipping Sparrow 3
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 8
Indigo Bunting 17
Bobolink 5
Red-winged Blackbird 95
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Common Grackle 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 8

Hawk Watch Sunday October 4, 2009

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 04, 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 15 - 19 - 51
Turkey Vulture 12 - 49 - 129
Osprey 45 - 144 - 1980
Bald Eagle 8 - 29 - 234
Northern Harrier 4 - 34 - 207
Sharp-shinned Hawk 200 - 821 - 5191
Cooper's Hawk 158 - 560 - 2133
Northern Goshawk 0 - 0 - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 - 2 - 8
Broad-winged Hawk 21 - 44 - 239
Red-tailed Hawk 6 - 24 - 217
Rough-legged Hawk 0 - 0 - 0
Golden Eagle 0 - 0 - 0
American Kestrel 123 - 203 - 2682
Merlin 53 - 101 - 1108
Peregrine Falcon 118 - 252 - 575
Unknown Accipiter 0 - 0 - 1
Unknown Buteo 0 - 0 - 0
Unknown Falcon 0 - 0 - 0
Unknown Eagle 0 - 0 - 0
Unknown Raptor 0 - 0 - 1

Total: 763 2282 14756
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 05:45:00
Observation end time: 18:00:00
Total observation time: 12.25 hours

Official Counter: Pete Dunne

Observers:

Weather:
Fog early, clearing by Noon.

Sea Watch Monday October 5, 2009

Today was the best day of the season so far at the Avalon Seawatch, both in terms of sheer numbers and diversity. 19 species of migrant waterbird were counted, including 7 dabbling duck species, and over 3,000 Cormorants.
The highlight bird of the day was a single Cackling Goose that flew over in the company of 4 Canada Geese. This was especially notable because that same (presumably) group was seen roughly 45 minutes later flying over the dike at Higbee's Beach, which is interesting in that it crossed over from the ocean side to the bay side of the peninsula at some point in between. The end of the day was highlighted by a good Heron & Egret flight that included almost 250 individuals over the last 1.5 hours. It was also the first day Laughing Gulls were noticeably moving in any kind of numbers.
Non-data sheet highlights were 2 Eastern Meadowlarks coming in off the ocean separately, 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, 7 Peregrine Falcons, 1 White-rumped Sandpiper and 5 Dunlin.
3,964 individuals were counted.

eBird list below, with migrant waterbirds in bold.
Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 10/5/09
Number of species: 55

Brant 2
Cackling Goose 1
Canada Goose 18
Wood Duck 36
American Wigeon 6
American Black Duck 10
Northern Pintail 34
Green-winged Teal 84
Dabbling duck sp. 39
Surf Scoter 9
Black Scoter 19
dark-winged scoter sp. 8
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 9
Northern Gannet 79
Brown Pelican 3
Double-crested Cormorant 3193
Great Blue Heron 64
Great Egret 55
Snowy Egret 132
Little Blue Heron 12 (Townsends Inlet heron roost)
Tricolored Heron 3 (Townsends Inlet heron roost)
Turkey Vulture 15
Osprey 10
Bald Eagle 3
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 7
Semipalmated Plover 1
American Oystercatcher 11
Sanderling 250
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 2
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
Dunlin 5
Laughing Gull 162
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 55
Caspian Tern 10
Forster's Tern 225
Royal Tern 8
Rock Pigeon X
Chimney Swift 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 6
Eastern Phoebe 1
Tree Swallow 450
Barn Swallow 2
Carolina Wren 1
European Starling X
Palm Warbler 5
Northern Cardinal 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Eastern Meadowlark 2
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow 10

Sea Watch Sunday, October 4, 2009

We had a turn around after two slow days; today we broke the 1,000 bird mark. To top it off we had a Pied-billed Grebe and Western Willet.

Below is a list of birds seen.

Location: Avalon Sea Watch
Observation date: 10/4/09
Number of species: 14
American Black Duck 6
Surf Scoter 33
Black Scoter 6
dark-winged scoter sp. 3
Red-throated Loon 2
Common Loon 1
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 54
Brown Pelican 3
Double-crested Cormorant 924
Great Egret 1
Willet (Western) 1
Laughing Gull 24
Black Skimmer 32
Parasitic Jaeger 4

Monarch Monitoring Project Week 4

With unfavorable weather conditions came unfavorable numbers for our migrating Monarchs as Week 4 finished with an average of 23.28 Monarchs/hour. Despite the lower numbers there has been no shortage of butterflies to tag, so Team Monarch continues on.

Week 5 has been a huge improvement and I anticipate a much better report ahead, but in the meantime we move to....

Week 4's Butterfly of the Week!

While out and about, Michael O'Brien stumbled upon a rare find in the form of the Giant Swallowtail (Papilio cresphontes):





Appearance: Wingspan 3 3/8-5 1/2 inches; Dark from above with yellow banding forming a triangle across the Forewing and Hindwing; Yellow spots on the tails of the hindwings is a distinguishing mark.

Larval Food: Ornamental Citrus, torchwood, lime, and hoptree

Habitat: Semi-open to open areas, meadows, and river courses

Interesting Facts: This species is almost always found in association with citrus plants with the larvae feeding on the foliage. The species is common in the Southern Coastal U.S. making it a very uncommon one here in Cape May. Adults engage in 2 flights year-round southward.

Butterflies aren't the only critters wandering through the Cape these days...

Michael was also kind enough to do a dragonfly count on the Point on September 24th and found 9 different species total! Here were the results as a percent of the approximately 100 dragonflies/minute he saw between 1:15 and 3 PM that afternoon(~12,000 dragonflies total!):

Carolina Saddlebags-60%
Blue Dasher-12%
Black Saddlebags-9%
Green Darner-8%
Wandering Glider-5%
Spot-winged Glider-5%
Swamp Darner-0.75%
Twelve-spotted Skimmer-0.25%
And...our ninth species was a Great Blue Skimmer, the first one seen engaged in a migratory movement!

Today was a great day to spot Monarchs engaging in some small roosting. If you're on the hunt for a few of these roost areas, some great spots to look first can be found amongst the Ivy near the corner of Cambridge and Coral Avenue and out on the Goldenrod scattered along the dunes of Sunset Beach. Happy hunting!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Morning Flight Saturday October 3 and Sunday October 4

Saturday was a bit of a train wreck. The ratio of mosquito bites received to birds counted was about 3 to 1. I counted 2 Parulas, 1 Blackpoll, 1 unidentified, and 2 Indigo Buntings. We've had better days.

Like today! Sunday was certainly an improvement over Saturday, though the flight was not huge. We had the second and third Red-breasted Nuthatches of the season. In case you are wondering, that does not bode well for the nuthatch numbers for the winter and reports from farther north are similar. Otherwise we had a good diversity of warblers and overall quite a pleasant morning until an impenetrable bank of fog rolling in at the end of the third hour.

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 10/4/09
Number of species: 81

Blue-winged Teal 6
Northern Shoveler 5
Green-winged Teal 4
Double-crested Cormorant 12
Snowy Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 3
Osprey 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 8
Cooper's Hawk 4
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 3
Peregrine Falcon 2
Black-bellied Plover 1
Semipalmated Plover 3
Killdeer 5
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 9
Laughing Gull 45
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 6
Great Black-backed Gull 35
Caspian Tern 2
Forster's Tern 7
Royal Tern 3
Black Skimmer 4
Rock Pigeon 8
Mourning Dove 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 8
Eastern Phoebe 3
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 28
American Crow 15
Fish Crow 1
Tree Swallow 15
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 1
Red-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 6
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 3
European Starling 16
Cedar Waxwing 4
Northern Parula 17
Magnolia Warbler 1
Cape May Warbler 6
Black-throated Blue Warbler 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 62
Black-throated Green Warbler 11
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Pine Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 46
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 24
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 8
Ovenbird 1
Connecticut Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 8
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 8
Dickcissel 1
Bobolink 4
Red-winged Blackbird 18
Common Grackle 5
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
American Goldfinch 6

Sea Watch Saturday, October 3, 2009

Up at Sea Watch we were thankful for the rain already having move through the area, but on the down side hardly anything was moving, not even the cormorants.

However it seems today was the first day of Northern Gannets beginning to really move in large numbers.

Below is a lost of birds seen today.

Location: Avalon Sea Watch
Observation date: 10/3/09
Number of species: 9
Brant 4
Green-winged Teal 1
Surf Scoter 17
Black Scoter 11
Common Loon 3
Northern Gannet 39
Double-crested Cormorant 95
Laughing Gull 18
Parasitic Jaeger 2

Sea Watch Friday, October 2, 2009

Today was a windy day up at Avalon, and like much of the other counters working here, I did not have a whole lot of birds migrating through.

However, we did have two sightings of Parasitic Jaegars and a sighting of a pair of Greater Scaup, the first of the season. Below is the list of birds seen.

Location: Avalon Sea Watch
Observation date: 10/2/09
Number of species: 15
Blue-winged Teal 31
Northern Pintail 18
Green-winged Teal 1
Duck Sp. 12
Greater Scaup 2
Surf Scoter 11
Black Scoter 9
Red-throated Loon 4
Common Loon 3
Northern Gannet 10
Double-crested Cormorant 542
Great Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 13
Laughing Gull 7
Common Tern 1
Black Skimmer 4

Morning Flight Thursday October 1

Surely a lineup of 2 Long-billed Dowitchers, a Parasitic Jaeger, the first YB Cuckoo since early September, a calling Bicknell's Thrush along with three Gray-cheeked Thrushes, 19 species of warblers including 4 Connecticuts, 3 Bay-breasted, and 2 Blackburnians, Lincoln's and Clay-colored Sparrows, and the first Rusty Blackbird of the season would be enough to make anyone happy. You might think so but you would be wrong. It all comes down to expectations, as I mentioned in an earlier blog post, and my expectations were for a stunning movement of passerines. Scanning the list below the number of species is impressive as is the number of scarce birds, but the overall numbers of individuals is quite pedestrian. Knowing that this was one of the last chances for a large push of a number of the earlier migrant warblers I was near apoplectic with rage when a major push did not develop and I treated the handful of visitors to the dike to a minor tantrum. It blows my mind that over the past 6 weeks of counting the dike I have not had a single classic cold front. Not a single front that pushed through quickly the day before bringing a distinct drop in temperature, clear skies, and steady Northwest winds maintained throughout the night and into the next morning. Oh well, we shall overcome.

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 10/1/09
Number of species: 97

Wood Duck 6 typical oval shaped flock
Mallard 5
Blue-winged Teal 2
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 4
Double-crested Cormorant 8
Snowy Egret 4
Turkey Vulture 6
Osprey 8
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 12
Cooper's Hawk 9
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 6
Killdeer 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 9
Least Sandpiper 2
Pectoral Sandpiper 8
Long-billed Dowitcher 2
Laughing Gull 200
Ring-billed Gull 8
Herring Gull 25
Great Black-backed Gull 55
Forster's Tern 8
Royal Tern 4
Parasitic Jaeger 1 DM. Large and powerful individual heading up the bay.
Rock Pigeon 8
Mourning Dove 4
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1 First in weeks!
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 178
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 6
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Blue Jay 15
American Crow 65
Fish Crow 4
Tree Swallow 45
Carolina Chickadee 3
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush 3 Calling before sunrise.
Bicknell's Thrush 1 Calling right at the base of the Dike early then retreating farther back unto the trees as the morning progressed, occasionally calling.
American Robin 8
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 60
Cedar Waxwing 54
Tennessee Warbler 1
Nashville Warbler 3
Northern Parula 54
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Cape May Warbler 4
Black-throated Blue Warbler 17
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 29
Black-throated Green Warbler 4
Blackburnian Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 159
Bay-breasted Warbler 3
Blackpoll Warbler 41
Black-and-white Warbler 3
American Redstart 4
Ovenbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Connecticut Warbler 4
Common Yellowthroat 18
Scarlet Tanager 7
Eastern Towhee 2
Chipping Sparrow 1
Clay-colored Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 1
Lincoln's Sparrow 1
Swamp Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2
Blue Grosbeak 3
Indigo Bunting 4
Bobolink 2
Red-winged Blackbird 45
Rusty Blackbird 1
Common Grackle 6
Boat-tailed Grackle 3
Baltimore Oriole 8
American Goldfinch 8

Morning Flight Friday October 2, 2009

When the highlight of Morning Flight is a shorebird species you can see just about every autumn day in Cape May, you know it was slow. The southeast and south winds after 3 days of west winds predictably made for an extremely slow flight, with only 63 individuals this morning. Of note was a flock of 17 Pectoral Sandpipers that showed very well on the dike for several minutes, as well as a nice close group of 5 Broad-winged Hawks that pleased the crowd down on the platform for a bit.

Green-winged Teal 2
Double-crested Cormorant 75
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 10
Osprey 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 20
Cooper's Hawk 5
Broad-winged Hawk 5
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Least Sandpiper 2
Pectoral Sandpiper 17
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Royal Tern 2
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 4
Blue Jay 25
Tree Swallow 10
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 3
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 15
Northern Parula 9
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler 8
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 4
Blackpoll Warbler 8
warbler sp. 11
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 40
American Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow X

Sea Watch Thursday, October 1, 2009

It was a beautiful day at Avalon Sea Watch, but apparently the birds did not get the memo and they were not out in as strong of numbers as they were yesterday. Perhaps the most notable birds seen were the four Red-throated Loons that came through today.

Here is a list of birds seen today,

Location: Avalon Sea Watch
Observation date: 10/1/09
Number of species: 14
Brant 8
American Black Duck 1
Blue-winged Teal 18
Northern Pintail 6
Green-winged Teal 6
Duck Sp. 3
Surf Scoter 5
Black Scoter 39
dark-winged scoter sp. 3
Red-throated Loon 4
Northern Gannet 1
Double-crested Cormorant 1174
Great Blue Heron 29
Great Egret 14
Snowy Egret 3
Black Skimmer 41

Hawk Watch Thursday October 1, 2009

It's funny what a difference a month, or in this case a day, makes sometimes. We know October as the month when the Sparrows, Phoebes and other later migrants come through, and when the cold really begins to set in, but it seems borderline ridiculous for it all that to happen at once right on October 1st, when the preceding day showed little evidence (except slightly cool morning temps) of this. Yet there I was on the Hawkwatch platform early this morning staring down gobs of Common Yellowthroats, Eastern Phoebes, and Savannah and Swamp Sparrows while bundled up (relativel speaking, of course) against the 45 degree temperature. The light NW winds were perfect for passerine migration, but I initially thought we might not get many raptors after the early returns from the day. Luckily, raptors started moving along several flight lines as soon as the sun started to heat everything up, and a pretty good movement devloped and stayed sustained throughout the day. We clicked 963 total raptors when all was said and counted. Also of note was a crowd pleasing American Bittern flying slowly in front of the platform in the gorgeous late afternoon light around 4:30 PM.


eBird list followed by Hawkcount data:

Location: Cape Island--Cape May Point SP--CMBO Hawk Watch
Observation date: 10/1/09
Number of species: 69

Canada Goose 200
American Wigeon 4
American Black Duck 2
Mallard 6
Northern Pintail 1
Green-winged Teal 8
Double-crested Cormorant 600
American Bittern 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 5
Black Vulture 9
Turkey Vulture 35
Osprey 86
Bald Eagle 22
Northern Harrier 26
Sharp-shinned Hawk 350
Cooper's Hawk 274
Red-shouldered Hawk 2
Broad-winged Hawk 17
Red-tailed Hawk 18
American Kestrel 77
Merlin 36
Peregrine Falcon 33
American Coot 8
Killdeer 9
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 40
Royal Tern 5
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 8
Chimney Swift 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 35
Eastern Phoebe 6
Blue Jay 20
Fish Crow 15
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 8
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 5
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 25
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 2
Pine Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 2
Palm Warbler (Western) 15
Common Yellowthroat 40
Savannah Sparrow 20
Song Sparrow 4
Swamp Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 1
Indigo Bunting 3
Dickcissel 1 Calling flyover
Bobolink 3
Red-winged Blackbird X
Eastern Meadowlark 1 Flyby
Common Grackle 4
American Goldfinch 55
House Sparrow X



Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 01, 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 4 - 4 - 47
Turkey Vulture 26 - 26 - 94
Osprey 82 - 82 - 1728
Bald Eagle 20 - 20 - 215
Northern Harrier 26 - 26 - 182
Sharp-shinned Hawk 350 - 350 - 4162
Cooper's Hawk 274 - 274 - 1507
Northern Goshawk 0 - 0 - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 2 - 2 - 8
Broad-winged Hawk 17 - 17 - 195
Red-tailed Hawk 16 - 16 - 195
Rough-legged Hawk 0 - 0 - 0
Golden Eagle 0 - 0 - 0
American Kestrel 77 - 77 - 2152
Merlin 36 - 36 - 870
Peregrine Falcon 33 - 33 - 295
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 1
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 1

Total: 963 963 11652
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 05:30:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 10.5 hours

Official Counter: Doug Gochfeld

Observers:

Weather:
NW Winds (variable 5-15)

Raptor Observations:


Non-raptor Observations:
American Bittern, Eastern Meadowlark, Dickcissel

Morning Flight Wednesday September 30 2009

Another windy day with few birds. Early on we had a Peregrine drift in off the ocean carrying a bird. It proceeded to pluck it in flight while we tried to figure out the identity of the unfortunate victim. A lively debate resulted in a complete stalemate. Later a pair of Long-billed Dowitchers flew into the impoundment. Otherwise it would have been a quiet morning except the wind was whistling in my ears.

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/30/09
Number of species: 68

Mallard 4
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 2
Northern Gannet 1
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Snowy Egret 6
Black-crowned Night-Heron 3
Turkey Vulture 4
Osprey 3
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 7
Cooper's Hawk 2
American Kestrel 3
Merlin 4
Peregrine Falcon 2
Semipalmated Plover 5
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 1
Long-billed Dowitcher 2
Laughing Gull 55
Ring-billed Gull 6
Herring Gull 8
Great Black-backed Gull 20
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 8
Royal Tern 4
Rock Pigeon 2
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 20
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 15
Tree Swallow 30
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 5
House Wren 1
American Robin 5
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 15
Northern Parula 14
Cape May Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 9
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Pine Warbler 2
Prairie Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 34
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 18
American Redstart 6
Northern Waterthrush 1
Savannah Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 2
Bobolink 1
Red-winged Blackbird 8
Eastern Meadowlark 1
Common Grackle 6
Baltimore Oriole 2
American Goldfinch 6

Morning Flight Tuesday September 29

We just about got blown off the dike this morning! The wind was WNW but far too strong for a good flight. We did have 3 Connecticut Warblers.

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/29/09
Number of species: 76

Mallard 3
Blue-winged Teal 5
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 4
Black Scoter 1
Common Loon 1
Double-crested Cormorant 6
Snowy Egret 8
Turkey Vulture 4
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4
Cooper's Hawk 2
American Kestrel 1
Merlin 2
Semipalmated Plover 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 55
Ring-billed Gull 12
Herring Gull 20
Lesser Black-backed Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 25
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 7
Royal Tern 6
Rock Pigeon 5
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 8
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 12
American Crow 18
Tree Swallow 45
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 4
House Wren 1
Marsh Wren 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 5
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 35
Cedar Waxwing 18
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 6
Magnolia Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 2
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 11
Bay-breasted Warbler 2
Blackpoll Warbler 31
American Redstart 3
Connecticut Warbler 3
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 5
Indigo Bunting 1
Dickcissel 1
Red-winged Blackbird 14
Common Grackle 5
Baltimore Oriole 23
American Goldfinch 5

Sea Watch Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Today was a goregous day with a good wind from the WNW, but visibility was hampered due to heat waves, and so I did not see as many Gannets as I thought I would today.

We had the strongest turn out of the season so far for Double-Crested Cormorants at 1,390 as well as Blue-winged Teal at 19. And being counted for the first time this year we had both Great and Snowy Egrets at 11 and 13 respectively.

Here is a list of what was seen today.

Location: Avalon Sea Watch
Observation date: 9/30/09
Number of species: 14
Brant 18
Blue-winged Teal 19
Northern Pintail 9S
urf Scoter 12
Black Scoter 6
Dark-winged Scoter 1
Northern Gannet 6
Brown Pelican 22
Double-crested Cormorant 1390
Great Blue Heron 43
Great Egret 11
Snowy Egret 13
American Oystercatcher 44
Laughing Gull 8
Common Tern 2

Hawk Watch Wednesday September 30, 2009

A solid day at the Platform, with a pretty good movement of accipiters during the early hours through mid-day. There were some nice non-raptors as well, including the first group of American Coots (8) of the season, as well as a couple of flyover Dickcissels and a very obliging female Blue Grosbeak that dropped into the platform area at the end of the day.

eBird list follows (with Hawkcount data below):

Canada Goose 200
Mute Swan 8
Wood Duck 22 (flyover flocks of 5 then 17)
Gadwall 1
American Wigeon 4
American Black Duck 2
Mallard 8
Blue-winged Teal 3
Green-winged Teal 24
Surf Scoter 9
Black Scoter 1
Pied-billed Grebe 5
Double-crested Cormorant 45
Great Blue Heron 3
Great Egret 5
Glossy Ibis 1
Black Vulture 9
Turkey Vulture 35
Osprey 54
Bald Eagle 12
Northern Harrier 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk 301
Cooper's Hawk 214
Broad-winged Hawk 13
Red-tailed Hawk 6
American Kestrel 54
Merlin 28
Peregrine Falcon 19
Common Moorhen 1
American Coot 8
Killdeer 10
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 8
Least Sandpiper 1
Pectoral Sandpiper 6
Stilt Sandpiper 1
peep sp. 2
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 75
Royal Tern 5
Black Skimmer 100
Rock Pigeon 15
Mourning Dove 10
Chimney Swift 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 100
Blue Jay 20
Fish Crow 20
Tree Swallow 400
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 2
Bank Swallow 2
Cliff Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
American Pipit 1
Cedar Waxwing 2
Cape May Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 1
Prairie Warbler 1
Palm Warbler (Western) 25
Blackpoll Warbler 2
White-throated Sparrow 2
Blue Grosbeak 2
Indigo Bunting 10
Dickcissel 2
Bobolink 5
Red-winged Blackbird 350
American Goldfinch 20
House Sparrow 30


Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 30, 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 5 43 43
Turkey Vulture 24 68 68
Osprey 49 1646 1646
Bald Eagle 12 195 195
Northern Harrier 8 156 156
Sharp-shinned Hawk 301 3812 3812
Cooper's Hawk 214 1233 1233
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 6 6
Broad-winged Hawk 13 178 178
Red-tailed Hawk 6 179 179
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 54 2075 2075
Merlin 28 834 834
Peregrine Falcon 19 262 262
Unknown Accipiter 0 1 1
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 1 1

Total: 733 10689 10689
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 05:30:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 10.5 hours

Official Counter: Doug Gochfeld

Observers:

Weather:
NW/NNW Winds, Mostly cloudy

Sea Watch Tuesday September 29, 2009

The only notable seabird change from yesterday was that Gannets (including an adult)were moving more consistently. Another thousand+ day of Cormorants was again almost enirely concenrated in the morning. The non-waterbirds were probably more notable today, including 6 species of raptor, a Dickcissel which perched obligingly for a brief period, and a flyby Marbled Godwit.

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 9/29/09
Notes: SW/W/NW Winds
Number of species: 44

dabbling duck sp. 4
Surf Scoter 3
Black Scoter 1
Common Loon 3
Northern Gannet 23
Brown Pelican 2
Double-crested Cormorant 1028
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 20 Townsends Inlet wader roost
Snowy Egret 85 Townsends Inlet wader roost
Little Blue Heron 8 Townsends Inlet wader roost
Turkey Vulture 10
Osprey 5
Bald Eagle 3
Northern Harrier 1
Merlin 1
Peregrine Falcon 6
Black-bellied Plover 1 Heard only
Semipalmated Plover 1 Heard only
American Oystercatcher 42 Townsends Inlet
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Marbled Godwit 1
Ruddy Turnstone 3
Sanderling 400
Least Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 7
Ring-billed Gull 2
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 50
Caspian Tern 12
Common Tern 1
Forster's Tern 200
Royal Tern 20
Rock Pigeon X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Tree Swallow 450
Carolina Wren 1 Heard only
American Robin 2
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 1 Flyover coming in off the jetty
Northern Cardinal 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Dickcissel 1 Perched briefly on telephone wire
Common Grackle 1
blackbird sp. 2
House Sparrow X

Monarch Monitoring Project Week 3

Greetings All!

Week 3 brought us an average of 38.28 monarchs/hour, our highest numbers so far this season and we're getting some great turn outs for our weekly tagging demos...in fact, everyone seems to be getting in on the action...



That's right, that's Doug Gochfeld, this season's swing counter...Yay for cute incriminating pictures...

You may have also seen us on the Atlantic City news (NBC Channel 40)last Monday...If not, you can check us out here:


http://www.nbc40.net/view_story.php?id=10602

We also had our very first sighting of this little critter courtesy of Michael O'Brien:



Naturally with a find like this it only makes sense that the Ocala Skipper (Panoquina ocala) be our Butterfly of the Week



Appearance: 1.5-1.75 in. wingspan, slight purple sheen, long and narrow, longitudinally striped abdomen, forewings very long and narrow, outer wing edges are darker brown.

Habitat: Marshes, Forest Edges, Roadsides, old fields, utility easements and gardens

Interesting Facts: The Ocala Skipper is a variable immigrant and a relatively rare find (rare to non-existent in the Manhattan area)here in Cape May. This skipper appears from mid Sept.-mid-Oct. so hurry out and happy hunting!

For those interested in reading a bit more about our Monarchs and the story behind scientists' discovery of their overwintering grounds in the recent decades, I highly recommend picking up Sue Halpern's Four Wings and a Prayer: Caught in the Mystery of the Monarch Butterfly (ISBN: 037570194X). This book is an excellent overview of the mystery of their 2,000 mile journey and all the biologists studying them (including our very own scientific advisor, Dr. Lincoln Brower)and a great addition to any nature enthusiasts library. Copies are available at the CMBO Northwood Center, so pick up a copy today!

So some of you may have heard that prior to working here, I worked with sea turtles...




Sea turtles were what pulled me into the wonderful world of migratory animals and have led me to this marvelously charming town of Cape May to work with the Monarchs. Like Monarch Butterflies, the sea turtles that I worked with face similar threats to their survival. If you are interested in reading a little bit about my last job and about what scientists have done to protect nesting Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles on Padre Island National Seashore (Texas Gulf Coast) feel free to mosey on over to my other blog:

http://www.marinebioclaire.blogspot.com/


Now, for those who weren't aware, tomorrow is supposed to be an EPIC birding/butterflying day! Northwest Winds, 15 mph wind speed, mid-60's, sunny skies, and a partridge in a pear tree *sings* Grab your scopes, sun block, and enthusiasm (and if you're like me a strong cup of coffee if you're heading out there early)and enjoy what will hopefully be a fantastic flight day tomorrow!

Sea Watch Monday September 28, 2009

In line with the hot-and-cold nature of the seawatch, the first two-plus hours of the day saw over 1200 individuals counted, but that number dropped off to only 49 counted during the last 9 hours. Double-crested Cormorants were the big movers of the morning, and migratory Laughing Gulls were detected for the first tme this season. I found out this Laughing Gull movement was evident well offshore too, after talking to Glen Davis (who was on a boat on the ocean) a bit later in the morning.
Non-waterbird notables were an American Pipit, and 2 Northern Flickers motoring in from off the ocean, the second of which was seen at around 12:30 PM (it must have been very far offshore).

eBird list follows
(Migrant waterbirds in bold):

Brant (Atlantic) 1
Northern Shoveler 2
Surf Scoter 1
Black Scoter 19
Common Loon 2
Northern Gannet 11
Brown Pelican 3
Double-crested Cormorant 1173
Great Blue Heron 3
Osprey 3
Peregrine Falcon 2
Ruddy Turnstone 2
Sanderling 150
Laughing Gull 34
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull 75
Caspian Tern 3
Common Tern 8
Forster's Tern 80
Royal Tern 10
jaeger sp. 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 2
Tree Swallow 50
American Robin 2
American Pipit 1
Cedar Waxwing 1
Northern Cardinal X
House Finch 2
House Sparrow 10

Morning Flight Monday September 28 2009

Light west winds overnight produced exactly the result I expected: a solid flight early that quickly tapered off. Good light, good company, and a few exciting birds made for a very enjoyable morning. In the second hour Bob Fogg alerted us via text message to a Red-headed Woodpecker flying towards the Dike from the sough end of Higbee. Three minutes later the very bird appeared and lit in the top a tree. It sat there basking in the morning sun and in the admiration of the assembled birders for the better part of 15 minutes. A bit later a flock of Black-bellied Plovers with a gorgeous juvenile American Golden-Plover in tow circled the impoundment, flying right over our heads before disappearing up the bayshore. One rather uncooperative Connecticut Warbler headlined a solid lineup of 17 species of warblers.

For those keeping track at home we added three species to the total for the Morning Flight project this season, American Black Duck, Surf Scoter and Parasitic Jaeger. Thanks to James Smith for spotting the Jaeger way out on the Bay. With the additions today, there have been 196 species seen from the Dike this season. Those who know me know I'm far too gracious to truly be competitive, but it is worth noting that we are rather handily kicking the tails of those slouches at the Hawkwatch when it comes to species totals for the season!

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/28/09
Number of species: 78

American Black Duck 1
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1
Mallard 6
Blue-winged Teal 8
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 4
Surf Scoter 3
Black Scoter 12
Double-crested Cormorant 16
Turkey Vulture 6
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
American Kestrel 3
Merlin 3
Black-bellied Plover 8
American Golden-Plover 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Least Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 85
Ring-billed Gull 15
Herring Gull 8
Great Black-backed Gull 30
Forster's Tern 12
Royal Tern 6
Parasitic Jaeger 1 Head south along the middle of the Bay. Appeared to be an arriving migrant.
Rock Pigeon 35
Mourning Dove 8
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 53
Eastern Phoebe 1
Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 12
American Crow 12
Fish Crow 1
Tree Swallow 35
Carolina Chickadee 3
Carolina Wren 5
House Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 115
Cedar Waxwing 35
Tennessee Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 40
Yellow Warbler 3
Magnolia Warbler 5
Cape May Warbler 4
Black-throated Blue Warbler 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 7
Black-throated Green Warbler 5
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 31
Blackpoll Warbler 41
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 35
Northern Waterthrush 2
Connecticut Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 4
Scarlet Tanager 1
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 6
Northern Cardinal 8
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 3
Indigo Bunting 2
Bobolink 9
Red-winged Blackbird 65
Common Grackle 8
Baltimore Oriole 5
American Goldfinch 6

Sea Watch Sunday, September 27, 2009

The day started off rainy with only one Common Tern showing itself in the limited visibility. The rest of the day was pretty slow even though it gradually cleared off and became sunny. We had a total of 13 species and 266 total birds counted.

Below is a list of birds seen.

Location: Avalon Sea Watch
Observation date: 9/27/09
Number of species: 13
Brant 10
Green-winged Teal 1
Surf Scoter 4
Black Scoter 81
Common Loon 3
Cory's Shearwater 1
Greater Shearwater 1
Northern Gannet 11
Brown Pelican 7
Double-crested Cormorant 143
Great Cormorant 1
Common Tern 2
Parasitic Jaeger 3

Oh, I almost forgot, on a minor note we had two species of shearwater (Cory's and Greater) hang around for 4 1/2 hours, and at one point were in the same field of view.

Morning Flight Sunday 27 2009

Once again a damp morning resulted in zero birds counted at the dike. We did have a fair number of birds in the trees after a periods of rain. The highlight of the morning was a Worm-eating Warbler, the first I've seen in several weeks.

Today the weather was kind to those who came up to visit the Avalon Seawatch. We had a 10-15mph wind out of the ESE blowing under a mostly cloudy sky.

Today started out slow compared to yesterday, and it seemed like the rest of the day could have followed suite, but things picked later on in the day. We had a total of 16 species spotted today, with a total 959 birds counted in total. Though we had less birds today, we had a greater diversity. Of the birds seen, those of special note are the first Brant, Common Eiders, Red-throated Loon, White-Winged Scoter, and Wood Duck of the season. Of further note is the lone Gannet seen today was an adult; another first for the season.

Below is a break down of the birds seen today:

Location: Avalon Sea Watch
Observation date: 9/26/09
Number of species: 16
Brant 6
Canada Goose 3
Wood Duck 4
Mallard 17
Northern Pintail 11
Green-winged Teal 6
Common Eider 8
Surf Scoter 34
White-winged Scoter 1
Dark-winged Scoter 34
Black Scoter 87
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 3
Northern Gannet 1
Brown Pelican 4
Double-crested Cormorant 736
Common Tern 3

Morning Flight Saturday September 26, 2009

A rather slow morning at Higbee's, and the strong east winds kept a lot of the activity between the sun and the dike. The lone highlight was a single Connecticut Warbler. Palm Warblers are now ever present and Redstarts are fading fast, as evidenced by the measley total of 5 for the day. Summer is most definitely over. Total birds counted for the day was 236. On a non-passerine note, a large movement of Double-crested Cormorants was detected, including one flock of around 150 individuals. 2 juvenile Long-billed Dowitchers also showed nicely for at least 20 minutes before flying off south.


Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal 6
Northern Shoveler 4
Double-crested Cormorant 450
Great Blue Heron 3
Osprey 15
Bald Eagle 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk 10
Cooper's Hawk 5
Red-tailed Hawk 2
American Kestrel 2
Merlin 6
Peregrine Falcon 2
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 4
Long-billed Dowitcher 2
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Forster's Tern 6
Royal Tern 4
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 52
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 4
American Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Barn Swallow 2
Carolina Chickadee X
Carolina Wren 4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 12
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling X
Cedar Waxwing 26
Tennessee Warbler 1
Northern Parula 18
Magnolia Warbler 2
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 6
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 36
Blackpoll Warbler 13
Black-and-white Warbler 2
American Redstart 5
Northern Waterthrush 1
Connecticut Warbler 1
warbler sp. 42
Scarlet Tanager 2
Savannah Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 3
Red-winged Blackbird 100
Common Grackle 1
Baltimore Oriole 3
American Goldfinch 6
House Sparrow X

Sea Watch Friday, September 25, 2009

Today was a good day for migrating birds on all fronts, including for migrating waterbirds. With the day starting with strong north-westerly winds the birds had a strong tail wind at their backs to speed them along the way.

The waves at Avalon sea watch were in a perpetual state of agitation making ocean conditions a Beaufort 3 to 4. With the waves breaking over parts of the jetty the air was filled with spray covering everything, including the optics (Note: Need to pack more lens cloths).

We had 1,576 birds migrate through. Of special note we had 112 American Oystercatchers pass by, as well as the first teal and mallards of the season. And what made this thousand plus day possible were the hundreds of cormorants and scoters flying through. I'd like to thank them for giving me something to count!

Here is a complete list of birds seen today.

Location: Avalon Sea Watch
Observation date: 9/25/09
Number of species: 14
Canada Goose 87
Mallard 5
Northern Pintail 47
Green-winged Teal 6
Surf Scoter 12
Black Scoter 51
Dark-winged Scoter 407
Common Loon 2
Brown Pelican 5
Double-crested Cormorant 785
Great Blue Heron 26
American Oystercatcher 112
Caspian Tern 5
Common Tern 4
Black Skimmer 22

Morning Flight Friday September 25 2009

We were treated to another excellent flight with great diversity. Waxwings basically took over the place. We had a few first for the Dike this season, Great Cormorant, Eastern Phoebe, Golden-crowned Kinglet, and a surprise Hooded Warbler. We had two incredibly cooperative Connecticut Warblers or at least as cooperative as could be expected from flying Connecticut Warblers. Warbler diversity matched the season high with 24 species, though the totals individuals were only 784 including 208 unidentified warblers.


Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/25/09
Number of species: 94

Canada Goose 35
Gadwall 1
Mallard 5
Blue-winged Teal 12
Northern Shoveler 6
Green-winged Teal 7
Double-crested Cormorant 12
Great Cormorant 1 FOS
Great Blue Heron 5
Great Egret 8
Snowy Egret 9
Turkey Vulture 12
Osprey 55
Bald Eagle 2
Northern Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 85
Cooper's Hawk 9
Broad-winged Hawk 1
American Kestrel 14
Merlin 18
Peregrine Falcon 5
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 6
Laughing Gull 25
Herring Gull 12
Great Black-backed Gull 30
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 3
Royal Tern 6
Rock Pigeon 12
Mourning Dove 8
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 656
Eastern Wood-Pewee 4
Eastern Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 4
Warbling Vireo 3
Red-eyed Vireo 6
Blue Jay 4
American Crow 18
Fish Crow 2
Tree Swallow 55
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee 6
Carolina Wren 5
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 4
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 90
American Pipit 3
Cedar Waxwing 2060
Tennessee Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 35
Yellow Warbler 5
Chestnut-sided Warbler 2
Magnolia Warbler 4
Cape May Warbler 13
Black-throated Blue Warbler 9
Yellow-rumped Warbler 64
Black-throated Green Warbler 11
Blackburnian Warbler 4
Pine Warbler 4
Prairie Warbler 2
Palm Warbler 208
Bay-breasted Warbler 4
Blackpoll Warbler 116
Black-and-white Warbler 9
American Redstart 31
Ovenbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 2
Connecticut Warbler 2
Common Yellowthroat 2
Hooded Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 2
Scarlet Tanager 9
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 4
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 3
Bobolink 14
Red-winged Blackbird 20
Common Grackle 2
Baltimore Oriole 9
Purple Finch 1
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 6

Hawk Watch Thursday September 24, 2009

Finally some northwestish winds at the watch, and the Hawks, well...Falcons at least, responded. We had a solid afternoon American Kestrel and Peregrine Falcon flight pick up as the mid-day accipiter flight (also not too slow) wound down, and we counted almost through 6:00 PM since the Kestrels (200 total for the day, 30 after 5:00 PM) were still moving. By the late afternoon a good number of Ospreys had settled down to hunt and roost in the area (see Josh's post @ http://www.birdcapemay.org/blog/), so there could be an early movement of them tomorrow. Non-raptor highlights were a flyover Dickcissel, the continuing 2 Common Moorhen at the back of Bunker Pond and 2 Parasitic Jaegers working the rips between 8 and 9 AM.

eBird list follows:
Location: Cape Island--Cape May Point SP--CMBO Hawk Watch
Observation date: 9/24/09
Number of species: 69

Canada Goose 150
Mute Swan 10
Gadwall 2
American Wigeon 29
American Black Duck 4
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal 11
Northern Shoveler 4
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Northern Gannet 1
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Great Blue Heron 5
Great Egret 8
Snowy Egret 1
Green Heron 3
Glossy Ibis 1
Black Vulture 16
Turkey Vulture 14
Bald Eagle 9
Northern Harrier 6
Sharp-shinned Hawk 171
Cooper's Hawk 59
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Kestrel 200
Merlin 18
Peregrine Falcon 23
Common Moorhen 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 9
Pectoral Sandpiper 16
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Caspian Tern 3
Common Tern X
Forster's Tern 40
Royal Tern 40
Black Skimmer 300
Parasitic Jaeger 2
Rock Pigeon 20
Mourning Dove 20
Chimney Swift 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 50
White-eyed Vireo 1 Heard only
Blue Jay 2
Fish Crow X
Tree Swallow 500
Cliff Swallow 2 Separate individual flyovers
Barn Swallow X
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
American Robin 2
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 8
European Starling X
Yellow Warbler 2
Palm Warbler (Western) 4
Northern Waterthrush 2
Common Yellowthroat 2
Song Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 1 Heard only
Northern Cardinal X
Dickcissel 1
Bobolink 250
Red-winged Blackbird 500
Common Grackle 3
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow X

Sea Watch Thursday, September 24, 2009

The day started out with a light drizzle over Avalon Sea Watch, before it cleared into a hot humid day. Visibility was partially limited due to haze, thus Atlantic City was not viewable for most of the day.

Today was another slow day of scanning the ocean, with only a slightly better count today of 74 birds, versus yesterdays count of 56. The most notable birds were the Northern Pintail that was leading six Double-crested Cormorants, the Great Blue Heron flying in from the ocean, and the Common Loon flying over in the early hours of the morning.

Here is a full list of birds encountered:

Location: Avalon Sea Watch
Observation date: 9/24/09
Number of species: 8
Northern Pintail 1
Common Loon 1
Northern Gannet 5
Brown Pelican 13
Double-crested Cormorant 30
Great Blue Heron 1
Common Tern 18
Dark-winged Scoter 5

Morning Flight September 23 and 24 2009

Yesterday was spectacularly bad, however it was significantly better than the day before. Three days ago I counted zero birds, yesterday I counted two. I did spent a significant portion of the morning stacking Cheerios. I case anyone is wondering, roughly seven Cheerios can be stacked atop one another before falling over. More to the point, the two birds I counted were a Redstart and an unidentified warbler.

Today (09/24) was infinitely better than the past few days though the numbers remained low. The diversity was excellent, due largely to Michael O'Brien and his camera. There was an uncommonly cooperative Gray-cheeked Thrush that perched out in the open and allowed prolonged scope views. We also had a quick view of an adult Red-headed Woodpecker, also thanks to Michael O'Brien, and a late morning Lark Sparrow.

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/24/09
Number of species: 60

Canada Goose 5
Blue-winged Teal 12
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 7
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Great Egret 1
Snowy Egret 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 4
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 35
Herring Gull 6
Great Black-backed Gull 15
Forster's Tern 4
Royal Tern 8
Rock Pigeon 4
Mourning Dove 2
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 12
Least Flycatcher 1
Blue Jay 12
American Crow 6
Tree Swallow 85
Carolina Chickadee 4
Carolina Wren 6
House Wren 1
Gray-cheeked Thrush 1
Swainson's Thrush 1
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 1
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 55
Cedar Waxwing 6
Northern Parula 7
Yellow Warbler 2
Cape May Warbler 5
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 3
Palm Warbler 4
Bay-breasted Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 8
American Redstart 5
Northern Waterthrush 3
Common Yellowthroat 6
Lark Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 4
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 6
Indigo Bunting 3
Dickcissel 1
Bobolink 8
Red-winged Blackbird 8
Common Grackle 4
American Goldfinch 4

Sea Watch Wednesday, September 23, 2009

This morning the sunrose at 6:47am. Not too long afterwards rain passed through the area for the next few hours, and occassionally was down pouring. To say the least the visibility during early hours of the survey were fair to poor. However, it eventually cleared into a hot and humid day.

Today was a slower day than the first day of sea watch. There were only 56 birds encountered, the most notable bird sighted being a Great Cormorant heading south of the Jetty.

Here are the total counts for the day:


Location: Avalon Sea WatchObservation
date: 9/23/09
Number of species:6
Northern Gannet 1
Brown Pelican 12
Great Cormorant 1
Caspian Tern 9
Common Tern 30
Black Skimmer 3

Hawk Watch Wednesday September 23, 2009

Heavy rain pushed us off the platform briefly this morning, but shortly afterwards the sun came out, the fog burned off and it became a beautiful day...just with the wrong winds. 2 Common Moorhens at the back of Bunker Pond entertained people for much of the day, and the changing of the seasons was evident in the 5 Black Scoters flying offshore, as well as my first White-throated Sparrow of the season calling from in front of the Platform.

My eBird list is below, followed by the Hawk Totals up to this date

Canada Goose 40
Mute Swan 8
Gadwall 3
American Wigeon 18
American Black Duck 10
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal 3
Black Scoter 5
Pied-billed Grebe 3
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 4
Green Heron 3
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Black Vulture 6
Turkey Vulture 10
Osprey 28
Bald Eagle 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 41
Cooper's Hawk 6
Red-tailed Hawk 4
American Kestrel 7
Merlin 4
Peregrine Falcon 13
Common Moorhen 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 11 Flocks of 4 and then 7
peep sp. 4
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Common Tern 10
Forster's Tern 30
Royal Tern 15
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 50
Fish Crow X
Tree Swallow X
Cliff Swallow 1
Barn Swallow X
Carolina Wren 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 6
European Starling X
Yellow Warbler 4
Northern Waterthrush 2
Common Yellowthroat 1
Song Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 2
Bobolink 5
Red-winged Blackbird X
Brown-headed Cowbird 1
American Goldfinch 2
House Sparrow 40


Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 23, 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 - 0 - 0
Turkey Vulture 0 - 0 - 0
Osprey 28 - 1316 - 1316
Bald Eagle 3 - 161 - 161
Northern Harrier 0 - 135 - 135
Sharp-shinned Hawk 41 - 3105 - 3105
Cooper's Hawk 6 - 845 - 845
Northern Goshawk 0 - 0 - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 - 3 - 3
Broad-winged Hawk 0 - 161 - 161
Red-tailed Hawk 4 - 169 - 169
Rough-legged Hawk 0 - 0 - 0
Golden Eagle 0 - 0 - 0
American Kestrel 7 - 1563 - 1563
Merlin 4 - 718 - 718
Peregrine Falcon 13 - 129 - 129
Unknown Accipiter 0 - 1 - 1
Unknown Buteo 0 - 0 - 0
Unknown Falcon 0 - 0 - 0
Unknown Eagle 0 - 0 - 0
Unknown Raptor 0 - 1 - 1

Total: 106 8315 8315
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 05:30:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 10.5 hours

Official Counter: Doug Gochfeld

Observers:

Weather:
Humid all day. SW and SSW winds, rain during the first couple of hours,
becoming sunny in the afternoon.

Morning Flight Tuesday September 22 2009

Completely and totally skunked! Zero birds counted in morning flight, just a few hanging out in the trees. We did get a flyby Marbled Godwit, complements of Michael O'Brien, a new species for the dike this season.

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/22/09
Number of species: 54

Mallard 6
Blue-winged Teal 8
Northern Shoveler 8
Green-winged Teal 4
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 2
Little Blue Heron 1
Osprey 2
Merlin 1
Black-bellied Plover 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 6
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Western Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 45
Herring Gull 15
Great Black-backed Gull 55
Caspian Tern 2
Forster's Tern 7
Royal Tern 6
Rock Pigeon 4
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 8
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 12
Tree Swallow 45
Carolina Chickadee 3
Carolina Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
Veery 3
American Robin 4
Gray Catbird 6
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 55
Cedar Waxwing 7
Northern Parula 1
Yellow Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 3
American Redstart 1
Northern Waterthrush 3
Common Yellowthroat 4
Eastern Towhee 1
Field Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 4
Indigo Bunting 2
Bobolink 6
Red-winged Blackbird 45
Common Grackle 4
American Goldfinch 4

Sea Watch Tuesday September 22, 2009

Today we kicked off the Avalon Seawatch, and it wasn't as slow a day as I had expected. The first birds of the season were 3 Black Scoters (joined by 1 Surf Scoter), and we ended with 90 migrants comprised of 8 species. It was a warm day at the seawatch, and even if there weren't many birds it was nice to have hospitable weather, something that will be in short supply here later in the season.
eBird list follows (with migrants in bold)

Location: Avalon Seawatch
Observation date: 9/22/09
Number of species: 30

Canada Goose 2
Surf Scoter 3
Black Scoter 35
Common Loon 1
Northern Gannet 5
Brown Pelican 4
Double-crested Cormorant 8
Turkey Vulture 10
Osprey 6
Peregrine Falcon 1
Black-bellied Plover 1
Semipalmated Plover 1
Sanderling 40
Semipalmated Sandpiper 8
Western Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Great Black-backed Gull X
Caspian Tern 5
Common Tern 29
Forster's Tern 60
Royal Tern 15
Rock Pigeon X
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Tree Swallow 500
European Starling X
House Finch X
House Sparrow 12

Morning Flight Monday September 21 2009

Southeast wind. 'Nuff said.

Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/21/09
Number of species: 68

Canada Goose 5
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1
Mallard 4
Blue-winged Teal 8
Northern Shoveler 5
Northern Pintail 1
Green-winged Teal 6
Double-crested Cormorant 12
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Osprey 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Semipalmated Plover 1
Spotted Sandpiper 1
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Semipalmated Sandpiper 6
Least Sandpiper 3
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 40
Herring Gull 8
Great Black-backed Gull 35
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 5
Royal Tern 6
Rock Pigeon 4
Mourning Dove 12
Chimney Swift 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 8
Red-eyed Vireo 2
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 8
Fish Crow 2
Tree Swallow 45
Barn Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee 3
Carolina Wren 12
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
American Robin 6
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 55
American Pipit 1
Cedar Waxwing 7
Northern Parula 4
Yellow Warbler 2
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 5
Blackpoll Warbler 3
Black-and-white Warbler 1
American Redstart 5
Northern Waterthrush 2
Chipping Sparrow 1
Savannah Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 6
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Dickcissel 1
Bobolink 5
Red-winged Blackbird 55
Common Grackle 3
Baltimore Oriole 1
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 6

Morning Flight Sunday September 20 2009

A bit of a slow day, but good diversity. We counted 18 species of warblers plus a Yellow-breasted Chat was seen from the platform.


Location: Cape Island--Higbees Beach SWA--Dike
Observation date: 9/20/09
Number of species: 77

Canada Goose 2
Gadwall 2
Mallard 6
Blue-winged Teal 8
Northern Shoveler 5
Green-winged Teal 6
Double-crested Cormorant 14
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 2
Snowy Egret 3
Black Vulture 15
Turkey Vulture 4
Osprey 6
Bald Eagle 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 6
Sanderling 6
Semipalmated Sandpiper 8
Least Sandpiper 12
Pectoral Sandpiper 1
Laughing Gull 45
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 15
Great Black-backed Gull 40
Caspian Tern 1
Forster's Tern 12
Royal Tern 6
Rock Pigeon 15
Mourning Dove 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 31
Eastern Kingbird 1
Red-eyed Vireo 5
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 45
Fish Crow 3
Tree Swallow 215
Bank Swallow 1
Cliff Swallow 1
Carolina Wren 4
House Wren 1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin 3
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 2
European Starling 85
Cedar Waxwing 44
Tennessee Warbler 3
Nashville Warbler 1
Northern Parula 68
Yellow Warbler 2
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1
Magnolia Warbler 1
Cape May Warbler 9
Black-throated Blue Warbler 6
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Black-throated Green Warbler 1
Blackburnian Warbler 1
Pine Warbler 2
Prairie Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 19
Blackpoll Warbler 7
Black-and-white Warbler 4
American Redstart 32
Northern Waterthrush 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 4
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 1
Bobolink 27
Red-winged Blackbird 85
Common Grackle 6
Baltimore Oriole 7
House Finch 2

Hawk Watch Results Sunday, September 20, 2009

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 20, 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 0 0
Osprey 53 1259 1259
Bald Eagle 11 154 154
Northern Harrier 8 134 134
Sharp-shinned Hawk 220 2821 2821
Cooper's Hawk 92 772 772
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 3 3
Broad-winged Hawk 4 161 161
Red-tailed Hawk 5 165 165
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 27 1548 1548
Merlin 11 705 705
Peregrine Falcon 6 111 111
Unknown Accipiter 0 1 1
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 1 1

Total: 437 7835 7835
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 05:30:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 10.5 hours

Official Counter: Pete Dunne

Observers:

Weather:


Raptor Observations:


Non-raptor Observations:

Hawk Watch Results Saturday, September 19

Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 19, 2009
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Species - Day's Count - Month Total - Season Total
--------------------------------------------------
Black Vulture - 0 - 0 - 0
Turkey Vulture - 0 - 0 - 0
Osprey - 78 - 1206 - 1206
Bald Eagle - 21 - 143 - 143
Northern Harrier - 23 - 126 - 126
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 283 - 2601 - 2601
Cooper's Hawk - 173 - 680 - 680
Northern Goshawk - 0 - 0 - 0
Red-shouldered Hawk - 1 - 3 - 3
Broad-winged Hawk - 40 - 157 - 157
Red-tailed Hawk - 12 - 160 - 160
Rough-legged Hawk - 0 - 0 - 0
Golden Eagle - 0 - 0 - 0
American Kestrel - 39 - 1521 - 1521
Merlin - 41 - 694 - 694
Peregrine Falcon - 12 - 105 - 105 -
Unknown Accipiter - 0 - 1 - 1
Unknown Buteo - 0 - 0 - 0
Unknown Falcon - 0 - 0 - 0
Unknown Eagle - 0 - 0 - 0
Unknown Raptor - 0 - 1 - 1

Total: 723 7398 7398
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Observation start time: 05:30:00
Observation end time: 16:30:00
Total observation time: 11 hours

Official Counter: Pete Dunne

Report submitted by Doug Gochfeld

[Editor's note: This was an "ozone flight," with birds undoubtedly passing higher than could be seen even with binoculars or scope. One of these may have been the Swainson's Hawk Forrest recorded over at Cape Henlopen, Delaware in the afternoon.]

Monarch Migration Project Week 2

Howdy All (In true Texas drawl)!

Week 2 of the migrating season was a bit of a step backwards from the previous weeks' numbers with an average of 7.37 Monarchs/hour. However, this number isn't all too surprising with the epic storm that happened during the week...the storm that resulted in Cameron Cox's impromptu kayak trip down Columbia Avenue at 6 AM (please refer to Doug's previous posts for pictures). As the high water receded, so did our Monarchs. This week, the Monarchs are staging a major comeback and today was a record day with 63.46 Monarchs/hour!

Last Friday (Sept. 18th) we kicked off our weekly Monarch tagging demos and Team Monarch is coming together. The biggest team player and founder of the Monarch Project here in Cape May, Dick Walton (who is well known for his work on the Peterson's Birding By Ear Field Guides), has just arrived here to assist us in tagging and getting the word out on what we're up to.

While reading about the Monarch happenings here sure is fun, what's better is that you can catch us in action for free! Till the end of the season (Oct. 31st), you can find us giving Monarch tagging demonstrations at the pavilion next to the Hawkwatch Platform (at Cape May Point State Park) every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at 2 PM.

And now for our Butterfly of the Week: The Fiery Skipper (Hylephila phyleus)



ID Points: Wing Span 1.25-1.5 in. Very short antenae; Males have many small black spots on the underside of the hindwing while Females are pale brown in color with slightly lighter specks (the upper side is darker than males with an orange band rather visible)



(In this picture, the male is shown to the left and the female to the right)

Food (Adults): Aster, Swamp Milkweed, Ironweed (side note: These are also favorite foods for Adult Monarchs!), Thistles, and Sweet Pepperbush

Interesting Facts: When these caterpillars emerge, they eat leaves and also roll and tie them to create makeshift shelters that lie horizontally in the sod..talk about being resourceful!

Though these skippers breed further south, they often wander northward to the Cape May area at the end of summer. Like Monarchs, Fiery Skippers cannot survive the cold winters here, making them rarer to see as we head into the fall season. In recent walks given by staff of the Cape May Bird Observatory, we are still finding a few of them lurking about on walking paths at the State Park, Pavilion Circle, and other private gardens. If you haven't seen a Fiery Skipper yet, or, like me, have difficulty finding them amongst the sea of Sachems (another common Skipper species here), the Cape May Bird Observatory regularly hosts Butterfly walks around Cape May. The next CMBO sponsored walk will be held Thursday Sept. 24 in the Goshen Gardens (at the NJAB/CMBO Center for Research and Education) from 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM and a Butterfly and Dragonfly Walk will be held on Sunday Sept. 27 from Noon - 2PM meeting at the Hawkwatch Platform. Both events are $6 for members and $10 for non-members.

Till next time, Happy Bird/Butterfly/Dragonfly hunting everyone!



For more information about Dick Walton and his DVD releases, Podcasts, and other publications check out this website:

http://www.rkwalton.com/

For more cool pictures of the Fiery Skipper check out this site:

http://www.cirrusimage.com/skipper_fiery.htm

For the CMBO Weekly Walks Schedule, check out this link:

http://www.birdcapemay.org/programs.php