Today was yet another example of why Cape May is such an amazing place to bird. Nasty weather for humans apparently made for some excellent migration conditions for birds. From dawn onwards there were migrating birds of all types, from herons and waterfowl, to raptors and passerines. While not the most remarkable avian event of the day, the raptor flight (notably Peregrine Falcons and Merlins) was very good. Merlins and Peregrines were moving across the bay, hunting, and even perching cooperatively, and Ospreys were omnipresent (although many Ospreys hung around and chose not to cross Delaware Bay in the harsh conditions). We watched a Merlin murder a Palm Warbler right next to us in the dunes, and then proceed to pluck and eat it. There were multiple Falcons perched nearby (many eating, or at least digesting recently eaten meals)
Passerines were coming off the water early, including good numbers of (mostly unseen) Warblers, a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and a Dickcissel. The funniest migrant of the day was a Clapper Rail which came in off the Ocean, landed on the concrete path in front of the State Park buildings, and proceeded to run across the boardwalk, hop onto a bale of hay and plant (no pun intended) itself next to a Pumpkin:
(ph. Doug Gochfeld)
Herons and Egrets deserve special mention as well, with at least 120 Great Blue Herons floating over the Parking Lot in the afternoon (flushed out of Lighthouse Pond by a Bald Eagle), and at least 92 Black-crowned Night Herons over the Meadows at one point. Also nice on the waterbird front were the first flocks (however small) I have seen on the point this fall of both Snow Goose and Brant.
Still, out of all of these great migration events, the best was the shorebird flight. A minimum of
295 White-rumped Sandpipers flew by today, which shatters the published maxima for Cape May County, more than doubling it. There were also good numbers of Semipalmated Plovers, Pectoral Sandpipers, Wilson's Snipe, and the first numbers of Dunlin this fall. 2 juvenile
Hudsonian Godwits flew directly over the south pavilion giving excellent close looks as they labored north into the wind.
Hawkcount totals, with complete eBird list below:
Cape May
Cape May Point, New Jersey, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 04, 2010
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 7 53
Turkey Vulture 0 23 221
Osprey 45 487 3228
Bald Eagle 0 30 206
Northern Harrier 9 87 558
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 860 6080
Cooper's Hawk 0 236 1120
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 4 9
Broad-winged Hawk 0 84 537
Red-tailed Hawk 0 17 156
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 3 125 2924
Merlin 169 376 1197
Peregrine Falcon 92 234 511
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 1
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 321 2570 16801
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Observation start time: 06:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 10 hours
Official Counter: Doug Gochfeld
Observers:
Visitors:
Few
Weather:
NNE-NNW winds through the day, with almost constant (heavy at times) rain.
Raptor Observations:
Good Falcon (Peregrine and Merlin) flight. Many Ospreys around.
Non-raptor Observations:
Excellent flight of almost everything, especially shorebirds: 295+ (that's
the absolute minimum, there were probably far more) White-rumped
Sandpipers, 180+ Semipalmated Plovers, 2 Hudsonian Godwits, 20+ Pectoral
Sandpipers, 3 American Golden-Plovers, 15 Wilson's Snipe, 25 Dunlin. Also
Dickcissel, Clapper Rail, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Common (presumably)
Nighthawk, 14 Snow Geese, 19 Brant, American Pipit.
Predictions:
WNW/W winds tomorrow, with drizzle early. There will definitely be birds,
and if the rain holds off or passes early it could be good.
Location: Cape Island--CMPSP--Hawkwatch Platform (CMBO hawkwatch)
Observation date: 10/4/10
Notes: NNE/NNW winds, with rain all day.
Number of species: 97
Snow Goose 14
Brant (Atlantic) 19
Canada Goose X
Mute Swan X
Wood Duck 4
Gadwall X
American Wigeon 50
American Black Duck 23
American Black Duck x Mallard (hybrid) 1
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal X
Northern Shoveler X
Northern Pintail 5
Green-winged Teal X
Ruddy Duck 5
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Northern Gannet 1
Brown Pelican 4
Double-crested Cormorant 125
Great Blue Heron 215
Great Egret 50
Snowy Egret 5
Black-crowned Night-Heron 92
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 45
Bald Eagle 1
Northern Harrier 9
Sharp-shinned Hawk 3
Cooper's Hawk 1
American Kestrel 3
Merlin 169
Peregrine Falcon 92
Clapper Rail 1
Black-bellied Plover 2
American Golden-Plover 3
Semipalmated Plover 180
Killdeer 30
American Oystercatcher 12
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Hudsonian Godwit 2Ruddy Turnstone 1
Sanderling 150
Semipalmated Sandpiper 3
Least Sandpiper 8
White-rumped Sandpiper 295 All birds able to be aged were juveniles
Pectoral Sandpiper 25
Dunlin 25
peep sp. 3
Wilson's Snipe 15
Laughing Gull X
Ring-billed Gull 20
Herring Gull X First day I've seen numbers of them around the point
Lesser Black-backed Gull 2
Great Black-backed Gull X
Caspian Tern
11Forster's Tern 30
Royal Tern 250
Black Skimmer 3
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove 15
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Common Nighthawk 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 3
Blue Jay X
Fish Crow X
Tree Swallow 5000
Bank Swallow 1
Barn Swallow
14Red-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 3
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 Heard only
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
American Pipit 1
Cedar Waxwing X
Northern Parula 2
Yellow Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 15
Palm Warbler (Western) 20
Blackpoll Warbler 5
Northern Waterthrush 1
Common Yellowthroat 10
Savannah Sparrow 20
Song Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal X
Indigo Bunting 3
Dickcissel 1
Bobolink 9
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
House Sparrow X
