Hawkwatch - Saturday, September 9, 2017

­­The cool morning welcomed north winds. The early morning breeze brought the sense of migration to the hawkwatch as American Kestrels took flight within moments after sunrise. Osprey and Merlin made headway among masses of Tree Swallows and Barn Swallows that flooded the skies.

A plethora of warblers took flight as three Dickcissel flew by. A lone Brown Pelican fed among the rips that gulls and terns flocked to. More and more kestrels showed up. By mid-day Broad-winged Hawks were kettling high above our heads within the deep blue skies. Their numbers increased as the hours progressed. Before we knew it, nearly a hundred Broad-winged Hawks were tallied by midafternoon.

A very rare treat was seeing not one but TWO Wood Storks riding a thermal together!! The day ended beautifully with a late evening flight of American Kestrels and Merlins darting past us at eye level.

The two Wood Storks riding a thermal with a Broad-winged Hawk

Bald Eagle

Male Baltimore Oriole

Juvenile Broad-winged Hawk

Dickcissel

Eastern Wood-Pewee in flight. Look at those long primaries!

Today's totals.

Morning Flight - Friday, September 8, 2017

Can you say YOWZA?!?

15,000 birds counted today.

12,244 American Redstarts.

This morning was absolutely bonkers at the Higbee dike and platform. Clearly, weather conditions were perfect for migrating songbirds overnight, and come sunrise, they streamed out of the trees in a massive wave that lasted for almost a solid hour. It was one of the most amazing bird spectacles I have ever seen...although, I must say, I didn't get to watch THAT much of it since I was trying my best to get everything entered into Trektellen. In fact, I eventually abandoned all hope of entering American Redstarts in real time (because there were just way too many!) which is why the data presented below is vastly different than the live stream count from earlier today. With a flight this massive (360-600 birds/min!!!), it's best to get a sense of how many individual birds are flying by and then pick through/break down who ISN'T a Redstart. But enough about crunching the numbers, let's look at some awesome Neotropical migrants below!!

Also, it looks like tomorrow could be another spectacular morning for songbirds so I would get out and go birding if you can!

And, of course, I have to thank all the awesome people who helped picked through those 12000 Redstarts to find other species. You guys rock, and I don't know what I would have done without you. Special thanks to Tom Johnson and Glen Davis for helping me crunch numbers afterwards (and special thanks to Tom for some photos...because I certainly didn't have time to take many).

Check out these crazy numbers!

American Redstarts dominated the count this morning.

Black-and-white Warblers were also moving in large numbers.

Blackburnian Warbler.

A Holy Grail bird for Morning Flight - a Connecticut Warbler!

A Chestnut-sided Cutie...I mean, Warbler. Chestnut-sided Warbler.

We also had plenty of Magnolia Warblers.

Oodles of Tennessee Warblers, too!

Are you sick of photos, yet? A Blackpoll Warbler.

Let's not forget the very obliging Red-necked Phalarope feeding in the impoundment (which Scott Whittle ever so politely pointed out to everyone).

It's fall. Come birding.

Feel free to click here to go directly to the Trektellen page for today's count.

Hawkwatch - Wednesday, September 8, 2017

Northwest winds made for an upbeat day of migration, especially during the morning hours. The cooler morning winds funneled birds around the viewing area of the hawkwatch. Over 5,700 Bobolinks "binked" their way through as warblers zipped by.  This beautiful chaos of birds came from the north, south, east and west. Some of them were high overhead and some were migrating by at eye level. It was one of those mornings where you watch the birds while battling those goosebumps of awe. The flight of birds was simply incredible. A good movement of Osprey led American Kestrels, Merlins, and Peregrine Falcons.

A cool day with north winds is expected tomorrow. Following the recent days' west winds, there is a good chance tomorrow could be an exciting day of migration! The naturalists are ready to share their Swarovski scopes and binoculars with you. See you at the hawkwatch!

Cape May Warblers

Great Blue Heron

The falcon with stiff wingbeats that flies like it is late for a date... the Merlin!

Blackpoll Warbler migrating awfully close to that Laughing Gull

Today's Totals

Hawkwatch - Thursday, September 7, 2017

A good flight of Osprey and bounding Bobolinks took place today. Flurries of shorebirds raced by and three different species of buteos were observed (Broad-winged Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, and an early Red-shouldered Hawk). Each of the three falcon species were seen today; the Merlin and Peregrine Falcon were seen eating while on the go!

Naturalist Andrew Dreelin spotted a distant Wood Stork migrating by well to the north of the hawkwatch. This southern bird species is very rare to the area, and was an exciting addition to today’s push of migrating birds.

There were seemingly endless opportunities to study the spectacle of bird migration. Birds were seen both near and far. Come to the hawkwatch to soak up this exciting time!

Wood Stork!

Cooper's Hawk causing a ruckus among the Barn Swallows and Tree Swallows.

Banded juvenile Peregrine Falcon plowing through the air with ease.

Orchard Oriole chattering at a migrating dragonfly.

Bobolink taking a rest.

Osprey showing off its fish-catching tools of the trade.

Hawkwatch - Wednesday, September 6, 2017

It was a day of busy skies and a rare bird. The first half of today consisted of little breeze and cloudy atmosphere. Over 1,400 Bobolinks sheared through the sky, many of them in flocks of 50 or more. Their high-pitched “bink” call notes filled the air. Bursts of intermittent shorebirds pushed through gray skies laced in pink-trimmed edges throughout the early morning. One lone Dickcissel flew by too. The variety of non-raptors started the day off on an exciting note. Before noon a gorgeous female Peregrine Falcon darted through the air, approaching the western proximity of the hawkwatching platform. Little did we know that gusty northwest winds would force a special burst of migrants throughout the afternoon hours.

Broken streams of Osprey plowed through during the latter portions of the day. Some of them were migrating high up and some of them were quite low. Some of them were along the ocean and some of them were inland. One thing was certain, their flight was direct and they were all headed in the same direction…

Good continuous study of Osprey offered memorable times for everyone on the platform. The most unique highlight of the day was a lone juvenile Mississippi Kite that flew straight overhead. The sleek and slender wings contrasted beautifully with its long sharply-cornered tail. It was incredible to see this rarity circle over us, then casually meander westward over the parking lot. You never know what birds will show up at the hawkwatch! The next two days look great for fun flights of migrating raptors. See you at the platform.

-Erik

Mississippi Kite!

Peregrine Falcon

Pectoral Sandpipers (far left and far right) with one Stilt Sandpiper (middle)

Hawkwatch - Tuesday, September 5, 2017

South winds and hazy heat. That's the best way to describe yesterday's "flight". There was a small trickle of Osprey moving around midday but it didn't last long. Luckily, there's always something to see in Cape May! The Tree Swallows put on a great show with at least 1000 of them swarming, swirling, and roosting right in front of the platform.

Cape May Hawkwatch count for 9/5/2017
Species	Count today	Season total	Season maximum
			Count	Date(s)
Osprey	28	266	90	9/3
American Kestrel	1	40	30	9/1
Merlin	2	14	5	9/1

Just a small fraction of the awesome Tree Swallow swarm taking over Cape May State Park.

A Pectoral Sandpiper seen from below.

One of many Eastern Kingbirds that took advantage of the small trees beside the platform.

full Ebird checklist here!

Morning Flight, Wednesday, 6 September 2017

A fun little assortment of great species like Merlin and the count's first Palm Warbler (finally!) happened on a balmy and humid morning. The action in the trees was wayyy better than in the air. Andrew Dreelin spotted Blue-winged and Hooded Warbler from the platform. At one moment, a Bay-breasted Warbler flipped 25 feet into the air, being pursued by a territorial redstart from below. 

The list:
http://www.trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170906

Morning Flight, Tuesday, 5 September 2017

This was an eerily quiet day for morning flight behavior. For sure, there was, and have been for many consecutive days, a good number of songbirds on the ground.  At Higbee Beach and many other spots around Cape May there have consistently been migrants to find and enjoy. SW winds were up to 10 MPH and there was a trickle of migration the night before. So, an interesting mix of passerines were seen feeding and flying about occasionally. 

Report:
http://www.trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170905

Morning Flight, Monday, 4 September 2017

What a great whirlwind of a flight today it was! We were dizzy from all the fast and close flight action that the energizing 10-15 mph was drawing the birds to perform. The season's highest warbler species diversity was seen with 18 species today and the number of them northbound was ~750, including 584 American Redstart, 39 Black-and-white, 37 Northern Waterthrush, 24 Northern Parula, 16 Black-throated Blue Warbler, and 15 Yellow Warbler.

The full accounting:
http://www.trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170904

And now for a couple of beautiful shots of a Yellow-throated Warbler by Tom Johnson. This individual has a sturdy, long bill and yellow on the lores, indicating the dominica subspecies. This one is always a scare migrant during fall. 

photo by: Tom Johnson

photo by: Tom Johnson

Hawkwatch - Monday, September 4, 2017

The raptor flight started slow and ended VERY slow today, but we had a small flight around midday. Osprey were by the far the most abundant migrant, but we also were treated to close (and fast) views of Merlin, an American Kestrel harassing a Merlin (weird!), and a kettle of 5 Northern Harriers (swoon). Check out the raptor numbers below and feel free to click on the link to Trektellen for a mostly complete list of birds at the platform today.

-Melissa

Cape May Hawkwatch count for 9/4/2017
Species	Count today	Season total	Season maximum
			Count	Date(s)
Osprey	76	238	90	9/3
Northern Harrier	7	11	7	9/4
Sharp-shinned Hawk	2	13	5	9/1
Cooper's Hawk	2	12	5	9/1
Bald Eagle	9	19	9	9/4
Broad-winged Hawk	3	15	9	9/1
American Kestrel	4	39	30	9/1
Merlin	3	12	5	9/1

American Kestrel.

A blurry photo of the juvenile Red-headed Woodpecker that flew by the platform early this morning.

click here for a (nearly) complete list of birds!

Hawkwatch - Sunday, September 3, 2017

The day started off with refreshing northwest winds. The breeze kept the air cool as trickles of songbirds flew high overhead. Cloudy skies kept raptors quite low until the mid-day hours took place. Around lunch time the skies opened up with bright blues and whites, and streams of Osprey were seen near and far, many of them quite high. It’s truly amazing to see how the atmospheric conditions affect the timing of daily raptor movements. It’s all about those winds and thermals.

Several dark chocolate-brown Merlin were seen rushing past the hawkwatch in the late afternoon hours. These mid-sized falcons are known for their incredibly fast and direct flight. Their wingbeats are often much stiffer and faster-paced than their smaller, slappy-winged cousins, the American Kestrel. Adult females and both genders of immature Merlin have chocolate-brown backsides. The adult males, seen later in the season, are known for their deep-blue wings among dark-streaked underbellies.

Every day is an adventure during bird migration in Cape May, and you’ll never know what birds will show up. The naturalists are excited to help you get the most out of your hawkwatching experience.  See you on the platform!

-Erik

Yellow Warbler (left) and Orchard Oriole (right).

A Great Egret passes by.

Osprey are dominating the count these first few days.

Morning Flight, Sunday, 3 September 2017

The atmosphere/weather was similar to yesterday's count except the winds were the opposite of yesterday, coming in from the WSW.  The patches of rain the night before may have lessened the potential of this day. There were still about twice as many landbird migrants as the previous day. A great highlight was the appearance of 4 Common Nighthawk in the early part of the morning. Northern Waterthrush seems to appreciate cloudy days and their count of 23 north even outnumbered the rather ubiquitous and most abundant of the warblers at this time of season, the 20 northbound American Redstart.

See it here:
http://trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170903

Morning Flight, Saturday, 2 September 2017

It was a cloudy and cool early September morning where the overnight northeast winds didn't seem to push too much songbird-age Cape May's way. Blue-winged and Magnolia Warbler, and Dickcissel, along with the other smattering of migrants, kept it fun and full of promise, though.

From Saturday:
http://trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170902

HawkWatch - Saturday, September 2, 2017

Rain could not stop the determined raptors from migrating past the Cape May Hawkwatch. Although it was a dreary day, several Osprey and the first-of-the-season Peregrine Falcon pushed through. One partial albino Tree Swallow was spotted amongst the many pale-bellied dark-backed Tree Swallows. The beautiful Bunker Pond always has a treat of birds in store. 

Sunday’s forecast calls for clearer skies and west winds. Bring on the raptors. It will be interesting to see what raptors show up during these good migrating conditions. Hope to see you at the hawkwatch!

Blackburnian Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Partially leucistic Tree Swallow (left) with a standard Tree Swallow (right)

HawkWatch - Friday, September 1, 2017

Today’s hawkwatch was started with a gorgeous sunrise over bunker pond. The skies filled with intertwined streaks of pearly pinks, oranges, and lavender blue. The recently-arrived north winds brought cool air and many birds to come on this opening day.

Shortly after sunrise, an immature Bald Eagle plowed through the air, showing a direct intent to migrate. Following this bird came several American Kestrels. The flow of Bobolinks calling high overhead mingled with the chatter of rivers of migrating terns. A Common Nighthawk flew by. Then another. The rich array of raptors and non-raptors is one of the most impressive features of the Cape May Hawkwatch. There is always something going on, and this season started out with a bang. We even had a rare-for-the-area White-winged Dove show up, found by naturalist Andrew Dreelin.

North winds continued throughout the day, bringing early movements of Osprey and even a few Broad-winged Hawks! The hawkwatching platform was packed with people enjoying the spectacle of bird migration.

I’m looking forward to scanning the skies with you this fall. Hope to see you soon at the Cape May Hawkwatch in the months to come!

Erik

White-winged Dove, found by naturalist Andrew Dreelin.

A Common Nighthawk showing off its beautiful and intricate plumage.

And, of course, a raptor! This immature Cooper's Hawk buzzed right by at eye level.

Morning Flight - Friday September 1, 2017

 Happy Friday from your happy Swing Counter! I hope everyone is having a fabulous day, and I hope you were able to get outside this morning to see some birds! The northerly winds continued last night into this morning and brought another impressive round of migrants past the Morning Flight count. While today's count was nowhere near Glen's 5051 individuals yesterday (!), we were just a few birds shy of 1300 with American Redstarts dominating the pack. We had a variety of other warbler species throughout the morning including Tennessee, Nashville, Blackburnian, Cape May, Magnolia, and our FOS Blackpoll Warbler.

A duo of Bobolinks. Photo by Tom Johnson.

A stunner of a Black-and-white Warbler. Photo by Tom Johnson.

One of six Blackburnian Warblers seen this morning. Photo by Tom Johnson.

The first Blackpoll Warbler of the season! Don't worry, there will be many more to come. Photo by Tom Johnson.

Morning Flight Songbird Count for 9/1/2017
Species	Count today		Season total		Season maximum
	North	South	North	South	North only	Date(s)
Mourning Dove	8	3	366	93	42	8/31
Chimney Swift	4	0	145	42	52	8/28
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	2	1	61	16	12	8/20
Eastern Wood Pewee	1	0	1	0	1	9/1
Eastern Kingbird	128	0	1131	521	386	8/20
Red-eyed Vireo	2	0	32	8	7	8/24
Purple Martin	11	0	471	111	201	8/30
Tree Swallow	2	0	314	6	302	8/30
Barn Swallow	44	0	743	875	203	8/26
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher	5	1	429	20	135	8/20
European Starling	0	10	54	312	27	8/20
Cedar Waxwing	56	0	780	87	285	8/30
Northern Waterthrush	17	3	404	82	115	8/31
Black-and-white Warbler	34	2	408	32	149	8/31
Tennessee Warbler	1	0	13	0	9	8/31
Nashville Warbler	1	0	3	0	1	9/1
American Redstart	424	38	4832	270	2250	8/31
Cape May Warbler	2	0	22	1	6	8/26
Northern Parula	7	0	50	3	33	8/31
Magnolia Warbler	3	1	16	2	8	8/31
Blackburnian Warbler	6	0	19	0	6	9/1
Yellow Warbler	38	4	516	49	167	8/31
Chestnut-sided Warbler	6	0	61	0	29	8/31
Blackpoll Warbler	1	0	1	0	1	9/1
Black-throated Blue Warbler	2	0	12	0	8	8/31
Prairie Warbler	2	0	37	1	12	8/31
Black-throated Green Warbler	1	0	3	0	1	9/1
Blue Grosbeak	2	0	10	4	2	9/1
Indigo Bunting	0	1	35	8	12	8/31
Dickcissel	2	2	5	15	2	9/1
Bobolink	185	2	1703	9500	813	8/30
Red-winged Blackbird	76	0	1717	1412	377	8/31
Brown-headed Cowbird	2	0	102	53	25	8/22
Orchard Oriole	1	0	12	7	3	8/16
Baltimore Oriole	70	2	239	49	70	9/1
American Goldfinch	1	0	11	5	2	8/18

Totals: 1292 individuals, 37 species, 3:15 hours

Morning Flight, Thursday, 31 August 2017

The largest flight for the August component of the 2017 Morning Flight season occurred on the last day of that month. It was a tremendous showstopper with refreshing high pressure west winds and a dynamite, partly-cloudy sky.  Like so many mornings this August it has been cool with relatively low humidity to make for late-summer early morning birding at its most pleasant. 

Over 3,000 Boblink were counted heading south. The flight was challenging to account especially because there were a few general flightlines going on at once. A really nice Warbler diversity was to be had by sifting through the small warbler groups that were dominated by American Redstart, as to be expected at this time of season. Worm-eating, Prothonotary, and Tennessee Warblers were really fun to see, just like all of it-- the whole mixture that made up the morning. 

Pour over this list for more details!:

http://trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170831