Morning Flight - Friday, August 10, 2018

When I made trek to the top of the dike this morning, I was immediately met by a worrying sign: no wind and the circling of thirsty mosquitos. If anyone needed confirmation that the birding gods are capricious and fickle, this was it. Had the forecasted coldfront died on the doorstep? Birds were up on the radar last night, but had the winds done enough to push them here? For new readers of this blog, stronger NW winds => more drift for nocturnal migrants => more abundance and diversity migrants engaging in northbound “re-oriented” morning flight (along the Atlantic Coast in fall, at least). In fact, the paper that demonstrated this effect used data from the Morning Flight Songbird Count right here in Cape May!

That clearly wasn't the case this morning. Redstarts were a trickle compared to yesterday’s morning flight, and Yellow Warblers went both directions in what seemed more like localized movement than any real sort of migration. Despite the lower abundance than expected, we managed to have a fairly diverse early season flight, with the first official Cerulean Warbler and Dickcissel of the count, a few of Black-and-White Warblers giving their hissy flight calls, an Ovenbird, and a good showing from both waterthrushes, with 11 Northerns, 2 Louisianas, and 4 “waterthrush spuhs.” This fresh diversity means we had some new arrivals, but the abundance component was missing. Had there been a great morning flight somewhere else in southern NJ, Delaware, or Maryland? That sort of insight will require more birders out in the field searching for visible migration.

Although today didn’t turn out how we expected, the added diversity was a welcome sight, and as always, the morning presented a great lesson on visible migration and in-flight identification, both of which can always be honed. Such are the trials and tribulations of monitoring migration. Nothing lost, nothing learned I suppose!

As always, you can find the link to the official count on Trektellen here and the complete eBird checklist here. Photos from the morning below!

Bring on Day 11!

Dickcissel: owner of the most elegant flight call. 

Not a Lark Sparrow: this exceptionally pale Carolina Wren has been hanging out on the dike lately. 

Morning Flight - Thursday, August 9, 2018

With a cold front on the way but not coming fast enough to arrive the night before, this morning was bound to be an interesting lesson on pre-frontal migration (for me at least, since I've never counted morning flight in those conditions before). Fortunately, it turned out to be a good one!

Cloudier skies and a constant breeze on the dike provided much nicer conditions for sustained observation than stifling heat and glaring sun as with previous days. Today marked the first day of the count that American Redstart was the most abundant warbler, overtaking Yellow Warbler by a healthy margin of 55 to 15 (counting northbound birds only).

The best part of the day came when we added another two warblers to the official fall tally this morning as well: Yellow-throated Warbler (2), which we don’t see a lot of past the dike despite the many that breed in the northern part of the county, and an early Tennessee Warbler that landed in vegetation on the dike before taking off again. Tom Johnson and I recorded both of these species on July 29th, but not since-- that just goes to show you the power of cold fronts!

Ah, what a beaut. What else can I say except "Safe travels, pal!"

Another treat of the day was the noticeable uptick in Eastern Kingbirds and Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, with 26 and 12 northbound individuals, respectively. I really can’t wait to see big flocks of kingbirds soon! They make a brief but spectacular passage through Cape May (peaking in late August and largely out by mid September), so folks who only visit from mid-September onwards miss much of this wonderful early fall spectacle.

A dredge site now, the pristine beach line of the Guinean Shield later on. Shorebirds continue to mystify.   

Shorebirds were also in good attendance today, potentially also in association with the approach of the front. A large flock of Semipalmated Sandpipers gorged themselves on the biofilm lining the “watering hole” on top of the dike, while Solitary, Spotted, and Least Sandpipers along with Semipalmated Plovers also joined in.

As always, you can find the link to the official count on Trektellen here and the complete eBird checklist here. More photos below!

Bring on Day 10!

Juvie mockingbird with lots to add to its repertoire. 

Swamp Darners seemed to be moving today, but I have to make sure I count all the birds first!

Morning Flight - August 7-8, 2018

Today and yesterday were once again slower days on the dike. South winds and warm temperatures in general are obviously not ideal for fall migration, but there can still be good amounts of birds moving in these conditions if a recent cold front brought in birds that are still migrating through the area (which is what was happening at the very beginning of the count). Since we haven’t had a cold front in over a week now, we’re at the very tail end of that cycle, essentially relying on whatever birds feel like moving in the early season and on these suboptimal conditions. But such is the nature of actively monitoring migration! We have to make do with what’s right in front of us and” concentrate on the moment,” as Qui Gon Jinn would say.

And what better birds to concentrate on than Barn Swallows, possibly one of the most classically recognizable birds in the world, which moved past the dike in decent numbers this morning. When an early morning feeding flock of Purple Martins and Barn Swallows circled overhead before drifting south, I assumed that most aerial insectivores would be loafing around the point today. Clearly, they had something else planned, and over 100 Barn Swallows ended up zipping past the dike.  

Another lovely treat of the moment is the smattering of waxwings that have been flying by the dike, with juveniles starting to appear now. I can’t wait to see big flocks of them soon and to hear the chorus of their thin, reedy calls, but I must admit to having some mixed feelings: I’m eager to see all of the wonderful abundance and diversity of birds on their way to Cape May and parts beyond; however, I’m also scared of the challenge to count and record all of it! Guess I’ll just have to live in the moment and focus on what’s in front of me.

Here are the Trektellen and eBird links for yesterday and today’s counts! Photos from today can be found below.

August 7

Trektellen

eBird

August 8

Trektellen

eBird

Bring on Day 9!

Striking fear into aerial plankton.

You’ll look silky and crisp soon enough, lil guy!

An Orchard Oriole pauses in the Phragmites along the dike before continuing on its journey.

Morning Flight - Monday, August 6, 2018

It was a relatively “tranquil” morning up on the dike today, as our Hawk Counter Erik Bruhnke might say. Another day of warm south winds produced another scattered flight with not much to show for abundance or diversity of migrants. At least there were shorebirds on the dike pool and coursing swallows overhead to keep me company! Best to appreciate them in the moment while they’re here because although it doesn’t feel like it, winter is coming.

Although today was on the slow side, it did feature a Prairie Warbler as well as the first Black-throated Green Warbler and Hooded Warbler of the fall season. Hooded is another one of those southern breeding songbirds that breed in the northern part of Cape May County but we don’t see all that much of in morning flight. They aren’t even recorded annually, and the all-time daily high count is one! Hopefully we can change that in this early count period experiment of ours.

Perhaps Hooded Warbler’s above-average levels of skulky behavior for a New World warbler makes them less likely to engage in morning flight? Morning flight is a spectacle ultimately rooted in migratory behavior after all, so differences in migratory behavior should mean differences in morning flight. With any luck, we’ll get a few more before they all depart for Central America and the Caribbean. We still have our eyes gleefully trained towards Thursday and Friday when a nice cold front is expected to roll through.

As always, you can find the link to the official count on Trektellen here and the complete eBird checklist here. More photos from today below!

Bring on Day 7!

Warblers in “torpedo mode” will never get old.

A juvie starling begins to sport some flashes of color.

Morning Flight - Sunday, August 5, 2018

Well there were some good birds actively migrating today-- it just was at the Meadows and not Higbee!

Folks who read this blog but haven’t visited Cape May might get the impression that Higbee Beach WMA is the only place where good morning flights can be observed here, but that is far, far from the truth. In reality, just about any area along the shore of Cape May Point can be productive if conditions are right, which of course includes places like the HawkWatch at the State Park and the South Cape May Meadows (and that’s not even getting into spots further up along the Delaware Bayshore). Higbee is usually the best place to because the elevation provided by the dike affords a canopy-level vantage as well repeated, wonderfully close views on good days (which is why it’s the site of the official count).

But clearly Higbee was not the place to be today. The flight was scattered and messy, with half as many Yellow Warblers moving north as there were ones going south. Despite this, the morning had a few nice moments. An uptick of American Redstarts from singles to handfuls was nice (lots more on the way!), and we added Louisiana Waterthrush, Prairie Warbler, and Ovenbird to the official count today. A lone White-rumped Sandpiper and three northbound juvenile Red-bellied Woodpeckers were good bonus birds as well.

Even in harsh light, it's possible to see the paler wing bar of American Redstart.

Add a long, club-shaped tail, a slender profile, and a sweet fight call, and you've got an AMRE!

But over at the east dune of the South Cape May Meadows, Tom Reed, this fall’s Migration Count Coordinator, was also counting morning flight, and what a great morning he had! 4-5 Louisiana Waterthrushes, 18 Northern Waterthrushes, two Dickcissels, 46 Chimney Swift, nearly 300 Barn Swallows, Sandwich Tern….it pains me to see his totals, but I take solace that someone was there to collect the data in the first place. You can check out TR’s Trektellen totals here and his eBird checklist with photos here.

So this raises an obvious question: why were way more birds moving past the Meadows, but not Higbee? Did they decide to stop and refuel on Cape May Point rather than swing back north along the bayshore? Or did they decide to keep migrating south over the Delaware Bay? Some of both? It’s never quite so cut and dry when dealing with living, breathing organisms, especially migratory ones that face an complex array of choices that they must make along their journeys (watching warblers “change their minds” in midair over the dike is always entertaining, and it raises all sorts of questions).

And that's saying nothing of the fascinating antagonistic behavior that so often happens in morning flight. 

It all just goes to show how much there still is to learn about visible migration, even in Cape May. The good news it that I think we managed to learn a little more today, which is all we can ask for.

As always, you can find the link to the official count on Trektellen here and the complete eBird checklist here. More photos from this morning below.

Bring on Day 6!

An Eastern Cicada Killer Helper kindly assists a cicada to a good singing tree. Definitely what happened.

Morning Flight - Saturday, August 4, 2018

Deep gray skies and pulses of moderate rain were the first things that greeted me on the dike today. This forced me to leave my camera in the car, so I apologize that today’s post is bereft of photos!

Things cleared up once the sun actually rose, but it was quickly evident that there wouldn’t be much migrating this morning. A few oddities provided some welcome relief. A calling Solitary Sandpiper buzzed overhead, and a few Stilt Sandpipers moved by as well. A juvenile Field Sparrow flying across the top of the dike provided a new species for this season’s count.

Although this morning was quiet, the small cold front forecasted to move through Cape May early tomorrow morning will hopefully bring in a fresh breath of migrants. Conditions also look good for migration later in the week (Thursday through Saturday), so stay tuned, folks! If you’re itching for a good early season flight, this could be a good window to come down.

As always, you can find the link to the official count on Trektellen here and the complete eBird checklist here.

Bring on Day 5!

Morning Flight - Friday, August 3, 2018

Day 3 brought more of the same, but who can complain!

The Purple Martin movement continued today, albeit in lighter numbers, but with a still wonderful 145 individuals. It was really neat to watch a juvenile Purple Martin decapitate a Swamp Darner (?) in midair and then repeatedly play with its corpse by dropping it and swooping down to catch it before finally gobbling it down the hatch. Those little magic moments of natural history and behavior have a way of happening more frequently at Cape May (more birds = more chances), and it’s one of the reasons I love being here.

Notice how the martin went for the back of the neck to kill the dragonfly.

Gives “PUMA” a whole new meaning!

A welcome surprise came not too long after the count started when I was greeted by a flock of 7 Brown Pelicans headed south over the Delaware Bay! A flock of 14 took the same course later that morning, tripping the county eBird filter (always a fun feeling).

Always a pleasure to see these big flappers around here where they’re uncommon.

Warbler flight was once again overwhelmingly Yellows, although a Prothonotary made a brief pass (and yours truly choked on the photo). A brief cold front is forecast to roll through Cape May early Sunday morning, and there’s another one lined up for early Thursday morning! Make whatever prayers and/or sacrifices you need to in to make that forecast be correct. We could have some fun, warbler-y flights (with probably our best chance for a Cerulean on the official count) if the forecast ends up being correct.

The blackbird train continues unabated, with just 441 southbound Red-wings but with 368 Common Grackles! Most blackbird movement at Higbee occurs east of the dike, so flocks are almost always horribly backlit, but enough individuals manage to come down the west side for photo ops.

Somehow this hot mess is a champion of the Anthropocene. Oof.

House Finches are moving in similar numbers as well, but today marked a notable uptick in American Goldfinches with 13 southbound individuals. They may be the most ubiquitous songbird in flight across eastern North America, right up there with Red-winged Blackbird and Tree Swallow, and we’re lucky to have such dapper birds be so entertaining.

It’s hard to get good photos when you have to track those bold undulations!

The dike is also a fun place to observe insects as well, if you look closely. I am still learning my Odonates, but watching Swamp Darners migrate overhead (along with like 6 Comet Darners on July 29th!) has been quite enjoyable. Today was the first day I noticed Wandering Gliders. Monarch, Black Swallowtail, and a couple of skippers that I couldn’t pay attention to were also in attendance today. We have so much more to learn about insect natural history, especially when it comes to migration. And their local abundance is a big part of the reason why Cape May is such a great place for birds. It’s all connected y’all.

A Wandering Glider wanders past the dike during a slow moment.

As always, you can find the link to the official count on Trektellen here and the complete eBird checklist here.

Bring on Day 4!

Morning Flight - Thursday, August 2, 2018

Today was a slower day than yesterday, but it had some interesting moments nonetheless! Mild south winds continue, but with a slight westerly component. If these winds keep up as predicted, maybe we’ll get a Lark Sparrow soon (August is a good time for vagrant ones).

In terms of actual, non-hypothetical movement, aerial insectivores continue to move in numbers in similar proportions to yesterday’s flight, but there were clearly some individuals that felt content to hang around the point and forage on floating insects (or aerial plankton, if you will). Dozens of Barn Swallows with a few Purple Martins kept gradually working their south way along the bayshore before turning into the wind and drifting back to where they started. Good company.

I wonder how many insects this juvenile Barn Swallow will devour between here and its final wintering destination in South America. 

You thought I wouldn't post a Purple Martin photo on back-to-back blogs?
You thought wrong. 

Yellow Warblers were the overwhelming warbler of the morning with 31 southbound individuals, but little else was moving warbler-wise. Icterids kept going in similar fashion with showings from Red-winged Blackbird and Common Grackle, with a couple of bonus Orchard Orioles.

Without a doubt my favorite part of the morning was seeing at least 3 Yellow-billed Cuckoos headed north, with another southbound individual that may or may not have been a repeat. I long for a good flight shot of one, but they have a tendency to stay low and against cover, so it will take some luck. Cuckoos are certainly loved among birders, but I feel like they would be even more appreciated if more people saw them in open flight as opposed to the more characteristic view through canopy shade and poor lighting. Their surprisingly large size and broad but pointed wings (much like a Peregrine) somehow meshes with their long, sleek profile, pearly white underparts, and the rufous flash in their primaries. Truly, Coccyzus are among the classiest of birds.

A few other interesting moments spiced up the morning: a group of Blue Jays moved north warily between tree cover before turning tail at the canal and passing right in front of me!

This individual is clearly a juvenile, but I wish I got an age on the other individuals.
Was it a family group, or a little gang of juvies? Accurate age assessment = insight! 

Additionally, a pair of Gull-billed Terns (another classy species) made a pass over the dike and called once before heading south. Not too much later, a lone Horned Lark (rare in the Cape Island in late summer/early fall) flew directly west out over the Delaware Bay. Gooooo dispersal!

As always, you can find the link to the official count on Trektellen here and the complete eBird checklist here.

Bring on Day 3!

Morning Flight - Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Well, the first official day of the Morning Flight Songbird Count for the 2018 fall season is in the books! Regular readers of this blog will recognize that I am writing this post about two weeks earlier than we normally begin. Since its inception in 2003, the Morning Flight count has started on August 16th, but this year we began the count on August 1st in an effort to better understand the earliest migrants passing through Cape May. This is includes species like Yellow Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, and Prothonotary Warbler (and on the other end of things, the season will extend all the way to November 15th this fall for late season specialities like Yellow-rumped Warblers, American Robins, various sparrows, and hopefully some finches). Kudos to CMBO for continuing push the envelope of visible migration study!

Although the date may seem early to some, the first Morning Flight surveys that were conducted here during the 80s began in late July, just as Higbee Beach was beginning to be recognized as a world-class hotspot for visible songbird migration. To that end, Tom Johnson and I witnessed a wonderful early season flight on July 29th, a few days before the beginning of the official count! The morning consisted of solid numbers of Yellow Warblers (137), a good showing of both waterthrushes (5 Louisiana and 10 Northern), with a handful of American Redstarts and Black-and-white Warblers. The undoubted highlight was a female Cerulean Warbler and an extremely early Tennessee Warbler! We are right in the window for Cerulean migration, but encountering them in Cape May is always tough. The one we saw was actually being chased by a redstart-- maybe a warmer welcome from their fellow migrants would encourage more to show up!

Hopefully we get another round of frontal activity in early August to produce another flight like this, and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for some more (officially countable) Ceruleans. You can find the link to that checklist and the photos therein here.

But what do you want to hear about July for! Without further ado, here are the results from today's count. The wind has been coming out of the south since last weekend's weak cold front rolled through, so south winds were what greeting the count today. Accordingly, individuals were engaging in what I would call "resumed" or "onward" migration, since most everything was headed directionally south, which what we tend to observe on days with southerly winds (although there's always a few individuals that change their mind once they reach the point and come back north). 

We are a still ways away from peak songbird migration, but one thing Cape May has in abundance at this time of year is aerial insectivores, which happen to be one of my favorite groups of birds. So it's no surprise that I was thrilled when they stole the show this morning! Specifically, we observed 313 southbound Purple Martins, followed by a smattering of Barn Swallows, Bank Swallows, Tree Swallows, a couple of Chimney Swifts, and a lone Northern Rough-winged Swallow. We even watched a female Purple Martin feed a juvenile in midair! That was something I had never seen before, and I was too awestruck to get a photo.

Just like Swallow-tailed Kites, Purple Martins always leave too soon. 

But at least they both get back early! 

On the warbler scene, Yellow Warblers predominated the small flight with 31 southbound individuals; to add a little diversity, singles of American Redstart, Prothonotary Warbler, and Worm-eating Warbler flew past the dike. Both Prothonotary and Worm-eating are a real treat to see in Morning Flight, since there’s not a huge amount of breeding real estate for either species to our north.

Much potential remains for good photos of Prothonotary Warbler in flight. 

Come try your optical luck before they leave for Central America! 

Oddly, we didn’t have a single waterthrush of either variety today. There are certainly lots of Northerns headed our way, but we need to savor every Louisiana we get while they make their all too brief passage through Cape May.

Nearing the end of the taxonomic order, we had a bit of southbound Icterid movement with 430 Red-winged Blackbirds, 62 Common Grackles, and best of all, 9 Orchard Orioles, another earlier speciality. House Finches also made their presence known as well 46 southbound migrants in attendance. And that just about does it for the morning! Thanks to Brett Ewald, David Weber, and Melissa Roach for their company and assistance on my first official day as counter.

Some readers may have noticed that the CMBO website is under construction, so our live migration count page is currently not functioning; if you are interested in looking at live counts from Morning Flight, please check the Trektellen website directly.

As always, the link to the Trektellen migration count can be found here, and the full eBird checklist is here.

Bring on Day Two!