Morning Flight, 25 August 2017

It was a fun Friday morning with a steady movement of songbirds. Highlights included great views of Black-and-white Warblers (52 counted!), Blackburnian Warblers, and Prairie Warblers, plus a bunch of super cute Blue-grey Gnatcatchers (who doesn't love those guys, right??).




Morning Flight Songbird Count for 8/25/2017
Species Count today Season total Season maximum
North South North South North only Date(s)
Mourning Dove 23 0 208 47 37 23-Aug
Chimney Swift 10 0 25 15 10 25-Aug
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2 0 44 7 12 20-Aug
Red-eyed Vireo 3 0 16 3 7 24-Aug
Purple Martin 3 0 202 109 51 24-Aug
Barn Swallow 18 0 72 346 20 20-Aug
Blue-grey Gnatcatcher 42 1 307 15 135 20-Aug
Cedar Waxwing 10 0 115 21 51 24-Aug
Louisiana Waterthrush 1 0 2 0 1 20-Aug
Northern Waterthrush 48 1 148 41 48 25-Aug
Louisiana/Northern Waterthrush 9 0 36 4 9 25-Aug
Blue-winged Warbler 1 0 6 0 3 24-Aug
Black-and-white Warbler 52 2 136 15 52 25-Aug
Tennessee Warbler 1 0 3 0 1 17-Aug
American Redstart 217 9 1505 50 622 20-Aug
Magnolia Warbler 1 0 2 0 1 20-Aug
Blackburnian Warbler 3 0 4 0 3 25-Aug
Chestnut-sided Warbler 4 0 17 0 8 24-Aug
Prairie Warbler 4 0 16 0 5 24-Aug
Blue Grosbeak 2 0 5 1 2 20-Aug
Indigo Bunting 0 1 17 5 6 16-Aug
Bobolink 34 51 259 579 67 20-Aug
Red-winged Blackbird 97 30 1049 775 316 24-Aug
Orchard Oriole 1 0 9 7 3 16-Aug
Baltimore Oriole 4 0 30 21 11 17-Aug


Morning Flight, 24 August 2017

Yowser!! There occurred a dense, diverse, and diverting flight this morning!  Thanks to all that visited and helped to keep tabs on it!  12 species of warblers including a Hooded, 5 Cape May and 8 Chestnut-sided Warblers were a highlight for sure.

check the totals:
http://www.trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170824

Morning Flight, 23 August 2017

Was it a typical early fall flight with not-so-conducive conditions? Sure, but the company was excellent and we enjoyed the few birds we did see. Morning Flight was slightly noticeable today and a Yellow-breasted Chat joined the cast of migrants today.

one of three southbound Belted Kingfishers
photo by Glen Davis

Morning Flight, 22 August 2017

The southwest wind, muggy feel of today may've kept the flight down but it just felt really nice with the great lighting and good studies to be had at most of the birds counted, plus how can you complain with Worm-eating, Blue-winged, and Yellow-throated Warblers?!

list:
http://www.trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170822

Morning Flight, 21 August 2017

A pleasant lackluster day, but what day in Cape May is completely lackluster when a Dickcissel comes zipping by? I think their was a lot of instinctual assortment going on with the behaviors of the birds this morning--  a light south breeze made for a more predominating southbound flight, for an interesting change in August, this 2017 season.

el bird listerino:
http://www.trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170821

Morning Flight, 20 August 2017

Lark Sparrow, Yellow-throated Warbler, and Louisiana Waterthrush were really fun highlights from today's very strong flight. 622 American Redstart, with 56 Yellow and 40 Black-and-white Warbler, was a very good showing.  Other neotropical highlights included Scarlet Tanager and less common warblers such as Nashville, Blackburnian, Pine, and Canada. 135 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and 386 Eastern Kingbird were also impressive to see. 

Let's go back to weblink format for now:
http://www.trektellen.org/count/view/1746/20170820

backlit Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
photo by: Glen Davis

Scarlet Tanager
photo by Glen Davis

Morning Flight, 19 August 2017

Hello Morning Flighters,
Saturday weather was a continuation of Friday's andvthe migration volume was low. Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Blue-winged Warbler, and Dickcissel were the uncommon birds for the time of season.

Here's the data table:


UUUUUUUURRRPP!!  Hold up. Did we forget to tell you that two days ago was a phenomenal flight for Northern Mockingbird??  Uh yes apparently that happened. There were 15 Northern Mockingbird, all juveniles, in one flock!

photo by: Glen Davis

Morning Flight, 18 August 2017

Happy Friday and happy birding, everyone! Although I've spent many a morning atop the dirt mound we call the Higbee Dike, today was my first time as the official counter. For those who don't yet know, I will be the Migration Count Coordinator this season, and one of the primary duties is to serve as the Swing Counter to give primary counters much needed days off.


With the South winds overnight and this morning, there was but a trickle of migrants today, but it's hard NOT to be excited just to be out birding in Cape May.




Click below to see today's count:
http://104.131.62.63/cgi/migration02.cgi?watch=MF&whn=2017-08-18&header=yes

Morning Flight, 17 August 2017

Today, a little team of us morning flight aficionados spent the first three daylight hours observing what was new at Higbee.

Non-songbird highlights were a high, calling, southbound Baird's Sandpiper, up to 11 Willets of likely the "Western" variety, and a Gull-billed Tern heading Northeast.

Perhaps the last remnants of a weak inland cold-front met with some mild coastal air to create the cool and humid feel this morning.  Winds quickly shifted after daybreak from west to northeast but were always very weak in intensity.

Decent numbers of American Redstart and Yellow Warbler mixed with some variety like Prothonotary and Tennessee made for an enjoyable time.  Some rarer birds like Dickcissel, and especially the funky detection of a Horned Lark flying north, high overhead were a cool distraction.

I'll try posting todays list as an image for ease of viewing:


Morning Flight, 16 August 2017

CMBO's 2017 Morning Flight Project began today to mark the start of the 15th full-season for observing and counting migrating songbirds in Cape May, at Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area. 

We saw a few nice neotropical migrants with good looks at Cape May Warbler and Orchard Oriole.

here's today's tally:
http://104.131.62.63/cgi/migration02.cgi?watch=MF&whn=2017-08-16&header=yes

I share your joy in this commencement day, and so I refer to this feeling with you in the form of a happy selfie that was shot by the counter this morning:


Avalon Seawatch, 21 December 2016

     The first day of winter was mild with temperatures in the mid 40s and a light breeze out of the north west. Clouds covered most of the sky but the sun managed to peak through on several occasions. Around 1,000 birds were counted at the seawatch and there is just one more day left in the season! The most sighted species today were Scoters and loons.

   Be sure to join us at the seawatch tomorrow for the last day of the count!

Avalon Seawatch, 22 December 2016

     The season has officially ended! After 92 days of counting migrating water birds from Avalon's beautiful beaches a total of 776,412 individuals were counted moving south for the winter. Today's total  was 662 birds with most being Scoters. The weather was amazing for our last day, with temperatures in the 50s and wind light and variable. Visibility was also great! Click the link below to see our totals and peak counts for the season on the trektellen website:

http://trektellen.org/site/totals/1747/2016

     Throughout the season we had lots of visitors and volunteers helping with the count and we owe an immense amount of gratitude for their company and support! A huge thanks to Gail Dwyer for spending endless afternoons and frigid cold days by my side and admiring full fledged migration at the seawatch. Hope to see everyone next year on 8th and 9th street beach in Avalon for another season of counting migration!

Avalon Seawatch, 18 December 2016


It was another slow day with very few birds at the seawatch.  The highlight today was definitely the weather.  It started out clear, sunny, and warm with southern winds.  Around lunchtime the clouds started to roll in.  Right before the sun set dark storm clouds passed over us and brought with it wind gusts up to 36 mph!   


The top three species observed today were dunlin, long-tailed duck, and red-breasted merganser.  The total number of birds observed was 324 of 17 different species.  The season total for birds so far is 769,319.  Check out the full set of data below to see what was counted today.

Avalon Seawatch count for 12/18/2016
Species
Count today
Season total
Season maximum

Count
Date(s)

18
181182
15583
11/24/2016

1
1878
795
11/14/2016

11
2618
305
11/23/2016

3
1480
376
10/24/2016

1
148000
10151
10/11/2016

120
256
120
12/18/2016

5
884
54
12/12/2016

2
879
102
12/15/2016

1
1589
197
11/24/2016

66
823
160
12/16/2016

2
60923
6143
11/24/2016

6
12
6
12/17/2016
12/18/2016

36
892
122
12/5/2016

19
68880
7293
11/24/2016

8
7848
1515
11/22/2016

17
561
166
10/13/2016

8
91979
10310
11/1/2016

Avalon Seawatch, 17 December 2016

Only 222 birds flew by the Avalon seawatch today.  It was very rainy for most of the day with winds that blew from the southeast. The top three species observed were long-tailed duck, surf scoter, and red-breasted merganser.  Check out the full set of data below.
 
Avalon Seawatch count for 12/17/2016
Species
Count today
Season total
Season maximum

Count
Date(s)

22
181164
15583
11/24/2016

1
277
114
10/13/2016

2
3511
1803
11/21/2016

4
1477
376
10/24/2016

9
136
93
10/13/2016

3
879
54
12/12/2016

2
877
102
12/15/2016

9
1588
197
11/24/2016

40
757
160
12/16/2016

4
60921
6143
11/24/2016

6
6
6
12/17/2016

29
856
122
12/5/2016

16
68861
7293
11/24/2016

8
7840
1515
11/22/2016

3
9
3
9/24/2016
11/6/2016
12/17/2016

3
544
166
10/13/2016

7
384
166
12/5/2016

35
91971
10310
11/1/2016

19
34649
4115
11/1/2016


Visit us between 8th and 9th street at Avalon to do some seawatching!