Last year when we were setting up the upcoming bird trip calendar I suggested a couple of changes. One of them was a ~day~ trip to Cape May. Now some of you may think that's an awful lot of trip to fit into one day for a group. You are correct. Nevertheless our group consisting of Ian Resnick, Phil Uruburu, Lou and Nancy Tognan, and Jeff Ritter made our way down there to see what goodies awaited us. We were not disappointed!
When we arrived at our first destination Higbee Beach, it was unseasonably cold and very cloudy. As we began our walk another group was just finishing up theirs, and they told us that the birding was kind of quiet. Undeterred we headed down the path. We heard birds left and right but most were White-eyed Vireo and Carolina Wrens. Along with the expected Red-tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures we spotted Black Vulture as well as an adult Bald Eagle. The latter was one of three we had throughout the day. Bald Eagle = ‘trash bird’ nowadays... YAY!
One of the benefits of having gone this early in the season as Jeff pointed out was that the trees had not fully leafed out so it was much easier to see birds. Even so it was good to have Jeff and Ian available because we still relied upon hearing to find most of the birds that we saw. Even I heard a few things by setting my hearing aids to stun.
Titmice played with us making really weird noises and the Blue Jays did this as well, alerting us to the presence of a Sharp-shinned Hawk. Later on we saw a pair of Cooper's Hawks circling and frolicking with one another.
One of the birds we heard calling all around were Field Sparrows. Ironically they were not calling from within the field but instead at the tops of trees. So why aren’t they called Tree Sparrows? Because Tree Sparrows sing in fields! At least the sparrows were kind enough to give us great looks at them while they sat there and sang for us.
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| Field Sparrow |
And then we heard a Cuckoo. We all agreed it was a Cuckoo but it was a bit amusing that we all couldn't remember or decide whether it was a Yellow-billed or a Black-billed Cuckoo. We were all excited and walked towards the sound in order to see if we could track down the bird. Eventually we were able to figure out from where the bird was singing and Ian was the first to spot the bird sitting in vines behind a cedar. Although it was a bit obscured all of us got good looks and a few pictures.
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| Black-billed Cuckoo |
Continuing on I was surprised to spot a Green Heron fly by which only a few of us saw but a nice sighting nevertheless, while Phil deftly pulled a Purple Martin out of the air. The end of the field did not give up many warblers besides omnipresent Yellow-rumped, so we headed back. We added Indigo Bunting and Brown Thrasher and then heard another Cuckoo. This time it was a Yellow-billed! It was not as forthcoming as the Black-billed and I flippantly said it would show up back at the parking lot. It did! Not only that, it queued up in a tree and afforded great shots!
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| Yellow-billed Cuckoo |
Cuckoos by the way, are responsible for parasitizing a species completely out of existence. They were known to be “cuckoo for it”. No longer with us is Puffinis cocoa, or Nestle’s Auklet.
Our next stop was 'the Beanery'. Still overcast and late in the morning it was not as good as hoped but we added House Wren and Barn Swallow.
Our next stop was the lighthouse. Here we had more Martins and a full compliment of expected Gulls, Rough-winged Swallow, and Gannet. By now stomachs were grumbling and cannibalism was an imminent threat to me so we went off to procure victuals. With my demise averted and their attention focused upon their food I re-checked the local reports.
The previously reported Curlew Sandpiper and Ruff had been seen that morning so when we finished we headed to Heislerville WMA. Upon arrival we saw a line of birders focusing their attention out into the impoundment so we pulled into the parking lot. Encouraged by all the eyeballs pressed to the scopes I made haste to join them. Unfortunately I soon learned that the Ruff had not been seen recently and that they had not spotted the Curlew Sandpiper either.
Undeterred we all set up Scopes and begin scanning. There were many birders present and one of them offered to show me a photo of the Curlew Sandpiper so I would have a better idea of what plumage it was in. We had not been scanning for too long when a Peregrine Falcon put all the birds up. Oh joy. But hey, a Peregrine Falcon!
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| Shorebirds flying around. { ignore the bystanders' talking } |
There were hundreds of Dunlin, Short-billed Dowitchers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and a handful of other peeps out in the impoundment, now swirling about in the air. For a while it seems like they might not ever settle down again. But they did and eventually we began scanning the ever-growing mass of birds.
There were a lot of birds to pick through but despite the high numbers I saw a bird that was neither a Dunlin or a Dowitcher. It was the Curlew! I called everyone’s attention to it and Jersey birder Doug chimed in that he had just found it too. The Curlew Sandpiper cooperated for quite a while as folks lined up to get a look through my scope. It was one of those circumstances where the distance made explaining where the bird was for others to get on it exceedingly difficult. The bird however cooperated, and everyone present was able to get a view. Distance and lighting precluded a photo for me, but one was posted of this individual the next day >here< that is quite nice.
We continued to scan for some time, and checked other vantage points for the main pool hoping to find the Ruff. Unfortunately, we never were able to locate it, so with daylight burning we continued on to our next location.
The Belleplain Forest is a great place to bird. Here too, the trees were not leafed out yet so viewing was easier. We drove slowly and listened, and stopped here and there before getting to the first ‘stop’.
At the triangle, we got out and listened, and although it had been several years since I had been there I recognized the exact spot where I had seen Yellow-throated Warblers in the past, and that is where we heard singing and spotted one right away! Here we bumped into Doug and his co-conspirator Carole from the Heislerville location and the warblers kept coming! Black-and-white, Worm-eating, and Hooded! Great views of them all!
We didn’t scare up a Protho here, so we moved on to another location. There as before the birds were quite amenable and we soon got killer close up looks at the Prothonotary. Honestly, that bird is so gorgeous, I believe it ~wants~ us to look at it!
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| Prothonotary Warbler |
The drive was closed before the first turn, so we doubled back and headed to the other location. On route I spied Caspian Tern { the friendly Tern } and at the end of the road we scored Marsh Wren and Common-throat. Although only a few of us saw it, we got a glimpse of a Snipe as it flew from the nearby cattail stumps into the denser vegetation. Not bad!
We capped off the day with dinner at our traditional location, ‘The Office’ in Tom’s River, where celebratory beer was consumed with much rejoicing of a days birding par excellence.
We ended with a total of 96 species for the day. Nice! A map of the locations mentioned is located >here<.
Species List:
Brant
Wood Duck
American Black Duck
Mallard
Green-winged Teal
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Glossy Ibis
Clapper Rail
American Coot
American Oystercatcher
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Willet
Least Sandpiper
Wilson's Snipe
Caspian Tern
Tree Swallow
Marsh Wren
Seaside Sparrow
House Finch
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Gadwall
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
House Wren
Gray Catbird
Blue-winged Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Green Heron
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Black-billed Cuckoo
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
White-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Purple Martin
Tufted Titmouse
Carolina Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
American Robin
Brown Thrasher
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
Wild Turkey
Great Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Greater Yellowlegs
Lesser Yellowlegs
Curlew Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Forster's Tern
Peregrine Falcon
Yellow Warbler
Ovenbird
Worm-eating Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Prothonotary Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Pine Warbler
Yellow-throated Warbler
Prairie Warbler
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