News from New Jersey: Cape May
WINGS recently had another successful run to the Jersey shore; pleasant weather, good food, a welcoming community of birders and fantastic birding all made for an excellent trip! We had several good days of raptor migration, tons of excellent looks at flocks of staging shorebirds (20 species in all!), and hunted down most of the salt marsh specialties including a couple last-minute saves. We had some fantastic looks at warblers at the beginning of the tour, but a pair of tropical storms offshore in the Atlantic pushed an air mass over the east coast that was not favorable for long-distance neotropical migrants and our warblers diminished over the week. We recorded 142 species for the week, including highlights such as Black Scoter, Red Knot, Marbled Godwit, American Bittern, Parasitic Jaeger, Blue Grosbeak, Dickcissel and Red-headed Woodpeckers. What I enjoyed the most was how eager everyone was to learn how to identify birds in flight as they migrated by. As the week went along, everyone became more savvy, leaning the tricks of separating Sharp-shinned and Coopers Hawks or American Kestrels from Merlins. One of the best parts of visiting such a high-volume migration hotspot is the repeat views of many individuals of the same species and we had several mornings with rivers of falcons passing overhead!
We were treated to an excellent falcon show with many dozens of Merlins and American Kestrels as well as over 20 Peregrine Falcons, including this juvenile bird arriving from its tundra nesting grounds.
We enjoyed several evenings of birding the grounds at Cape May Bird Observatory’s visitor center, where we had some great in-your-face warbler views…
We got excellent looks at this stealthy marsh denizen in the form of an American Bittern.
We explored a coastal oak forest one morning where we had numerous family groups of Red-headed Woodpeckers, one of the most striking looking birds in all of North America!
Compared to the woodpecker, female Blue Grosbeaks are positively demure in appearance but we were very excited to see this bird as they are typically an early migrant and long gone before this tour runs.
At our last birding stop for the tour, we made one more attempt to find Saltmarsh Sparrows and Clapper Rails which had eluded our gaze for the run of the tour and were treated to excellent looks of both species!
Our farewell dinner at one of the many wonderful restaurants that we enjoyed every evening!
Cape May truly is a most charming place to visit! This is the historic Cape May Lighthouse as we came back across the Delaware Bay on the Lewes Ferry.
