Birding Cape May Point - Saturday, August 4, 2018

If you look at a distribution map for the occurrence of Royal Terns, you'll see an unusual pattern. Royal Terns typically do a northerly post-breeding dispersal from their breeding grounds to our south up to areas as far north as Massachusetts and sometimes even Maine. It's that time of year and we were tipped off to it this morning by the late-summer sound of Royal Terns overhead. The beach held a large mixed group of terns with a few Royals easily identified by their larger size and "bad hair" look.

Leaders: Kathy Horn, Roger Horn, Michael McCabe

52 species

11 Canada Goose

45 Mute Swan

28 Mallard

4 Great Egret

1 Little Blue Heron

1 Green Heron

2 Black Vulture

3 Turkey Vulture

4 Osprey (carolinensis)

2 American Oystercatcher

8 Least Sandpiper

1 Spotted Sandpiper

4 Greater/Lesser Yellowlegs

15 Laughing Gull

2 Herring Gull (American)

6 Great Black-backed Gull

40 Least Tern

8 Common Tern

15 Forster's Tern

75 Common/Forster's Tern

6 Royal Tern

5 Mourning Dove

10 Chimney Swift

2 Ruby-throated Hummingbird

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker

7 Eastern Kingbird

2 Blue Jay

2 American Crow

1 Fish Crow

22 Purple Martin

5 Tree Swallow

5 Barn Swallow (American)

5 Carolina Chickadee

1 House Wren

7 Carolina Wren

5 American Robin

2 Gray Catbird

2 Northern Mockingbird

8 European Starling

2 Cedar Waxwing

4 Common Yellowthroat

4 Yellow Warbler

3 Field Sparrow

1 Song Sparrow

8 Northern Cardinal

2 Blue Grosbeak

1 Indigo Bunting

3 Orchard Oriole

24 Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged)

2 Common Grackle

3 House Finch

6 American Goldfinch 

Great Egret photo by Roger horn

Tree Swallow photo by Roger Horn

Bird Walk for all People - Thursday, August 2, 2018

Warm, humid and sunny. Good numbers of terns, 4 species representing.  Least and spotted sandpipers, 4 species of swallows, 4 female orchard orioles and a male calling.and a juvenile little blue heron to complete the highlights. 

Leaders: Chuck Slugg , Mary Watkins , Karl Lukens 
43 species

Canada Goose  1
Mute Swan  42
Mallard  14
Great Egret  2
Little Blue Heron  1
Green Heron  1
Osprey  5
American Oystercatcher  2
Sanderling  1
Least Sandpiper  2
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Greater Yellowlegs  5
Lesser Yellowlegs  10
Laughing Gull  17
Great Black-backed Gull  4
Least Tern  7
Common Tern  8
Forster's Tern  18
Royal Tern  1
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  1
Mourning Dove  6
Chimney Swift  4
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Fish Crow  2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1
Purple Martin  22
Tree Swallow  8
Barn Swallow  7
Carolina Wren  8
American Robin  9
Northern Mockingbird  5
Cedar Waxwing  8
Common Yellowthroat  4
Field Sparrow  6
Song Sparrow  4
Northern Cardinal  4
Indigo Bunting  2
Orchard Oriole  5
Red-winged Blackbird  12
House Finch  2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Laughing Gull and terns photo by Karl Lukens

Osprey photo by Karl Lukens

Wild Turkeys photo by Karl Lukens

Sunset Birding at the Meadows - Wednesday, August 1, 2018

38 species

Canada Goose  23
Mute Swan  3
Mallard  9
Great Egret  1
Snowy Egret  3
Osprey  4
American Oystercatcher  4
Killdeer  6
Sanderling  120
Least Sandpiper  12
Semipalmated Sandpiper  68
Spotted Sandpiper  2
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Lesser Yellowlegs  1
Laughing Gull  17
Ring-billed Gull  1
Lesser Black-backed Gull  1
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Least Tern  6
Common Tern  24
Forster's Tern  2
Mourning Dove  10
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Purple Martin  4
Tree Swallow  48
Barn Swallow  2
Carolina Wren  1
American Robin  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
Cedar Waxwing  1
Common Yellowthroat  5
Field Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  1
Northern Cardinal  1
Blue Grosbeak  1
Indigo Bunting  1
Red-winged Blackbird  13
Common Grackle  4

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Birding the Meadows - Monday, July 30, 2018

43 species

Canada Goose  10
Mallard  18
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  2
Snowy Egret  3
Little Blue Heron  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Glossy Ibis  28
Osprey  2
American Oystercatcher  6
Semipalmated Plover  3
Killdeer  2
Sanderling  39
Least Sandpiper  9
Semipalmated Sandpiper  48
Short-billed Dowitcher  3
Spotted Sandpiper  2
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Lesser Yellowlegs  3
Laughing Gull  39
Least Tern  9
Common Tern  5
Mourning Dove  7
Chimney Swift  2
Purple Martin  8
Tree Swallow  14
Barn Swallow  6
Carolina Wren  3
Gray Catbird  1
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  2
Cedar Waxwing  5
Common Yellowthroat  7
Yellow Warbler  1
Field Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  4
Yellow-breasted Chat  1
Blue Grosbeak  1
Indigo Bunting  2
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Common Grackle  8
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Common Tern photo by Karl Lukens

Sanderling photo by Karl Lukens

Sunset Beach - Sunday, July 29, 2018

53 species

Mallard  5
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  7
Snowy Egret  12
Little Blue Heron  1
Green Heron  12     Careful count. Good views overlooking Pond Creek marsh.
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Glossy Ibis  14
Osprey  3
Cooper's Hawk  1
Bald Eagle  1     Chasing osprey
Clapper Rail  2
Semipalmated Plover  1
Killdeer  1
Ruddy Turnstone  1
Sanderling  7
Least Sandpiper  20
Semipalmated Sandpiper  10
Short-billed Dowitcher  40
Spotted Sandpiper  12     Seen many places along banks of Cape Island Creek. Multiple birds at once
Greater Yellowlegs  4
Lesser Yellowlegs  3
Laughing Gull  50
Herring Gull  4
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Least Tern  3
Forster's Tern  10
Rock Pigeon (Feral Pigeon)  3
Mourning Dove  4
Eastern Kingbird  2
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  4
Purple Martin  4
Tree Swallow  6
Barn Swallow  8
Carolina Wren  3
American Robin  1
Northern Mockingbird  2
Cedar Waxwing  4
Common Yellowthroat  9
Yellow Warbler  4
Seaside Sparrow  1
Chipping Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  2
Northern Cardinal  1
Indigo Bunting  2
Orchard Oriole  1
Red-winged Blackbird  4
House Finch  5
American Goldfinch  2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)

Birding Cape May Point - Saturday, July 28th, 2018

A Great-crested Flycatcher family was really putting on a show today, with 5 birds calling, fly catching and chasing each other through the trees toward the back of the park. Many robins - most spot-breasted young-of-the-year birds - were also there, actively feeding. A Yellow-billed Cuckoo moved through at a leisurely pace, giving us an opportunity to see the uniquely patterned long tail, as well as the bright yellow, decurved bill. 

Leaders: Kathy Horn, Roger Horn, Michael McCabe

47 species

Canada Goose  12
Mute Swan  40
Mallard  45
Great Egret  1
Little Blue Heron  3
Green Heron  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Black Vulture  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Osprey (carolinensis)  2
American Oystercatcher  1
Killdeer  1
Least Sandpiper  4
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Willet (Eastern)  1
Lesser Yellowlegs  1
Laughing Gull  15
Herring Gull (American)  3
Least Tern  17
Common Tern  7
Forster's Tern  30
Mourning Dove  2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1
Chimney Swift  1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern)  1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted)  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  5
Eastern Kingbird  1
Blue Jay  2
Purple Martin  15
Tree Swallow  2
Barn Swallow (American)  3
House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  5
American Robin  20
Gray Catbird  1
Northern Mockingbird  3
Cedar Waxwing  8
Common Yellowthroat  6
Field Sparrow  6
Song Sparrow  1
Northern Cardinal  5
Indigo Bunting  5
Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged)  12
Common Grackle  2

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)