Day 280: October 6th – Cape May Birding

Sunny, cooler, and light southerly winds

       Up at the crack of dawn (or before) to get out to one of Cape May’s premier hot spots, Higbee Beach.  If you’re not at the parking lot by 6:45, the other birders will have the entire lot filled and you’ll have to walk a considerable distance from the overflow lot.  Anyway, no problem as we are only the third car in the lot and have plenty of time to down our breakfast sandwiches and coffee.

       As we head out to the trail around the fields of the refuge, one thing becomes very evident.  When you have large numbers of warblers and other small birds migrating through an area, you are bound to attract a large number of raptors which feed on these little guys as well.  And so it is….there is a constant stream of Sharp-shinned hawks, Merlins, Peregrines, and Cooper’s hawks streaking across the sky, often in pursuit of a small tasty bird just ahead of them.  The chase is something to watch, and although we never saw a little guy get nailed, you just know that none of these predators is going to go hungry today.

Cooper's hawk

       After hiking around the Higbee Beach area, we headed over to the Hawk Watch area where a Clay-colored sparrow has been sighted.  We hike over to the brush pile where the bird was seen and after a short time find the bird.  Clay-colored sparrows are not a common bird in the northeast, and so this is a fine addition to the day’s count. 

       The next stop is a site called the “Magic Tree”, a Siberian elm in which aphids  hole up to hibernate.  The warblers probe into the fissures of the tree, excavating the aphids which are a tasty morsel.  Today, the tree is less productive than usual, perhaps because of the higher than normal temperatures, but it still produces several nice warblers such as this Bay-breasted warbler.

       Warblers are not the only birds attracted to the tree, and this Red-breasted nuthatch, one of many seen this weekend, was taking advantage of the feast as well.

       We rounded out the day with a cruise on the waters surrounding Cape May in search of waders and shorebirds.  While on the water, we had a good many sightings of another species of bird heading south in droves….the Double-creasted cormorant. 

Tri-colored heron

       Other hard to find species spotted on the cruise included American bittern, Tri-colored heron, Oyster catchers, and Little blue herons.  At the end of the day, we all had to agree that it was a great day for birding and a great day to be out with so many of our friends and fellow birders.  The birding community is certainly a special social group, one we are happy to be a part of.