Day 281: October 7th – Up to Stone Harbor

Overcast with periods of rain, a chilly 56 degrees

       With the winds coming out of the northwest, we once again venture out to Higbee Beach Wildlife Management Area in Cape May, NJ.  The winds will hopefully help the migrating warblers fly south while the threatening weather may deter the birds from flying across the Bay.  What this means, hopefully, is that we will have plenty of birds which have flown all night and are now ready to hold fast here at Cape May and spend their time searching for insects to refuel their tanks.

       The skies are dark and the contrast between the birds and the trees in which they are perched is minimal making identification difficult at best.  Since most warblers have very similar silhouettes and are not singing at this time, we’ll have a tough time telling whether a bird is a Yellow-rump or a Chestnut-sided.  Even Northern flickers and small hawks look similar from long distances until they turn their heads and give us a good profile of their heads.

       We continue to walk the trails of the fields at Higbee in search of new species, and in spite of seeing hundreds of birds flying into the area and landing in the fully leafed trees, we can only guess as to the id of many of the birds.

       One sighting of interest which we can make without great light is the beautiful elegant porcelain berries.  With a soft sheen like fine china, these blue, pink and purple berries attract a number of birds.  Unfortunately, the vines are agreesive and grow rapidly, choking out the native species.  Once again, it seems that beauty is only skin deep.

    

          As the skies darken and the rains begin to fall, we head north to Stone Harbor to check on the beaches and bays of the area.  We find what we hope for including this Least sandpipers, American oystercatchers, Red knots, egrets, herons, cormorants, and Brant.

       Lesser yellowlegs are working the flats but become skittish as we park the cars and emerge.   I manage to get off a quick shot as they depart.

       Finally, we have a nice close-up encounter with one of our most colorful warblers.  Even in fall foliage, the bright yellow, blue and green hues of the Northern parula glow in spite of being seen in the dim light of the rainy skies. 

     The rain is increasing now and it’s time to forfeit the rest of the day to the elements.  We have one more half day to see what other migrants we can find in this most productive birding venue.  Regardless of the weather, there is always a good possibility of observing some new travelers as they head south to Florida, Central and South America.  With the weather turning 25 degrees colder in the past two day, these birds may get a lot of human traveling companions in the very near future.