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Several ML Birders from the Lumberton Campus put in a full day of birding, beginning at the Visitor’s Center for Ocean City, NJ. A heron rookery is situated behind the Center and birders have an excellent vantage point for viewing. Black-crowned and Yellow-crowned Night Herons, Glossy and White Ibis were all very abundant presenting their breeding plumage for all to see. A Little Blue Heron flew off away from us and made it on to our day list. Red-winged Blackbirds and Boat-tailed Grackles were also quite numerous.
We then headed down to the Cape May area and started at the state park at Cape May Point. Not much to be seen from the viewing platform except an abundance of Mute Swans. Walking the woodland boardwalk path got us a nice view of an immature male Orchard Oriole that we heard singing and finally tracked it down as it posed at the tip of a pine tree. We had a nice lunch overlooking the bay from Sunset Beach where several Brown Pelicans flew by as we chowed down in the shade of an outdoor pavilion.
We started our trek home by stopping at the Cape May Bird Observatory headquarters Northwood Center by Lily Lake. Not much doing there but we did add a Common Grackle, Carolina Wren and a late staying White-throated Sparrow. For the butterfly people a lovely grass skipper called a Zabulon gave us some nice looks. The Cape May Meadows was the next stop and we did pick up a few shorebirds. Lots of Semipalmated Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, a couple of Semipalmated Plovers and a nice Least Sandpiper viewed from the viewing blind.
Our final quest was to get the Red Knot. Reed’s Beach was our destination as we moved northward. Unfortunately, while Horseshoe Crab carapaces littered the shoreline and vast numbers of Laughing Gulls were rooting through the shore sediment there were no Red Knots. Luckily we met a couple of birders who told us to go to Norbury Beach which was only about five miles from Reed’s. Success!! Extremely low tide had them pretty far off the beach shore but easily spotted in the scope. Also picked up four Ruddy Turnstones. Nice way to end the day. We saw or heard 43 species.
Participants: Ethel Cebra, Holly Hoffman, Robert Koch, Miriam Swartz and Jean and Chris Tindall.
Bird List: 43 Species
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Mallard
Mourning Dove
Semipalmated Plover
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Short-billed Dowitcher
Laughing Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Least Tern
Forster’s Tern
DC Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Eastern Kingbird
Fish Crow
Carolina Wren
American Robin
Gray Catbird
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
House Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Orchard Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Text and photographs by Robert Koch
