Cape May, October 16, 2024
A beautiful day, with thousands of Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warblers and plenty of hawks to watch.
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A beautiful day, with thousands of Myrtle (Yellow-rumped) Warblers and plenty of hawks to watch.
We enjoyed a very pretty walk through historic Batsto village to the lake, which was mirror-calm. Later, we looked for a Red-headed Woodpecker along a sand road near Chatsworth, but instead found the Pine Barrens endemic plant “Pyxie” in full bloom.
This year’s annual Winter Census on the Lumberton campus on January 23 was cold, but relatively productive, recording 47 species and 5,166 individuals.
The 2022 Medford Campus Winter census was held on January 15. On that day, the temperature barely reached 25° F by noon; twenty-three species were recorded with a total of 850 individuals.
Twelve of the 13 nest boxes with metal poles and predator guards successfully fledged young with no predation. Several boxes had more than one successful nest. The bluebird success rate (#young fledged/#eggs) increased from 23.3% in 2020 to 85.7% in 2021. Tree Swallows and House Wrens also had significant improvement in 2021.
There are many nesting boxes at Lumberton Leas. While they all could accommodate bluebirds, most of the poles were wood (which black snakes and raccoons can climb) with no predator guard. In an effort to reduce predation, 12 of the original boxes on wooden poles have been replaced with boxes on metal poles with predator guards.
Summary table of Medford Leas winter bird census data from 1989 to present
A summary table of Winter Bird Census data for both Medford and Lumberton campuses, from 1989 to date.
The ML Birders conducted their annual winter census on 01/23/2021 for the Medford Campus . The weather was very cold and windy with brilliant sunshine. The only modification we had to make to the old adage of “no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing” was the addition of the socially responsible mask.
The ML Birders conducted their annual winter census on 01/15/2021 for the Lumberton Campus. The weather was hazy sun with temperature in the low to mid 40’s.
Groups led by Robert Koch walked the Lumberton campus and woods in the morning and the Medford campus and woods in the afternoon of December 27, 2020. The day’s highlight was a group of three Bald Eagles, possibly a family, as they perched in the evening light in the trees between Lumberton and Creekview.
We started our count in the community garden area under bright sun and a chilly 24 F. Fortunately it was a dead calm day so the wind-chill factor was negligible. Most of the birds we expected to see were present but there were also unexpected misses.
It was a great day to count the birds!! Bright and sunny day with calm winds and temperatures ranging from mid-40’s to low 50’s. The usual Winter population of song birds was present although some birds, like the Great Horned Owl seen on consecutive days on its roost, were missing. The variety and number of ducks were also lower than the past few censuses.
We began our census under gray skies and cool weather and it remained such throughout. However, it turned out to be a rather birdy morning as we totaled 28 species and 574 individuals.
The 20th Winter Bird Census was conducted on a bright and sunny day with winds increasing through the morning. The high winds might have accounted for the low count of song and woodland birds.
On December 23 2019, the Medford Leas birders contributed a day’s censusing to the Audubon Christmas Bird Count.
The Medford Leas Birders set out to get some idea of the spring migrants that visit our campuses, as well as recording some numbers on our resident populations. Overall we totaled 30 species on each campus.
The ML Birders had to postpone their count by a day due to inclement weather. However, a late afternoon walk on the count day did garner three raptors and one duck species.
Four ML Birders lucked out with a bright, sunny, windless and by mid-morning almost “balmy” day to count the campus birds. Most of the expected birds we commonly see were present
After two rainy and windy days the ML Birders were able to take their census on a day that, weather wise at least, improved through the morning and ended in bright sun and relatively warm temperatures.
The Medford Leas avian census takers met at the Nature Center on a dreary day for the numerators as well as the objects of their pursuit. The woodland trails were eerily silent with only a scattering of birds seen or heard.
A cold (upper 20’s) sunny but windless day greeted the ML Birders at the start of the count. It was spotty for land birds early on but good for waterfowl.
On a cold blustery day the Medford Leas Birders met at the Nature Center at 8 a.m. to commence our sightings and listings. While the temperature never got out of the 20’s the bright sun slowly began to warm the day and rouse the birds.
In February ML birders heard a presentation of Scott McConnell’s new book Witmer Stone, The Fascination of Nature. Witmer Stone was an ornithologist in the early 20th century who wrote Bird Studies in Old Cape May.