I stayed down the shore on Sunday night to avoid traffic (what's new) and to get one more morning of birding in at Higbee beach before the work week began. Boy, am I glad I did that. Higbee has been relatively slow birding with a few warblers here and there. Good quality but not the quantity that Higbee is known for in the fall. Granted, it is still early in the season.
I arrive at the parking lot at 6:30 AM and took Peanut out to field 4 to avoid the crowds of birders who were assembled in field 1. I immediately knew that something special was happening when we looked at the dawn sky and saw hundreds of warblers shooting past us headed north. Hundreds of birds whizzing by, not stopping, just flying fast. The few that did land for a minute took off immediately. It was the kind of morning where you don't need binoculars, you just stand there and watch the flight. By 7 AM, I had seen thousands of birds fly past.
A couple of birders who were new to Higbee asked if this was normal. Normal? No. Something special? Yes. In fact, the official bird counters from NJ Audubon tallied 56,000 + warblers (just warblers) that morning. They counted 40,000 birds in under 1 hour. And then just like that, they were all gone. By 8:30 AM the spectacle was over with just a few birds passing by. Amazing. You should read the full report here: http://cmboviewfromthecape.blogspot.com/2015/09/a-monday-for-history-books.html .
No photos to show you from that day. Photography wasn't the point. Witnessing the event was enough. A memory of a lifetime.
Showing posts with label higbee. Show all posts
Showing posts with label higbee. Show all posts
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Getting Ready for Fall
It's not even September yet but us birders are already in fall migration mode. I told you about the shorebirds that are starting to show up after their brief month of breeding in the arctic. Now, the warblers and other songbirds are starting to show up too. Believe me, it's not like everyone is out birding. There are only a few of us out there (which is nice) but we are being rewarded for our efforts.
Last weekend was pretty slow but Harvey and I found a plethora of Sundews by the lake at Higbee. I was told that this is the southern-most spot in the US to find these carnivorous plants. The "dew" is actually a sticky substance that traps insects. The plant absorbs nutrients from the dying bug. This one has a dead bug on one of it's sticky leaves (2 o'clock).
Barbara and I went to Higbee on Sat and met up with Harvey and George. Vireos were the bird of the day - most Red-eyed with a few other types mixed in. This one posed behind some white flowers for me.
This White-eyed Vireo bounced around in the bushes too.
Yellow warblers have a beautifully subtle tone this time of year. Not that bright "hey, mate with me" yellow like in spring.
Today, I had the whole Higbee field to myself. Of course, that was because all of the other birders are smarter than me and knew that the winds weren't good for migration. They all went somewhere else or slept in. I wasn't alone by any means. I was accompanied by about a bizillion of my closest mosquito friends. At one point, I literally ran back to the parking lot to try to escape the little blood-suckers.
They weren't everywhere. Just in the fields. Peanut and I kept to the wide sand paths for the rest of the morning and had some good luck. Here is a male Redstart knocking the dust off of a moth before eating it for breakfast. Check out the dust flying.
I kind of feel bad for the moth. That poor thing was really beaten to death.
Peanut and I walked the beach and the roads. We found this beautiful Northern Waterthrush along the road in a muddy ditch. I love the soft yellow tones on this bird.
Waterthrushes are tail-bobbers. I caught this one mid-bob as it was walking down the mud pile.
All in all, a nice few days catching early migrants. The smarter birders were all chasing after fun shorebirds but I didn't have it me today. I'll get them next time.
Last weekend was pretty slow but Harvey and I found a plethora of Sundews by the lake at Higbee. I was told that this is the southern-most spot in the US to find these carnivorous plants. The "dew" is actually a sticky substance that traps insects. The plant absorbs nutrients from the dying bug. This one has a dead bug on one of it's sticky leaves (2 o'clock).
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| Sundew |
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| Red-eyed Vireo |
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| White-eyed Vireo |
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| Yellow warbler |
They weren't everywhere. Just in the fields. Peanut and I kept to the wide sand paths for the rest of the morning and had some good luck. Here is a male Redstart knocking the dust off of a moth before eating it for breakfast. Check out the dust flying.
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| Redstart with moth |
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| Redstart with moth |
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| Northern Waterthrush |
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| Northern Waterthrush |
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Big Fall Weekend
Magical. That is the feeling on days like today when you witness migration on a mass scale. I knew it was going to be a good morning based on weather predictions of NW winds and it was. Deb, Jay and Brendan picked a terrific weekend to visit.
We started at the canal and watched literally hundreds and thousands of birds fly past us for about 30 minutes. Mostly Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers with a good scattering of Flickers mixed in. It was breath-taking. It is too much to try to photograph. We just kind of stand there and watch.
After a while, we headed to the fields to see individual birds. We saw alot of sparrows, kinglets and Yellow-rumps. And then, a birding friend, Larry, pointed out a Blue-headed Vireo - one of my favorites. This bird put on a show devouring a praying mantis. It had the head decapitated and eaten by the time I could start shooting.
It tried to gulp down big pieces of the bug. You can see it had a hard time.
Birds have something called a nictating membrane on their eyes - kind of like a translucent eyelid which they use to protect their eyes. You can see it here. The bird uses the membrane to protect the eye from any stray body parts that might scratch it while they gulp down bugs. It makes total sense since the bird would not be able to survive if anything went wrong with it's eye.
There is a whole group of finches that they call the "winter finches" which include Pine Siskins, Purple Finches, Crossbills, and some Grosbeaks. This is going to be a good year for Purple Finches - so says the "Finch Forecast" which is based on seed production of pine trees in Canada. Some guy looks at the cones of each species of pine/spruce tree and then predicts that some finches will travel south due to not having enough seeds for them to remain in Canada for the winter. It is proving to be true. We saw a dozen Purple Finches today alone. We usually see one or even none in a given winter. Here is one chowing down on some berries at Higbee beach. This is a young male or female that isn't purple yet.
We had a terrific morning, then headed out to breakfast at our regular joint - Villas Diner - and then headed back to the field. The day definitely quieted down. We stumbled upon 2 Pectoral Sandpipers at the State Park. The first of the season for me. I struggled with the ID on this one and had to ask Harvey for help. He is the shorebird expert.
More to come. The weekend is only half done.
We started at the canal and watched literally hundreds and thousands of birds fly past us for about 30 minutes. Mostly Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers with a good scattering of Flickers mixed in. It was breath-taking. It is too much to try to photograph. We just kind of stand there and watch.
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| Phoebe - quick rest |
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| Blue-headed Vireo - with Praying Mantis |
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| Blue-headed Vireo |
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| Blue-headed Vireo - nictitating membrane |
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| Purple Finch |
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| Pectoral Sandpiper |
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Morning at Higbee
Higbee beach is the place to be in fall migration. We go most weekend mornings and arrive just after sunrise. This new Daylight Savings Time schedule is great because we really don't have to be there before 7:30 or so. This weekend was particularly spectacular - not for the diversity of species, but for sheer numbers of birds. NJ Audubon and other researchers have a guy stationed up on the dredge spoil mound counting birds as they fly by. He counted 31,000 Yellow-rumped Warblers on Sunday morning. He counted 7,600 Robins. And hundreds of other birds too. Mind you, he only counts until about 11 AM. On Monday, he added another 10,000 Yellow-rumps and 8,700 Robins plus others for a total of 60,000+ birds over the 2 mornings. That's alot of birds folks!
Birders and a few fisherman are usually the only people around Higbee beach that early in the morning, but Sunday was a bit unusual. There were trucks and workmen and boats and ATVs in the parking lot when we arrived. It seems like some old guy drove his boat into the Cape May canal jetty on Friday night and sunk it. The workmen were there trying to figure out how to get it towed. This guy didn't miss by a little bit. He missed by alot! Look where he hit the jetty. The beach is just out of the picture at the bottom of the frame.
Back in the fields, we just stood there looking up watching birds fly overhead. Some of them landed but most kept flying. Here are a few photos of the birds that landed. Unfortunately, it is really hard to capture the flight in photos or even video. It is just too expansive to document. You'll have to experience it for yourself sometime.
Here are 2 birds that look the same from a distance, but are quite different species. The first bird is Blue Grosbeak (notice the big beak). The second bird is Indigo Bunting. Both birds are bright blue in spring/ summer and dull tan/brown in fall/winter.
Here are a few sparrows. The first bird is Swamp Sparrow. The second bird is Chipping Sparrow.
We probably saw over 1,000 Yellow-rumped warblers in the trees and in the field on Sunday. Here are a few other species that actually landed. The fist bird is Tennessee Warbler - kind of dull olive and plain looking. The second bird is Palm Warbler. These birds can be kind of dull and plain too, but this guy was still in his yellow and chestnut finest.
Finally, here are another pair of birds that look similar. Mocking bird is first and Brown Thrasher second. This is probably one of the best photos I have of Mockingbird. Even though they are common birds, they are still fun to photograph. The Thrasher photo was a coup for me. They are usually hidden behind bushes and branches making it difficult to get a decent photo. Neither of these photos are barely cropped. Both birds popped up pretty close and posed nicely.
Stay tuned. I have alot of stuff coming at you this week. More from last weekend AND something very different coming up next weekend.
Birders and a few fisherman are usually the only people around Higbee beach that early in the morning, but Sunday was a bit unusual. There were trucks and workmen and boats and ATVs in the parking lot when we arrived. It seems like some old guy drove his boat into the Cape May canal jetty on Friday night and sunk it. The workmen were there trying to figure out how to get it towed. This guy didn't miss by a little bit. He missed by alot! Look where he hit the jetty. The beach is just out of the picture at the bottom of the frame.
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| Boat Wreck - Cape May Canal Jetty |
Back in the fields, we just stood there looking up watching birds fly overhead. Some of them landed but most kept flying. Here are a few photos of the birds that landed. Unfortunately, it is really hard to capture the flight in photos or even video. It is just too expansive to document. You'll have to experience it for yourself sometime.
Here are 2 birds that look the same from a distance, but are quite different species. The first bird is Blue Grosbeak (notice the big beak). The second bird is Indigo Bunting. Both birds are bright blue in spring/ summer and dull tan/brown in fall/winter.
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| Blue Grosbeak |
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| Indigo Bunting |
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| Swamp Sparrow |
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| Chipping Sparrow |
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| Tennessee Warbler |
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| Palm Warbler |
Finally, here are another pair of birds that look similar. Mocking bird is first and Brown Thrasher second. This is probably one of the best photos I have of Mockingbird. Even though they are common birds, they are still fun to photograph. The Thrasher photo was a coup for me. They are usually hidden behind bushes and branches making it difficult to get a decent photo. Neither of these photos are barely cropped. Both birds popped up pretty close and posed nicely.
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| Northern Mockingbird |
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| Brown Thrasher |
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Passing
I'm wondering if it can get any worse. My last post was Wed April 29th about how crazy the last few weeks have been. I thought that it would calm down a little - then my Dad passed away on Friday. He has been suffering for a long time with MS and recently needed long term care and was in and out of the hospital with respiratory issues. This time he just didn't make it. I'm not one for the "he's in a better place" but at least he's not suffering in the nursing home anymore.
On to the birding part of the blog. That's right. My sister and I had pre-arranged my father's cremation and services a few weeks ago, so there were only a few things to take care of on Friday. We (the PhillyBirdNerd gang) had already planned to go to Cape May for the weekend. So we went. It was better than sitting around the house wondering what to do. We took the Bounder (our new RV) on it's maiden voyage to check out the systems and see what we would need to fix it up for our comfort. Connie couldn't go, so it was just me, Di and Barbara.
We arrived at the campground at midnight after leaving the Phillies game in the 7th inning. Don't think we have ice in our vains - it was against the Mets - how could we not go to that game. We were up at 7:00 AM and off to Higbee Beach in overcast 100% humidity weather. Boy, do the mosquitos thrive in those conditions!
You go to Higbee Beach in May for the warblers and other migrant songbirds. This is the place to see them in the early morning because they migrate at night and usually dive into the first land that they see after crossing the Delaware Bay - which is Higbee beach. Hardly any birds were around on Sat morning. I guess the overnight rain kept them from crossing the bay.
We did get great looks at Prairie Warblers right on the path and our first Northern Parula of the year. Also got vireos, kinglets and gnatcatchers along with an oriole and Eastern Kingbird. But the mosquitos became unbearable so we headed back to camp and worked for the rest of the day.
Sunday morning was worse at Higbee. Not a bird in sight and more mosquitos than Central America (I mean all countries combined) so we ran away quick and decided to try the Villas Wildlife Management Area. We have never been there before, but Karl Lukens and other Cape May Bird Observatory bloggers post about it often. We found it easily off of Bayshore Rd. It's nice because it allows dogs on leash (as does Higbee) and has an open landscape. Something seemed weird about the landscape and then we realized that we were walking through a defunct golf course. In fact, the "paths" were actually golf cart paths. What a great idea for an old golf course. Keep the trees and open space rather than turning it into another housing development.
My sister and I didn't really spend the weekend dwelling on my father's death that much. It's really not like us. We had spent the past few months taking care of him and we didn't really talk about that. But we did talk about things that our Dad did with and for us when we were kids. One of those things was to take us to Hawk Mountain in the fall. The memory of those trips is what really launched our passion for birding. In fact, we decided to direct any "in leiu of flowers" donations to Hawk Mountain in his memory. We didn't feel guilty today when we were listening to the Great Horned Owl hooting in the middle of the day, or yesterday when we spooked a really big raptor out of the woods, or when we were at the Phillies game making fun of the cartoon clapping hands on the jumbo-tron. It's what Daddy would have wanted. . .
On to the birding part of the blog. That's right. My sister and I had pre-arranged my father's cremation and services a few weeks ago, so there were only a few things to take care of on Friday. We (the PhillyBirdNerd gang) had already planned to go to Cape May for the weekend. So we went. It was better than sitting around the house wondering what to do. We took the Bounder (our new RV) on it's maiden voyage to check out the systems and see what we would need to fix it up for our comfort. Connie couldn't go, so it was just me, Di and Barbara.
We arrived at the campground at midnight after leaving the Phillies game in the 7th inning. Don't think we have ice in our vains - it was against the Mets - how could we not go to that game. We were up at 7:00 AM and off to Higbee Beach in overcast 100% humidity weather. Boy, do the mosquitos thrive in those conditions!
You go to Higbee Beach in May for the warblers and other migrant songbirds. This is the place to see them in the early morning because they migrate at night and usually dive into the first land that they see after crossing the Delaware Bay - which is Higbee beach. Hardly any birds were around on Sat morning. I guess the overnight rain kept them from crossing the bay.
We did get great looks at Prairie Warblers right on the path and our first Northern Parula of the year. Also got vireos, kinglets and gnatcatchers along with an oriole and Eastern Kingbird. But the mosquitos became unbearable so we headed back to camp and worked for the rest of the day.
Sunday morning was worse at Higbee. Not a bird in sight and more mosquitos than Central America (I mean all countries combined) so we ran away quick and decided to try the Villas Wildlife Management Area. We have never been there before, but Karl Lukens and other Cape May Bird Observatory bloggers post about it often. We found it easily off of Bayshore Rd. It's nice because it allows dogs on leash (as does Higbee) and has an open landscape. Something seemed weird about the landscape and then we realized that we were walking through a defunct golf course. In fact, the "paths" were actually golf cart paths. What a great idea for an old golf course. Keep the trees and open space rather than turning it into another housing development.
My sister and I didn't really spend the weekend dwelling on my father's death that much. It's really not like us. We had spent the past few months taking care of him and we didn't really talk about that. But we did talk about things that our Dad did with and for us when we were kids. One of those things was to take us to Hawk Mountain in the fall. The memory of those trips is what really launched our passion for birding. In fact, we decided to direct any "in leiu of flowers" donations to Hawk Mountain in his memory. We didn't feel guilty today when we were listening to the Great Horned Owl hooting in the middle of the day, or yesterday when we spooked a really big raptor out of the woods, or when we were at the Phillies game making fun of the cartoon clapping hands on the jumbo-tron. It's what Daddy would have wanted. . .
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