Cape birding.
Iceland Gull and Ruby-throated Hummingbird added to the list. Just a quick note as we are heading off to a swap night!! We believe it is an evening get together where birders swap bird sightings ahead of Saturdays World Series of Birding here at Cape May.
Windy weather slowed the birding today with little sign of new migrants around the point. We birded the Higbee Canal, Beanery and area the near the Bird Observatory but came up with little, by the high standards around here! Two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were new for our list and we had great views of such cracking birds as Black-throated Blue Warbler, Black and white Warbler, Great crested Flycatcher and Cedar Waxwings, pretty good! We then tried birding wetland areas and first hit The Meadows where we saw a great variety of birds, but no new ones, highlights here included Snow Goose and Bonaparte’s Gull. A couple of other birders came by and gave us hot news, Iceland Gull on the beach just over the dunes, it was soon on our list!
We then headed north up the east coast of Cape May and birded the saltmarsh and lagoons here, heaving with birds but no new ones. We bumped into a team scouting for Saturdays World Series, The Golden Crowned Queenlets. The three girls, and one dad who was driver and scope porter, were birding hard. They had won their section of the Series last year and now moved up a slot with another year of age. It was obvious that they intended to win again this year, good luck Queenlets!Part two
We survived the swap meeting, and came home together! Pete Dunne, he is mister birding at Cape May, presided over the get together. Pete went through the check list for the county and asked for sightings of the more difficult species. He kept good order and with ready sense of humour the bird information flowed. We made notes on the few species that we needed ready for tomorrow. The formal part over, the evening then ended with a chat amongst the birders, tales of Series past and hopes for Saturday. It was a real surprise to see our great friend from the UK Paul Hackett at the meet. Paul is competing with the Zeiss team to try and digiscope as many birds as possible on the big day, up against Swarovski and Nikon teams. Bird total 2180
8th May Cape May New Jersey