Masses of shorebirds and new arrivals.  We tried out some new sites today exploring the west shoreline of the Cape May Peninsula with one particular bird in mind: Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow.  First stop, Jakes Landing, a remote boat ramp out in the salt marsh.  But the birding began long before we reached it.  Passing through an area of woodland, calling warblers brought us to a sudden halt and we jumped out just in time to catch up with a feeding flock.  Northern Parula Warbler was singing loudly right beside the road and we quickly found at least three Rose-breasted Grosbeaks including a beautiful piebald and red male.  As we watched these, first a Red-eyed and then a Yellow-throated Vireo jumped up into the same tree, amazingly these two were joined by a White-eyed Vireo: three Vireos in one tree, Wow!  Looking down to recover from warbler neck, we enjoyed great looks at a Brown Thrasher enthusiastically working the leaf litter beneath the trees.  Pine Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warbler complemented the scene along with the “standard” Grey Catbirds and American Robins.  Moving on to the boat ramp, we spent a long time scanning the vegetation for anything resembling a Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow.  Try as we might, we couldn’t turn any of the many Seaside Sparrows or Marsh Wrens into our target bird.  We were occasionally distracted by passing Bald Eagles, Ospreys, a Northern Harrier, Clapper Rails and flocks of Glossy Ibis.On to the next potential sparrow site, East Point and the adjacent saltmarsh.  We took up position again scanning the vast salt marsh, but no matter how hard we tried, still no sign of the little blighter.  Two Eastern Kingbirds on the saltmarsh were an unexpected sighting here, presumably newly-arrived migrants.  The nearby beach was crowded with feeding Laughing Gulls, gobbling up the masses of eggs freshly laid on the shore by Horseshoe Crabs during the night, a season phenomenon here at Cape May and one that the Gulls and Waders take full advantage of.  Several Horseshoe Crabs were marooned on the beach, only to become meals themselves for the larger gulls.  Following the saltmarsh upstream we reached an area of impounded lagoons.  With the tide high, a huge seething mass of waders (shorebirds) were roosting here, a breath-taking sight.  Scanning the immense flocks we quickly realized that despite the huge numbers, tens of thousands, the flocks were made up primarily of just three species:  Short-billed Dowitcher, Dunlin and Semi-palmated Sandpiper.  Of course there were a few exceptions amongst them, and we were able to pick out small numbers of American Golden Plover, Grey Plover (Black-bellied), Semi-palmated Plover and both Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs.  A flock of 46 Black Skimmers was also roosting on a gravel island in the centre of the lagoon, always great to see these bizarre birds.Abandoning our sparrow hunt, we switched to look for a Black-billed Cuckoo that had been reported yesterday at the Villas WMA.  This area was previously a golf course but has now been allowed to return to nature.  We scanned the trees around the parking lot where the bird was originally seen but no sign today.  On again, this time back to The Beanery on Cape May Island in the hope of migrant warblers, where we found some great birds, but sadly none of them new for the year.  Though it’s hard to be sad about seeing such spectacular birds as American Redstart, Blue-headed Vireo, Yellow Warbler and, best of all, a most gorgeous male Prothonotary Warbler.  He was an intense yellow around the face and head which makes his huge black-button eye really stand out, underparts are primrose yellow, the upperparts are green merging to blue on the wings and tail.  We watched this stunning bird building a nest in an area of damp woodland, a spellbinding experience to see this wonderful bird so close up and absorbed in its home-making.Impossible not to call in at The Meadows as this area always throws up exciting birding.  We certainly weren’t disappointed and quickly racked up more great birds for the day.  We enjoyed close up and personal views of a Greater Yellowlegs, almost at our feet and too close to digiscope, as well as seeing Blue-winged Teal, Cliff Swallows, Cattle Egrets, Least Terns, Piping Plover, and Bottle-nosed Dolphins offshore.As the sun set over the aptly named Sunset Lake, we added our last two species for the day: Pale-bellied Brent Geese (Brants) and Great Northern Diver (Common Loon).  Our thoughts turned to the teams taking part in today’s World Series of Birding and wondered how many species had been clocked up around Cape May today.  Hopefully we’ll find out in the morning.
Bird species total: Still 2186
Posted 10pm, 10th May, Cape May, New Jersey