Second visit to Carnsew Pool

I couldn't resist another visit today to see the adult drake Long-tailed Duck at Carnsew Pool.  Eventually this stunner drifted close to us (15-20 yards) and I managed to get some very nice images.  On close inspection, some remaining feathers can be seen on the nape and presumably these are part of the summer plumage "Mohican" feathering which gives the bird the American name of Oldsquaw.  The light was bright and gave the perfect conditions for photography.  The image below was taken with D3x and 600mm lens.  F/7.1 Exposure -0.3 EV. ISO 200. WB Cloudy.

 

`

Red-breasted Flycatcher at Cot Valley, St Just

The second Red-breasted Flycatcher of the Autumn was found on Tuesday next to Carralack House in Cot Valley.  This first-year bird eventually showed well today but it was very active, mainly feeding in the high canopy.  RB Fly is a regular but scarce passage migrant in the Autumn in Cornwall.  The majority of records are found in West Cornwall in October, occasionally in November.  This record is thus relatively late.  The species is exceptionally rare in Spring in Cornwall.  It breeds in eastern Europe and Scandinavia, eastwards towards Asia. It winters in south Asia.   The images below were taken today:

Long-tailed Duck at Carnsew Pool

A drake Long-tailed Duck was found at Carnsew Pool on Monday this week.  Monty called me yesterday to let me know it was showing well and fairly confiding.  Today it was happier to stay out in the middle of the pool so the views weren't quite as good as yesterday.  That said, this is a stunning bird to see and well worth a visit this weekend.  In Cornwall this species is classed as a scarce or uncommon passage migrant and winter visitor.  Numbers fluctuate annually and a good year  would see no more than a handful of records in Cornwall.  Most popular sites to see this species are Mount's Bay, Gerrans Bay, Carbis Bay and Sennen.  Thus to see this bird "inland" at Carnsew Pool is indeed unusual.

Early Waxwing "invasion"

With the first snow fall of the winter comes some unexpected and early Waxwings in the county. The snowfall today was England's fifth fall in nine days amid an early winter - after snow in the East last Saturday, in the West on Thursday and the North on Friday and Saturday. 

 

Two Waxwings were seen today in Mylor Harbour churchyard feeding on yew berries.  Another could not have been further west than in Victoria Row, St Just today.  Another was also seen in the east of the county at Saltash.  Along with many other Waxwings in southern England, presumably they are heading further south towards France and Spain.

 

Cornwall Birding Rare & Scarce Bird Report 2011

The Cornwall Birding Rare & Scarce Bird Report for 2011 is now available price £12 (in store, or £14 inc P&P).  More information and online ordering can be found HERE  The report boasts 117 pages, 31 of which are colour photographs.  In total there are 83 individual colour photos and several line drawings!  Eleven articles include details of Cirl Buntings, Choughs, a seawatching review, ringing report and finder accounts of rare birds seen in Cornwall.  In summary, this is a very creditable report by the Cornwall Birding team.

Summary of visit to Cape May

This trip report summarises our two week visit to the east coast migration hotspot of Cape May in New Jersey.  My wife and I chose the last week of September and first week of October to coincide with the peak migration period.  Cape May is rightly famous not only for a spectacular raptor movement, but also a more than impressive visible migration of passerines.  Throw into the mix a Monarch butterfly migration of biblical proportions, then you have the makings of a brilliant fortnight.

A pure fluke in the weather patterns allowed us to benefit from two major falls during our stay.  Big events are dependent on big changes in the weather and we twice experienced a shift of wind from the north west. This signals a big exodus from the breeding grounds of Canada and northern North America.  The southerly routes funnel migrants to the coast and onwards to Cape May like a giant Heligoland trap.  The birds' unwillingness to venture over the sea means Cape May simply cannot fail when the winds are in the right direction.  Add to that a massive lighthouse which acts as a beacon, then all the ingredients can produce something spectacular.



Cape May Meadows - an attractive refuge for migrants.  We walked the one mile perimeter daily.

The area is surprisingly large and a car is essential to cover the main birding areas. It didn't take long to find the hotspots and a daily routine soon became the norm.    Early morning, first light visits are essential at the Higbee Dike.  This is a "high" position of 50 feet or so at the mouth of the canal and close to the point.  It's where thousands of passerines and raptors are counted in the trees below or flying overhead.  We experienced two really good falls here eg 4600+ Yellow-rumped Warblers in one morning, but I was told first hand that the place has past witnessed perhaps a million birds in one morning.  So many birds that the road down was even littered with passerines.  Did I believe it? Yes, after I witnessed myself wave upon wave of Northern Flickers, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Palm Warblers, Cedar Waxwings, Sharp-shinned Hawks, Cooper's Hawks and Ospreys.



Cooper's Hawk

Soon after the Higbee Dike entertainment finished we headed a couple hundred yards inland to the Higbee Fields, five of them with strategically positioned towers to view passerines at eye level. The fields are where most of my photography happened.  Gaps in the hedges were the best places to position yourself as passerines worked their way southwards.

Juv Black and White Warbler - a common migrant, often very tame.

The early morning flight usually lasted three or four hours.  By 10.30 am most of the passerine migration finishes and its time to move on to a fresh set of migration at the hawk watch platform.  Most birders from the Higbee Fields will be at the hawk watch by midday to witness hundreds, if not thousands of raptors all moving south.

Merlin - a common migrant

 The extensive beaches were always were worth checking.  Terns, skimmers and gulls were always plentiful.  Tern highlights included Royal and Caspian Terns but Forster's was by far the commonest with hundreds seen daily.  The commonest gull was Laughing Gull, but several Ring-billed's, American Herring Gull and a single Bonaparte's were seen.

First year Ring-billed Gull

First year Laughing Gull



Tennessee Warbler - scarce passage migrant - seen daily in low numbers

Eastern Phoebe - common passage migrant

First year Chestnut-sided Warbler - a stunningly bright warbler and one of only three seen in the fortnight. (Image doesn't portray its lime green colouring).

 

The logistics of the holiday were fairly simple.  We flew by British Airways, Heathrow to Philadelphia.  A small car was hired (£300) at the airport and we drove the couple hours south to Cape May.  A GPS is essential if your passenger is not good at navigating and saves countless arguments.  I downloaded a TomTom app to my iPhone for £39 and this was essential.  There are a lot of tolls so you need to keep plenty of quarters on you.  I'm also expecting a couple fines for driving through tolls without paying.  We booked a reasonable motel room (Madison Ave Beach Resort £70 per night) with basic cooking facilities.  Eating out is easy as Cape May is essentially a beach resort.  And that's about it.  The place feels safe, the people are ultra friendly and helpful, Mike Crewe at the Cape May Bird Observatory LINK HERE is more than helpful and the shop is well worth a visit too.  Would I visit again? Definitly.

Red-backed Shrike today at Housel, Lizard

This first year Red-backed Shrike was a popular attraction today at The Waterings, Housel Bay.  Found just 50 m from the original site of the Bufflehead last year, this stunning bird was quite content to use the hedge as a platform to prey on insects below.

Black-throated Blue Warbler forms at Cape May

Good numbers of Black-throated Blue Warbler passed through Cape May and Higbee Fields during the last couple weeks (eg 66 counted at Higbee Dike on Fri 5th October alone).  An experienced birder mentioned to me that the local male population has a plain mantle compared to the Appalachian form which has some faint streaking on the mantle.  I checked through some images and sure enough, there are variants.  Apart from this interesting factoid, the species is indeed stunningly photographic, even in the Autumn.  I've included a couple images of a first year female which shows just how sexually dimorphic this species is.

 

Large fall at Cape May and Higbee in last two days

Friday and Saturday has seen a change in fortunes for the better.  After the misty and humid conditions on Thursday, light westerly winds overnight produced our second BIG fall of the trip.  We went to the Higbee Dike at first light and were rewarded with very high numbers of warblers, phoebe's, woodpeckers, nuthatches and raptors.  Perhaps the signs were there on Thursday evening when we found several new Yellow-rumped Warblers and the Orange-crowned Warbler at the Lighthouse.  I spoke to Sam Galick, one of the official Morning Flight counters and he had logged over 4,500 Yellow-rumped Warblers and 400 Red-breasted Nuthatches.  The majority are flyovers continuing their onward southerly migration, but many linger in the woods round the Dike area, giving stunning views.

Parula Warbler - one of 156 logged today!

The link here > VIEW FROM THE FIELD by Mike Crewe explains all in more detail, but essentially the extraordinary numbers are relayed here: (courtesy Mike Crewe).

 Red-bellied Woodpecker - 50

Yellow-belled Sapsucker - 8
Downy Woodpecker - 2
Hairy Woodpecker - 1

Northern Flicker - 164

Eastern Wood-Pewee - 4
Empidonax sp. - 1

Eastern Phoebe - 48
Red-eyed Vireo - 29
Blue-headed Vireo - 3
Red-breasted Nuthatch - 427
White-breasted Nuthatch - 7

Golden-crowned Kinglet - 13

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - 20
kinglet sp. - 1

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - 1

American Robin - 27
Catharus sp. - 4

American Pipit - 1

Cedar Waxwing - 731
Tennessee Warbler - 17

Nashville Warbler - 15

Northern Parula - 156
Yellow Warbler - 2

Magnolia Warbler - 10

Cape May Warbler - 5

Black-throated Blue Warbler - 66

Yellow-rumped Warbler - 4610

Black-throated Green Warbler - 67

Blackburnian Warbler - 1

Prairie Warbler - 1
Palm Warbler - 389

Bay-breasted Warbler - 4

Blackpoll Warbler - 95
"Baypoll" Warbler - 109
Black-and-white Warbler - 20
American Redstart - 10

Ovenbird - 1

Connecticut Warbler - 1
warbler sp. - 7809

Scarlet Tanager - 14
Field Sparrow - 1
Chipping Sparrow - 9

Savannah Sparrow - 28
Dark-eyed Junco - 4

Rose-breasted Grosbeak - 3
Blue Grosbeak - 1
Indigo Bunting - 57

Dickcissel - 1
Rusty Blackbird - 3
Baltimore Oriole - 1

Purple Finch - 13

Pine Siskin - 169

 

Yellow-rumped Warblers - two of the 4,600 logged today!!!

 

Birding at Edwin B Forsyth Refuge, Brigantine

This reserve is unlike any I 've been to.  With an eight mile drive round the perimeter, this place needs time.  In overcast and extremely humid conditions, we spent all day here.  We were not disappointed either.  Savannah Sparrows were common and we had a brief view of Seaside Sparrow too.  However, waders and duck are the main attraction.  We had decent scope views of good numbers of Western Sandpiper, Semi-palmated Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper, 80 Greater Yellowlegs and a couple Short-billed Dowitchers.  Three Caspian Terns and one Black Skimmer roosted with a couple hundred Forster's Terns.  Tricoloured Heron put in a brief appearance along with three Black-crowned Night Herons.  Several Northern Harriers patrolled the saltmarsh. At mile 7, where the habitat changed to mixed woodland, we stumbled across a roving party of 25 Eastern Bluebirds, including some stunning adult males.

Adult and juv Eastern Bluebird, part of a flock of 25

Juv Black-crowned Night Heron

Great Blue Heron

We returned to Cape May State Park in the evening to get the last light.  Yellow-rumped Warblers had increased in numbers to about ten and I also found an Orange-crowned warbler, the second for the trip.  The weather was still humid but due for a change tomorrow.  This should bring some new movements.

Orange-crowned Warbler

Cape May migration goes from slowdown to standstill

Today is the quietest day so far of the trip. The weather is humid and overcast with brief spells of sunshine.  The temperature is 28 degrees and the mosquitos are biting.  We found one pocket of birds feeding at the Higbee Dike watchtower including several Red-eyed Vireos, two Black and White Warblers and an Alder/Willow Flycatcher.  Yellow-rumped Warblers seem to be increasing slightly as well.  This species is a later migrant and locals inform us that numbers will increase this week.  The big shout of the day though was a very confiding adult Lark Sparrow found by the first metal footbridge in the State Park (on the blue and yellow trail).  The species is a scarce migrant with one or two annual records in Cape May.  Nonetheless, with precious few other birds to see, this was a welcome sight.

Adult Lark Sparrow at State Park

Northern Mockingbird today at State Park

Drastic slowdown at Cape May

Tuesday 2nd October: Today has seen a complete reversal of fortunes.  How the weather changes everything.  The wind has turned South to South-east, meaning very few new arrivals.  All but a handful of "leftovers" remain from the massive recent fall.  In the vast Higbee Woods, just a small flock of twenty roving vireo's and warblers could be found.  That said, among them was an adult male Blue-winged Warbler, a fine tick for me.  The only serious big shout today was a Rufous Hummingbird in a garden near Cape May Meadows.  Even the raptor numbers were way down and the Siberian Elm tree, so full of warblers yesterday, was empty.  The next change of weather is Thursday when the wind moves North-west.  The local birders inform me this is the best wind direction as it pushes everything southwards and towards the coast...ideal...

Below are a few images from the last couple days:

First year Magnolia Warbler

 

Female Black-throated Blue Warbler

First year male Cape May Warbler