Leaders: Roger Horn, Holly and Mark Lemieux.
Temp: 25° F
Winds: SW 1 mph
Weather Conditions: sunny
It was a very still and sunny morning. Though it was 25° being properly dressed made birding Cape May Point very pleasant. As we started our walk out of the park a lovely Sharp-shinned Hawk sat high on a branch, wagging its tail while surveying the area, presumably for food.
It was somewhat quiet along the dunes up to Coral Avenue. Dark-eyed Juncos and Yellow-rumped Warblers were pecking about on lawns. As we walked out to the beach at Coral Dune crossing, we scoped the jetty and had 3 Purple Sandpipers along with Ring-billed and American Herring gulls. Some Surf Scoters and American Black Ducks were swimming around and near the jetty as well.
We moved on to Lake Lily. There was a good variety of ducks relegated to the open areas of water. There were many Canada Geese, Ring-necked Ducks, American Widgeon, and Mallards. Others accompanying were some American Black Duck, 1 Lesser Scaup and 1 Pied-billed Grebe.
We next went to CMBO Northwood Center and viewed the various “feeder” birds in the back at the Ryan DeWitt Trail. Two White-breasted Nuthatches feeding along with Carolina Chickadees at the feeders were calling loudly. As we walked the Trail a Hermit Thrush flew up and sat very close for all of us to get a good look at. As we walked back to the State Park a couple of Chipping Sparrows and a Field Sparrow were near the entrance to the park. 46 species “Not too shabby” for a winter’s day.
46 species
| Species | Count |
| Canada Goose | 250 |
| Mute Swan | 5 |
| Northern Shoveler | 4 |
| Gadwall | 8 |
| American Wigeon | 40 |
| Mallard | 200 |
| American Black Duck | 12 |
| Northern Pintail | 2 |
| Ring-necked Duck | 45 |
| Lesser Scaup | 1 |
| Surf Scoter | 2 |
| Black Scoter | 8 |
| Mourning Dove | 25 |
| American Woodcock | 3 |
 American Woodcock photo by Roger Horn |
|
 American Woodcock photo by Roger Horn |
|
 American Woodcock photo by Roger Horn |
|
| Purple Sandpiper | 3 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 10 |
| American Herring Gull | 8 |
| Pied-billed Grebe | 1 |
 Pied-billed Grebe photo by Roger Horn |
|
| Red-throated Loon | 1 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | 1 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk (Northern) | 1 |
 Sharp-shinned Hawk (Northern) photo by Roger Horn |
|
| Cooper’s Hawk | 1 |
| Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) | 1 |
| Blue Jay | 2 |
| American Crow | 1 |
| Carolina Chickadee | 4 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 1 |
| Tree Swallow | 2 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch (Eastern) | 2 |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch | 2 |
| Carolina Wren (Northern) | 7 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 8 |
| Hermit Thrush | 2 |
 Hermit Thrush photo by Roger Horn |
|
| American Robin | 28 |
| House Sparrow | 12 |
| House Finch | 14 |
 House Finch photo by Roger Horn |
|
| American Goldfinch | 6 |
| Chipping Sparrow | 2 |
| Field Sparrow | 1 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 10 |
| Song Sparrow | 2 |
| Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) | 13 |
| Common Grackle | 8 |
| Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 10 |
| Northern Cardinal | 7 |
