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Birding Cape May Point – July 8, 2023

Leaders: Kathy Horn, Roger Horn

Temp: 73°F

Winds:  NE 4 mph

Weather Conditions: mostly cloudy

We had a special treat to start the walk off this morning. Purple Martin chicks from the martin houses were being banded. This has been a very successful colony for many years and the federally licensed banding team was in the process of banding over 150 of the chicks that had hatched in the past several days. This is part of a nationwide project to gather information about this beautiful aerial insectivore.

43 species

Species Count
Canada Goose 5
Mute Swan 28
Wood Duck 1
Mallard 4
Mourning Dove 4
American Oystercatcher 3
Killdeer 1
Short-billed Dowitcher 30
Laughing Gull 14
Herring Gull (American) 4
Great Black-backed Gull 35
Least Tern 40
Common Tern 1
Forster’s Tern 3
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Brown Pelican 2
Great Blue Heron (Great Blue) 1
Great Egret 1
Black Vulture 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Osprey 2
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
White-eyed Vireo 3
Blue Jay 8
American Crow 4
Fish Crow 4
Carolina Chickadee 1
Purple Martin 104
Barn Swallow (American) 3
Carolina Wren (Northern) 8
European Starling 4
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 2
American Robin 2
American Goldfinch 2
Field Sparrow 1
Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) 9
Common Grackle 7
Common Yellowthroat 6
Pine Warbler 2
Northern Cardinal 5
Indigo Bunting 4
Indigo Bunting - Roger Horn

Indigo Bunting photo by Roger Horn