Leaders: Roger Horn, Bernie Hodgdon, Dennis McKane, Holly and Mark Lemieux
Temp: 44° F
Winds: S 6 mph
Weather Conditions: sunny
Wowzers! What great walk we had today at Cape May Point State Park. Spring has sprung and bird migration is picking up. Looking from the Dune crossing we were able to view a stream of Northern Gannets flying north out of the bay, along with a few Black and Surf Scoter. American Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls lounged on the beach.
Next, we walked along the dunes viewing the “plover ponds” for water birds. It was a very light today as most of our ducks have migrated north, but we did have Buffleheads, Mallard, Ring-necked, Blue-winged Teal and an American Widgeon. The Mute Swans put on a show flying back and forth and landing and taking off again. There was one Canada Goose that wasn’t impressed at all with the swans and attacked a swan. I think the swan would have won but was so taken by surprise it left the Goose alone.
As we walked the Blue and Yellow trails the Gray Catbird that has been on the trail all winter was still hanging out. The Red-winged Blackbirds were very loud and full of song today. Numbers of Fish Crows, Northern Cardinals joined in with the usual cacophony of Carolina Wrens throughout our walk. As we went to the trail leading to Seagrove Ave a flock of brightly colored Pine Warblers were feeding on the ground while a couple of Eastern Phoebes interacted with each other from branch to branch and tree to tree. 43 species. “Not too shabby” for the first Saturday of Spring.
43 species
| Species | Count |
| Canada Goose | 5 |
| Mute Swan | 12 |
| Blue-winged Teal | 4 |
| American Wigeon | 1 |
| Mallard | 8 |
| Ring-necked Duck | 2 |
| Surf Scoter | 2 |
| Black Scoter | 8 |
| Surf/Black Scoter | 4 |
| Bufflehead | 4 |
| Mourning Dove | 4 |
| American Oystercatcher | 2 |
| Killdeer | 2 |
| American Herring Gull | 4 |
| Great Black-backed Gull | 8 |
| Red-throated Loon | 1 |
| Northern Gannet | 320 |
| Double-crested Cormorant | 13 |
| White Ibis | 16 |
 White Ibis photo by Roger Horn |
|
| Turkey Vulture | 1 |
| Osprey | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) | 1 |
| Eastern Phoebe | 2 |
| Blue Jay | 2 |
| American Crow | 2 |
| Fish Crow | 16 |
| Carolina Chickadee | 4 |
| Tree Swallow | 7 |
| Barn Swallow | 1 |
| Carolina Wren (Northern) | 7 |
| European Starling | 9 |
| Gray Catbird | 1 |
| Northern Mockingbird | 3 |
| American Robin | 4 |
| House Finch | 1 |
| Field Sparrow | 4 |
| Fox Sparrow | 1 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 1 |
| Eastern Towhee (Red-eyed) | 1 |
| Red-winged Blackbird (Red-winged) | 30 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 6 |
| Pine Warbler | 9 |
 Pine Warbler photo by Roger Horn |
|
| Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) | 25 |
| Northern Cardinal | 10 |
Blog write-up and eBird list by Roger Horn
