Week 6 proved to be a challenging one! The week started with breezy, overcast mornings, with southeast winds on Sunday switching to south, bringing in a slow trickle of songbirds. The breeze picked up throughout Monday, bringing a decent variety of species on an otherwise overcast day, in the ever-looming midst of the fall season’s first Nor’easter.
The banding crew spent their time in between net runs foraging for persimmons, a bright orange fruit native to New Jersey. As a final hurrah before the storm, Monday marked the 60th and last transmitter deployed on a Northern Waterthrush. Great work, team!
Powerful, relentless gusts of wind hit Cape May on Tuesday, rendering the banding station unable to open for the rest of the week for the safety of our migrants. Persistent rain and a wind advisory followed on Wednesday, with conditions continuing through Saturday evening.
Despite the less-than-ideal conditions, the banders remained optimistic for next week, keeping themselves preoccupied by writing haikus and turning their eyes toward the shore. Their unexpected reward? A spider crab along the Delaware Bayshore!
In the midst of a six-day shutdown, the banders also found great joy in tracking the movements of two Northern Waterthrushes. The first, banded almost a month ago, made its way down the East Coast and spent some time in Florida (perhaps at Disney World?) before island hopping to Jamaica. The second bird went from the coast of North Carolina near Moorehead City, straight to the north coast of Jamaica, not far from Montego Bay. Talk about a straight shot!
The only question that remains: where to next? We anticipate these birds making it safely to their wintering grounds in South America within the next few weeks. We hope you find these updates as thrilling as we do. Until next time!
Northern Waterthrush photo by Lena Usyk
Spider Crab photo by Lisa Viviano
All bird capture, handling, and banding are authorized under appropriate USGS state and federal permits.
