It was a full two days of birding and learning on the recently completed Wintering Hawks, Eagles & Owls Workshop, part of the Cape May School of Birding (January 5 & 6). This workshop highlights the array of raptor species using the extensive coastal marshes, and we were rewarded in…...
2018 Cape May Hawkwatch – 53,495 Raptors & More!!
Text and photos by Erik Bruhnke 2018 Cape May Hawkwatch Counter Cape May Bird Observatory This year marked the 43rd season of the Cape May Hawkwatch. There were many highlights throughout the season, and the remarkable total of 53,495 raptors, recorded between September 1 and November 30, represents the highest…...
A western visitor to the Jersey Shore
Here in New Jersey we only have one species of hummingbird that breeds in our fair state, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris). But each fall and winter, as many thousands of Ruby-throated hummers have since moved through the state and headed south for warmer wintering locations throughout the southern US,…...
NORTHWOOD CENTER BIOBLITZ
By Rebecca Perruci George Myers Naturalist Cape May Bird Observatory After three years of habitat restoration work at the Cape May Bird Observatory’s Northwood Center, highlighted by the Ryan De Witt Memorial Trail, there has been a noticeable uptick in the number of bird species—especially warblers! —flitting through the space.…...
Fall Banding Update: Week 13 (11/8 – 11/14)
The thirteenth and final week of the inaugural season of NJ Audubon's Cape May Banding Project, a collaboration between NJ Audubon's Cape May Bird Observatory, The Nature Conservancy, and Cellular Tracking Technologies began with quite the surprise in the nets! On the morning of November 8th, we caught our 100th…...
Fall Banding Update: Week 12 (11/1 – 11/7)
Above: Our Bander-in-charge and a fraction of the total volunteer squad for the season, but a solid representation of the high quality staffing that helped make fall 2018 a successful reality! By Laura-Marie Koitsch, 2018 Bander In Charge Week twelve began with flashing lights and six police officers right outside…...
Fall Banding Update: Week 11 (10/25 – 10/31)
Above: a stunning Lincoln’s Sparrow, one of several caught during our big sparrow days! By Laura-Marie Koitsch, 2018 Bander In Charge Having banded 253 new birds with only six nets open the previous day followed by Northwesterly winds all night, we suspected that week eleven was going to start off…...
Fall Banding Update: Week 10 (10/18 – 10/24)
Above: Our first-of-the-season Yellow-throated Vireo shows off its almost Day-Glo plumage! By Laura-Marie Koitsch, 2018 Bander In Charge One of the main concerns that we faced with opening a coastal banding station in the fall was how to handle Yellow-rumped Warbler migration or, as some of us affectionately dubbed it,…...