morning flight

27Oct/111

Cape May Trip – Part 4

This is the fourth part of a series of posts about my recent birding trip to Cape May, which began with Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

On October 22nd, the three of us got up extra early to make it over to the Higbee Beach SWA Morning Flight station. While we waited for the sun to rise, we could hear the flight calls of hundreds of birds and we all knew it could be an amazing morning, especially since it had been northwest winds all night. Sure enough, as the sun rose, thousands of Yellow-rumped Warblers and American Robins as well as a few other warbler species and Northern Flickers began flying past. Some birds were flying right between us as we stood only one or two feet apart from each other! We only stayed till 8:45am, but the morning flight counter, Tom Johnson, ended up counting 15,000 Yellow-rumped Warblers and 10,000 American Robins fly past! This made the morning of October 22nd the best morning flight day of the season so far! Other highlights from the morning flight were lots of Blue-headed Vireo, a Connecticut Warbler, lots of Brown Creepers, and an immature Red-headed Woodpecker. Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper's Hawks were also loving their lives, with multiple individual accipiters around, chasing warblers and diving into trees full of flickers. The low angle of the early-morning sun made for some great photo opportunities of the birds in flight.

One of thousands of Yellow-rumped Warblers we saw in 'morning flight'. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

One of a few Blackpoll Warblers we saw in 'morning flight'. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Wherever there are lots of warblers, there are sure to be a lot of Sharp-shinned Hawks, like this juvenile. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

It was hard to leave the morning flight station, but we really wanted to be able to bird a few other spots while it was still early before we took our trip on the 'Osprey' at 10:30. We decided to go over the nearby Hidden Valley Ranch and walk around. Bird activity was high and we saw five warbler species and six sparrow species, including Vesper Sparrow which is a good sighting on Cape Island at this time of the year. Another great sighting was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo that was perched up in the early-morning sun trying to warm up, and allowed us to approach it within a few feet.

Yellow-billed Cuckoo - adult sunning itself in the early-morning sun. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Our plan was to then take the 'Osprey' boat cruise out onto Jarvis Sound to get up-close looks at the famous Brown Booby. However, a private trip had gone out at 9:00, we had to wait till 1:30pm to go out. In the meantime we went over to the Cape May Hawkwatch, hoping to catch a glimpse of the dark juvenile Swainson's Hawk that had apparently roosted on Cape Island and should get up and show itself at some point. We arrived just in time, in less than 15 minutes the Swainson's Hawk appeared out of nowhere and was soaring directly over the hawk watch platform, allowing everyone present awesome looks. Obviously, Swainson's Hawks are western raptors but every year a handful of them are seen at eastern hawk-watching sites. So far this year, Cape May has had four migrate past their site. Other raptors we saw during our time at the hawk watch included Broad-winged, Red-tailed, Red-shouldered, Osprey, Bald Eagle, American Kestrel, Peregrine Falcon, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks, and both vultures.

Dark juvenile Swainson's Hawk (top bird) and a Turkey Vulture soaring over the hawk-watching platform. (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

We also searched for the reported Eurasian Wigeons at Bunker Pond, without success. However, when we went down to the beach to search for Lesser Black-backed Gulls, we were quickly rewarded with fantastic up-close looks at an adult.

Lesser Black-backed Gull - adult (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Stay tuned for the next part of this series about my birding trip to Cape May!

Filed under: bird finding, bird sightings, birding, birds in flight, Cape May, General Info, gulls, migration, morning flight, Photography, raptors, rarities, Research, trip reports, warblers 1 Comment

24Oct/110

Photo Study: Yellow-rumped Warbler

written by Alex Lamoreaux

If you live in the eastern United States and have even stepped outside during the past three weeks, then I am sure you have seen at least one Yellow-rumped Warbler. If you have been out birding recently I bet you have seen hundreds, if not thousands. This past weekend, I was in Cape May, NJ birding, and there were Yellow-rumped Warblers EVERYWHERE. No matter where I was during the weekend, I was constantly within sight of at least a few Yellow-rumped Warblers. In fact, on the morning of October 22nd I stopped by the morning flight watch at the Higbee Beach SWA and witnessed the best morning flights of Yellow-rumped Warblers so far this fall; a whopping 150,000 Yellow-rumped Warblers flew over our heads throughout the morning as they conducted their reverse migration back to shore after not quite being able to cross the Delaware Bay. Below are some photos I took recently of Yellow-rumped Warblers, celebrating how beautiful these common songbirds truly are.

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Photo by Alex Lamoreaux)

Filed under: bird sightings, birds in flight, Cape May, General Info, migration, morning flight, photo study, Photography, warblers No Comments

24Sep/111

Morning Flight

written by Corey Husic

It is well known that many of our songbird species, including warblers, thrushes, and sparrows, are nocturnal migrants. After a long night of flying, birds often land in a place where food and safety are available. Sometimes a desired habitat is directly below where the birds are flying. Other times, a bird needs to keep flying to find suitable habitat. This phenomenon, known as redirected migration, or “morning flight”, can be observed after a night of heavy migration.

Olive-sided Flycatcher that caught an insect while migrating

Along the coast of Cape May, New Jersey, birds that fly over land at night occasionally end up over the water. Because they are uncomfortable over the open ocean, they fly back the way the came, which brings them back to land. Since the cape sticks out into the water, this is often the first land the birds encounter, so they fly towards it and take cover. At Higbee’s Beach Wildlife Management Area in Cape May, a count of these morning flight birds is conducted every fall. In an area like Pennsylvania, a smaller number of birds also engage in redirected migration, but the reason behind it is unknown. There is no ocean to account for birds to be heading west, but they tend to fly that direction anyway.

Cape May Warbler in morning flight

Although we may not be able to understand the motives behind morning flight, it provides an excellent opportunity for birders to find unusual species. Unlike finding birds on the ground, birds in flight are not confined to specific habitats. For example, on September 9, 2010, I observed a Red-breasted Nuthatch, a Hooded Warbler, and several Bobolinks in morning flight over the course of a few minutes. Normally, these birds would be in very different habitats and would not be found together. Another interesting aspect of watching birds in flight is that the density of migrants is usually much higher than in the trees. On a good morning flight day, it is not uncommon to see at least three times as many warblers in flight than on the ground.

Hooded Warbler in morning flight

I have observed birds in morning flight over almost every location where I have paid attention, so look (and listen!) to the sky for these migrant songbirds as they fly over after dawn.

The only downside to watching birds in flight is that identification can be very difficult. Usually the birds fly past very quickly, the lighting is often terrible, and the only vocalizations are short call notes. Although it may seem daunting, the identification of birds in flight is an excellent opportunity to challenge any birder's skills.