Cape May County, NJ ~ Red Knots and Ruddy Turnstones

 

Cape May County, NJ ~ Shorebirds

A trip around Cape May County the past few days has seen and increase in the numbers of shorebirds.

Yellow Legs at Stone Harbor Point

Least Terns mating ritual Cape May Point State Park

Red Knots and other peeps near Kimbel's Beach

Ruddy Turnstones near Kimbel's Beach

Dunlin at the Wetlands Institute, Stone Harbor

 Dunlin and other peeps at the Wetlands Institute, Stone Harbor

 

Reed's Beach ~ Banding Red Knots

Birding Cape May County ~ con't

I was excited to take Max & Tanya over to Reed's Beach to see the Red Knots and other shorebirds feeding on the Horseshoe Crab eggs.  When I was there on Thursday I was told the Horseshoe Crab spawning was down so far this year.  This was attributed to the fact we have had many days of rain causing the Delaware Bay waters to be colder than usual.  They were hoping for a good spawn soon and had one last night as we get closer to the full moon.  We didn't make it to Reed's Beach until mid tides. I was surprised to see that there were few shorebirds compared all of the other visits I'd made there in the past 10 days. I was also surprised to see that there were a number of Horseshoe Crabs buried under the sand of the beach.  The Red Knots and Ruddy Turnstones were feeding at the back of the buried crabs and the crabs were moving so you could see they were still alive.  Hopefully they made it back in the waters at high tide.  We also found a Marsh Wren while there.

Marsh Wren ~ Reed's Beach

Red Knot and Ruddy Turnstones Feeding on Horseshoe Crab eggs ~ Reed's Beach

Red Knot and Ruddy Turnstones Feeding on Horseshoe Crab eggs ~ Reed's Beach

Ruddy Turnstone Feeding on Horseshoe Crab eggs ~ Reed's Beach

Reed's Beach ~ Red Knots

Semipalmated Sandpipers, Red Knots & Ruddy Turnstones

Horseshoe Crabs spawning

Reed's Beach ~ Red Knots Flying

 It was exciting to go birding today and see the returning Red Knots.  It's exciting to see them all returning to Reed's Beach, Cook's Beach and the beaches along the Delaware Bay from the Villas and up past Fortescue. The birds stop here on their way to the Arctic and bulk up by eating Horseshoe Crab eggs.  May is the time the Horseshoe Crabs come into spawn.  This phenomenon also occurs along the Delaware side of the Delaware Bay.  Here are some pictures of the birds flying and feeding along the shoreline on Reed's  Beach. 

Reed's Beach - Red Knots and more

Every spring the Red Knot, an endangered shorebird flies from it's wintering home in Chile back to the Arctic to breed.  The birds stop once in the long flight along the shores of the Delaware Bay where it refuels by eating Horseshoe Crab eggs. One of the miracles of nature is that the Horseshoe Crabs know when to leave their homes on the floor of the Atlantic ocean along the East Coast and travel back to the bay to spawn.  This spawning takes place during the new and full moons in May and June with the largest concentration around the full moon in May.  We are building to the full moon now and there are hundred's, probably thousands of the crabs here spawning and many more than I have seen in recent years.  This year the numbers of Red Knots looks higher also.  Stopping at Reed's Beach today I was talking to one of the scientist's who are studying the Red Knots and he said that there were between 6000 and 8000 Red Knots on the beach today where they were trapping and tagging the birds. The birds were flying across from an island nearby in large groups and I could see at least 1000 Red Knots, plus Ruddy Turnstones along with gulls on the beach.  If I could have a wish about spring migration it would be that the Laughing Gull and other gulls didn't also enjoy feasting on the Horseshoe Crab eggs.

Top birds Red Knots(4) and bottom birds Ruddy Turnstones

Birding Cook's Beach

Red Knots on Spit

Mid May to me means the return of the Red Knots and other shorebirds that come to feed on the Horseshoe Crabs.  The birds fly from South American without stopping and when the Red Knots arrive they need to feed and eat as much protein as possible as the leave the Delaware Bay and fly through to the Arctic Circle where they breed.  The numbers of the Red Knots have been down which the scientists feel is from over-harvesting of Horseshoe Crabs.  The birds get the protein they need from the Horseshoe Crab eggs.  There's been a moratorium in the harvesting of the crabs and now the scientists feel the numbers of birds are rebounding.  Some of the beaches that are good for the birds to feed along are Reed's Beach, Cook's Beach and Kimmel's Beach.  Today I saw Red Knots, Least Sandpipers, Ruddy Turnstones, Willets, Laughing Gulls, Forester's Terns, Great Egret, Snowy Egrets.  Here are some of the pictures.

Red Knots, Ruddy Turnstones, Laughing Gulls

Least Sandpipers

Forester's Terns

Great Egret

Snowy Egrets

The return of the Red Knots

May here along the Delaware Bay means the return of the spawning Horseshoe crabs which brings the shorebirds that feed on their eggs.  The birds that feed on their eggs are the Red Knots, Ruddy Turnstones, Sanderlings and Semipalmated Sandpipers.  It's an exciting time to see them all returning to Reed's Beach, Moore's Beach, Cook's Beach and the beaches along the Delaware Bay from the Villas and up past Fortescue.  Of course, the Laughing Gulls are always present and taking a good numbers of the eggs leaving less for the smaller birds that count on the protein from the horseshoe crab eggs to beef up for the trip to their breeding grounds in the Arctic.This phenomenon also occurs along the Delaware side of the Delaware Bay.  Here are some pictures of the birds flying and feeding along the shoreline on Reed's  Beach.  The third picture below shows the horseshoe crabs behind the birds that are feasting on their eggs.