Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge - May 1

After birding this AM, the afternoon was set aside for a trip to Tuckerton for a possible Craig's list purchase on "barely used" Lazy Boy chairs. (NOT, NOT, NOT!!!!) Since Tuckerton is about 1/2 hr north of Forsythe I asked if we could go there to drive the 8-mile long trail. When I was birding on Friday in Cape May Point I was talking to another birder who had seen some Whimbrel at Forsythe on Thursday. So both sisters took books with them to read while I was driving along the trail though Jenny did do some looking also. I actually could have spent more time there but my one sister needed to get home that evening and it's a 2 1/2-3 hr drive.


There was a nice selection of birds starting with an immature Red-tailed Hawk, several Great Blue Herons, some Great and Snowy Egrets, lots of Willets, Forster's Terns diving for fish, Double-crested Cormorands, Greater and Lesser Yellow Legs and Whimbrel. I was thrilled to see about a dozen Whimbrel out on the east side feeding in the grasses but even better as we drove along there were about 8 bathing and preening at the water's edge. As we drove on we saw Black-bellied Plover, Osprey, some Dunlin and Dowitchers, some remaining Brant and Canada Geese, lots of Blackbirds calling plus across the way had been some smaller birds feeding at the edge I believe were some type of sandpipers but I really couldn't see them well enough to ID them. Now I can't wait for my next trip back to Forsythe before the bugs get started! Top 2 pictures are of a Great Egret and the bottom three are Whimbrel. Enjoy!

Cox Hall Creek WMA - May 1

As I mentioned before in another posting, the Villas WMA was closed in Feabruary to remove the buildings that had been vandalized, set on fire and generally were a safety factor. The area reopened as the Cox Hall Creek WMA about 2 weeks ago but I hadn't had a chance to visit yet. So today was the day. I will say that the landscape looks quite different without the buildings. The job they did was excellent, along with being ahead of schedule, though they did remove some of the asphalt paths I would use for birding. I walked those paths anyway as that offers a better birding experience. I would have liked more time to walk but as both of my sisters are visiting I went home about 10:30AM so had just about 3 hrs.


I saw many Tufted Titmice and was surprised to learn they are a cavity nester as I saw a pair of them by the cavity in the tree. I got several good pictures of one of them at the top of the cavity while the other disappeared into the cavity. I saw a good number of Yellow-rumped Warblers, some Blue Jays feeding on lichen (which was pretty neat also), Eastern Bluebirds, Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Northern Flickers, Double-crested Cormorants at the pond, Chipping Sparrows along with many other species of birds.

Willet & Yellow-crowned Night Heron

Eastern Phoebe and Common Yellowthroat

Eastern Phoebe seen at the Stone Harbor Heronry on April 14th - a life bird for me.






Common Yellowthroat Seen April 18 at the Cape May Meadows. I had very briefly seen this bird last year at Heislerville but was really able to study it this year.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher at the Meadows

This is a spectacular bird. This bird was spotted in CM Meadows in April 25th. I was there during the day to see it but it was quite a distance away. That evening I decided to go back to see the bird. Walking down the path it was about 12 ft from me when I looked over by the Plover Pond. I stayed for about a 1/2hr watching it antics while catching and eating the flys. I felt blessed to be able to see it put on the show for me so I could get some picture and enjoy the beautiful coloring.

Skimmer Salt Marsh Safari

I had a fun day last week sailing on the Skimmer with my neighbors, Mike and Mindy, and their son. The weather was warm and sunny until we started back to the dock and the wind picked up a little. Had a great viewing of a Great Egret catching small fish for his lunch and then having the devil of a time getting it swallowed. Everytime he tossed it back into his mouth, it would look like he was swallowing it but out the fish would come and land back on the ground. This went on for at least 5 minutes before we sailed away. Next birds up were Laughing Gulls, Willets, American Oystercatcher, Double-crested Cormorants, a Common Loon in breeding plummage, and Osprey including a couple where LOVE was in the air! There were Great Black-backed Gulls, female Hooded Merganser Ducks, Bufflehead Ducks, Brant and other birds I have probably forgotten. Captain Ed and Captain Ginny are wonderful hosts. They are so knowledgeable about the Salt Marsh and the back bays that I learn something new each trip I take. This trip I was hoping to see some Whimbrels up close and personal but it was not to be. Of course, there will be more trips in my future.

Oh, the birds I saw today continued...

Decided to walk the CM meadows today. While in the paking lot I saw a kettle of birds and spotted what I thought were 2 Bald Eagles flying in tandum. Up went the bins and sure enough an adult and juvenile Bald Eagles. They didn't hang around very long at most 5 minutes and I would have enjoyed watching them much longer. (Next I saw several Common Yellow-throats quickly fly by and heard many more; some Mallard couples and some male American Coots feeding in the waters, some flyover Forster's Terns and a flyover Killdeer.

Onto the beach where I first heard the American Oystercatcher couple before seeing them feeding along the waters edge along with 2 feeding Piping Plovers along with some Laughing Gulls. How exciting (for me)to see both Bald Eagles and Piping Plovers the same day!

Then I went back onto the West Trail where 5 Osprey were practicing stopping in air to dive down for fish. They would get into postion with their feet down and then avert not going down for a fish. This went on for at least 15 minutes that I watched before one finally splashed down and came away with a prize. Finally several others got fish also. They all flew away over the trees towards Cape May so I wonder where their nests are located. There were also Snowy and Great Egrets, some Canada Geese, more Mallard couples, some Gadwall couples and a river otter.




About halfway down the path I found this bird foraging along the edge of the water. Tomorrow I will have to figure out the bird as now I must go off to bed.