Bobolink from Cape May

So, we've always wanted to see a bobolink in part because Bo-Bo-Link is fun to say. Turns out, they are actually called Bob-o-Links, not Bo-Bo-Links. We were describing a bird we had seen to some other birders and asking if it could possibly have been this, that, or the other bird. When we said we wondered if it was a Bo-Bo-Link, we found out we had been pronouncing its name wrong. Maybe if we hadn't been so careless with its name, we would have seen one sooner? Still, we think it's more fun to call it a Bo-Bo-Link, but we'll try and correct ourselves in the future. And we still hope to see a summer male Bobolink with that crazy white hairdo.

Red Breasted Nuthatch

The Red Breasted Nuthatch was one of the four life birds we saw on our trip to Cape May. We saw this one at the Cape May Bird Observatory coming to one of the feeders. We see plenty of White Breasted Nuthatches at the trees and bird feeders at our house, but we've always been hoping to see this variety due to its more pronounced eye markings.

More Birds from Cape May

Brown Thrasher


Yellow Warbler


Common Yellowthroat (female)


Hummingbird



Northern Parula


American Redstart (female)


Unidentified Wet Bird


Black and White Warbler

More water birds from Cape May

Blue Winged Teal



Black Bellied Whistling Ducks


American Wigeon


Sora


Snowy Egret

Black Skimmers from Cape May

Mike has always been wanting to get a photo of the black skimmers in their classic skimming maneuver. We were actually sitting on a bench at the Meadows when we first saw the flock, and we were too far away to photograph them. Chris had to console Mike with the fact that if we hadn't been sitting for a rest in the first place, he wouldn't even have seen them and it was okay that he didn't get any pictures. Luckily, when we started up walking again and were around a different side of the lake, a flock of 20 came by and we were closer and had good lighting to get some nice photos (along with many blurry ones with half a bird in them.)

After watching the skimmers for a while, Chris scanned the lake and found a Sora.

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher from Cape May Point

More Butterflies from Cape May

You had to see it to believe it. We saw more butterflies in one day at Cape May than in our prior fifty years. The beauty of this phenomenon seemed to be having a positive effect on all who encountered it; burly looking men smiling from ear to ear, perfectly sane looking women talking out loud to them, and children mesmerized.

Sora from Cape May

Chris spotted this Sora at the Meadows in Cape May. After seeing the Least Bittern earlier in the day, we were hopeful to see some other life birds, so Chris was scanning the shores carefully while Mike was following the Skimmers. She was not able to identify the Sora at first, but we both knew it was something we had not seen before. Fortunately some other birders joined us and we were able with their help to identify it. We kept watch for a while, and it turned out there were a total of three Soras running about for us to watch. Great fun! Nice ending to a good birding day.

Least Bittern at Cape May

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We were happy to have a birder point out a least bittern to us near the bird blind at Cape May Point State Park.

Black Bellied Whistling Ducks

We hoped to see the black bellied whistling ducks that have been at Cape May Point State Park. They were resting on a platform by the bird blind.

Blue Grosbeak and/or Indigo Bunting from Cape May

We took a trip this weekend to Cape May to see the migrating birds. Does this mean we are "birders" now, because we did put up with mosquitoes and ticks and rose at sunrise just to go out and bird? Well, we're still not sure ourselves, but if we continue this hobby, we will need vests with lots of pockets, special footwear, and bigger hats. We like watching birds in our backyard from a lounge chair with a sangria too. Anyway, one early morning while birding at Higbee Beach in Cape May, we were thrilled to encounter these lovely blue colored birds since we don't get them in our area. But, since we don't see them often, we are also not very good at identifying them. We think most are Blue Grosbeaks, but there may be an Indigo Bunting in here too. They hang around together and have similar habits, like eating from the ground and singing from the tops of trees. We decided to just enjoy the fact that we saw them and post these without worrying about our identification skills. Maybe we'll get some comments to help us.

Great Crested Flycatcher from the Beanery in Cape May

 

 

 

Our last stop in Cape May was the "Beanery", an old lima bean farm also known as Rea Farms. We watched this Great Crested Flycatcher in the warm morning sun and got a few good pictures (and many more blurry ones with his face obscured by branches).

Male and Female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak from Cape May

 

 

 

 

Yellow Warbler from Tuckahoo

 

 

We took a long drive from Cape May to the Tuckahoo Wild Life Management area and just got some photos of one very small warbler: the yellow warbler. There was no waterfowl to be found. Mike thinks Chris should stop carrying on about all the things we didn't see because she got a nice picture of the swan in flight (and running on the water during take off).