A Long Black Eared American Headed Pipit Gull.

Wouldn't that be quite the sight. Well if you can actually interpret that you can understand my highlights of the day. But, I'll break it down for those that aren't so inclined :)

Ron and I took a stab at the rarities/life birds being seen in Cape May County today: Black Headed Gull, Common Redpoll, and Greater White Fronted Goose. My goal was 1 of 3, and that is what we got!

We went to the Cape May Ferry area and immediately got an adult Black Headed Gull on the beach with a few Ring Billed Gulls. I got a distant shot of it, above.

Though we didn't nail our other goals, we got a bunch of good stuff.

5 American Pipits were a highlight (and a lifer for Ron) at the Beanery. We caught a large Sparrow flock as well which is always fun (3 A Tree, 1 Fox, 6 Field, 8 Savannah, 20 Song, 12, White Throated)

The very large excitement of the day came at the state park. We were on our way out, and walking up on the section of conifers on the boardwalk trail (by the parking lot). I decided I would jump off the path and venture through the woods, hoping to find a Long Eared Owl. Well if I knew it was so easy, I'd do that every winter day! I literally walked ten feet, and about fifteen feet in front of me was a Long Eared Owl looking me in the eyes!!!!!!!!!!! I froze, hoping to not spook it until Ron saw it. It flushed, and we chased it a bit around the woods and then it was gone! But, it was only the second one I've ever seen, and the first in sixteen years!

Other nice finds were a wintering Seaside Sparrow at Stipson's Island Road, 4 Bonaparte's Gulls at the Concrete Ship, a Purple Sandpiper at Avalon, a Ruddy Turnstone at Reed's Beach, and 2 Red Backed Salamanders at Bennet's Bog and Kimble's Beach Road.

70 species. 3 lifers for Ron. 1 lifer for me.

Good stuff.

Florida Top Ten Photos: #9

Vultures are everywhere in Florida. Both Black and Turkey Vultures were quite common. And nowhere were they closer and more apparent that at the Anhinga Trail in Everglades National Park. Probably 20 or more vultures hung out right beside the trail. At one point we watched them eat a catfish that someone else had failed to eat. But the greatest thing about the vulture was when they lined up on the railing to sun bathe. They placed themselves at exactly the same angle with wings outstretched, reminding me of someone raising their hands in worship at church or perhaps conducting an orchestra.

Florida Top Ten Photos

In the next blog posts, I'll be posting my top ten photos from the Florida trip, along with some descriptions or comments. Here is photo #10:

This is the view from the little cabin where we stayed for a week on Lake Whippoorwill, south of Orlando. Besides the beauty of the gorgeous sunrises and sunsets, every morning a host of egrets, ibis, and herons would head north and then at sunset they would all head south again, returning to their roosting area at the south end of the lake. I had done hawk watches and warbler counts before, but never heron counts! There also were hundreds of gulls moving every morning, and I spotted a few Bald Eagles as well.

Birdwatching in Central Park - 7/28/05

Florida Life Bird #1

While driving south from Orlando to Ft. Myers through the heart of Florida on Route 17, I really had one bird species in mind. I knew that it was my best shot at seeing it on our entire trip, as they are not typically found in South Florida. The bird I was after? Crested Caracara

Lisa and I drove through lots of upland grassy areas where cattle were grazing and every vulture anywhere in sight I was double checking. Finally we were getting closer and closer to Ft. Myers, and I thought our chances were getting slim, when while cruising along we approached three birds on the road side. I saw white on the neck and knew we had found them!

I pulled off to the side of the road probably 50 yards past the birds, and was able to get a decent look at one adult and one immature Caracara feeding with a Black Vulture.

Florida Reptiles

I recently returned from eleven days in the Sunshine State. Needless to say it was a great time. I could post hundreds of pictures (and will post more), but I wanted to begin with something a bit out of the ordinary for me: reptiles.
During my trip, Lisa and I of course happened upon probably a hundred of these guys. We kayaked among alligators , heard them bellow, and enjoyed watching them hunt a bit.

Much more surprising than the crocs, however were two snakes we happened upon. The first one surprised us while we were hiking on a trail. I had been looking down at some Brown Anole lizards, was about to take a step forward when this guy really scared me --I was about to put my foot down pretty close to his head. I'd like to know what species you think he is. I have my guess:

The second snake sighting happened about an hour later. You might recognize this one by the rattle on the end of his tail! This was less of a scare, as we were in the car and it was crossing the road. I got some decent shots of him as well as a video (e-mail me if you want it)!

Photo ID quiz

Alright guys, here's a little photo quiz. I used photos that I took in the winter (That could be a slight hint). I will do these periodically. The first picture, ID the primary bird of prey in the picture. The second, ID all four species in the picture. Do NOT look at my flickr and cheat at all :) E-mail me your guesses, then I'll post the answers on here in a day or two. I want full participation!

Yard birds galore!

Well the snowy day didn't let me down! Recorded 32 species in the yard today.

Geese were non-stop flying west all day long. Counted for about 90 minutes this afternoon. 1235 Canada Geese and 205 Snow Geese. 2 Mallards were in the mix as well.

Feeder birds were also good with at least 146 individuals visiting the feeders. Our Fox Sparrow, a solo Pine Siskin, 53 DE Juncos, 20 WT Sparrows, 2 WB Nuthatches, 2 Downy and 2 Red Bellied Woodpeckers, and a nice Chipping Sparrow. Another interesting sighting was 2 pure white Pigeons (they are neighborhood birds but I've never had them at the feeders).

5 Eastern Bluebirds were hanging on the front wire for awhile as well.

Odds and ends

It's been pretty quiet overall lately, since all the lakes in South Jersey are frozen solid....

But, the backyard has been busy still. The solo Fox Sparrow and Red Breasted Nuthatch continue and a flock of 25 Pine Siskins visited the feeders for about an hour yesterday.

An adult Sharp Shinned Hawk has been staying nourished. I've seen him hit a DE Junco and a RW Blackbird in the last few days, which is pretty cool.

A trip to (predominantly frozen) EB Forsythe yesterday was pretty quiet with only 32 species. However, great looks at 3 different Eastern Meadowlarks were awesome, a distant light-morph Rough Legged Hawk was really cool, and a handful of songbirds made it interesting including 10 Savannah Sparrows, a Swamp Sparrow, a Grey Catbird, 2 Hermit Thrushes, 2 Eastern Towhees, and a Brown Thrasher. Ducks were scarce though. Outside of Geese and Black Ducks, just a few Greater Scaup, a solo RB Merganser, and 2 Snow Geese.

That's all for now. I'll be watching the feeders all day tomorrow. Maybe somethin odd will show up!