Saturday 7 November 2015

Back In The USA - Cape May 22-25 Oct 2015 - pt4

Sunrise at Higbee Dike
My Cape May experience started at daybreak standing on The Ridge at Higbee Dike to witness the Morning Flight Songbird Flight.
 The seaview from Higbee Dike
Within seconds we had streams of passerines battling against the wind with some swarming past close to our heads. Masses of Yellow-rumped Warblers were joined by Cedar Waxwings, multiple sparrow species including Lark Sparrow, bucketloads of icterids including Red-winged Blackbirds, Northern Flickers and Pine Siskins.
 The migrant watching crowd
Stuff was moving on the sea with Arctic Skuas, Bonaparte's Gulls, Royal Terns and Gannets all making appearances. I decided not to attempt to recognise any of the birds, unless I got a good look at them. Rather, I wanted to just enjoy the spectacle of so many migrating birds.
 Carolina Chickadee
After the early morning had died down, I took a stroll around some of Cape May's environs to see what I could find.
 American Crow
 American Herring Gull
 Northern Harrier 
 Cooper's Hawk
 I forgot the name of this butterfly. Any ideas?
 A fleeting Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler

1 comment:

Belgian Birding said...

The butterfly is a Common Buckeye, TUB.
Best wishes, Stephen