Spring 2005 - Ohio and New Jersey

May means spring migration and this year we have celebrated that event with wonderful trips to Magee Marsh and Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge in Ohio and then a week of birding in Cape May, NJ. These are a few images from our wanderings.

Flowers in our garden set the mood for spring.	Azalea (left), crabapple (above)	That guy who keeps following me...
Prothonotory warbler, CVNP	Blue gray gnatcatcher on the nest, CVNP	Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Preening semipalmated sandpiper, Sandy Ridge	A conclave of killdeer, Sandy Ridge	Eastern kingbird taking flight, Sandy Ridge
Bluebells at Bacon Woods	Great Blue Heron, Magee Marsh	Black throated green warbler, Magee Marsh
These next few birds were brought by a wildlife rehabilitator, all too injured to be released. It was a bit like shooting fish in a barrel, but they are stunning animals and I like the pictures. Go to www.backtothewild.org for more information about the birds and the program - and hopefully to help.
Bald Eagle, blinded by West Nile Virus	Barn Owl	Barred Owl
Peregrine Falcon	Red shouldered hawk	Great Horned owl
We stopped to see Joan and Dan and the boys on our way east, then kidnapped Joan for most of a day to do some cemetery walking.		I'm not sure this is the best way to "meet" our grandfather, but we did find him!
Cape May is known as a migrant trap most of the year, but one of the big spectacles is the annual gathering of shorebirds on the shores of Delaware Bay to feast on horseshoe crab eggs. There are far fewer crabs (and birds) these days due to overharvesting of the crabs, but there is hope that they will rebound.
A small gathering of birds on the beach.	Horseshoe crabs mating and laying eggs	Sanderlings and ruddy turnstones landing
Hungry laughing gulls	A red knot and ruddy turnstones	More arrivals
And a life bird in the middle of the chaos - a Eurasian vagrant called a Ruff.	Nesting common terns	Another life bird - and another Eurasian vagrant, a curlew sandpiper
Part of our group - Marty on the left, Pete Dunne on the right	Clapper rails vanishing into the marsh	Common tern
Courting laughing gulls	Short billed dowitchers	Osprey on a nest
American oystercatcher	A sanderling on the beach	A black skimmer
Snowy egret fishing	Whimbrel	Willet
	The Cape May lighthouse

Cape May Trip List

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139 Species

• Laughing Gull (Larus atricilla)
  
• Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus)
  
• Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
  
• Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus)
  
• Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
  
• Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
  
• Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus)
  
• Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
  
• Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
  
• American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
  
• European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
  
• Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)
  
• Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
  
• Mute Swan (Cygnus olor)
  
• Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)
  
• Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
  
• Purple Martin (Progne subis)
  
• Great Egret (Ardea alba)
  
• Blackpoll Warbler (Dendroica striata)
  
• House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
  
• Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia)
  
• Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
  
• Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
  
• Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus)
  
• Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
  
• Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)
  
• Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens)
  
• Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapillus)
  
• Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea)
  
• Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri)
  
• Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)
  
• Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus)
  
• Blue Grosbeak (Guiraca caerulea)
  
• Common Loon (Gavia immer)
  
• Chestnut-sided Warbler (Dendroica pensylvanica)
  
• Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)
  
• Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)
  
• Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
  
• American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
  
• Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor)
  
• Black-throated Blue Warbler (Dendroica caerulescens)
  
• Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia)
  
• Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)
  
• White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus)
  
• American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)
  
• Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis)
  
• Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus)
  
• Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
  
• Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas)
  
• Least Tern (Sterna antillarum)
  
• Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
  
• Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)
  
• Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)
  
• Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)
  
• Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
  
• Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus)
  
• Northern Gannet (Morus bassanus)
  
• Royal Tern (Sterna maxima)
  
• Common Tern (Sterna hirundo)
  
• House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
  
• Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
  
• Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea)
  
• Northern Waterthrush (Seiurus noveboracensis)
  
• Eastern Towhee (Pipilo erythrophthalmus)
  
• Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)
  
• Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus)
  
• Black-and-white Warbler (Mniotilta varia)
  
• Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula)
  
• Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus)
  
• Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)
  
• Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos)
  
• Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) (new)
  
• Seaside Sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus)
  
• Clapper Rail (Rallus longirostris)
  
• Willet (Catoptrophorus semipalmatus)
  
• Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
  
• Yellow-throated Warbler (Dendroica dominica)
  
• Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus)
  
• Summer Tanager (Piranga rubra)
  
• Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius)
  
• Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
  
• Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)
  
• Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
  
• Pine Warbler (Dendroica pinus)
  
• Prairie Warbler (Dendroica discolor)
  
• Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)
  
• Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens)
  
• Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)
  
• Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina)
  
• Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus)
  
• Acadian Flycatcher (Empidonax virescens)
  
• Hooded Warbler (Wilsonia citrina)
  
• White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
  
• Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus)
  
• Common Nighthawk (Chordeiles minor)
  
• Boat-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus major)
  
• Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
  
• Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
  
• Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
  
• Rock Dove (Columba livia)
  
• Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla)
  
• Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularia)
  
• White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
  
• American Black Duck (Anas rubripes)
  
• Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria interpres)
  
• Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla)
  
• Sanderling (Calidris alba)
  
• Ruff (Philomachus pugnax) (new)
  
• Red Knot (Calidris canutus)
  
• Brant (Branta bernicla)
  
• Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) (new)
  
• Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus)
  
• Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger)
  
• Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani)
  
• Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)
  
• Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
  
• Whimbrel (Numenius phaeopus)
  
• Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea)
  
• Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus)
  
• Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
  
• House Wren (Troglodytes aedon)
  
• Marsh Wren (Cistothorus palustris)
  
• Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
  
• Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)
  
• Curlew Sandpiper (Calidris ferruginea) (new)
  
• Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
  
• Purple Sandpiper (Calidris maritima) (new)
  
• Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia)
  
• Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota)
  
• Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
  
• American White Pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos)
  
• Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
  
• American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
  
• Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor)
  
• Caspian Tern (Sterna caspia)
  
• Dunlin (Calidris alpina)
  
• Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
  
• Gull-billed Tern (Sterna nilotica)
  
• Surf Scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)

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Last edited July 19, 2007