Hi
I have returned after 10 days at CM and will post some reports and photos over the next few days.
CM is just south of NY city and is basicallya funnel for migrants heading south. After a NW front they actually migrate back north along the west edge of the cape. At dawn on such days birders gather at Higbee beach car park as hundreds of flickers, warblers, jays and waxwings pass through until mid-morning. Later a search of the nearby fields and migrant hot spots will turn up new birds.
The CM observatory is close to the tip near the famous lighthouse, there are various habitats in several reserves so birding the area involves little travelling on a daily basis ( I like single location trips ). As well as passerine migrants there are local breeders and waders can be found at coastal sites. Brigantine state park reserve is an hour north up the coast. Raptors are highly visible and on good days stream overhead easily visible from the hawkwatch platform by the lighthouse . CM is a safe middle class resort with old houses and no high rise blocks, good guide books and friendly local birders.
We saw about 160 spp including over 20 spp of american warblers.
S
Green Heron at Brigantine
Black skimmers and Forsters Terns 10 yards from sunbathers
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For advice about Birding, Identification,field guides, binoculars, scopes, tripods, etc - put 'Birding Tips' into the search box
Great sets of pictures but we are going to work hard on the next i.d. quiz he does
Pete
Birding is for everyone no matter how good or bad we are at it,enjoy it while you can
Great stuff S...keep 'em coming....!
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Wendy S said:Great sets of pictures but we are going to work hard on the next i.d. quiz he does
I take it that you've already answered the quiz that seems to have been set within this thread then Seaman? Note that Seymour doesn't actually say what the four birds in his two last posts are (but most names are hinted at!).
;o)
An interesting photo of the Western Sandpiper by the way - that one would have made an interesting mystery bird because it looks like it has webbing between its toes!
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Hi-
RoyW's post confused me a little with the webbing comment.
Semipalmated and Western sands both show palmations if that's what was meant- so a mystery comp would have immediately taken us to those 2 spp. I can't think of a web footed wader.
:)
For those un-labeled I believe they are:
Eastern Phoebe
Blackpoll Warbler
Laughing Gull
Semipalmated Plover
He's not wrong
seymouraves said: RoyW's post confused me a little with the webbing comment. Semipalmated and Western sands both show palmations if that's what was meant- so a mystery comp would have immediately taken us to those 2 spp. I can't think of a web footed wader.
I'll try and explain my thinking then!
As far as I know there are no waders with full webbing between their toes, but your photo does give the impression that the feet are fully webbed (especially on the right foot). A closer look at the left foot does seem to show that there really is webbing, but that it is only partial webbing.
If this had been a mystery bird some people may not have picked up on the apparent webbing at all - but others may have been fooled into looking for waders with fully webbed feet. Either way, the significance of the partial webbing, and the fact that despite appearances no waders have fully webbed feet could have been highlighted when the answer was given.
I also think that the presence of partial webbing would have led quite a few UK based birders who realised the significance to an incorrect identification. Many UK birders are aware that Semipalmated Sandpiper has partial webbing, but the fact that the feature is also shared by Western Sandpiper is less well known in the UK (something which was obvious from comments in the hide when I saw the Western Sandpiper at Cley last winter). I'll freely admit that I didn't realise that Western Sandpiper also had the webbing before I saw the bird at Cley, or at the time at the time that I saw it. I had read up on the identification criteria, but concentrated on the criteria that best allow Western and Semipalmated to be separated - the fact that the partial webbing wasn't mentioned as a feature that would help with the identification of the two (because it wouldn't!) was something that didn't register at the time!
It does help if you know all of the relevant features before you see a bird (which is why trying to identify 'mystery bird photos' can be a useful exercise), but it's not essential to know what to look for - as long as you are prepared to observe carefully, and make a note of all features (and as long as the bird doesn't fly off before you note the important ones!).
seymouraves said:I can't think of a web footed wader.
Seymour do you mean to say you have not got a "Duck Footed Sandpiper "on your world list?
By the way Michael is getting a bit good at this isn't he?
remember that Ringed plovers have palmations between their middle and outer toes
Must admit I have never been lucky enough to see one in the hand an d in the field the feet are usually in the mud,must try looking harder next time on the reserve,cheers for that Seymour.