On the move - Cape May

Arriving at Cape May late into the evening, where we were staying with Richard and Deb Crossley, we were quickly informed that weather conditions were ideal for a ‘morning flight’ and so we were out at Higbee’s at 5.00am, ticking Great Horned Owl on the way.  Dark shapes zipped through the half-light, the bushes ‘tick’ed and ‘zitt’ed, and as light arrived it was clear that many birds were on the move.  Northern Flickers were everywhere, at least 200 passed over in the first couple of hours.  Cedar Waxwings, American Robins and Bobolinks called from above and the bushes were alive with warblers and vireos. A viewing platform in the corner of one of the fields overlooks an area of scrub where the first sunlight arrives. A dozen or more species of warbler were prominent this first morning, including Tennessee, Nashville, Parula, Chestnut-sided, Magnolia, Blackpoll, Black-throated Blue, Hooded, Prairie and Black and White.

The ‘morning flight’ at Cape May is an amazing migration spectacle.  Morning flight is an after sunrise dispersal of migrants, mainly birds re-orientating and moving northwards up the Delaware Bay shoreline back from Cape May point. The fields and wooded areas at Higbee Beach is one of the best places to observe this movement.  Some counts have been staggering, not least the 67,000 migrants counted on 13 October 2003, including 58,959 Yellow-rumped Warblers, and the 1,516 Flickers that day somewhat eclipsed our 200. After the morning flight, the custom is to move down to the hawkwatch platform near the lighthouse or explore the Cape May ‘meadows’ or other less watched areas.  At the hawkwatch platform, birds are called and counted as they pass.  That first day, 500 American Kestrels passed through according to the tally board. 

Over the following days the spectacle of visible migration was always evident; hundreds of Blue Jays endlessly flying through one day, thousands of Tree Swallows clumped in a bush another.  There were raptors galore every day with up to 50 birds of 8 species circling above at peak periods, with Sharp-shined Hawks (or ‘Sharpies’ as they like to say over there) continually visible overhead.

On the quieter days, we did the ‘must-do’ trips up to Stone Harbor Point and Nummy’s Island.  Stone Harbor Point is a long sand spit to the seaward side of extensive saltmarsh. At high tide waders gather in numbers; numerous Western and Semi-p’s on the beach, Willet, Marbled Godwit and Short-billed Dowitcher in the saltmarsh.  Rails, herons and egrets lurk in the dense Spartina beds.  Further north, Forsythe Wildlife Refuge (aka Brigantine) is another location not to miss.  Water levels were rather high on our visit but Seaside and Sharp-tailed Sparrows were there to be ‘squeeked’ and ‘pished’ out of the grass and scrub.  If visible migration is your thing, it is spectacular at Cape May.

Pics from top: Sharpie, tree swallows, black & white, Higbee's, Short-b Dow, hawkwatch, flycatcher ID, Lesser Yellowlegs.

Extreme vis-migging

Lower pic - the Lee Valley from Tower 42 - Walthamstow, the Girling, the George and beyond.

I’m not keen on heights but as Tower 42 is now only the 5th tallest building in London, at 600 feet, I thought I’d give it a go. We clambered up various steps and ladders onto level 47, the very top, with a splendid all-round view of London for a session of watching for visible bird migration over the city.

Everything looks very small from up there!  No doubt, the more eyes looking the better, but in 4 hours we recorded the following: 22 Lesser Black-backed Gull, 4 Buzzards, 3 Kestrels, 4 Sparrowhawks, 2 Peregrines, 5 Cormorants, 1 House Martin, 10 Swallows, 1 green balloon, 1 blue balloon, 1 Tesco bag and 5 flies.

An excellent morning that showed the potential if you could hit the right day. Many thanks to David Lindo for organising it all (as detailed here) and to the tolerant Tower 42 security guys for putting up with us.

2,120 miles and counting.

I hate the rezzers. I wish I wasn’t stuck with reservoirs in my local patch. All that concrete and water, and nothing else, not a bush in sight. A visit in spring to these concrete doughnuts may yield little more than 5 species actually on site. The faster you walk to get around, the more you gag on irritating little midges that lodge in your throat.

While watching Eastenders the other night I decided to look through a few old notebooks to see how many times I’ve visited the rezzers. By a fag-packet calculation I reckon I’ve walked 2,120 miles around those sodding banks over 40 years. I’m now catching up with the boys of the past – John Fitz, Phil Vines, Tony Gray. Legends. Where are they now? Probably still so bush-intolerant that they can only stare out to sea from coastal retirement homes.

However, with all that superfluous breeding and resident stuff stripped away, what you get is birds on passage. Some of my best spring vis-mig days have been down there. On a lovely late April day with drizzly north-easterlies and low cloud, stuff can pile through. Hordes of Yellow Wags eating the pesky midges, waders zipping through without a tree to hide behind, and, after lunch, Arctic Terns arriving, gathering, then moving off north (never trust a man who sees an Arctic Tern early in the morning).  In fact, I can’t wait to get back down there.  I love the rezzers.


A sample good day:
3rd May 1980. Strong NE-E wind, cloudy, some drizzle.
King George V (early morning): 2 Oystercatcher north, 1 Sedge Warbler on bank!, 1 Sanderling, 16 Common Terns north, 1 Wheatear, 5 Turnstone.

Walthamstow Res (late morning): 1 Bar-tailed Godwit (on the deck), 4 Ringed Plover, 4 LRP, 1 Turnstone, 6 Wheatear, 1 White Wagtail, 5 Shelduck.


Girling (afternoon): 1 Ashy-headed Wagtail with 30 Yellow Wags, 1 Whimbrel north, 1 Greenshank, 2 Wheatear, 1 Turnstone, 27 Bar-tailed Godwits north, then 100+ Bar-tailed Godwits north.

Below - some recent stuff on the King George: White Wag, Dunlin, Ring Ouzel, Little Gull.
 

A push and some Shovs

At last, a reasonable day in the valley. With low cloud over Holyfield hill from first light, birds were passing close overhead and heading mainly west or south-west. The highlight was a single Lapland Bunting, flying low and fast from the east at 8.45, calling overhead, and again as it sped west across the valley. Small flocks of Redwings appeared every few minutes, with 342 counted in total.  A hedgerow to the rear of the hill was alive with thrushes, a Ring Ouzel lurked with Redwings, Blackbirds and Song Thrushes, and a further two Ouzels dropped out of the gloom into a scrubby area further back. A Marsh Harrier, picked up over Nazeing, headed south down the valley over Waltham Cross. Other totals included 271 Starlings, 32 Skylark, 43 Mipits, 23 Song Thrush, 22 Blackbirds, 57 Chaffinch, 3 Brambling, 3 Reed Buntings, 17 Goldfinch, 1 Yellow Wagtail and 4 Swallows. The clouds rose and the sun appeared around 10.30.

With most of the vis-mig action over, I looked around a few sites in the northern section of the valley specifically for Shoveler and amassed a reasonable total of 172. Most of these were at Rye Meads: a total of 105, with a single Garganey still present.  The Lee Valley supports internationally important numbers of Shoveler. However, although one of a number of winter visiting wildfowl that seem to be declining in the valley, the Shoveler is the exception in that ‘short-stopping’ is not a likely reason. In fact, UK wintering numbers appear to be increasing as fewer UK birds move south for the winter.

Shoveler numbers in the Lee Valley have dropped by around 10% over the last 10 years. There has been concern over sharply declining numbers on the King George and Girling reservoirs. However a closer look at the data shows peak numbers on these sites were mostly in years when water levels were low for some reason, and this is the crux of the issue. Shoveler tend to prefer shallow, productive wetlands and much of the valley is heading in the opposite direction. Only a very few sites in the valley can manage water levels for the benefit of nature conservation. Perhaps more should be done for the Shoveler – we might even get a few waders as well!