Kingbirds at Higbee's

Being used to birding in areas where eastern kingbirds are plentiful, I would not normally consider them a highlight of a birding trip in late August. However, when there are thirty of them, all sitting in the same tree, it is a different story.

This morning I took a birding walk in Higbee's Beach WMA. I did not join the Morning Flight Project but instead wandered the trails. There was a constant stream of birds going north when I first got there. Most of the birds went by me unidentified; the ones I did identify were mostly either kingbirds or barn swallows.

There were a few patches of activity in the path edges. I saw several Empidonax flycatchers, one of which I think was a least, in addition to the kingbirds mentioned above. Elsewhere a white-eyed vireo was singing out of a dense tangle (or at least something was singing a white-eyed vireo song). There were a few patches of warblers, but not a lot of diversity. One patch held American redstarts, black-and-white, and black-throated blue warblers. Elsewhere were common yellowthroats and an ovenbird.

It was a good introduction to birding at Higbee's Beach. I am not yet sure how much time I will be able to spend there this fall, but it would be worth a trip back.

One complaint: David Sibley's Birds of Cape May encourages birders to cycle to Higbee's rather than driving. The trouble is, there are not any bicycle racks around the parking lots – or at least none that I saw. Pretty much the only places to lock a bicycle securely are the loops in the guardrails. Given that every other site I have visited around Cape May is so bicycle-friendly, it seems a strange omission.

Sunset

Sunset over Cape May Point, from the Lighthouse

House Sparrow Pool Party

House sparrows in a ground-level bird bath.

More Cape May Birding

This morning I visited Cape May Point State Park again. The species present have been fairly consistent over the past few days. My new bird for today was a northern waterthrush, on one of the trails in the back area. There were also quite a lot of ruby-throated hummingbirds buzzing around. Bunker Pond has a mix of the more common sandpiper and plover species. Lighthouse Pond had a little blue heron and blue-winged teal.

Yesterday morning I was at the Nature Conservancy's Migratory Bird Refuge (a.k.a. "The Meadows"). It had a similar mix of species as the state park ponds – mostly the common shorebirds. There were also a few gadwall near the observation tower.

Two evenings ago, I saw a black tern and some royal terns on the state park beach.

Update: A sea watch this evening produced a cluster of terns - black, Forster's, common, least, and royal. There may have been a few others in the mix, but if so I did not identify them in time.

Review: All Things Reconsidered

In honor of the centennial of Roger Tory Peterson's birth, I am reposting this review of a collection of his writings, which I first posted here in January 2007.

Roger Tory Peterson is one of the premier figures in birding from the last century. In the early twentieth century, his field guides to birds aided the development of a class of amateur naturalists who practice their hobby with binoculars rather than shotguns. There must be few American birders today who are not familiar with Peterson's field guides and who have not been influenced by them. His Field Guide to Eastern Birds was the first that I used, and I still refer to it on occasion.

In addition to being an influential field guide illustrator, Peterson was a photographer and prolific writer. Even though he died ten years ago, he now has one more book to his name: All Things Reconsidered: My Birding Adventures. The book reprints essays from a regular column of the same name that Peterson wrote for Bird Watcher's Digest from 1984 until his death in 1996. The collection was prepared by Bill Thompson III, editor of Bird Watcher's Digest and blogger at Bill of the Birds.

The subtitle, "My Birding Adventures," applies best to a subset of essays. Peterson was an avid traveler, around the Americas and especially to Africa. These accounts display Peterson's skill as a story-teller as he recounts close encounters with wildlife, as well as mishaps on several trips. The travel narratives are beautifully illustrated, with some of Peterson's own photographs of the native avifauna.

Certain essays describe changes to the birding and conservation scenes in the years since Peterson first began his career. For example, the fortunes of raptors shifted remarkably during Peterson's lifetime, from persecution at migration sites in the early twentieth century, to protection and expansion mid-century, to near-extinction from DDT in the sixties, to a rebound in the century's waning decades. Other essays profile conservation figures and organizations that have come and gone, especially the persons who comprised the defunct Bronx County Bird Club.

As I read All Things Reconsidered, I was struck by Peterson's love of the natural world and his abilities as a writer. I had not read much of his work, so these essays were all new to me. If you have not read much of Peterson's work outside of his field guides, consider reading All Things Reconsidered.

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Full citation:

Roger Tory Peterson, All Things Reconsidered: My Birding Adventures. Edited by Bill Thompson III. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006. Pp. xiv, 354; illustrations and index. $30.00 cloth. ISBN: 0618758623.

To purchase: Amazon.com