Thursday, May 26, 2016

Spring Migration - Cape May and Cumberland Counties, NJ 4 Days




Sometimes when you live close to a special place you tend to take it for granted. Myself and others have never or only recently visited Niagara Falls or the Statue of Liberty. Similarly we are spoiled to be near one of the globally ranked bird migration stopovers, Cape May and Cumberland Counties, NJ. 

South Jersey is a strategic area at specific locations to see uncommon species, sometimes in good numbers, as they return to terra firma for rest after a northbound crossing of the Delaware Bay and the Delmarva Peninsula. During fall migration the area can be spectacular, as young birds swell the population, with the looming bay and ocean forcing a respite from further flight. This spring we decided to appreciate the pulse of migration.
Short-billed Dowitcher
Although we pulled out the camera often, this was more of a targeted effort to see a few species; we looked for some of the more uncommon passerines and shorebirds. 

Regardless we recorded well over 150 species; highlights were Curlew Sandpiper, Red Knot, Kentucky Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Prothonotary Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, Summer Tanager, Least Tern, Yellow and Black-Crowned Night Herons, Bald Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Blue Grosbeak, Swainson's Thrush, Gull-billed Tern, Caspian Tern, Acadian Flycatcher, Hooded Warbler, Seaside Sparrow, Virginia Rail, American Oystercatcher, Clapper Rail, Glossy Ibis, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, Orchard and Baltimore Oriole and many more.

Semipalmated Plover

This article represents what four of us saw and two of us photographed on the weekends of 5/6/16, 5/13 and 5/20 during only 48 daylight hours. Conditions during this spring continued----cool or cold, showers, with N winds. Photography was challenging, lighting was far from optimal so we pushed up the ISO and opened the shutter speed!
Summer Tanager

Bald Eagle 


American Avocet

Development Of Migration

Short distance migration such as moving south a few US States in fall  likely developed from daily movements towards areas with more resources and better weather.
Short-billed Dowitcher 



Long distance migration patterns that we see today developed incrementally over tens of thousands to millions of years and the origins are more complex. Many components of migration, such as seasonality, direction, distances, general destination, etc. are innate responses. Migration also incorporates the animals contemporary and sometimes pensive response to temperature, photoperiod, weather, geography, wind direction, food sources and other factors.
Eastern  Kingbird 
Least Sandpiper with darker or muddy legs
Dunlin

Although it might seem counter intuitive for birds to move away from warm areas, for example Costa Rica, to Maine or Canada, cooler places, these areas do have abundant seasonal resources.  The annual tilting of the Earth and the concentrated activity periods of northern plants and animals, especially invertebrates, provides tremendous breeding opportunities for animals that can utilize them.

Northern Waterthrush


The seasonality and concentration of insects and longer days allows migrant species to raise on average 4-6 young  which is more than tropical populations of the same species or related species which average 2-3 young per year.

Semipalmated Plover
Least Tern




Black-legged Kittiwake, not found in this May 

   

Gull-billed Tern
Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge and its many channels and pools
Least Sandpiper


During interglacial periods breeding zones moved north and the birds continued to return to their tropical homes as winter weather and declining food supplies made southerly retreat necessary.  Supporting this genetical theory is the fact that most North American wrens, swallows, vireos, flycatchers, tanagers, warblers and orioles, and have evolved from taxa that originated in the tropics.    


Prothonotary Warbler




Chestnut-sided Warbler





Northern Diamondback Terrapin
Blue Grosbeak 
Willet
Rough-winged Swallow 
Bay-breasted Warbler
Clapper Rail
Short-billed Dowitcher
Northern Flicker
Black-crowned Night-Heron


Semipalmated Plover
Dunlin
Gull-billed Tern

Short-billed Dowitcher
Short-billed Dowitchers
Double-crested Cormorant
The "Meadows" of Cape May looking S towards the large, man-made ocean dune.
Eastern Kingbird
Blue Grosbeak
Harlequin Ducks; this is a winter picture from the NJ coast. They usually leave in March.


Purple Martin
Forster's Tern
Forster's Tern
Semipalmated Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Prothonotary Warbler
Clapper Rail 
Western Willet
Short-billed Dowitcher 
Eastern Willet
Least Tern 
Kentucky Warbler 
Swainson's Thrush
Orchard  Oriole
Dunlin
Kentucky Warbler 
American Egret
Wood Thrush
American Oystercatcher
Orchard Oriole 
Summer Tanager

Chestnut-sided Warbler
Orchard Oriole


Curlew Sandpiper


Veery

Eastern Kingbird
 

Development Of Migration

Short distance migration such as moving south in fall a few US States likely developed from daily movements towards areas with more resources and better weather.
Long distance migration patterns developed gradually over millions of years and the origins are more complex. Many components of migration, such as seasonality, direction, distances, general destination, etc. are innate responses.  Migration also incorporates the animals contemporary responses to temperature, photoperiod, weather, geography, wind direction, food sources and other factors.
Although it might seem counter intuitive for birds to move away from warm areas, for example Costa Rica, to Maine or Canada, cooler places, these areas do have abundant seasonal resources.  The annual tilting of the Earth and the concentrated activity periods of northern plants and animals, especially invertebrates, provides tremendous breeding opportunities for animals that can utilize them.
The seasonality and concentration of insects and longer days allows migrant species to raise on average 4-6 young  which is more than tropical populations of the same species or related species which average 2-3 young per year.
During interglacial periods breeding zones moved north and the birds continued to return to their tropical homes as winter weather and declining food supplies made southerly retreat necessary.  Supporting this genetical theory is the fact that most North American wrens, swallows, vireos, flycatchers, tanagers, warblers and orioles, and have evolved from taxa that originated in the tropics.

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