The threat of Hurricane Ivan seemed to loom large over the start of this Venture, but thankfully we did not get the full wrath and too much rain overall. Hawk Mountain was quiet this year and a whole day up there could only produce one Broad-winged Hawk (in the middle of the road), several Sharpies and a couple of Osprey. Hmm - not too good! Thankfully we had a great morning lower down and even had a Wilson's Warbler, along with our first Philadelphia Vireo. As the threat of rain continued, we changed plans and headed to Bombay Hook and what a day that was. Despite the gray conditions and the impending rain we had a great afternoon sifting through thousands of shorebirds and watching the Peregrines putting everything to flight. Probably our best bird was a small goose that was considerably smaller than the Snows it was with - a Cackling Goose, a "lifer" for many in the group. More migrants were at Cape Henlopen State Park, as well as a small flock of Brown-headed Nuthatches - a local specialty. The wind really howled as we took the ferry across to Cape May, but we still did a spot of "seawatching". Alas, Wayne was the only one who saw a Wilson's Storm-Petrel, although we all tried. Overall Cape May was a little disappointing, so we headed up to Brigantine. More shorebirds, I promised the group, and we added a spectacular Red-necked Phalarope to the list, as well as an American White Pelican masquerading as a huge white bale of cotton! We certainly had a good birding trip, great amusing company and some excellent food - even if some folks relished beating crabs to pieces with their wooden hammers!
| Birds | |
| Northern Gannet | Downy Woodpecker |
| American White Pelican | Northern Flicker |
| Double-crested Cormorant | Eastern Wood-Pewee |
| Great Blue Heron | Yellow-bellied Flycatcher |
| Great Egret | Eastern Phoebe |
| Snowy Egret | Eastern Kingbird |
| Little Blue Heron | White-eyed Vireo |
| Cattle Egret | Yellow-throated Vireo |
| Green Heron | Blue-headed Vireo |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | Philadelphia Vireo |
| Glossy Ibis | Red-eyed Vireo |
| Black Vulture | Blue Jay |
| Turkey Vulture | American Crow |
| Mute Swan | Fish Crow |
| Snow Goose | Horned Lark |
| Cackling Goose | Barn Swallow |
| Canada Goose | Tree Swallow |
| Wood Duck | Bank Swallow |
| Green-winged Teal | Black-capped Chickadee |
| American Black Duck | Carolina Chickadee |
| Mallard | Tufted Titmouse |
| Northern Pintail | Red-breasted Nuthatch |
| Blue-winged Teal | White-breasted Nuthatch |
| Northern Shoveler | Brown-headed Nuthatch |
| Gadwall | Carolina Wren |
| American Wigeon | House Wren |
| Osprey | Ruby-crowned Kinglet |
| Bald Eagle | Blue-gray Gnatcatcher |
| Northern Harrier | Eastern Bluebird |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | Swainson’s Thrush |
| Cooper’s Hawk | Veery (Hd) |
| Broad-winged Hawk | American Robin |
| Red-tailed Hawk | Grey Catbird |
| American Kestrel | Northern Mockingbird |
| Merlin | Brown Thrasher |
| Peregrine Falcon | European Starling |
| Common Moorhen | Cedar Waxwing |
| Black-bellied Plover | Tennessee Warbler |
| American Golden Plover | Nashville Warbler |
| Semipalmated Plover | Northern Parula |
| Killdeer | Yellow Warbler |
| American Oystercatcher | Chestnut-sided Warbler |
| American Avocet | Magnolia Warbler |
| Greater Yellowlegs | Black-throated Blue Warbler |
| Lesser Yellowlegs | Black-throated Green Warbler |
| Willet | Pine Warbler |
| Spotted Sandpiper | Prairie Warbler |
| Hudsonian Godwit | Palm Warbler |
| Ruddy Turnstone | Bay-breasted Warbler |
| Red Knot | Blackpoll Warbler |
| Sanderling | Black-and-White Warbler |
| Semipalmated Sandpiper | American Redstart |
| Western Sandpiper | Ovenbird |
| Least Sandpiper | Northern Waterthrush |
| White-rumped Sandpiper | Common Yellowthroat |
| Pectoral Sandpiper | Wilson’s Warbler |
| Dunlin | Scarlet Tanager |
| Stilt Sandpiper | Eastern Towhee |
| Short-billed Dowitcher | Chipping Sparrow |
| Red-necked Phalarope | Savannah Sparrow |
| Laughing Gull | Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow |
| Ring-billed Gull | Seaside Sparrow |
| Herring Gull | Song Sparrow |
| Great Black-backed Gull | Lincoln’s Sparrow |
| Caspian Tern | White-throated Sparrow |
| Royal Tern | Northern Cardinal |
| Common Tern | Rose-breasted Grosbeak |
| Forster’s Tern | Indigo Bunting |
| Black Skimmer | Bobolink |
| Rock Pigeon | Red-winged Blackbird |
| Mourning Dove | Boat-tailed Grackle |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo | Common Grackle |
| Chimney Swift | Brown-headed Cowbird |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird | House Finch |
| Belted Kingfisher | American Goldfinch |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | House Sparrow |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | |
| Mammals, Fish & Other Critters | |
| Gray Squirrel | Eastern Cottontail |
| Groundhog | Muskrat |
| Eastern Chipmunk | Carolina Mantis |
| White-tailed Deer | |