Even a bad day is good, when you're in Cape May!

So the rain held off until about noon, then it was teetered between drizzling and pouring. Now is part of the pouring part.

In the morning I went to Bigbee WMA. Pretty birdy there. I ended up with a tasty warbler list, but they were all ones I had seen in Brooklyn... maybe even the same individuals! I did get a few southern species that had elluded my list so far such as FISH CROW, CAROLINA CHICKADEE, and BROWN THRASHER.

At Cape May Point State Park, I got great looks at BOBOLINK, flying in groups of 30-100 at a time. I had seen them several times before I was comfortable calling it, but then they dipped below the tree line where I could see their yellow bellies. The Hawk Watch was in full effect there, but since it was rainy, the hawks didn't get the message. Only osprey.

After talking to a birder, I realized I had not been paying enough attention to rare bird alerts of the areas I had driven through. The guy I was talking to had discovered a NORTHERN WHEATEAR in Connecticut several days ago, which is still there now. Also, there had been a YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD seen here the last two days, and I didn't know until later in the day today. Fortunately or unfortunately, no one had seen it since yesterday afternoon. It was apparently attacked by a raptor and it likely recuperated and fled.

At The Nature Conservancy's Cape May Refuge, I saw some nice birds. BLACK SKIMMER, GADWALL, AMERICAN WIDGEON, LEAST TERN, and SEMIPALMATED PLOVER. Also, the place was littered with TREE SWALLOWS.

I spent over an hour trying to identify a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL out of all of the GREATs. A birder leaving the area told me there was one in there. This is what I was looking at.



Not surprisingly, I did not find it.

Hopefully this rain will clear up so I can have another whack at this here megahotspot!