A Sunny Sunday Morning In Cape May And A Lot Of Cool Stuff On The Beach And A Lot Of Birds In The Meadows

 

I was only in Cape May for a short visit last weekend.  I arrived Friday afternoon but was heading home on Sunday. I had scheduled the visit for the previous week, but had to change my plans after my last minute trip to Rome. I had a lot of chores to do back home so I was up early on Sunday morning  to get in a quick hike before I took the 3 1/2 drive  home.

The sun rose around 6 a.m. and I was up  watching  it from my hotel , the quaint , old fashioned, but lovely  Jetty Motel.

I walked to the beach, next to the hotel, and took in the beautiful view of the southernmost beach on the Jersey shore. The famous Cape May Lighthouse could be seen in the distance.

There was only one other person in the beach, a fisherman, and after walking past him I found a pair of overturned horseshoe crabs. They were both still alive. There were seagulls gathering to take advantage of the situation.

I thought I did a good deed by turning them over and facing them toward the ocean. I have since learned they may have been trying to get ashore to deposit their eggs. It was interesting to see this ancient creatures alive.

As I continued my walk I saw this laughing gull finishing a meal, 

a large clam that was also washed up on the beach.

I also saw one more interesting creature washed up be the rough seas, a clear nosed skate. I never knew these critters existed. I knew it would soon be devoured by the many seagulls flying overhead.

It was  beautiful sunny morning and I enjoyed my  walk along the beach. I soon saw this pair of American oyster catchers

.feeding on some sort of crustaceans along the shore. The American oyster catchers feed exclusively  on shellfish, clams, oysters, and other saltwater mollusks and are only found along the coasts  of North America.

The oyster catchers had competition this morning , there was a common grackle also feeding on the same small crustaceans.

After watching the oyster catchers I walked  through the dunes to the  South Cape May Meadows Preserve.  The path took me through protected areas of the dunes were many species of terns were nesting on the beach.  I believe these are  least tern but they could also be Forster’s tern. I am not sure.

But there were dozens of them on the sand and flying overhead.

I walked  through the dunes,

and into the meadows seeing this gray catbird singing in the early morning sun.

I  followed the East Trail Spur for the third time walking  below the dunes and hearing the crashing of the ocean on the other side.

On the trail I saw the  same common yellowthroat  perched on the same branch as on  Saturday morning.

I also saw this mourning dove

and brown thrasher.

I walked on the narrow trail surrounded by shrubs and picked up a few more ticks. I walked to the bridge over the stream and pond,

 where I saw this pair of mallard ducks.

The trail leads to a dead end so I walked back to the Dune Trail and, on the way saw this ruby throated  hummingbird land on a tree  branch before quickly flying away.

I walked back to the East Trail and to the Bird Blind.  Here I again saw the short billed Dowitchers,

greater yellowlegs and,

solitary  sandpipers.

I walked back to the Dune Trail  and State Park Connection Trail . There are more photos of the trails and the tree, plants and flowers I  observed in my two previous blogs.

It was a beautiful morning and I did see quite a few birds, starting with this prairie warbler which was pointed out to me be a group of birders I encountered on the trail. There were now  quiet a few of them on the trails, many having participated in the World Series of Birding  on Saturday.

 I saw the mute swan,

and American coot on the Plover pond again.

I then walked along the trails looking for, and finally seeing a few species of birds,  my favorite was the yellow breasted chat perched high on a treetop,

and singly loudly in the morning sunshine.

I also saw the indigo bunting  in the same tree as the previous day

 a few field sparrows and

 this red winged blackbird singing in a tree. I am sure I would have  seen a lot more migratory song birds if I had the time to continue my hike, but I wanted to get on the road. 

So  I began  my hike back to the hotel.   I walked through the dunes and past the noisy nesting terns on the beach

 I was surprised to see the pair of American oyster catchers still on the beach.

They appeared to be searching the dunes for a place to nest, which surprised me since   any people walk along this area of the beach.

There were already a few folks on the beach now walking and looking for sea shells.

I saw a lot of gulls on the beach, also  searching for anything edible that may have been washed up by the waves including these great black-backed  gulls.

 Both the great black -backed gulls and

laughing gulls also flew over the waves just off of the beach.

I also saw a few double crested cormorants flying along the shore.  Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web site with some more photos of the birds I saw on  my morning hike. Cape May birds May 11 2025.

It was around 8:30 when I was getting back to my hotel. I had walked a quick 4 miles. It took me five minutes to pack and began my 3 1/2 drive back home to Northeastern Pennsylvania. It was a wonderful trip.  I hope to return, but not for a while, I want to enjoy some time exploring the woodlands of Northeastern Pennsylvania. There is no better place to be in the Spring. Here is a link to a gallery on my blog web site with some more photos from  my morning hike. Cape May May 11 2025.

“I could never stay long enough on the shore; the tang of the untainted, fresh, and free sea air was like a cool, quieting thought.”  -Helen Keller

“I love the ocean. Anywhere near the ocean will do. Preferably the Atlantic Ocean” .-Ben Fogle