Cape May Epic Flight..

Howdee all,

Oh how I wish I was there to experience this..The above photo is one I took a few years back when we attended the Cape May Autumn Weekend.

You must read the articles below!

Simply Amazing!

Wings on the Wind: The Flight of a Decade by David LaPuma

The Morning Flight at Cape May by Dave Irons

Read the recent Buzz in Cape May 

And todays Birdie Migration Forecast from

David LaPuma aka @Woodcreeper 

also check out 

Kicking off November with a Bang

Cape May Monarch Butterflies

Howdee all,

A few weeks ago there was chatter on facebook about Monarch Butterflies going thru Cape May area.

Jeffrey Gordon said on facebook he was going out to look at them. Others in the area mentioned thousands going thru.

I have never been to Cape May to see this Phenomena, but I sure would love to see it happen.

This video below was shared by David LaPuma,if you don't know who David is check out his website Woodcreeper. David tracks bird migration via Doppler radar.

Now that's allot of butterflies.

Below

“Louise Zemaitis, Field Coordinator for the Cape May Bird Observatory, tells us about the fall Monarch Butterfly migration. Cape May County is a prime location to watch this phenomenon, Stone Harbor Point being an active spot.”

 

 

And this next video is from the New York Times

When Jeff and I were in wintering near Pismo beach we were able to see thousands of Monarchs that winter in clusters on the Eucalyptus trees.

It was an amazing sight.

Check out the this link. I have read a few bloggers posts who have raised Monarchs.

One that comes first to mind is..

  Ruthies (Nature Knitter) 

You must read her blog posts about her experience raising and tagging Monarchs.

An Excellent Read.

And if you haven't had enough check out the butterfly articles below.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Monarch butterflies begin huge migration (cbc.ca)
• How To Create A Butterfly Garden (brighthub.com)
• Long Live the Monarch Butterflies...Or How To At Least Help (environment.change.org)
• Logging down in Mexican Monarch butterfly reserve (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Canadian researchers solve Monarch migration mystery (ctv.ca)
• Mexico: Butterflies on the Sierra Madra (telegraph.co.uk)

Western Tananger, Cape May

what is the name of this butterfly??? what do u think beach girl...so far you won both contests...will you be three for three?

Howdee...

Here is a quick handheld..digiscoped video of the Western Tananger we saw today at
Higbee beach, Cape May. Read this article about the bird...and the rare bird alert.

first video shows the scene....birders looking for the rarely seen bird...



the bird



I have been playing around a bit with digiscoping...not so easy handheld...but here is another video..

catbird

Bird Brains...a few life birds for us in Cape May

thats my shadow third from left...HI..and our scope head left...wonderful evening birder shadows..

Howdee all...

Yes we are bird brains here in Cape May....think...dream...seek...read....birds....
I guess being here in Cape May has put us into Bird Mode...all these birders in one area is very exciting and energizing and makes it so much easier for us novice birders to learn..learn ...learn...
Hopefully some of this info will sink in and we will be able to ID a few birds...
We continue to enjoy our new scope and yesterday we had great views of Northern Gannets, Lots of scooters, surf and black, Double crested and Great cormorant, common and red throated loons and lots of other birds..
Life birds for this trip so far are..

Dickcissel
Lesser Black bellied gull
Saltmarsh Sharptail sparrow
Black Scoter
Great cormorant
Northern Gannet
Bay breasted Warbler
Field Sparrow

Jeff is out birding now...I stayed in this morning to hang out with my little fur boy and catch up on Internet stuff... I have been adding bird links and a few mushrooming links to my blog..
I am finding plenty of birding blogs that are great...but having a hard time finding wild mushroom picking blogs...bummer...if any of you have favorite blogs that I might like leave the url and I will check it out.

For those who know me I have my eyes on the ground as much as I have them in the clouds...
I love to find things...pick wild mushrooms...bird...and enjoy the great outdoors...
as well as the internet...tee hee......

Well i better get ready for some afternoon birding...and ground watching...If anyone knows where I can get xtra eyes let me know..

i just called jeff as he was birding...says a western tanager female was spotted and lots of birders out looking...he is coming to pick me up now..,..i have seen the bird our west...but what the heck..

.

Hanging out with the birds and our new Scope....and new contest...

Howdee all

I have a new contest...guess the bug that makes this sound
for a nice prize.....
first one to guess gets the prize...
good luck....

We did some birding this morning...a walk around Higbee beach...we didnt walk the beach ...but walked around fields and woods. Then grabbed a little lunch and Headed out to the Hawk watch area...... In the video below...Jeff talks a little about our new scope.

Welcome our new Scope

Yep thats right...Jeff and I bought a Scope....never had one of our own and thought it would be great to have one...So after much research...by Jeff,,, and hanging out at the CMBO Feather Edge Optics shop for hours on end...(Thanks to Brian for all his help and patience).....Jeff tried out all the scopes...tripods..heads... carried the scopes around on different tripods...Yikes I was getting impatient after a gazillion hours....Jeff finally decided on a nice little package that should keep us Happy Birders for many years...

We ordered a digscoping attachment so that I can take some close up bird pics and videos. I did try handheld digascoping.....holding the camera by hand up to the scope lens...very difficult...as u can see by the video below...




this is our rig....
KOWA TSN-883
Kowa 20-60x Zoom Eyepiece
Manfrotto 128RC Quick Release Tripod Head
Gitzo GT2540 Carbon Tripod

Today was a cold, windy day...but we went out anyway to check out our new purchase...
I am ready to head south...its burrrrrrrrrr

Cape May autumn weekend

Howdee all...

Jeff and I had a great time at the Cape May Autumn weekend bird festival. We took indoor and outdoor workshops and bird walks.

We will stay in Cape May for another week before we continue our journey south.

Jeff is contemplating buying a scope for birding. I will let you know if we get one... if we do i might try my luck at digiscoping.

below is a video with some clips of the weekend...

Cape May autumn weekend bird festival and absentee ballots go south...

Howdee all

So today was the start of the Cape May Autumn weekend bird festival...

We had an excellent day of birding....

Great birdwalks and talks Kenn Kaufman, Peter Dunn , Kevin Karlson, Norman Smith and others....I even met the Birdchick I found her blog recently and love it....We were busy with birding from 730 until 1030 in the evening...so you only get two pictures...one of a group we did some shore birding with and the other...is Jeff mailing our absentee ballots for....hummm.....who do you think???????????

Forsythe National Wildlife Refugee

Howdeee all.....

Today we went to Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge..it was cold and windy..

so we did the eight mile drive by birding....

The snow geese were coming in on thier migration south...amongst lots of shorebirds, ducks etc...

Second day on Cape May

Howdee all...

Another nice day on Cape May...

I am a Poet and I know it....

Cape May day 2

Cape May Bike Ride

We took a nice bike ride today around Cape May...did a little birding and saw the sunset
check out our day....

click on the thumbnail to see the pics


by dawnjeffprodigynet

We are in Cape May ...

Howdee all..

Jeff and I are now in Cape May, New Jersey...our first time here...so if you have any suggestions on what we should see or do while we are here...add a comment or send us and email.

We are primarily here for the Cape May Autumn weekend Bird Show. Which starts Friday....Jeff left at 730 this morning for a bird walk...I opted to stay in until it gets warmer...we will go for a bike ride around town this afternoon. Will keep you posted...
See Ya....




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