Cape May, New Jersey and vicinity

Just returned from nearly a week in and around New Jersey's southernmost point, Cape May. This area is a birding Mecca, renowned for spectacular migratory showings from many species of birds, and some insects, most notably the Monarch.

I caught up with lots of stuff, but haven't had time to go through photos yet (there were many made). Here are just a few, with probably more to follow.

A Tricolored Heron, Egretta tricolor, in portraiture. These beautiful herons are very active hunters, darting through the shallows and often energetically pursuing prey.

A Forster's Tern, Sterna forsteri, on the hunt. I made a trip north to Edwin B. Forsythe (formerly Brigantine) National Wildlife Refuge, and many of these terns were present.

A Laughing Gull, Leucophaeus atricilla, hounds a tern with a freshly caught fish. Usually, a successful tern will swallow its prey within seconds, probably because of the ever-present risk of having it stolen by a gull. But if for some reason it doesn't, the chase is likely to be on. The gull tries to force the tern to drop its catch, which will then be seized by the bullying gull. Piracy of this type is known as kleptoparasitism.

A Semipalmated Sandpiper, Calidris pusilla, strikes a pose. This is one of the more numerous migrant shorebirds in this region. It's possible that this bird traveled some 3,000 miles to reach Cape May from its Arctic breeding grounds. And it may go that far, or farther, south to beaches in South America.

A Sanderling, Calidris alba, stretches. This is the classic wave-chasing sandpiper of beaches nearly worldwide. While Sanderlings breed in the Arctic, in North America and Eurasia, they disperse to winter on temperate beaches around the globe.

A Semipalmated Plover, Charadrius semipalmatus, preens. This also is a common bird around Cape May in migration, and I saw many. It also breeds in the far north, and winters in coastal areas in the southern U.S. and south nearly to the tip of South America. 

I got some really cool photos of two species of crabs. As I don't often feature crabs here (ever?), I will try to get to those soon.