A view of Battery 223 at Cape May Point, #NewJersey, from the Cape May Lighthouse. It was part of Fort Miles, a coastal defense system during WWII. Built in 1942-1943, this #bunker contained heavy artillery and was manned by a rotating detail of US Army Coast Artillery Corps, who spent hours on end scanning the horizon for enemy surface ships and submarines. In front of this bunker were 6″ turret guns and 155MM guns. Battery 223 was used as a U.S. Navy radio transmitter station for the Atlantic Fleet during the Korean War. It was decommissioned in 1963. The bunker was originally 900 feet inland. Coastal erosion has taken its toll on the structure over time but the sand around it has been replenished in recent years. It was added to the New Jersey Register of Historic Places and the @nationalregisternps in 2008.
Between work and holiday commitments I’ve got three more decent opportunities to add to my county year list before the year is over.
Tomorrow I plan to go to Surf Beach to try scoping for scoters. Mark had White-winged and Black Scoters not far from there recently on Vandenberg Air Force Base. I don’t have access to the base, but there’s an Amtrak stop (really just a platform and a sign) that I can get to, with a high dune that gives views of the coast to the south. I’m going to try to be there early before the wind picks up and with the morning sun (hopefully) behind me.
The high surf forecast is problematic; good for surfers is bad for birders, as distant scoters that pop into view only when they’re both a) on the surface and b) on the crest of a wave can be super frustrating to find much less identify. But it’s the only opportunity I have, so I’ll make the most of it.
If time allows I’ll also check nearby Ocean Beach Park for an American Bittern and any unexpected shorebirds or waterfowl. Chances of a new county year bird there are slim, but again, I have to do what I can with the opportunities I have left.
Thursday is the Cachuma Christmas count, where my territory includes a spot where Northern Pygmy-Owls have been seen in the past. I’ll be trying for Grasshopper Sparrows first; during scouting yesterday I got lucky and was able to get photos of one; hopefully I can repeat that on Thursday. Assuming I do I’ll move on to the NOPO spot. I plan to use playback, which I normally avoid, so I feel like my chances are decent. We didn’t have any owls yesterday in that location, but I’ll be by myself and will hopefully have more time on Thursday, so:🤞
My last chance will be New Year’s Eve. I’ll make a decision then what my best opportunity is; maybe one last try for Northern Pygmy-Owl, either at Ranger Peak or closer to home on the Baron Ranch Trail.
I’m in the lead by one species among active eBirders in the county, but I don’t trust Mark; I bet he’s got two or three birds he’s waiting to spring on me at the last second. 😜 We’ve never discussed it; birder “cool” requires pretending strenuously not to care about such things. Or maybe that’s just me, and no one else actually does care.
A rarity to Powdermill, this sparrow usually breeds in shrublands, field edges, and thickets across the northern prairies.
Powdermill Nature Reserve’s avian research center is part of Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s biological research station in Rector, Pennsylvania. The research center operates a bird banding station, conducts bioacoustical research, and performs flight tunnel analysis with the goal of reducing window collisions.
#327
I’m fighting a cold, but the year’s almost done and I’m tied for the top spot in the county-year eBird rankings. So I set the alarm and headed to River Park in Lompoc, where a Clay-colored Sparrow has been seen lately hanging out with the White-crowned Sparrows.
I spent most of my time checking out a couple of different groups of White-crowns, trying hard to make one of them look smaller than the rest. No dice.
I’d basically given up (again. why is it always like that?) and was heading back to my car past the pond when I saw one more group of sparrows I hadn’t checked before. And there, hopping around with them, was one that was distinctly smaller. And cuter. 🙂
My photo’s nowhere near as good as the OP’s. But it’s special to me.
This could be my last county-year bird of 2018. I’ve got a few chances at a Northern Pygmy-Owl coming up, and there have been some Black and White-winged Scoters seen off Vandenberg not far from Surf Station; maybe I could see one of those. And there’s the method Nick explained a while back to scope for American Bitterns at Ocean Beach Park. Any of those could add another species to the list.
And there’s always the chance of a wildcard. They’re birds; you can’t predict them.
