See You On the Flip Side

 [The next White-throated Sparrow I see in Cape May will be southbound, probably next late September or early October. This one, at Higbee Beach today (May 27) is behind virtually all its brethren, and as such is the rarest bird I saw today. Click to enlarge photos.]

Well, that's it, spring migration's done. It went out with more than a whimper at Higbee Beach WMA, Cape May, NJ today, with obvious migrants like 2 Black-throated Green Warblers, 2 Magnolia Warblers, a Canada Warbler, and more than a couple American Redstarts. Plus Yellow-billed Cuckoos and more Red-eyed Vireos than can breed south of the Cape May Canal. Birds moving north, the last of them.

The last of them for me, I mean, and the last of spring migration for me in Cape May, though northbound birds will trickle through into June for others to enjoy. Next weekend I'll be happily ensconced in a campsite at High Point State Park, Sussex County, NJ, where there could very well be a few migrants still, and plenty of breeders, some of which I've missed northbound so far. By the time I next lift binoculars in Cape May, it will be deep into June, and there'll be no more hoping for the couple of migrants I'd really like to have grabbed northbound, like Tennessee Warbler or the rare Mourning Warbler. Hopefully I'll see these on the flip side, southbound.

 [Yellow-billed Cuckoo at Higbee Beach, Cape May NJ today, a migrant. A good view to study the tail pattern that helps separate it from Black-billed.]

[Finally! My son Tim found a Glaucous Gull at the mouth of the Maurice River in Bivalve months ago. I wonder if this one, a first cycle at Heislerville yesterday, is the same individual.]