Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbird, Dickcissel, Nashville and Orange-crowned Warbler – Cape May

I finally made it down to Cape May like the rest of New Jersey’s birders to see the continuing Rufous/Allen’s Hummingbird. (If you aren’t already familiar, the two birds, not in hand, are very hard to tell apart with almost no difference in appearance) The bird sat in the hedge to the right of the feeder for about 10 minutes preening and making it self comfortable. It only went to the feeder once in the total 20-25 minutes I was there. The Migratory Bird Refuge/Cape May Meadows in the afternoon did not hold any of the recently reported sparrows (Vesper, Clay-colored) but did show off a Dickcissel and a few late Warblers. The Dickcissel was with a group of House Sparrows and a Savannah Sparrow in the hedgerow around the first corner after turning left from the parking lot (the one parallel to the road). It would puff it self up and then “flatten out” to its more “recognizable” format. Not much yellow on this bird and far less than I had seen on the two I had seen previously. You could almost confuse this bird with a female House Sparrow with the really lack of identifiable color.

On the path at the back end of the Meadows, close to the right side path right before it goes up and on to the beach were a handful of RC Kinglets and two warblers. The one was a Nashville for sure with its bold eyering but the other was (for me) a little harder to nail down. I had heard reports of a Tennessee also being seen so I had that in my head when looking at this bird. The bird had very little yellow on the chest, a more extensive white eyebrow, and a thicker eye-line that seemed like Tennessee but the undertail coverts were definitely light yellow which points to Orange-crowned. The bird didn’t give great looks for closer examination, but I was able to get a few dark shots of the bird which I have posted on Flickr. Got great feedback and got a unanimous OC verdict.

Also, saw others who reported the Ash-throated early to mid morning and a Blue-headed vireo at the Point State Park in the early afternoon. A nice day for birding in Cape May. 🙂

Below is the warbler I mentioned. The yellow undertail coverts scream Orange-crowned but the white eyebrow is much more extensive then the OC I have seen before.