The rain has been coming down all day so far, and shows no sign of letting up. I’ve been watching a goldfinch linger on the Rudbeckia I planted for quite awhile, which is one of the most rewarding outcomes of my native gardening efforts. A roundup of some of my fav rainy day birding inspo:

There's nothing quite like birding in the rain. Here's a long cut of chickadees enjoying cattails.
byu/dan-over-land inbirding

https://natural-history-journal.blogspot.com/2024/02/birding-in-adverse-weather-conditions.html

https://columbusaudubon.org/waterbirds-in-the-rain-2

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/day-47-im-birding-rain

https://www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/birdwatching/dont-let-rain-stop-you-from-birding-pete-dunne-says

https://blog.lauraerickson.com/2017/04/so-worth-going-out-in-rain.html

Lucky and very cool find for this birder in PA: https://ebird.org/checklist/S398712177

I so recommend this AirBnB if you find yourself in north-central Portugal! They built a nice little courtyard atop the hillside building. After we checked out, we walked the Escadaria Nossa Senhora de Fátima and sat at a picnic table for a little while at the top.

Happy summer! I walked from the entrance off Rt 9 past the west entrance on the red trail. Cool little park, will be back!

I’m back to my backyard, and am doing a synopsis of what’s been happening this season. I’ve had a nest of guinea paper wasps on the fence, but out of a desire to not disturb them(!) I haven’t checked on them. I’ve also had a few crab spiders on my flowers, but iNaturalist reviewers seem to be putting them in Mecaphesa (indeed it seems identification is based on fine characteristics). I had a spined stilt bug along the foundation of my house, but only saw it once. I also had a flower scarab again, but the flower chafers so far haven’t gotten a lot of attention on iNaturalist. I’ve had several longhorn and cuckoo bees, but again am not versed enough to identify them myself. I also think I had Tachytes guatemalensis but would be nice to get a confirmation. Some night finds have been non-natives (Asiatic garden beetle and striped greenhouse slug) as well as a tie-for-favorite annually, firefly spp.

Today saw an influx of migratory saddlebags and other dragonflies. I’m still hoping to luck out enough to get a perched photo of some species that hardly sit still!

I did a “bucket list” hike to the summit of Slide Mountain today! I took the path up here and took the Curtis-Ormsbee Trail back. I haven’t done a mountain hike in years, so it was tough! It was a good encouragement to get back into peak (pun intended) hiking shape to explore more of this wilderness area, perhaps next summer.

Thank you for reading my latest article in Cape May magazine! Here are my sources, along with some corrections…

Corrections

1. I think I overstated the extent of filling in South Cape May; here’s a map of historic fill extent. The history of SCM is more thoroughly addressed in a previous article for the magazine anyway: https://capemaymag.com/feature/gone-with-the-waves/
2. I cannot find my original reference for the Cape May County % area mosquito ditched, as I can’t find the doc where I was originally keeping these sources 🙁 I remember finding a reference that had some rough breakdowns in text for a few counties. All I can bring up though is the following reference for ditching in the back bays, which estimates 40% https://www.njcoastalresilience.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Ecological-Restoration-and-Beneficial-Use_NJRSMF-WhitePaper.pdf

This doesn’t incorporate Delaware Bay marshes, so I’m not sure how that would adjust the estimate barring re-finding the previous rough estimate. But, it’s possible that the extent of ditching is closer to 40%.

References

Click to access geology-cape-may-1857.pdf

https://www.usgs.gov/publications/sediment-redistributed-coastal-marsh-mosquito-ditching-cape-may-county-new-jersey-usa

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0964569117307676

The Complicated History of Our Marshes and an Update on Restoration Progress

East Cape May

A Village within a City

Happy Memorial Day! This weekend, the Galbatrosses celebrated Female Bird Day, and this galbatross in particular spent a good chunk of the weekend looking for female birds and posting short videos of them w/ID tips to my Instagram story. Species in which I was able to find the female:

• American robin: pair foraging together, female duller plumage
• common grackle: pair foraging together, female has shorter tail/duller plumage
• mourning dove: foraging together, female has plainer face
• northern cardinal
• house sparrow
• ruby-throated hummingbird
• gray catbird: female building nest
• osprey: female has breast band, in this case was bringing fish back to the nest while the male was standing sentry nearby
• barn swallow: female cream/white underneath, in contrast to the male’s orange underbelly

Some reflections…

• running female bird weekend this late makes it hard to find the females of some common/resident species…
  • Carolina chickadees have already fledged young, and the female can only be reliably identified by carrying nesting material by the time there are fledglings
  • chipping sparrows are tending fledglings, and the female could only be identified if they are attempting a 2nd nest (which they don’t always do) and she’s carrying nest material while the male is tending young
  • red-winged blackbird females seemed to be all on nests, didn’t see any
• next year’s goal sighting: while it seems female chimney swifts often lead the trio flights, they don’t always…look for aerial copulation?

Today my mom and I are headed to this fest in CA! I’m writing this post after the fact as a reminder for what I packed and could have used, since I may well do this festival again 🙂

• visor
• winter hat
• hair ties (and sleeping hair tie)
• cotton gloves
• sunglasses
• Eddie Bauer 2-in-1 hip length coat (650 down puff layer under waterproof shell)
• hoodie
• 2 long sleeved tees
• t-shirt
• Carhartt force utility leggings
• a pair of fleece lined leggings (could have used another pair and meant to pack them)
• 3 pairs of leggings/yoga pants
• joggers
• sweatpants
• kneehigh compression socks (for the flight there/back)
• anklet compression socks (could use ones with more compression…)
• novelty socks (could have used warmer boot socks)
• hiking boots
• hiking shoes
• Shade & Shore Neida sandals
• Keen waterproof Chelsea boots
• sunscreen (didn’t pack after sun care and needed it)
• a nice dinner outfit for 60’s °F

Honestly this festival was pretty easy to pack for, as the weather was about the same as we have in Cape May right now. We kept it simple, didn’t go anywhere overly fancy for dinner (although would have on hand a decent outfit for going out if desired). Arcata was pretty laid back though, and for the most part we unapologetically went from the field to food. Humboldt Co. was captivating, the festival was great, and I would consider a return, full day of travel both ways and all!