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Date: Tue, 23 May 2000
From: Shawneen Finnegan/Paul Lehman
Subject: Yel-nosed Albatross continues
The albatross, now seen well by many local birders, appears to be a Yellow-nosed. It was seen several times today, Tuesday, along and near the Delaware Bayshore in Cape May County. It has been seen as far north as Reeds Beach and as far south as a bit south of Highs Beach (but north of Norbury's Landing). A good vantage point between these two endpoints today was the end of Kimbles Beach Road (the road the Say's Phoebe was on last October). The bird was seen around 11:00, 11:30, 12:00, 12:30, 2:20, and 3:45 from Kimbles Beach, Cooks Beach, Reeds Beach, Pierce's Point, or Highs Beach, depending. (It is currently 5:30.) Sometimes it was seen flying by over the Bay, close to shore. Sometimes it was seen sitting on the water. But often it was, bizarrely, seen circling around from low to medium heights over the various saltmarshes in the area, and even over the woods inland from there! In fact, the first two times it was seen today it was flying over Route 47 (near the turnoff for Reeds Beach)!!! So people should look a bit inland as much or more than they look along the shore and offshore.
When Shawneen Finnegan first saw this bird early on Sunday afternoon it was a number of miles to the southeast of here, over the Garden State Parkway around MM 8+. This area is where many of the Laughing Gulls commute between their huge breeding colony around Stone Harbor and Nummy's Island to the Delaware Bayshore, where thousands go to feed on the horseshoe crab eggs. It is possible the albatross is roosting in or close to the Laughing Gull colony. Also in that area are nesting Herrings, and in nearby Hereford Inlet around 8PM a large number of young and otherwise nonbreeding large gulls accumulate on the sandbars in the inlet. We will check that area this evening to see if possibly the bird goes over there to roost..... Will post an update IF it is seen there. Otherwise I guess one's best bet is to sit at the end of Kimble's Bech Road, or nearby roads, armed with a cell phone, and keep in touch with your fellow birder.
We will post an update on Wednesday at some point, either way.
--Paul Lehman