Most bird sightings are good, but others aren’t. Today Jeanine and I took our nearly daily stop (for this Cape May trip) at Coral Ave. to see if anything interesting was happening. With the winds coming from the southwest, we thought that maybe the gulls and terns and jaegers might be blown landward, making for better viewing. When we arrived at the viewing platform, a large tour group was on the beach, and they informed us that a Parasitic Jaeger was resting in the wrack line on the beach.
Our first view of the Parasitic Jaeger on the beach.
It wasn’t clear what was happening, but the group was avoiding moving closer to give the bird room, and we did the same, passing up the opportunity for great photos, and instead relying on observation and digiscoping from a distance.
The bird initially was flat on the ground, and when it moved at all, it was very gingerly and in brief pulses. It seemed pretty clear that this bird was either injured or exhausted and it should be left to recover.
The bird was not doing well, flopping about any time that it tried to move.
I felt better each time it was able to stand upright.
Eventually it flew a few yards before flopping down again. This happened a couple times and it became difficult to watch, especially for a bird that normally is so incredibly mobile and graceful and powerful in flight.
It’s movements eventually grew a bit stronger, taking short flights of a few yards at a time with extensive rest in between.
Finally, the bird garnered enough strength to fly 20 or so yards from shore into the mild waters. This was a step in the right direction.
It looks a bit more comfortable on the water. Here’s hoping that it was able to survive.
We left, unable or unwilling to watch it any longer, and hope that it survived. I enjoy watching jaegers, but not like this.