Forked River Rest Stop/Brigantine 5/28

We took the long drive down to Brig today--until the East Pond at Jamaica Bay drains sometime mid-summer, this is the best place within a reasonable drive to see the shorebirds coming through.

However, probably the happiest sight today was when we stopped at the Forked (pronounced, according to Shari, as two syllables: FOR'ked) River Rest Stop on the Parkway. As soon as I opened the car door I heard a Fish Crow but before I could tell Shari she was excitedly pointing to a little tree in front of our parking space--"Waxwings, waxwings!" she exclaimed. And there they were, ultimately 6 Cedar Waxwings, birds which always remind me of space cadets from 1950's TV shows because  the pattern on the face and the crest resemble a helmet. They were eating berries off the tree, then flying across the Parkway to sit in some pines before coming back for more chow. Shari said she heard them just as we parked--they make a soft zit-zit sound--and then they appeared in the windshield. Waxwings are on my top ten best looking birds list and these beauties were really fresh and bright. So the birding today started off with a bang.

Brig didn't disappoint. The Purple Martins are back at their houses by the Visitors Center. A young Red-tailed Hawk was hanging around the center, posing on branches. I first saw it scooting a couple of inches off the ground chasing something before it swept up into a pine. Later, Shari got this photo of the bird.

"You lookin' at me?"
Photo: Shari Zirlin

On the drive around the impoundments we found plenty of birds. We heard a lot of Clapper Rails and finally in the Danzenbacker Pool I scoped one, then two rails in the open. They were hanging around a hummock of grass and then started to walk and swim in the open water. We got a couple of other birders on them, but even with a 500MM lens they were too far out to get decent shots.

There were well over a thousand Semipalmated Sandpipers. From a distance, looking out over the mud flats, to our city eyes, they bear an unfortunate resemblance to an infestation of cockroaches. It's an image we can't expunge from our minds as they peck away at the mud. There may have been some other, rarer species in among them but unless I'm right on top of a bird I can't confidently call a white-rumped or Baird's. There may have been Least Sandpipers in among the semis--almost surely there were, but unless I can see yellow legs on a peep, it goes as a semipalmated. Semis are notorious for having a wide range of color plumage--the other day someone on Jerseybirds thought he had a Little Stint at Brig. When I looked at his photo I thought Western Sandpiper and was pleased with myself when someone else on the list id'd it as that. Then someone with even more expertise came on the list and said it was just a semi with more red in it than usual. That's one of the real advantages of the East Pond at JBWR--you can practically stand next to the bird before you make your identification.

Tern were in abundance too, though despite looking carefully at just about every one we saw I never did find a Least. But there were a few Gull-billed Terns and dozens of Forster's, especially at one of the weirs where the water runs out of the pool dragging the fish with it. The Terns hover above this piscine buffet, splashing down to pick up the little silvery fish.

Another great bird to see today was Seaside Sparrow. This one was also in the Danzenbacker Pool, singing atop a dead bush. We've seen them before, but this one was very cooperative, staying in one place for a long time so we could really study it in the scope.

The sparrow was also amazingly "fresh" as were the Black-bellied Plovers and the Ruddy Turnstones. The deep velvety black on the bellies of the plovers and the red, almost chocolate plumage of the turnstones were beauts to behold.

We did two circuits of the drive. On the second loop we only stop for new stuff--today the only new bird we saw was at the very end at the bridge before the exit where an Eastern Kingbird was snatching bugs off the water lilies.

We totaled a Heinz today--57 varieties of birds.
Forked River Rest Stop
Number of species:    7
Turkey Vulture    1
Laughing Gull    1
Rock Pigeon    1
Fish Crow    1
European Starling    2
Cedar Waxwing    6
House Sparrow    3


Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive
Number of species:    53
Canada Goose    18
Mute Swan    1    Gull Pond
American Black Duck    1
Mallard    2
Greater Scaup    2
Double-crested Cormorant    3
Great Blue Heron    3
Great Egret    18
Snowy Egret    14
Glossy Ibis    4
Osprey    6
Northern Harrier    1
Red-tailed Hawk    1
Peregrine Falcon    1
Clapper Rail    12    Two seen, the rest heard.
Black-bellied Plover    15
Semipalmated Plover    10
American Oystercatcher    3
Greater Yellowlegs    1
Willet    25
Whimbrel    2
Ruddy Turnstone    20
Semipalmated Sandpiper    1300
Dunlin    105
Short-billed Dowitcher    8
Laughing Gull    45
Herring Gull    30
Great Black-backed Gull    4
Gull-billed Tern    4
Forster's Tern    75
Black Skimmer    21
Eastern Kingbird    1
Blue Jay    1
American Crow    1
Fish Crow    1
Purple Martin    15
Tree Swallow    3
Barn Swallow    4
Carolina Chickadee    1
Carolina Wren    1
Marsh Wren    1
American Robin    2
Gray Catbird    5
Yellow Warbler    4
Common Yellowthroat    3
Chipping Sparrow    1
Seaside Sparrow    1
Song Sparrow    3
Northern Cardinal    4
Red-winged Blackbird    100
Boat-tailed Grackle    2
Brown-headed Cowbird    1
American Goldfinch    1

Photos: Shari Zirlin