October Review

Kind of a paltry month in terms of numbers and only a couple of new birds for the year. Weird weather and going back and forth between NY & NJ was partially to blame; bad birding, just being off my game, was probably most of the problem.

There were a few highlights for me though:
Horicon Lake--I stopped there one morning after getting the car serviced and was very happy to find 3 Pied-billed Grebes on the water. I'm hoping this lake near our house will be productive in the winter.

Whiting WMA--Bald Eagle flying away from me when I reached the lake was a thrill. I was pleased to get my first Golden-crowned Kinglet of the year there (though that's a bird that shouldn't take until October to find), and I was glad to see a Brown Creeper one morning close by me on a tree off the trail. I like Brown Creepers a lot--I guess because they're the only representative of their very small family (only 7 species in the world) in the east. It's not that they're uncommon, it's that there's nothing else like them around. I took a walk in the WMA this morning but there was nothing there that I couldn't find at our feeders. I'm hoping activity doesn't fall off there in the winter.

Our house--Heard 3 Great Horned Owls calling to each another one evening. We were on the edge of awe-struck.

Central Park--I don't know how many more times I'll get to bird there but if this was the last time it was a good experience with both a Wood Duck and my first Winter Wren of the year.

78 species for the month. The ducks are coming back, so I think I'll have a lot more species November.
Counties birded:
New Jersey: Monmouth, Ocean
New York: Kings, New York

Species	First Sighting
Canada Goose	Crestwood Village
Mute Swan	Prospect Park
Wood Duck	Prospect Park
American Black Duck	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Mallard	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Northern Shoveler	Prospect Park
Ruddy Duck	Prospect Park
Pied-billed Grebe	Horicon Lake
Double-crested Cormorant	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Great Blue Heron	Cattus Island County Park
Great Egret	Cattus Island County Park
Turkey Vulture	Laurita Winery
Osprey	Cattus Island County Park
Bald Eagle	Whiting WMA
Northern Harrier	Sandy Hook
Cooper's Hawk	Whiting WMA
Red-tailed Hawk	Sandy Hook
Merlin	35 Sunset Rd
American Coot	Prospect Park
Spotted Sandpiper	Prospect Park
Greater Yellowlegs	Cattus Island County Park
Laughing Gull	Horicon Lake
Ring-billed Gull	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Herring Gull	Sandy Hook
Great Black-backed Gull	Sandy Hook
Rock Pigeon	Prospect Park
Mourning Dove	Whiting WMA
Great Horned Owl	35 Sunset Rd
Belted Kingfisher	Cattus Island County Park
Red-bellied Woodpecker	Laurita Winery
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker	Sandy Hook
Downy Woodpecker	Whiting WMA
Hairy Woodpecker	Whiting WMA
Northern Flicker	Whiting WMA
Eastern Wood-Pewee	Whiting WMA
Eastern Phoebe	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Blue Jay	Laurita Winery
American Crow	Whiting WMA
Fish Crow	Toms River
Tree Swallow	Horicon Lake
Carolina Chickadee	Whiting WMA
Black-capped Chickadee	Prospect Park
Tufted Titmouse	Whiting WMA
White-breasted Nuthatch	Whiting WMA
Brown Creeper	Sandy Hook
Carolina Wren	35 Sunset Rd
Winter Wren	Central Park
Marsh Wren	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Golden-crowned Kinglet	Whiting WMA
Ruby-crowned Kinglet	Whiting WMA
Eastern Bluebird	Whiting WMA
Hermit Thrush	Prospect Park
American Robin	35 Sunset Rd
Gray Catbird	Horicon Lake
Northern Mockingbird	Sandy Hook
European Starling	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Ovenbird	Whiting WMA
Black-and-white Warbler	Whiting WMA
Nashville Warbler	Laurita Winery
Common Yellowthroat	Sandy Hook
Northern Parula	Prospect Park
Blackpoll Warbler	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Palm Warbler	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Pine Warbler	Whiting WMA
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Laurita Winery
Black-throated Green Warbler	Prospect Park
Eastern Towhee	Sandy Hook
Chipping Sparrow	Laurita Winery
Savannah Sparrow	Sandy Hook
Song Sparrow	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Swamp Sparrow	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
White-throated Sparrow	Whiting WMA
Dark-eyed Junco	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One
Northern Cardinal	35 Sunset Rd
Red-winged Blackbird	Cattus Island County Park
House Finch	35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch	35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow	Brklyn Brdg Pk--Pier One

Central Park 10/26--Winter Wren

Between appointments in Manhattan today I took a walk through The Ramble and around the Turtle Pond in the late morning. My FOY bird today was a Winter Wren in the Shakespeare Garden. I saw it "naked eye" practically at my feet, skulking around in the leaf litter and watched it for a very long time.As I was checking it out in Peterson I was reminded  that while I think the paintings in the Sibley Guide are more reliable and useful, the phrasing in Peterson ("confusing fall warblers" or "chiefly dead and dying fish," describing the Bald Eagle's diet) is much more memorable; Peterson was also a very good writer. His description of the Winter Wren as "mouselike, it stays near the ground," is apt and perfectly captured the behavior of the little bird as it poked around in the garden.

Another happy sighting was a beautiful drake Wood Duck mixed in with a flock of Mallards on the lake. I was hoping to make it up to the reservoir but ran out of time.

22 species for the day:
Canada Goose  6
Wood Duck  1    Lake
Mallard  60
Rock Pigeon  25
Mourning Dove  1    Shakespeare Garden
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Downy Woodpecker  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue Jay  3
Tufted Titmouse  2
Winter Wren  1    Shakespeare Garden
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1    Near Poland Statue
Hermit Thrush  5
American Robin  20
European Starling  6
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Eastern Towhee  1
Song Sparrow  5
White-throated Sparrow  100
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Northern Cardinal  2
House Sparrow  50

Whiting WMA 10/24--Bald Eagle

It seems that every morning walk I take in the WMA goes the same...nothing, not much, not much, BOOM!

Today I saw or heard only a few of the most expected species as I walked the trails until I reached the lake when I saw a huge raptor taking off. I've seen an Osprey there but after less than a second I saw the white tail and the brilliant white head and had my first Bald Eagle in Whiting. And that seemed to open the gates, because on my way back I started to find some interesting birds; or maybe it was just because the sun was warming up the woods, getting the bugs going which gets the birds going.

The 2nd interesting bird I found was toward the end of the walk when the first Hermit Thrush I've seen back there popped up on a branch for a few seconds. That makes 52 species I've found in the WMA and I've only poked around the perimeter of it. I don't find as many birds in there as I do in Prospect Park, but what I do find is usually "choice."

13 species today:

Bald Eagle
Mourning Dove
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
White-breasted Nuthatch
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Eastern Towhee
White-throated Sparrow

Our First Junco

Back in Whiting, I was looking out the back window when I saw a bird kicking around in the leaves at the edge of the lawn--our first Dark-eyed Junco here. That seals it--summer's over, autumn's over:

Winter is icumen in
Lhude sing Goddamm

Prospect Park 10/20

Osage Orange

I'm trying to cram in as many trips to Prospect Park as I can before we move permanently down to Whiting. The WMA behind the house there is great, but it doesn't have the diversity of habitat that there is in the park and thus, not the diversity of birds either. I'm going to miss being able to find 30 or 40 species in a morning.

After the heavy rains of yesterday the winds (southerly) blew in, which kept bird numbers down though there were plenty of distracting leaf birds both in the air and flapping in the trees. Still, there were some interesting finds: I spotted a Spotted Sandpiper bopping along the edge of Duck Island, near the huge piece of machinery used for skimming the leaves and muck off the surface of the lake; a Hermit Thrush posed on a log in the Lower Pool; a pair of Wood Ducks were out in the open on the Upper Pool; and once I attached myself to one of the park's bird magnets (Rob B) things really started to pick up with sparrows, warblers and a few feisty phoebes.

37 species wandering around the park starting at the 15th Street entrance and exiting at Grand Army Plaza with a trip to the lake in between.
Canada Goose  50
Mute Swan  10
Wood Duck  2    Upper Pool
Mallard  55
Northern Shoveler  20
Ruddy Duck  15
Double-crested Cormorant  1 Three Sisters
American Coot  7
Spotted Sandpiper  1    Duck Island
Rock Pigeon  5
Mourning Dove  4
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Eastern Phoebe  3
Blue Jay  10
Black-capped Chickadee  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  4
Hermit Thrush  1    Lower Pool
American Robin  17
Gray Catbird  1
Northern Mockingbird  2
European Starling  10
Nashville Warbler  1    Near G.A.P. entrance
Northern Parula  1    Vale
Blackpoll Warbler  1    Sparrow Bowl
Palm Warbler  4
Pine Warbler  1    Sparrow Bowl
Yellow-rumped Warbler  8
Black-throated Green Warbler  1    Sparrow Bowl
Savannah Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  6
Northern Cardinal  3
House Sparrow  35

Pier One 10/18--Marsh Wren

I took a quick walk around Pier One late this afternoon. The park was very busy with parents and their children on the lawns, so birds were scarce and could only be found along the edges of the less traveled paths. But the "quality" bird (as Peter would say) I found near the end of my walk, a Marsh Wren, in, appropriately, the marsh (artificial), scurrying around in the high grass, but popping out a few times long enough to give me some very good, close views.

That's the 64th species recorded at the Pier (not counting some dubious records).

The sun was setting quite photogenically as I was leaving.

13 species in the gloaming:
American Black Duck  2
Mallard  2
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Ring-billed Gull  11
Herring Gull  3
Marsh Wren  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1
Gray Catbird  1
Palm Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Song Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  10
Dark-eyed Junco  15

Pier One 10/13--Can't Count It

I found this white and blue Budgie on Pier One this morning, sitting on a railing along the path beside the salt marsh.  I took this picture with my primitive phone-camera; I was standing next to it, so obviously it is very tame (though not trusting enough to hop on my finger) and an escapee. The photo doesn't do justice to the subtle blue highlights on its wings.  You can't "count" escapees, but it was still a surprise on a misty morning walk. 

I was interested to see who stopped to look at it and who didn't--dog walkers yes, joggers no. 

Not as many birds as the other day (no warblers) but the Swamp Sparrow was the first I've seen in a few months.

12 species (not counting the parakeet)

American Black Duck 5
Mallard 3
Double-crested Cormorant 4
Ring-billed Gull 5
Herring Gull 5
Eastern Phoebe 2
Gray Catbird 1
European Starling 2
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 30
Dark-eyed Junco 4
House Sparrow 25

Birding the New Place, Birding the Old Place

I spoke to the landlord today and told him we were moving in December--I thought he'd be happy to get the apartment but it seemed like he felt it was one more damn thing he had to deal with. Ya try to make some people happy...

Until then we're spending going back & forth, which gives me the opportunity to bird in 2 states on the same day. I started early, walking my usual route through the Whiting WMA, ending up at the lake. Unseasonably warm still but the sun wasn't strong this morning so aside from one active pocket of birds there really wasn't much around. The last few days I've added both kinglets and White-throated Sparrow to the species list. I'm up to 43 species in the small part of the WMA that I regularly walk. But today, I only found 8 species .
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  3
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Pine Warbler  7
Chipping Sparrow  3

We got on the road around 10:30 and by 12:30 I was sitting in the car waiting out Alternate Side of the Street Parking just like the old days. After lunch, I walked down to Pier One. The marshes there are so overgrown that, while they make a wonderful habitat for birds, It is very hard to actually see the birds.

There were a lot of birds there; unfortunately the constant thrum of the useless (and apparently deadly) tour helicopters made them very skittish and they dove into the underbrush every time one passed by.

The best find was a Golden-crowned Kinglet working the edges of the pond. That makes the 63rd species recorded at Pier One, which, I maintain, is pretty good for what is essentially a pier jutting out into the East River.

There were 4 species of warblers I could identify and one that I wasn't sure about--Orange-crowned Warbler was what it seemed to me to be but it wouldn't stay still long enough for me to confirm my hopes. And the juncos are back, my FOS. A large mixed flock of juncos, White-throated Sparrows and yellow-rumps were feeding on the lawns--the grass is very high and they were easily hidden if you didn't get the right angle and height. Altogether I found 17 species there, one less than we were able to get wandering all over Sandy Hook this weekend.
American Black Duck 4
Mallard 3
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Ring-billed Gull 10
Herring Gull 5
Mourning Dove 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 1
Common Yellowthroat 1
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Palm Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 4
warbler sp. 1
Song Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 30
Dark-eyed Junco 20
House Sparrow 4

In the next couple of months I hope to get down to Pier One a few more times. I'm still hoping for one really great bird, some weird rarity, to show up there. I leave it to birders more skilled than I am to find it.

Sandy Hook 10/9--Some FOS

Absolutely gorgeous October day--cloudless skies, temperature around 80, a great day to be at Sandy Hook and that was the problem--everyone else had the same idea. The Hook was as busy as mid-August, or at least  it seemed that way. We tried to bird a couple of areas but we couldn't even find a parking space. There was a bike race, a motorcycle club  picnic, lots of beach goers, plus numerous other birders. We should have gotten there earlier in the morning but didn't arrive until around 10:30 when the heat was starting to put the birds into hiding.

Still, we did find a few First of Season birds, the "best" being one of my faves, a Brown Creeper near the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory which we watched while we were eating lunch. At K lot, where we did most of our birding we also found a few first for Fall Savannah Sparrows and a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were around and they always bring to mind Peterson's illustration on his Confusing Fall Warblers page where the kinglet is labeled "Not a Warbler." Only a few warblers showed themselves. A few hawks circling above. Geese. Couldn't get to the water to find any ducks or herons. Only 18 species in 3 hours before we gave up as the cars continued to stream into the park.
Canada Goose  140
Turkey Vulture  2
Northern Harrier  1
Red-tailed Hawk  3
Herring Gull  X
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1
Brown Creeper  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  3
American Robin  4
Gray Catbird  3
Northern Mockingbird  6
Common Yellowthroat  1
Pine Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Eastern Towhee  1
Savannah Sparrow  3
White-throated Sparrow  10

A Perfect Combination for this Blog--Bird Typo

HOW MANY LEGS DOES A TURKEY HAVE?

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(Emphasis mine)

September Summary

It was a productive month--110 species, 3 life birds  (BROWN BOOBY rarest bird of the month)+ another 5 FOY birds. But it was a frustrating month also
1) because there were more birds (like Black Terns, Bobolinks, Marbled Godwit come to mind) reported that I didn't find when I looked and
2) because I would have liked to have seen a few of the birds (Cape May Warbler, YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD) a lot better than I did. I would have like to have seen that Great Horned Owl a little longer than I did. I would have liked to have both cuckoos in Whiting stand still a while. (The Yellow-billed Cuckoo in Prospect Park was great--it posed, stayed low, and gave great looks; it's rare that I leave a bird before it leaves me.)

I walk in the Whiting  WMA almost every day and keep adding species as the season progresses. Plenty of Pine Warblers in there, not many other warblers. The lake has had phoebe, kingfishers, kingbirds, and Osprey sitting in the bare trees that jut out of the water but I've yet to see anything on the water. I'm told that a few ducks come in winter and that gulls sit on the ice when it freezes. I was hoping for a little more than that but we'll see what persistence yields.

Herewith the September list:
Counties birded
New Jersey:  Atlantic, Cape May, Ocean
New York: Kings, New York

Species	First Sighting
Canada Goose	CMBO Northwood Center
Mute Swan	CMPSP--Hawkwatch Platform
Gadwall	Brigantine
American Black Duck	Brigantine
Mallard	CMPSP--Hawkwatch Platform
Northern Shoveler	Prospect Park
Green-winged Teal	Brigantine
BROWN BOOBY	Jarvis Sound
Double-crested Cormorant	Jarvis Sound
Great Blue Heron	Jarvis Sound
Great Egret	Jarvis Sound
Snowy Egret	Jarvis Sound
Little Blue Heron	Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Tricolored Heron	Jarvis Sound
Black-crowned Night-Heron	Jarvis Sound
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron	Jarvis Sound
White Ibis	Brigantine
Glossy Ibis	Brigantine
Turkey Vulture	Whiting WMA
Osprey	Jarvis Sound
Northern Harrier	Brigantine
Cooper's Hawk	Whiting WMA
Red-tailed Hawk	GSP MM 4
Merlin	Whiting WMA
Peregrine Falcon	Jarvis Sound
Clapper Rail	Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-bellied Plover	Jarvis Sound
Semipalmated Plover	Jarvis Sound
American Oystercatcher	Jarvis Sound
Spotted Sandpiper	Jarvis Sound
Greater Yellowlegs	Brigantine
Lesser Yellowlegs	Jarvis Sound
Whimbrel	Jarvis Sound
Hudsonian Godwit	Brigantine
Ruddy Turnstone	Brigantine
Sanderling	Island Beach SP
Semipalmated Sandpiper	Brigantine
Western Sandpiper	Brigantine
Least Sandpiper	Brigantine
White-rumped Sandpiper	Brigantine
Dunlin	Brigantine
Short-billed Dowitcher	Brigantine
Long-billed Dowitcher	Brigantine
Wilson's Phalarope	Brigantine
Laughing Gull	Jarvis Sound
Ring-billed Gull	Island Beach SP
Herring Gull	Jarvis Sound
Great Black-backed Gull	Jarvis Sound
Caspian Tern	Brigantine
Common Tern	Jarvis Sound
Forster's Tern	Jarvis Sound
Black Skimmer	Brigantine
Rock Pigeon	Central Park
Mourning Dove	Whiting WMA
Yellow-billed Cuckoo	Prospect Park
BLACK-BILLED CUCKOO	Whiting WMA
Great Horned Owl	Whiting WMA
Common Nighthawk	35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift	Whiting WMA
Ruby-throated Hummingbird	35 Sunset Rd
Belted Kingfisher	Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker	Double Trouble State Park
Downy Woodpecker	35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker	Cattus Island County Park
Northern Flicker	Whiting WMA
Eastern Wood-Pewee	Whiting WMA
Eastern Phoebe	Whiting WMA
Eastern Kingbird	Whiting WMA
Red-eyed Vireo	Prospect Park
Blue Jay	Whiting WMA
American Crow	Whiting WMA
Fish Crow	Forsythe NWR--Barnegat
Tree Swallow	Jarvis Sound
Barn Swallow	Brigantine
Carolina Chickadee	Whiting WMA
Tufted Titmouse	Whiting WMA
White-breasted Nuthatch	Whiting WMA
Carolina Wren	35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Bluebird	Whiting WMA
Veery	Prospect Park
American Robin	Whiting WMA
Gray Catbird	Whiting WMA
Northern Mockingbird	Cedar Run Dock Rd.
Brown Thrasher	35 Sunset Rd
European Starling	Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ovenbird	35 Sunset Rd
Northern Waterthrush	Prospect Park
Black-and-white Warbler	Prospect Park
Common Yellowthroat	Cattus Island County Park
American Redstart	Central Park
Cape May Warbler	Brigantine
Northern Parula	Prospect Park
Yellow Warbler	Cattus Island County Park
Chestnut-sided Warbler	Prospect Park
Blackpoll Warbler	Prospect Park
Palm Warbler	Cattus Island County Park
Pine Warbler	Whiting WMA
Black-throated Green Warbler	Prospect Park
Wilson's Warbler	Prospect Park
Eastern Towhee	Island Beach SP
Chipping Sparrow	Whiting WMA
Seaside Sparrow	Brigantine
Northern Cardinal	Whiting WMA
Red-winged Blackbird	Jarvis Sound
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD	Brigantine
Common Grackle	Brigantine
Boat-tailed Grackle	Jarvis Sound
House Finch	Whiting WMA
American Goldfinch	Whiting WMA
House Sparrow	Central Park