I had to go to the dump today and as the dump is about a third of the way to Whitesbog, I went there for my walk. Whitesbog is big; I started in Burlington County and walked the road alongside the bogs and reservoirs into Ocean County. And, with all that walking, aside from an impressive number of Tundra Swans, there weren't any exciting or unusual birds to be found.
What pleased me about the outing was my ear birding. I'm getting decent at it. Quite a few times, I heard a bird first, then found it, and since they don't sing this time of year (except for Carolina Wrens and Song Sparrows), I was picking up their little call notes and in one case, the sound of their wings.
Examples: Walking on the road near the headquarters I heard the soft "tss, tss" of a Golden-crowned Kinglet. Looked up, spotted it. Deep in Ocean County, surveying yet another empty bog, I heard behind me the little trills of Eastern Bluebirds. Turned back on the road, saw some shapes in a bare tree, there they were. I heard faintly the sound of large wings flapping, distinctive of swans, and found a lone Tundra Swan heading east. What else? Cardinal: heard it then saw it. As soon as I got there I heard the "doo-doo-doo" of goldfinches and found them in with a huge flock of juncos. And I also picked out the descending "chrrrr" of a Red-tailed Hawk, was able to distinguish it from the imitative sound that Blue Jays like to make to mess with other birds, and then found the bird flying over the tree tops. This is all rudimentary stuff but it pleases me to be able to find the birds after I hear them. Let's keep the "watch" in "bird watching"!
So the third trip to Whitesbog in November ended a rough month for birding; more on that in the monthly wrap up.
23 species for the day.
Tundra Swan 52
American Black Duck 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Heard
Downy Woodpecker 3
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 1 Heard
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 2
Eastern Bluebird 2
American Robin 1
Savannah Sparrow 2
Fox Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 2
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 40
Northern Cardinal 1
American Goldfinch 4
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