May List

Our best month so far. 179 species. We bracketed our Ohio odyssey with 2 trips to Brigantine before we had to pretty much shut down the birding for some personal stuff. But, even while spending a couple of days mostly waiting at Staten Island University Hospital I did manage to see a few interesting birds, the most amusing being this hen turkey right off the parking lot.

We now enter the summer doldrums. Already the birds seem to have stopped singing, either because of the recent heat or, more likely, because they're nesting.  This makes birds harder to find and of course the migrants have already passed through. I've pretty much "used up" all the birds in the Whiting WMA, our backyard, and Crestwood Village for my Bird A Day contest. I've had to use way too many "reliable" birds this last week. In June I'll be looking and/or listening for thrushes and flycatchers but my real concentration will have to be on shorebirds if I want to continue the challenge. 

For those of you following along at home or those of you studying OCD, here is May's list:

Counties birded:

New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean

New York: Richmond

Ohio: Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky

Ontario: Essex

Key: First of year, LIFE BIRD, Rare bird

Species      First Sighting

Brant      Brigantine

Canada Goose      Horicon Lake

Mute Swan      Manahawkin WMA

Trumpeter Swan      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Wood Duck      Ottawa NWR--Boss Unit

Gadwall      Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area

American Wigeon      Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area

American Black Duck      Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Barnegat

Mallard      Horicon Lake

Blue-winged Teal      Ottawa NWR--Boss Unit

Northern Shoveler      Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Barnegat

Green-winged Teal      Brigantine

Lesser Scaup      Point Pelee National Park

Hooded Merganser      Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area

Red-breasted Merganser      Leamington--Harbour

Wild Turkey      35 Sunset Rd

Pied-billed Grebe      Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area

Double-crested Cormorant      Manahawkin WMA

American White Pelican      Magee Marsh--Beach East

Great Blue Heron      Horicon Lake

Great Egret      Manahawkin WMA

Snowy Egret      Manahawkin WMA

Little Blue Heron      Manahawkin WMA

Green Heron      Pearson Metropark

Glossy Ibis      Manahawkin WMA

Turkey Vulture      Horicon Lake

Osprey      Brigantine

Northern Harrier      Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area

Cooper's Hawk      Pearson Metropark

Bald Eagle      Brigantine

Red-shouldered Hawk      Ottawa NWR--Boss Unit

Red-tailed Hawk      Horicon Lake

Clapper Rail      Brigantine

Sora      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Common Gallinule      Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area

American Coot      Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area

Sandhill Crane      Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area

Black-bellied Plover      Brigantine

Semipalmated Plover      Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Barnegat

Killdeer      Pearson Metropark

American Oystercatcher      Brigantine

Black-necked Stilt      Manahawkin WMA

Spotted Sandpiper      Pearson Metropark

Solitary Sandpiper      Pearson Metropark

Greater Yellowlegs      Manahawkin WMA

Willet      Manahawkin WMA

Lesser Yellowlegs      Brigantine

Whimbrel      Brigantine

Ruddy Turnstone      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Semipalmated Sandpiper      Brigantine

Least Sandpiper      Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Barnegat

White-rumped Sandpiper      Brigantine

Dunlin      Brigantine

Short-billed Dowitcher      Brigantine

American Woodcock      Magee Marsh Parking Lot

Bonaparte's Gull      Point Pelee National Park

Laughing Gull      Brigantine

Ring-billed Gull      Point Pelee National Park

Herring Gull      Manahawkin WMA

Great Black-backed Gull      Manahawkin WMA

Least Tern      Brigantine

Gull-billed Tern      Brigantine

Caspian Tern      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Black Tern      Point Pelee National Park

Common Tern      Leamington--Harbour

Forster's Tern      Manahawkin WMA

Black Skimmer      Brigantine

Rock Pigeon      Oak Harbor

Mourning Dove      Horicon Lake

Yellow-billed Cuckoo      Colliers Mills WMA

Great Horned Owl      Magee Marsh Parking Lot

Common Nighthawk      Magee Marsh Parking Lot

Eastern Whip-poor-will      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Chimney Swift      Oak Harbor

Ruby-throated Hummingbird      35 Sunset Rd

Belted Kingfisher      Horicon Lake

Red-headed Woodpecker      Point Pelee National Park

Red-bellied Woodpecker      Crestwood Village

Downy Woodpecker      Crestwood Village

Hairy Woodpecker      Colliers Mills WMA

Northern Flicker      Horicon Lake

Olive-sided Flycatcher      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Eastern Wood-Pewee      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Least Flycatcher      Pearson Metropark

Eastern Phoebe      Horicon Lake

Great Crested Flycatcher      Crestwood Village

Eastern Kingbird      Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area

Yellow-throated Vireo      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Warbling Vireo      Point Pelee National Park

Red-eyed Vireo      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Blue Jay      Horicon Lake

American Crow      Crestwood Village

Fish Crow      Horicon Lake

Northern Rough-winged Swallow      Horicon Lake

Purple Martin      Horicon Lake

Tree Swallow      Horicon Lake

Barn Swallow      Horicon Lake

Cliff Swallow      Port Clinton--Put in Bay Ferry

Carolina Chickadee      Horicon Lake

Black-capped Chickadee      Pearson Metropark

Tufted Titmouse      Horicon Lake

Red-breasted Nuthatch      Pearson Metropark

White-breasted Nuthatch      35 Sunset Rd

House Wren      Whiting WMA

Marsh Wren      Pickerel Creek Wildlife Area

Carolina Wren      Horicon Lake

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher      Horicon Lake

Golden-crowned Kinglet      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Ruby-crowned Kinglet      Point Pelee National Park

Eastern Bluebird      Whiting WMA

Veery      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Swainson's Thrush      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Hermit Thrush      Point Pelee National Park

Wood Thrush      Pearson Metropark

American Robin      Horicon Lake

Gray Catbird      Horicon Lake

Northern Mockingbird      Horicon Lake

Brown Thrasher      Horicon Lake

European Starling      Horicon Lake

American Pipit      Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area

Cedar Waxwing      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Ovenbird      Horicon Lake

Louisiana Waterthrush      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Northern Waterthrush      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Blue-winged Warbler      Point Pelee National Park

GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER      Oak Openings Preserve Metropark

Black-and-white Warbler      Horicon Lake

Prothonotary Warbler      Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area

TENNESSEE WARBLER      Pearson Metropark

Nashville Warbler      Pearson Metropark

Mourning Warbler      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Common Yellowthroat      Horicon Lake

American Redstart      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

êKIRTLAND'S WARBLER      Magee Marsh--Beach East

Cape May Warbler      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Northern Parula      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Magnolia Warbler      Pearson Metropark

Bay-breasted Warbler      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Blackburnian Warbler      Point Pelee National Park

Yellow Warbler      Brigantine

Chestnut-sided Warbler      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Blackpoll Warbler      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Black-throated Blue Warbler      Pearson Metropark

Palm Warbler      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Pine Warbler      Horicon Lake

Yellow-rumped Warbler      Metzger Marsh Wildlife Area

Yellow-throated Warbler      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Prairie Warbler      Crestwood Village

Black-throated Green Warbler      Point Pelee National Park

Wilson's Warbler      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

Eastern Towhee      Horicon Lake

Chipping Sparrow      Horicon Lake

CLAY-COLORED SPARROW      Ottawa NWR--Estuary Trail

Field Sparrow      Brigantine

Lark Sparrow      Oak Openings Preserve Metropark

Savannah Sparrow      Pearson Metropark

Seaside Sparrow      Cattus Island County Park

Song Sparrow      Horicon Lake

Lincoln's Sparrow      Magee Marsh--Boardwalk

White-throated Sparrow      35 Sunset Rd

White-crowned Sparrow      Maumee Bay SP

Scarlet Tanager      Magee Marsh Parking Lot

Northern Cardinal      Horicon Lake

Rose-breasted Grosbeak      Point Pelee National Park

Indigo Bunting      Pearson Metropark

Bobolink      Harder grasslands

Red-winged Blackbird      Horicon Lake

Eastern Meadowlark      Harder grasslands

Common Grackle      Horicon Lake

Boat-tailed Grackle      Brigantine

Brown-headed Cowbird      Horicon Lake

Orchard Oriole      Point Pelee National Park

Baltimore Oriole      Point Pelee National Park

Purple Finch      Oak Openings Preserve Metropark

House Finch      35 Sunset Rd

Pine Siskin      Oak Openings Preserve Metropark

American Goldfinch      35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow      35 Sunset Rd

Brigantine 5/25--White-rumped Sandpiper, Least Tern, Black Skimmer

Black Skimmers are back!

I felt like we were back  in the early days of our Ohio trip as blustery temperatures in the mid-40's settled over New Jersey. We headed down to Brigantine, expecting cool temperatures, which are good to keep the bugs away, but not expecting the wind to be as ferocious as it was. It made the idea of scanning a thousand sandpipers, looking for the oddball, ludicrous. Usually, your car acts as a mobile blind. Today, on the Wildlife Drive, it was more like a shelter. Still, we managed 47 species, including some favorites, like the above Black Skimmers (2nd only to American Oystercatcher in the favorite non-passerine category).                                                                                                                      

Obligatory American Oystercatcher shot.
Photo: Shari Zirlin

The shorebirds numbered in the thousands today. You couldn't drive 50 feet without encounter another pod of Semipalmated Sandpipers--my estimate of 7000 is exactly that. There were so man peeps too far out to scan (especially with the wind) that the number could be twice or thrice that. Mixed in with them were Dunlins, a few Least Sandpipers (probably more, but with all the mud, it was hard to distinguish the easy field mark--yellow legs), a few White-rumped Sandpipers we could i.d. based on their long wings crossing at the tail, and another crowd favorite, Ruddy Turnstones.

Photo: Shari Zirlin

Photo: Shari Zirlin

A good find by Shari was of this Least Tern sitting on the mud flats near one of the sluice gates. Note the white forehead and yellow bill. In the photo, of course, with nothing for comparison, you can't see how tiny this guy is compared to other terns. There were a few other terns around, not as many as one would expect, but we did get a few Gull-billed Terns along with the ever-present Forster's Terns.

Not much in the way of passerines--they were, I suppose, "hunkered down" in the wind. We did manage a Field Sparrow atop a blade of high grass.

At the exit ponds, a drake Wood Duck was a good capper for the day. The weather didn't look like it was going to improve (in fact, it was deteriorating) so we only did one circuit of the drive whereas usually we feel we haven't really completed the day without at least two. But that's the good thing about living so close to Brig now--we don't feel we have to torture ourselves to justify the trip.
47 species
Canada Goose  50
Wood Duck  1    Exit Pond on left
Mallard  6
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Great Egret  25
Snowy Egret  5
Glossy Ibis  4    f/o
Osprey  3
Black-bellied Plover  25
Semipalmated Plover  10
American Oystercatcher  2
Greater Yellowlegs  8
Willet  20
Whimbrel  4
Ruddy Turnstone  50
Semipalmated Sandpiper  7000
Least Sandpiper  50
White-rumped Sandpiper  5
Dunlin  200
Short-billed Dowitcher  4
Laughing Gull  300
Herring Gull  50
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Least Tern  1
Gull-billed Tern  4
Forster's Tern  10
Black Skimmer  55
Eastern Phoebe  1    Picnic tables
American Crow  1    Heard
Fish Crow  2    Parking lot
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  3    Gull Pond
Purple Martin  10
Tree Swallow  15
Barn Swallow  100
Tufted Titmouse  1    Heard
American Robin  2    Picnic tables
Gray Catbird  2
Common Yellowthroat  2    Heard Gull Pond road
Yellow Warbler  2    Heard upland part of trail
Chipping Sparrow  2
Field Sparrow  1    Across from Jen's Trail
Seaside Sparrow  1    Heard
Song Sparrow  2    Heard
Northern Cardinal  1    Heard picnic tables
Red-winged Blackbird  100
Brown-headed Cowbird  1    Upland part of trail
House Finch  1    Heard, picnic tables.

 

Colliers Mills WMA 5/22--Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Colliers Mills WMA is a 13,000 acre site in the northeast corner of the Pine Barrens, about 15 miles from here. It isn't far from the farm where we found the lapwings, but the habitat couldn't be more different--many lakes, a huge pine & oak forest, grasslands, cedars swamps, and a long sand road that connect Route 539 to Route 571 about 5 miles away. I went there this morning because there are birds there that are hard to find in other places in the Pine Barrens.

The problem with the place is that it is so huge and has such varied habitat, that no matter where I am I always think I should be somewhere else. (This is not a problem restricted to birding for me) Today, I decided to stay "local." I didn't want to travel up the sand road in my two-wheel drive vehicle. So I parked  near the entrance and walked a few roads nearby for a couple of hours. In that time I found 2 new birds for my Ocean County life list--Baltimore Oriole and Indigo Bunting--and a couple of other surprises, the biggest being seeing three Yellow-billed Cuckoos within about 3 minutes. Two of them were chasing one another around in the tree tops. I've seen cuckoos in the past, but never more than one at a time. The Indigo Bunting I found atop a snag at the edge of the grasslands--I first saw a bird with the proper profile but color was  hard to determine in the morning overcast verging on fog. I lost the bird for a minute, but heard a "song" that went roughly "ti ti whee whee zeer zeer" and discovered the bird a little lower in the tangle where I was able to look at it for a long time and definitely confirm that it wasn't a Blue Grosbeak (not that that would have been bad.)

I feel that with better light and more time I could have scanned the fields and come up with Grasshopper Sparrow, meadowlarks, who knows, maybe even a Bobolink, but life was calling me away this morning, so I settled for 34 species. I'm going to try to make this a more regular stop on my birding circuit.

Canada Goose  7
Mallard  3
Great Blue Heron  1
Osprey  1
Killdeer  2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Downy Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee  5
Great Crested Flycatcher  6
Eastern Kingbird  1
Warbling Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1    Heard
American Crow  1    Heard
Purple Martin  2
Tree Swallow  3
Carolina Chickadee  2    Heard
Tufted Titmouse  1    Heard
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
American Robin  9
Gray Catbird  15
Brown Thrasher  3
Ovenbird  1    Heard
Yellow Warbler  2
Eastern Towhee  1    Heard
Chipping Sparrow  3
Northern Cardinal  2    Heard
Indigo Bunting  1
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Common Grackle  5
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Baltimore Oriole  4