July Wrap-up

Glossy Ibis, Great Bay Blvd. 

It is unlikely that I'll add any new birds for the month, or even have a chance to go birding since we have a couple of days on Staten Island dealing with doctors in store, so I figured I'd wrap up the month now.

Photo: Shari Zirlin

July is a tough month. The birds don't sing as much so they're harder to find, the migrating birds have moved through and until the end of the month you don't see any moving back down south. I only added 6 birds for the year: 3 shorebirds, 2 waders, and a tern. One the of the birds--Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, fell into the "finally" category. The most difficult bird to find for the month had to be the American Bittern we saw at Brigantine on Saturday.

My Bird A Day streak ended at 201 days--I could have stretched it a little, but I knew I'd never make it past this week when we'd be preoccupied. A couple of highlights for me were having a birder from Bergen County drive down on his way to the shore, just to hear the Whip-poor-will that was calling reliably in the early part of the month, and the visits we've been getting from a pair of tom turkeys every afternoon. When I walked out the side door and saw one just sitting on the lawn I thought that these guys were getting entirely too comfortable. We've named them Frick & Frack. Never did I think when we were living in Brooklyn that I'd ever be sitting on my patio, feet up, drinking a beer, watching turkeys peck at my lawn.

Frick & Frack
Photo: Shari Zirlin

For the month I managed 120 species. The underlined birds are the rarities--mostly rare for time of year not location. Birds in bold italics are FOY.
Counties Birded:
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Ocean
New York: Kings

Species     First Sighting

Brant     Brigantine

Canada Goose     Brigantine

Mute Swan     Brigantine

Wood Duck     Colliers Mills WMA

Gadwall     Cape May Meadows

American Black Duck     Brigantine

Mallard     Brigantine

Blue-winged Teal     Brigantine

Wild Turkey     35 Sunset Rd

Double-crested Cormorant     Great Bay Blvd WMA

American Bittern     Brigantine

Great Blue Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Great Egret     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Snowy Egret     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Little Blue Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Tricolored Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     Brigantine

Glossy Ibis     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Turkey Vulture     Crestwood Village

Osprey     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Cooper's Hawk     Brigantine

Red-tailed Hawk     Colliers Mills WMA

Clapper Rail     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Black-bellied Plover     Brigantine

Semipalmated Plover     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Piping Plover     Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Killdeer     Cape May Meadows

American Oystercatcher     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Spotted Sandpiper     Cape May Point SP

Greater Yellowlegs     Brigantine

Willet     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Lesser Yellowlegs     Brigantine

Whimbrel     Brigantine

Marbled Godwit     Brigantine

Ruddy Turnstone     Brigantine

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Brigantine

Western Sandpiper     Brigantine

Least Sandpiper     Brigantine

Dunlin     Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Stilt Sandpiper     Brigantine

Short-billed Dowitcher     Brigantine

Laughing Gull     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Ring-billed Gull     Brigantine

Herring Gull     Colliers Mills WMA

Great Black-backed Gull     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Least Tern     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Gull-billed Tern     Brigantine

Caspian Tern     Brigantine

Common Tern     Cape May Point SP

Forster's Tern     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Royal Tern     Brigantine

Black Skimmer     Brigantine

Rock Pigeon     Prospect Park

Mourning Dove     Crestwood Village

Yellow-billed Cuckoo     Whiting WMA

Black-billed Cuckoo     Whiting WMA

Common Nighthawk     35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will     35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift     Crestwood Village

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     35 Sunset Rd

Belted Kingfisher     Crestwood Village

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Colliers Mills WMA

Downy Woodpecker     Crestwood Village

Northern Flicker     Colliers Mills WMA

Peregrine Falcon     Brigantine

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Colliers Mills WMA

Acadian Flycatcher     Cattus Island County Park

Eastern Phoebe     Colliers Mills WMA

Great Crested Flycatcher     35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Kingbird     Colliers Mills WMA

Red-eyed Vireo     Eno's Pond

Blue Jay     Crestwood Village

American Crow     Crestwood Village

Fish Crow     35 Sunset Rd

Northern Rough-winged Swallow     White's Bogs

Purple Martin     Cattus Island County Park

Tree Swallow     Colliers Mills WMA

Bank Swallow     Brigantine

Barn Swallow     Colliers Mills WMA

Carolina Chickadee     Crestwood Village

Tufted Titmouse     Crestwood Village

White-breasted Nuthatch     35 Sunset Rd

House Wren     Eno's Pond

Marsh Wren     Eno's Pond

Carolina Wren     Colliers Mills WMA

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     Crestwood Village

Eastern Bluebird     Whiting WMA

Wood Thrush     Double Trouble State Park

American Robin     Crestwood Village

Gray Catbird     Crestwood Village

Northern Mockingbird     Colliers Mills WMA

Brown Thrasher     Brigantine

European Starling     Cape May Meadows

Cedar Waxwing     Colliers Mills WMA

Ovenbird     Crestwood Village

Worm-eating Warbler     Cape May Point SP

Black-and-white Warbler     White's Bogs

Common Yellowthroat     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Yellow Warbler     Brigantine

Pine Warbler     Crestwood Village

Prairie Warbler     Crestwood Village

Eastern Towhee     Crestwood Village

Chipping Sparrow     Crestwood Village

Field Sparrow     Brigantine

Saltmarsh Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

Seaside Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Song Sparrow     Crestwood Village

White-throated Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd

Northern Cardinal     Crestwood Village

Blue Grosbeak     Cattus Island County Park

Indigo Bunting     Brigantine

Red-winged Blackbird     Colliers Mills WMA

Common Grackle     Colliers Mills WMA

Boat-tailed Grackle     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Brown-headed Cowbird     Crestwood Village

Orchard Oriole     White's Bogs

House Finch     35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch     Crestwood Village

House Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd