Double Trouble 5/7--American Redstart, Magnolia Warbler

Wood Thrush

Slowly I add to the year's warbler count. It isn't like the old days in Prospect Park when I could get 20 or so species in a day. Warblers in Ocean County take work.

I had two new ones today; I thought I had three. I saw a nondescript bird high in a flowering tree, much like the one in the Wood Thrush photo. It was white underneath with a short tail and that's about all I can vouch for. My first thought was Warbling Vireo. My second thought was Tennessee Warbler. I'm pretty certain it wasn't the vireo (no yellow at all) and TEWA, which I've only seen twice, would be a rarity and I don't have the kind of confidence to call a bird I've only seen a couple of times, so it has to go as "passerine sp." I gave myself a good case of warbler neck trying to glean field marks off that bird.

Still, walking along the trail that leads from the sawmill to the big lake was productive. In addition to the expected warblers, I had my first American Redstart and Magnolia Warbler of the year.  The lake itself was pretty empty; perhaps that was due to the immature Bald Eagle hanging out on a dead tree, surveying the water.

White-crowned Sparrow

I felt slightly rushed today. I wanted to get in my "vigorous walk" (birding is the only exercise I get) and at the same time not rush by potential warblers, while the whole time the clock was ticking in the back of my head to get home to finish packing for our trip to New Mexico tomorrow. Consequently, some spots didn't get the attention I would normally give them.

Besides the warblers, the bird of most interest to me was the single White-crownedSparrow I found feeding by the side of the road just after the bridge. White-crowned Sparrows are hard to come by in Ocean County. Not rare, just not common like the abundant Chipping Sparrows or like theWhite-crowned Sparrows, still hanging around, still singing "O Canada Canada Canada."

38 species for my last Jersey walk for a while:
Canada Goose  10
Mallard  1    Channel between lake and sawmill
Double-crested Cormorant  13    f/o
Great Egret  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Bald Eagle  1    Lake
Greater Yellowlegs  3
Mourning Dove  1
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Phoebe  2    Heard
Great Crested Flycatcher  5    Heard
Eastern Kingbird  2
White-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  2    Heard
Fish Crow  2
Tree Swallow  5
Barn Swallow  1
Carolina Chickadee  1    Heard
House Wren  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  5    Heard
Wood Thrush  2
American Robin  10
Gray Catbird  20
Brown Thrasher  1    Heard
Ovenbird  10    Heard
Black-and-white Warbler  9
Common Yellowthroat  8
American Redstart  1    channel betw lake & sawmill
Magnolia Warbler  1
Prairie Warbler  5    Heard
Eastern Towhee  5
Chipping Sparrow  15
Song Sparrow  2
White-throated Sparrow  10
White-crowned Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Brown-headed Cowbird  1    Heard
American Goldfinch  1    Heard, parking lot