September Wrap-up

Marbled Godwit, digiscoped, Winter Anchorage, Island Beach SP

As the year progresses, it obviously gets harder to add year birds (unless you travel outside your territory) so by adding 9 this month, including the lifer WHISKERED TERN, I feel pretty good about the month's forays. At the same time, there was a lot of frustration this month looking warblers and other migrants. I felt like I was slogging all month, picking up one or two birds at a time instead of a slew of them in a "fall out." My timing always seemed off. I spent a lot of time walking up and down Reed's Road (including today, when I added my last bird of the month, a Brown Creeper), hoping to replicate that one great day I had in the spring when the road and the bowl just to the north were full of birds.

We also ranged a little farther afield than usual making 2 trips to North Jersey (hic sunt leontes), doing a day at Chimney Rock Hawk Watch in Somerset County and finally getting to the Celery Farm in Bergen County. The former was frustrating; someone with my eyesight has a hard time distinguishing the hawks from the floaters. The Celery Farm was great and much more extensive than I imagined it.

Another frustration this month was missing the two American Avocets that were briefly at Forsythe-Barnegat; it was the day we went to the hawk watch. I tried for them the next day (twice) but they were gone. Avocets are always fun to see and I need them for my county list.

Greg & I canoed out to Great Sedge Island 3 times and consistently found Marbled Godwits, which pleased us immensely, along with lots of pelicans, birds that somehow just seem incongruous no matter where you find them. If the weather stays warm, we may continue the trips in October. Greg's already found an Eared Grebe in Barnegat Bay today, so who knows what kind of interesting waterfowl could be hiding in plain sight out there?

For the month I managed 152 species.
Counties birded: Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset.

Cooper's Hawk, Whitesbog Species               Location

Canada Goose     Brig

Mute Swan     Brig

Wood Duck     Brig

Gadwall     Cape May Point SP

American Black Duck     Brig

Mallard     Brig

Blue-winged Teal     Brig

Northern Shoveler     Forsythe-Barnegat

Northern Pintail     Sandy Hook

Green-winged Teal     Brig

Common Eider     Great Sedge Island

Hooded Merganser     Eno’s Pond

Wild Turkey     Whitesbog

Pied-billed Grebe     Brig

Double-crested Cormorant     Brig

Great Cormorant     Great Sedge Island

Brown Pelican     Holgate

Great Blue Heron     Brig

Great Egret     Brig

Snowy Egret     Brig

Little Blue Heron     Great Sedge Island

Tricolored Heron     Great Sedge Island

Green Heron     Great Sedge Island

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Brig

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     Brig

Glossy Ibis     Brig

Black Vulture     Union Transportation Trail

Turkey Vulture     Brig

Osprey     Brig

Northern Harrier     Brig

Sharp-shinned Hawk     Chimney Rock Hawk Watch

Cooper's Hawk     Whitesbog

Bald Eagle     GSP MM 48

Red-shouldered Hawk     Chimney Rock Hawk Watch

Broad-winged Hawk     Sandy Hook

Red-tailed Hawk     Sandy Hook

Clapper Rail     Brig

Common Gallinule     Cape May Point SP

American Oystercatcher     Brig

Black-bellied Plover     Brig

American Golden-Plover     Holgate

Semipalmated Plover     Brig

Killdeer     Whitesbog

Spotted Sandpiper     Great Sedge Island

Greater Yellowlegs     Brig

Willet     Brig

Lesser Yellowlegs     Brig

Marbled Godwit     Great Sedge Island

Ruddy Turnstone     Holgate

Red Knot     Great Sedge Island

Sanderling     Holgate

Dunlin     Brig

Least Sandpiper     Brig

Buff-breasted Sandpiper     Whitesbog

Pectoral Sandpiper     Whitesbog

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher     Brig

Wilson's Phalarope     Brig

Laughing Gull     Brig

Ring-billed Gull     Brig

Herring Gull     Brig

Great Black-backed Gull     Brig

Gull-billed Tern     Brig

Caspian Tern     Brig

Black Tern     Great Sedge Island

WHISKERED TERN     Cape May Point SP

Common Tern     Holgate

Forster's Tern     Brig

Royal Tern     Holgate

Black Skimmer     Brig

Rock Pigeon     Sandy Hook

Mourning Dove     Holgate

Yellow-billed Cuckoo     Brig

Black-billed Cuckoo     Bunker Hill Bogs

Eastern Screech-Owl     35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will     35 Sunset Rd

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     35 Sunset Rd

Belted Kingfisher     Great Sedge Island

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Bunker Hill Bogs

Downy Woodpecker     Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)

Northern Flicker     Whitesbog

American Kestrel     Chimney Rock Hawk Watch

Merlin     35 Sunset Rd

Peregrine Falcon     Brig

Olive-sided Flycatcher     The Celery Farm

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher     Sandy Hook

Least Flycatcher     Colliers Mills WMA

Eastern Phoebe     Whitesbog

Great Crested Flycatcher     Bunker Hill Bogs

Eastern Kingbird     Brig

White-eyed Vireo     Bunker Hill Bogs

Warbling Vireo     The Celery Farm

Red-eyed Vireo     Chimney Rock Hawk Watch

Blue Jay     Brig

American Crow     Brig

Fish Crow     Forsythe-Barnegat

Common Raven     Chimney Rock Hawk Watch

Purple Martin     Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)

Tree Swallow     Brig

Barn Swallow     Great Sedge Island

Carolina Chickadee     Brig

Black-capped Chickadee     The Celery Farm

Tufted Titmouse     Brig

Red-breasted Nuthatch     Wells Mills Park

White-breasted Nuthatch     Bunker Hill Bogs

Brown Creeper     Reed’s Road

House Wren     35 Sunset Rd

Carolina Wren     Brig

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     Reed’s Road

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Reed’s Road

Eastern Bluebird     Whitesbog

American Robin     Brig

Gray Catbird     Brig

Brown Thrasher     Whitesbog

Northern Mockingbird     Holgate

European Starling     Brig

Cedar Waxwing     Brig

Northern Waterthrush     Reed’s Road

Black-and-white Warbler     Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)

Nashville Warbler     Reed’s Road

Common Yellowthroat     Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)

American Redstart     Bunker Hill Bogs

Northern Parula     Sandy Hook

Magnolia Warbler     Reed’s Road

Blackburnian Warbler     Eno’s Pond

Yellow Warbler     Great Bay Blvd

Black-throated Blue Warbler     Wells Mills Park

Palm Warbler     Cape May Point SP

Pine Warbler     Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Brig

Prairie Warbler     Spizzle Creek

Black-throated Green Warbler     Reed’s Road

Eastern Towhee     Brig

Chipping Sparrow     Colliers Mills WMA

Savannah Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd

Saltmarsh Sparrow     Brig

Seaside Sparrow     Great Sedge Island

Song Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd

Swamp Sparrow     Spizzle Creek

White-throated Sparrow     Eno’s Pond

Northern Cardinal     Bunker Hill Bogs

Rose-breasted Grosbeak     Sandy Hook

Indigo Bunting     Union Transportation Trail

Bobolink     Reed’s Road

Red-winged Blackbird     Brig

Common Grackle     35 Sunset Rd

Boat-tailed Grackle     Brig

Brown-headed Cowbird     Brig

House Finch     35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch     Brig

House Sparrow     Holgate