Year in Review

Since I doubt I'll add any new birds to the list tomorrow, I may as well sum up the year now. I had 323 species this year, which beats last year's total handily. Lifers totaled 11 species, not counting the rather dubious Egyptian Geese of this month.

I birded virtually every day--there are only a handful of blank spots on the calendar where I did not list a bird, so it isn't surprising that I had a good year, especially with a trip to New Mexico and to the Delmarva Peninsula.

Rufous Hummingbird
Photo: Shari Zirlin

A quick month by month review of the highlights:
January: We started the year down in Cape May where we had an amazing day. When you find a Painted Bunting on one side of a tree and White-winged Dove on the other side--before noon, you're doing pretty well. Other great birds that day were a Rufous Hummingbird at a feeder near the first two rarities, a Eurasian Wigeon on the Lighthouse Pond and our first Snowy Owl of the year, one of the many from the record-setting influx that looks to be continuing this winter, if to a somewhat lesser degree.


February: After a trip to Barnegat Light, where we picked up the two specialties of the house--Harlequin Duck and Purple Sandpiper--a few of us drove over to the mainland at dusk to search the marshes around the Bridge to Nowhere for Short-eared Owls. While waiting for them to arise from the reeds, Shari found another Snowy Owl--which was harassed by a Peregrine Falcon. After that show was over, the Short-ears did indeed start to fly over the reeds, looking for whatever little mammals they could find.

Eurasian Tree Sparrow
Photo: Shari Zirlin

March: We got our first lifer of the year. After many trips around the Mercer Sod Farm IBA on multiple occasions, we finally found the ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK that had been hunting those fields. The oddity of the month occurred while we were on the dikes at Brig. A text message came through that a Eurasian Tree Sparrow had been found in (where else) Cape May. Since this bird was about 1200 miles from where it "should" be (St. Louis) we headed down there and got the bird.

ROSS'S GOOSE
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Earlier in the month we'd gone down to Cape May so I could tick off ROSS'S GOOSE, a bird Shari had on her list for a long time, but one I'd always missed. It was just about the easiest lifer you could have. I saw it before we even got out of the car, which, considering that one usually has to sort through thousands of Snow Geese to find the one Ross's, is amazing.

April brought in the warblers and with trips to Estell Manor and Belleplain Forest we got lots of them, including the very beautiful Yellow-throated and Prothonotary Warblers. I was also able to add Louisiana Warbler to my Ocean County list, thanks to my friend Greg who found it in Double Trouble SP and was patient enough to help me find it. It is a very rare bird for this county.

BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE
Photo: Shari Zirlin

May: New Mexico. Here we got the largest number lifers for the year: BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE, NORTHERN GOSHAWK, EVENING GROSBEAK, MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, PINYON JAY, AMERICAN DIPPER and WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER.

June: This is the month that we get onto the Lakehurst Naval Base to search for Upland Sandpiper, which we were successful at finding. It is just about the only reliable spot in New Jersey to get this endangered sandpiper. We also made our first trip up to Old Mine Road in Warren County with Pete & Mike, a place we'd always wanted to go but seemed "just too far" until Mike kindly drove us up there. We still had to get up at 4 in the morning though!

Whimbrel
Photo: Greg Prelilch

July: I made the first of what became practically weekly trips with Greg in his canoe to explore Great Sedge Island off Island Beach. We had remarkable birds  out there all summer, including American Bittern, Black Tern, multiple Marbled Godwits multiple times, and out of season Common Eider and Red-breasted Merganser.

August is the month to start looking for "grasspipers." We found American Golden-Plover on an out-of-the-way sod farm in Monmouth County and Buff-breasted Sandpiper at both Brig and Whitesbog. A trip down to Bombay Hook yielded our lifer SEDGE WREN, as well as American Avocet and Black-necked Stilt.

September: The big event of this month was probably the rarest bird to hit New Jersey since the Northern Lapwings of last year--a WHISKERED TERN, a European species, was found on the beach at Cape May (naturally) and brought in birders from literally across the land. We, fortunately, only had to travel about an hour and half, on a drizzly Saturday afternoon and were lucky enough to spot it both on the beach and hunting over Bunker Pond in the company of a Black Tern.

October: This is the month for sparrows. I was able to add 2 sparrows to my Ocean County list--a Clay-colored Sparrow down on Great Bay Blvd, and a Lincoln's Sparrow mixed in with a large flock of other sparrows at Colliers Mills.

Brown-headed Nuthatch
Photo: Shari Zirlin

November: We went on the Audubon field trip to the Delmarva Peninsula. I only expect to add two birds for the year--White Ibis and Brown-headed Nuthatch, so I was happily surprised to add Black-headed Gull at a waste treatment plant in southern Delaware (what's a vacation without one visit to a waste treatment plant?) many calling Virginia Rails (in Virginia, I just realized) and a Golden Eagle at the extreme southern tip of the peninsula. Not to mention a Western Kingbird, but we already had that from New Mexico.

December turned out to be "goose month." It seemed like when I wasn't doing a Christmas count (Shari & I did the revived Island Beach count mid-month and I helped Mike on the Barnegat count on Sunday), I was looking for rare geese. I successfully chased the Pink-footed Goose in Wall Twp, the Barnacle Goose and Greater White-fronted Geese in both Monroe Twp and at Duke Island Park, and a Cackling Goose at the Duke Island Park, as well as the can't-quite-count-em-but-fun-to-see Egyptian Geese at Spring Lake.

Below is the full list for the year in all its taxonomicaly eye-glazing glory.

ALL CAPS BOLD are lifers.
Italics are rarities.

Species                                    First Sighting 

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck     Patriot Lake      

Pink-footed Goose     Allaire Community Farm  

Greater White-fronted Goose     Applegarth Road         

Snow Goose     Assunpink WMA 

ROSS'S GOOSE     Sea Grove Ave.       

Brant     Sunset Lake          

Barnacle Goose     Applegarth Road       

Cackling Goose     Duke Island Park       

Canada Goose     Cape May Point SP    

Mute Swan     Cape May Point SP          

Trumpeter Swan     Assunpink WMA      

Tundra Swan     Whitesbog          

Egyptian Goose*    Spring Lake Park      

Wood Duck     Central Park           

Gadwall     Cape May Point SP    

Eurasian Wigeon     Cape May Point SP           

American Wigeon     Cape May Point SP           

American Black Duck     Riverfront Landing      

Mallard     Cape May Point SP      

Blue-winged Teal     Brig   

Northern Shoveler     Cape May Point SP          

Northern Pintail     Cape May Point SP  

Green-winged Teal     Brig

Canvasback     Riverfront Landing          

Redhead     Cape May Point SP  

Ring-necked Duck     Cape May Point SP         

Greater Scaup     Little Silver Lake           

Lesser Scaup     Cape May Point SP      

King Eider     Nummy Island         

Common Eider    Cape May          

Harlequin Duck     Barnegat Lighthouse SP     

Surf Scoter     Two Mile Beach     

White-winged Scoter     Cape May          

Black Scoter     Two Mile Beach   

Long-tailed Duck     Two Mile Beach       

Bufflehead     Sunset Lake           

Common Goldeneye   Lily Lake   

Hooded Merganser     Cape May Point SP        

Common Merganser     Assunpink WMA           

Red-breasted Merganser     Great Bay Blvd WMA        

Ruddy Duck     Cape May Point SP        

Northern Bobwhite     Bombay Hook       

Ring-necked Pheasant     Warren Grove           

Wild Turkey     Rt. 70          

Red-throated Loon     Two Mile Beach    

Common Loon     Sunset Lake     

Pied-billed Grebe     Double Trouble State Park           

Horned Grebe     Sunset Lake      

Red-necked Grebe     Manasquan Inlet  

Eared Grebe     Sandy Hook         

Northern Gannet     Manasquan Inlet     

Double-crested Cormorant     Cape May Point SP       

Great Cormorant     Two Mile Beach        

American White Pelican     Prime Hook NWR   

Brown Pelican    Great Sedge Island      

American Bittern    Great Sedge Island   

Great Blue Heron     Cape May Point SP           

Great Egret     Brig   

Snowy Egret     Brig

Little Blue Heron     Cattus Island County Park 

Tricolored Heron     Cattus Island County Park 

Green Heron     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Island Beach SP          

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA

White Ibis     Chincoteague NWR            

Glossy Ibis     Brig   

Black Vulture     New Egypt          

Turkey Vulture     Cape May Point SP    

Osprey     Brig          

Golden Eagle     Eastern Shore of Virginia NWR         

Northern Harrier     Cape May Point SP  

Sharp-shinned Hawk     Colliers Mills WMA      

Cooper's Hawk     Cape May Point SP    

NORTHERN GOSHAWK     Santa Fe NF         

Bald Eagle     Cape May    

Red-shouldered Hawk     Cape May Point SP  

Broad-winged Hawk     Estell Manor Park          

Red-tailed Hawk    Cape May       

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK     Mercer Sod Farm IBA     

Clapper Rail     Heislerville WMA 

Virginia Rail     Saxis WMA           

Common Gallinule     Cape May Point SP         

American Coot     Cape May Point SP    

Black-necked Stilt     Prime Hook NWR  

American Avocet     Bombay Hook          

American Oystercatcher     Nummy Island         

Black-bellied Plover     Great Bay Blvd WMA     

American Golden-Plover     Reed's Sod Farm   

Semipalmated Plover     Stone Harbor Point     

Piping Plover     Barnegat Lighthouse SP         

Killdeer     Great Bay Blvd WMA   

Spotted Sandpiper     Whitesbog 

Solitary Sandpiper     Butterfly Bogs        

Greater Yellowlegs     Eno's Pond           

Willet     Villas--Miami Ave. beach

Lesser Yellowlegs     Heislerville WMA   

Upland Sandpiper     Lakehurst NAES   

Whimbrel     Brig      

Marbled Godwit    Great Sedge Island     

Ruddy Turnstone     Two Mile Beach      

Red Knot    Great Sedge Island    

Stilt Sandpiper     Brig        

Sanderling     Two Mile Beach     

Dunlin     Two Mile Beach 

Purple Sandpiper     Two Mile Beach      

Least Sandpiper     Brig     

White-rumped Sandpiper     Brig  

Buff-breasted Sandpiper     Brig   

Pectoral Sandpiper     Whitesbog

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Brig 

Western Sandpiper     Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher     Heislerville WMA       

Long-billed Dowitcher     Brig       

Wilson's Snipe     Eno's Pond      

American Woodcock     Whitesbog          

Wilson's Phalarope     Brig

Common Murre     Sunset Lake   

Bonaparte's Gull     Two Mile Beach       

Black-headed Gull     Wolfe Neck WTP  

Laughing Gull     Palmyra Cove Nature Park    

Ring-billed Gull     Cape May Point SP   

Herring Gull     Cape May Point SP         

Lesser Black-backed Gull     Great Bay Blvd WMA       

Glaucous Gull     Brig         

Great Black-backed Gull     Nummy Island         

Least Tern     Double Trouble State Park

Gull-billed Tern     Brig       

Caspian Tern     Brig          

Black Tern     Brig    

WHISKERED TERN     Cape May Point SP     

Common Tern     Barnegat Lighthouse SP        

Forster's Tern     Cattus Island County Park      

Royal Tern     Barnegat Lighthouse SP  

Black Skimmer     Brig        

Rock Pigeon     Warren Grove      

Eurasian Collared-Dove     Santa Fe River Park          

White-winged Dove    Cape May 

Mourning Dove     Cape May        

Yellow-billed Cuckoo     Colliers Mills WMA      

Black-billed Cuckoo     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve         

Eastern Screech-Owl     35 Sunset Rd   

Great Horned Owl     35 Sunset Rd         

Snowy Owl     Two Mile Beach      

Short-eared Owl   Bridge to Nowhere     

Common Nighthawk     Lakehurst NAES           

Chuck-will's-widow     Brig

Eastern Whip-poor-will     35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift     Brig        

White-throated Swift     Bandelier NM     

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     Belleplain State Forest          

Black-chinned Hummingbird     Randall Davey Audubon Center    

Broad-tailed Hummingbird     Delgado St           

Rufous Hummingbird     Cape May          

Belted Kingfisher     Horicon Lake           

Red-headed Woodpecker     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve           

Acorn Woodpecker     Bandelier Entrance Rd   

Red-bellied Woodpecker     35 Sunset Rd         

WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER     Santa Fe NF           

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     Crestwood Village

Downy Woodpecker     Cape May Point SP       

Hairy Woodpecker     Assunpink WMA   

Northern Flicker     GSP MM 30    

American Kestrel     Assunpink WMA     

Merlin     East Windsor       

Peregrine Falcon     Brig    

Monk Parakeet     Carteret 

Olive-sided Flycatcher     The Celery Farm        

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Colliers Mills WMA     

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher     Sandy Hook           

Acadian Flycatcher     Double Trouble State Park        

Willow Flycatcher     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve 

Least Flycatcher     Old Mine Road IBA  

Gray Flycatcher     Bandelier NM 

Black Phoebe     Cerillos   

Eastern Phoebe     Great Bay Blvd WMA           

Great Crested Flycatcher     Double Trouble State Park          

Western Kingbird     Cerillos         

Eastern Kingbird     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)     

Northern Shrike     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)       

White-eyed Vireo     Whitesbog    

Yellow-throated Vireo     Allaire State Park        

Plumbeous Vireo     Cibola NF     

Blue-headed Vireo     Cattus Island County Park         

Warbling Vireo     Santa Fe River Park   

Red-eyed Vireo     Island Beach SP        

PINYON JAY     Pecos       

Steller's Jay     Randall Davey Audubon Center           

Blue Jay     Cape May Point SP   

Western Scrub-Jay     Randall Davey Audubon Center          

BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE     Santa Fe River Park       

American Crow     Cape May Point SP   

Fish Crow     Pandora Diner parking lot 

Common Raven     Whitesbog     

Horned Lark     East Windsor        

Northern Rough-winged Swallow     Whitesbog           

Purple Martin     Brig           

Tree Swallow     Brig           

Violet-green Swallow     Randall Davey Audubon Center      

Bank Swallow     Sandy Hook      

Barn Swallow     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)          

Cliff Swallow     Cerillos     

Carolina Chickadee    Cape May 

Black-capped Chickadee     Cape May   

Mountain Chickadee     Randall Davey Audubon Center      

Juniper Titmouse     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve          

Tufted Titmouse     35 Sunset Rd

Bushtit     Delgado St         

Red-breasted Nuthatch     Cape May      

White-breasted Nuthatch     35 Sunset Rd        

Pygmy Nuthatch     Santa Fe NF 

Brown-headed Nuthatch     Chincoteague NWR         

Brown Creeper     Assunpink WMA         

Rock Wren     Bandelier NM         

House Wren     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)

Winter Wren     Ocean County Parks Offices    

SEDGE WREN     Bombay Hook 

Marsh Wren     Brig 

Carolina Wren     35 Sunset Rd   

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     Colliers Mills WMA    

AMERICAN DIPPER     Santa Fe NF     

Golden-crowned Kinglet     Whiting        

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Crestwood Village     

Eastern Bluebird     Assunpink WMA      

Western Bluebird     Leonora Curtin Wetland Preserve           

MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD     Cerillos        

Townsend's Solitaire     Santa Fe NF      

Veery     William Warren County Park     

Gray-cheeked Thrush     William Warren County Park

Swainson's Thrush     William Warren County Park    

Hermit Thrush     Crestwood Village        

Wood Thrush     FREC      

American Robin     Cape May Pt College Streets         

Gray Catbird     Cape May Point SP        

Brown Thrasher     Brig      

Northern Mockingbird     Cape May         

European Starling     Cape May Point SP          

Cedar Waxwing     Cape May       

Lapland Longspur     Stone Harbor Point           

Snow Bunting     Stone Harbor Point      

Ovenbird     Belleplain State Forest         

Worm-eating Warbler     Belleplain State Forest           

Louisiana Waterthrush     Belleplain State Forest        

Northern Waterthrush     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)        

Blue-winged Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA      

Black-and-white Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Prothonotary Warbler     Belleplain State Forest           

Tennessee Warbler     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve          

Orange-crowned Warbler     Santa Fe NF          

Nashville Warbler    Reed's Road

Virginia's Warbler     La Cueva Valley     

MacGillivray's Warbler     Bandelier NM--Falls Trail      

Mourning Warbler     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve 

Common Yellowthroat     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)       

Hooded Warbler     Evert Memorial Nature Trail

American Redstart     Double Trouble State Park         

Cerulean Warbler     Old Mine Road IBA

Northern Parula     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)      

Magnolia Warbler     Double Trouble State Park           

Bay-breasted Warbler     Island Beach SP         

Blackburnian Warbler     Eno's Pond      

Yellow Warbler     Brig        

Chestnut-sided Warbler     William Warren County Park        

Blackpoll Warbler     Island Beach SP    

Black-throated Blue Warbler     Island Beach SP         

Palm Warbler     Double Trouble State Park      

Pine Warbler     35 Sunset Rd      

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Cape May Point SP 

Yellow-throated Warbler     Estell Manor Park   

Prairie Warbler     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)        

Black-throated Gray Warbler     La Cueva Valley          

Black-throated Green Warbler     Reed's Road  

Canada Warbler     Island Beach SP      

Wilson's Warbler     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve           

Yellow-breasted Chat     Assunpink WMA         

Green-tailed Towhee     Santa Fe NF     

Spotted Towhee     Delgado St     

Eastern Towhee     Assunpink WMA      

Canyon Towhee     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve           

American Tree Sparrow     Cape May      

Chipping Sparrow     Crestwood Village 

Clay-colored Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd WMA  

Field Sparrow     Brig          

Savannah Sparrow     Brig

Grasshopper Sparrow     Colliers Mills WMA     

Nelson's Sparrow     Sandy Hook

Saltmarsh Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd WMA      

Seaside Sparrow     Brig    

Fox Sparrow     Assunpink WMA 

Song Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd    

Lincoln's Sparrow     Colliers Mills WMA

Swamp Sparrow     Horicon Lake 

White-throated Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd           

White-crowned Sparrow     Assunpink WMA     

Dark-eyed Junco     Cape May     

Hepatic Tanager     Randall Davey Audubon Center  

Scarlet Tanager     FREC  

Western Tanager     Santa Fe River Park           

Northern Cardinal     Cape May   

Rose-breasted Grosbeak     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)   

Black-headed Grosbeak     Randall Davey Audubon Center 

Blue Grosbeak     Prospertown Lake       

Indigo Bunting     Assunpink WMA         

Painted Bunting    Cape May       

Dickcissel     Negri-Nepote Grasslands  

Bobolink     Bombay Hook 

Red-winged Blackbird     Assunpink WMA        

Eastern Meadowlark     Lakehurst NAES           

Rusty Blackbird     Prospect Park 

Brewer's Blackbird     Pecos          

Common Grackle     Great Bay Blvd WMA         

Boat-tailed Grackle     Nummy Island      

Great-tailed Grackle     DFW         

Brown-headed Cowbird     Assunpink WMA     

Orchard Oriole     Whitesbog  (Ocean Co.)         

Baltimore Oriole     Central Park   

House Finch     Cape May            

Purple Finch     Great Bay Blvd WMA     

Pine Siskin     Delgado St Feeder

Lesser Goldfinch     Cerillos          

American Goldfinch     35 Sunset Rd     

EVENING GROSBEAK     Delgado St    

House Sparrow    Cape May    

Eurasian Tree Sparrow     Cape May