Avalon Seawatch 10/24--Parasitic Jaeger

Shari & I decided to do a little sea watching today, and the best place for that is down at the Avalon Seawatch in north Cape May County. The seawatch has recently been relocated 2 blocks south onto the beach, with a neat little blind built for the seawatcher to protect him (her) from inclement weather. It also affords a much wider view of the ocean than the old location. The weather was perfect with virtually no wind and bright skies. But, much like hawk watching, sea watching can be very frustrating if you don't do it a lot. We have a little pamphlet called Ducks at a Distance, and I always think of it when I see a long skein of ducks whipping south, and the sea watcher is calling out the different ducks in the flock when I'm only able to identify perhaps half of them. It isn't just my i.d. skills that hamper me; my eyesight isn't as sharp as I'd like it to be and I can't hone my skills for very long because even standing on a beach, looking at the ocean through a scope makes me seasick.

The highlight of the day was seeing--at a distance--two Parasitic Jaegers flying low along the waves. The absolute low light of the day was watching a loon fly by (I was using binoculars) and other than knowing it was a loon, getting absolutely no field marks on it, only to hear the sea watcher call it out as Pacific Loon (a nice rarity for the east coast) after I'd lost it in the sky. So, while I can say I saw a Pacific Loon, I can't, in good conscience, count it because if I was asked to describe the sighting, all I could say was that I knew it was some kind of loon.

After almost 2 hours I was pretty dizzy, so we left for lunch. We'd planned to go the Wetlands Institute a few miles south after eating but I'd heard someone at the sea watch talking about the 48th Street maritime forest, so we detoured there and were very happily surprised to find, after walking a short distance through the forested dunes, a plethora of shorebirds that were impervious to the disruptions of beach strollers. In one enormous flock we had Dunlins, Red Knots, Sanderlings, a few Semipalmated Sandpipers and Black-bellied Plovers and one Ruddy Turnstone, as well as a trio of Royal Terns sitting at the water's edge.

Then we drove to the Wetlands Institute where a large flock of shorebirds was wading in the eastern marsh.  We walked to end of the trail and made the day an official success when I found for Shari a couple of American Oystercatchers pressed up against the reedy shore. The day became a social success when on the way back we ran into Pete Bacinski and Joanne Hall. Of course, Pete picked out some Short-billed Dowitchers that I'd like to think had just flown in but that I probably had just overlooked.

I also, unexpectedly, was able to add to my Wawa collection. Shari found an oddball Wawa in Avalon--I don't know the story behind it, but it looks like the Wawa that time forgot, with a logo that is a complete outlier to any of the other standard logos that Wawa uses. There was a time in my life when I could tell you the name of this typeface, but it didn't take long for me to empty my brain of that sort of thing after I left the printing biz. I was inordinately pleased to stop there and buy a big cup of coffee and put the store on my Wawa life list.


For our meandering day we managed 38 species. Respectable for mid-day birding.

Species               First Sighting

Brant     Avalon Seawatch

American Black Duck     Wetlands Institute

Green-winged Teal     Avalon Seawatch

Surf Scoter     Avalon Seawatch

Black Scoter     Avalon Seawatch

Red-throated Loon     Avalon Seawatch

Double-crested Cormorant     Avalon Seawatch

Great Blue Heron     Wetlands Institute

Great Egret     Wetlands Institute

Snowy Egret     Wetlands Institute

Little Blue Heron     Wetlands Institute

Northern Harrier     Wetlands Institute

Bald Eagle     Wetlands Institute

American Oystercatcher     Wetlands Institute

Black-bellied Plover     Avalon Beach

Greater Yellowlegs     Wetlands Institute

Willet     Wetlands Institute

Lesser Yellowlegs     Wetlands Institute

Ruddy Turnstone     Avalon Beach

Red Knot     Avalon Beach

Sanderling     Avalon Seawatch

Dunlin     Avalon Beach

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Avalon Beach

Short-billed Dowitcher     Wetlands Institute

Parasitic Jaeger     Avalon Seawatch

Laughing Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Ring-billed Gull     Wetlands Institute

Herring Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Great Black-backed Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Forster's Tern     Avalon Seawatch

Royal Tern     Avalon Seawatch

Mourning Dove     Wetlands Institute

Northern Mockingbird     Wetlands Institute

Palm Warbler     Avalon Seawatch

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Avalon Beach

Song Sparrow     Wetlands Institute

Red-winged Blackbird     Avalon Beach

House Finch     Wetlands Institute

Great Bay Blvd WMA 10/23--Nelson's Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow

A walk along Great Bay Blvd WMA (aka: the Boulevard of Broken Asphalt) from the inlet to the middle of the 2nd bridge yielded 12 sparrow species, including Nelson's Sparrow (my Ocean County nemesis bird), Clay-colored Sparrow (in the same spot I found one last year) and Vesper Sparrow (another county bird). I emphasize walk, because birding by car, looking for these sparrows would be impossible since they flush and hide so readily. It is difficult enough walking along the road to see them before they dive for cover.

The Nelson's was at the inlet. I finally managed to see one (possibly two or the same one twice) posted up in the reeds long enough to give a me a look at it's bluish bill and blurry breast streaks. A few Saltmarsh Sparrows helped with the comparison.

At the old concrete boat launch before the last bridge there were a number of different species, including junco, song, field and one sparrow that stood out, for a few moments before it was lost in the underbrush, a Clay-colored Sparrow. This is the same spot that I saw one last year. I first mistook it for Field but it didn't feel right for that sparrow and once I consulted Sibley's I knew I had the more desirable bird.

Vesper Sparrow

The areas right before the wooden bridges are the best places to seek out the sparrows--there is enough gravel and sand for them to feed while you scope from a discrete distance. At the foot of the first wooden bridge I came across another small flock, mostly juncos, white-throated, and song, but on the bridge itself I saw a Vesper Sparrow, with an eye-ring like a whitewall tire and white outer tail feathers. It flew off and behind me before I could attempt a picture, but, happily, on my way back down the road I found it again, feeding on the side of the road. The sun was directly behind the bird so my photos are not great, but the eye-ring is clearly apparent, as is white malar streak that wraps around to form a sort of "U."

Brant have returned

I didn't see any night-herons of either persuasion at the usual roost by the first wooden bridge. Perhaps it too late in the season. Only Great Egrets were in the marsh and not in the great numbers that were there earlier in the year. Surprising not to find any Great Blue Herons. Finally, Brant have returned. A big flock was off the sand bar in the bay as well as a smaller flock close to the beach.

For the walk and drive I managed 36 species, so  one third of what I saw belonged to the sparrow family.


The list:
Brant  240
Mute Swan  2
American Black Duck  2
Double-crested Cormorant  4
Great Egret  20
Northern Harrier  2
Black-bellied Plover  7
Killdeer  1
Greater Yellowlegs  45
Dunlin  26
Ring-billed Gull  2
Herring Gull  40
Great Black-backed Gull  15
Royal Tern  1
Mourning Dove  9
American Crow  4
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  1     Heard, inlet
European Starling  100
Yellow-rumped Warbler  30
Nelson's Sparrow  1
Saltmarsh Sparrow  3
Seaside Sparrow  1
Chipping Sparrow  3
Clay-colored Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  8
White-throated Sparrow  3
Vesper Sparrow  1
Savannah Sparrow  3
Song Sparrow  10
Swamp Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  1     South end of first wooden bridge
Boat-tailed Grackle  35

Killdeer

A Universal Law of Birding: Lark Sparrow

I have mentioned a number of times on this blog one my my crack-brained theories (read superstitions) about birding. Today I decided to upgrade it to a universal law of birding.

Yesterday, I went on an NJ Audubon trip to Brig with Mike. He & I arrived early and looked around the Gull Pond and other areas before the others in the group arrived. I heard bluebirds by the martin house field and wandered over there to see if I could find them. Sparrows were abundant yesterday and one, right in front of me, struck me as very unusual.

I was pretty sure I knew what it was, but I called Mike over to see what he thought. Immediately he confirmed my suspicion: Lark Sparrow, a relatively rare sparrow for New Jersey, and a great way to start the birding day. There was an Atlantic County Audubon walk nearby and Mike texted someone we knew on the walk and they hurried back up the road and all got great looks at this surprisingly cooperative bird.

Today I returned to Brig with Shari and our friend Christine. I didn't really expect to find the sparrow again, but while they went into the visitor's center, I looked around the area where the bird was yesterday and came up empty. However, when I went to the other side of the parking lot, behind the picnic tables, among the 100 or so Yellow-rumped Warblers, I saw the Lark Sparrow again in the bare branches of a tree. I tried to follow it as it flitted from one tree to the other, but by the time Shari & Christine found me, the bird was lost. We looked around the picnic area for a while but gave up and went around the Wildlife Drive where we saw a goodly number of birds, including some neat ones like Common Gallinule and American Golden-Plover. Before we left Shari & Christine looked around the same area again; they'd heard from another bird that a half-hour before the bird had been spotted. After a while Shari said, "Oh well, let's go." I was consoling her with the notion that she'd seen a couple this year in Ohio and Nevada, that she'd seen them before in New Jersey and since she doesn't care about county counting, didn't care if she saw one in Atlantic County when she said she thought she saw the bird near some tall grasses on the edge of the lot. I looked and saw Song Sparrows. "Oh well," she said again. Then, having officially given up on seeing the bird, it appeared at our feet! Both Shari and Christine got the field guide looks at the bird and we got in car very satisfied with the day list.

So, it is now a universal law of birding:

You will not find the rare bird you are looking for until you sincerely give up the idea of finding it.

Mercer Corporate Park 10/3--Red Phalarope

Two storms, one of them Hurricane Joaquin, have kept the East Coast socked in with rain and wind and have kept me indoors. Even though the hurricane is not going to hit us directly, it still creates excitement regarding "storm birds." Intrepid birders head out to the beaches of Cape May, the Avalon Seawatch, points on the Delaware Bay, etc, looking to find rarities blown off course by the storm. I, not liking rain and wind very much, am not one of those birders. Plus, my skills and eyesight also are not conducive to identifying some fast-flying tern or tubenose in the mist, in the distance.

So, I was sulking in front of the tv, watching a meaningless Mets game when, between innings, I saw a post on Jerseybirds that a Red Phalarope was at Mercer Corporate Park. I was out the door as if shot from a cannon. Red Phalaropes are mostly seen way off shore and for someone like me, who does't do pelagics, they are exceedingly difficult to see. I have seen, before today, exactly one, years ago, off a jetty at Shinnecock, Long Island, and it was an event. So, for one to be inland, in a nearby (40 minutes) pond was too good an opportunity to pass up. The rain had tapered off to drizzle when I left the house and had stopped when I pulled onto the corporate park's drive. Quite a number of birder's were already there. The bird was right across the pond, swimming near the opposite shore. I saw it well through the scope and got a documentary photo:

The thicker bill was the best field mark, and the rufous coloring told me that it was probably a juvenile bird. I hung around for around 40 minutes, chatting with Mary (who found it) and Vince (whose post I'd seen) and Steve, then made a quick spin around the other pond, finding nothing else.

As I was pulling out, I saw Steve photographing at the end of the pond. I stopped, scanned the water and couldn't find the bird. I couldn't find it because it was practically at our feet so I was able to get some decent photos of a bird that I will likely never get this close to again:

September Round-up

It seemed to be a slow month. I essentially missed warbler migration (as did just about everyone else in NJ who wasn't in Cape May on the one day they had 56,000 warblers fly by) and only added 5 new birds to the year list. But they were good birds that tend to be elusive: Sora, Hudsonian Godwit, Curlew Sandpiper, Wilson's Snipe, and Dickcissel. To me, the Dickcissel was the most satisfying since I found it on my own in a place I wasn't looking for it.

I also added one more bird to my Ocean County life list--Eurasian Wigeon at the amazing little pond in front of Marshalls in Toms River, but it wasn't much of a look--I actually had to look at my photographs to make sure I'd seen it.

Birding was done entirely within the state of NJ. 145 species were listed. I did get some good photos this month with which to decorate an otherwise dry entry:

Bald Eagle, Whitesbog

Black Skimmer, juvenile, Island Beach

Black-crowned Night-Heron, Sandy Hook

Red-headed Woodpecker, Colliers Mills

Eastern Bluebird, Cloverdale Farms

Species             First Sighting

Canada Goose     Whitesbog

Mute Swan     Brig

Wood Duck     Colliers Mills WMA

Gadwall     Brig

Eurasian Wigeon     Marshall's Pond

American Black Duck     Brig

Mallard     Brig

Blue-winged Teal     Brig

Northern Shoveler     Brig

Northern Pintail     Brig

Wild Turkey     35 Sunset Rd

Pied-billed Grebe     Jarvis Sound

Double-crested Cormorant     Great Bay Blvd

Brown Pelican     Great Bay Blvd

Great Blue Heron     Whitesbog

Great Egret     Whitesbog

Snowy Egret     Great Bay Blvd

Little Blue Heron     Great Bay Blvd

Tricolored Heron     Great Bay Blvd

Green Heron     Whitesbog

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Brig

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     Great Bay Blvd

Glossy Ibis     Brig

Turkey Vulture     Whitesbog

Osprey     Great Bay Blvd

Northern Harrier     Brig

Sharp-shinned Hawk     Brig

Cooper's Hawk     Whitesbog

Bald Eagle     Bridge to Nowhere

Red-tailed Hawk     Bunker Hill Bogs

Clapper Rail     Brig

Sora     Sandy Hook

American Oystercatcher     Brig

Black-bellied Plover     Brig

American Golden-Plover     Brig

Semipalmated Plover     Whitesbog

Killdeer     Whitesbog

Spotted Sandpiper     Whitesbog

Solitary Sandpiper     Whitesbog

Greater Yellowlegs     Whitesbog

Willet     Island Beach

Lesser Yellowlegs     Whitesbog

Hudsonian Godwit     Brig

Marbled Godwit     Island Beach

Ruddy Turnstone     Island Beach

Stilt Sandpiper     Whitesbog

Curlew Sandpiper     Brig

Sanderling     Island Beach

Dunlin     Brig

Least Sandpiper     Whitesbog

White-rumped Sandpiper     Brig

Pectoral Sandpiper     Whitesbog

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Whitesbog

Western Sandpiper     Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher     Brig

Long-billed Dowitcher     Brig

Wilson's Snipe     Brig

Laughing Gull     Great Bay Blvd

Ring-billed Gull     Brig

Herring Gull     Great Bay Blvd

Lesser Black-backed Gull     Sandy Hook

Great Black-backed Gull     Great Bay Blvd

Caspian Tern     Brig

Common Tern     Jarvis Sound

Forster's Tern     Great Bay Blvd

Royal Tern     Island Beach

Black Skimmer     Brig

Rock Pigeon     Jarvis Sound

Mourning Dove     Whitesbog

Yellow-billed Cuckoo     Whitesbog

Black-billed Cuckoo     Wells Mills Park

Common Nighthawk     Crestwood Village

Eastern Whip-poor-will     35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift     Whitesbog

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     35 Sunset Rd

Belted Kingfisher     Bunker Hill Bogs

Red-headed Woodpecker     Colliers Mills WMA

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Whitesbog

Downy Woodpecker     Whitesbog

Hairy Woodpecker     Whitesbog

Northern Flicker     Whitesbog

American Kestrel     Sandy Hook

Merlin     Brig

Peregrine Falcon     Great Bay Blvd

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Whitesbog

Eastern Phoebe     Whiting WMA

Great Crested Flycatcher     Whitesbog

Eastern Kingbird     Colliers Mills WMA

White-eyed Vireo     Whitesbog

Red-eyed Vireo     Double Trouble State Park

Blue Jay     Colliers Mills WMA

American Crow     Whitesbog

Fish Crow     35 Sunset Rd

Horned Lark     Reed's Sod Farm Main Office

Purple Martin     Great Bay Blvd

Tree Swallow     Whitesbog

Barn Swallow     Whitesbog

Carolina Chickadee     Whitesbog

Tufted Titmouse     Colliers Mills WMA

White-breasted Nuthatch     Colliers Mills WMA

House Wren     Union Transportation Trail

Marsh Wren     Brig

Carolina Wren     Cattus Island County Park

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     Whitesbog

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Union Transportation Trail

Eastern Bluebird     Bunker Hill Bogs

American Robin     Whitesbog

Gray Catbird     Whitesbog

Brown Thrasher     Island Beach

Northern Mockingbird     Union Transportation Trail

European Starling     Colliers Mills WMA

Cedar Waxwing     Cattus Island County Park

Ovenbird     Island Beach

Northern Waterthrush     Brig

Black-and-white Warbler     Island Beach

Common Yellowthroat     Whitesbog

American Redstart     Great Bay Blvd

Northern Parula     Sandy Hook

Yellow Warbler     Great Bay Blvd

Black-throated Blue Warbler     Bunker Hill Bogs

Palm Warbler     Island Beach

Pine Warbler     Whitesbog

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Whitesbog

Prairie Warbler     Whitesbog

Black-throated Green Warbler     Island Beach

Saltmarsh Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd

Seaside Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

Chipping Sparrow     Double Trouble State Park

Field Sparrow     Sandy Hook

Savannah Sparrow     Forsythe-Barnegat

Song Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd

Eastern Towhee     Whitesbog

Scarlet Tanager     Colliers Mills WMA

Northern Cardinal     Colliers Mills WMA

Blue Grosbeak     Brig

Indigo Bunting     Union Transportation Trail

Dickcissel     Island Beach

Red-winged Blackbird     Brig

Common Grackle     Island Beach

Boat-tailed Grackle     Great Bay Blvd

Brown-headed Cowbird     Brig

House Finch     35 Sunset Rd

Purple Finch     35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch     Colliers Mills WMA

House Sparrow     Forsythe-Barnegat