Sunday, November 1, 2015

October's Birds

Eurasian Wigeon with American Wigeons, Lighthouse Pond
Cape May
We ended the month with a trip to Cape May, meeting up with our buddy Bob Auster. Highlights were the beautiful drake Eurasian Wigeon on Lighthouse Pond, a juvenile White-faced Ibis at the meadows (any ibis is rare this time of year, let alone WFIB), and the many raptors picked out of the sky by the eagle-eyed Mr. Auster.

During the month I only added 4 new species for the  year, the rarest being the storm-tossed Red Phalarope in Mercer County, the most satisfying being the Nelson's Sparrow which I finally found for Ocean County and the least satisfying being the Parasitic Jaegers which zipped by both the
White-faced Ibis, Cape May
Avalon Seawatch and yesterday's aggressive specks far out on the sea.

Everyone seemed to complain that migration was pretty much a bust this year, so I'm not willing to wholly ascribe the dearth of warblers on my list to my incompetence. I think that, despite what we all read practically daily--that the populations of many species are declining rapidly--none of us wants to believe it even when we don't see the birds we think should be around.

For the month I managed 149 species, mostly in NJ with one foray to my old, beloved habitat of Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

Counties birded:
New Jersey: Atlantic, Cape May, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean
New York: Kings
Species            First Sighting
Snow Goose     Brig
Brant     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Canada Goose     Mercer Corporate Park
Mute Swan     Assunpink WMA
Wood Duck     Whitesbog
Gadwall     Brig
Eurasian Wigeon     Marshall's Pond
American Wigeon     Marshall's Pond
American Black Duck     Grounds for Sculpture
Mallard     Grounds for Sculpture
Blue-winged Teal     Brig
Northern Shoveler     Prospect Park
Northern Pintail     Marshall's Pond
Green-winged Teal     Brig
Redhead     Marshall's Pond
Ring-necked Duck     Brig
Lesser Scaup     Whitesbog
Surf Scoter     Avalon Seawatch
Black Scoter     Avalon Seawatch
Bufflehead     Crestwood Village
Ruddy Duck     Assunpink WMA
Wild Turkey     35 Sunset Rd
Red-throated Loon     Avalon Seawatch
Pied-billed Grebe     Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Gannet     Cape May Point SP
Double-crested Cormorant     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Brown Pelican     Island Beach SP
American Bittern     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Great Blue Heron     Assunpink WMA
Great Egret     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Snowy Egret     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Little Blue Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Tricolored Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Green Heron     Assunpink WMA
Black-crowned Night-Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA
White-faced Ibis     Cape May Meadows
Black Vulture     Forked River
Turkey Vulture     35 Sunset Rd
Northern Harrier     Assunpink WMA
Sharp-shinned Hawk     35 Sunset Rd
Cooper's Hawk     Marshall's Pond
Bald Eagle     Brig
Red-shouldered Hawk     Cape May Point SP
Broad-winged Hawk     Brig
Red-tailed Hawk     Whitesbog
Common Gallinule     Brig
American Coot     Prospect Park
American Oystercatcher     Wetlands Institute
Black-bellied Plover     Great Bay Blvd WMA
American Golden-Plover     Brig
Semipalmated Plover     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Killdeer     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Spotted Sandpiper     Brig
Greater Yellowlegs     Whitesbog
Willet     Wetlands Institute
Lesser Yellowlegs     Mercer Corporate Park
Ruddy Turnstone     Avalon 48th St Beach
Red Knot     Avalon 48th St Beach
Sanderling     Island Beach SP
Dunlin     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Least Sandpiper     Mercer Corporate Park
Pectoral Sandpiper     Brig
Semipalmated Sandpiper     Brig
Western Sandpiper     Brig
Short-billed Dowitcher     Wetlands Institute
Long-billed Dowitcher     Brig
Red Phalarope     Mercer Corporate Park
Parasitic Jaeger     Avalon Seawatch
Laughing Gull     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Ring-billed Gull     Island Beach SP
Herring Gull     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Great Black-backed Gull     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Forster's Tern     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Royal Tern     Island Beach SP
Rock Pigeon     Grounds for Sculpture
Mourning Dove     35 Sunset Rd
Black-billed Cuckoo     Brig
Chimney Swift     Assunpink WMA
Belted Kingfisher     Whitesbog
Red-headed Woodpecker     Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker     35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker     35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker     Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker     Colliers Mills WMA
Merlin     Whitesbog
Peregrine Falcon     Brig
Eastern Wood-Pewee     Prospect Park
Eastern Phoebe     Whitesbog
White-eyed Vireo     Brig
Blue-headed Vireo     Union Transportation Trail
Blue Jay     35 Sunset Rd
American Crow     35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow     Grounds for Sculpture
Common Raven     35 Sunset Rd
Tree Swallow     Mercer Corporate Park
Barn Swallow     Brig
Carolina Chickadee     35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse     35 Sunset Rd
White-breasted Nuthatch     35 Sunset Rd
Brown Creeper     Horicon Lake
House Wren     Whitesbog
Carolina Wren     Assunpink WMA
Golden-crowned Kinglet     Double Trouble State Park
Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Whitesbog
Eastern Bluebird     Assunpink WMA
Swainson's Thrush     Prospect Park
Hermit Thrush     Prospect Park
American Robin     35 Sunset Rd
Gray Catbird     Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Mockingbird     Assunpink WMA
European Starling     35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing     Double Trouble State Park
Black-and-white Warbler     Assunpink WMA
Common Yellowthroat     Whitesbog
Black-throated Blue Warbler     Assunpink WMA
Palm Warbler     Assunpink WMA
Pine Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-rumped Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA
Prairie Warbler     Prospect Park
Black-throated Green Warbler     Assunpink WMA
Nelson's Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Saltmarsh Sparrow     Brig
Seaside Sparrow     Brig
Chipping Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd
Clay-colored Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Field Sparrow     Assunpink WMA
Lark Sparrow     Brig
Dark-eyed Junco     Whitesbog
White-crowned Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park
White-throated Sparrow     Assunpink WMA
Vesper Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Savannah Sparrow     Double Trouble State Park
Song Sparrow     Whitesbog
Swamp Sparrow     Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee     35 Sunset Rd
Northern Cardinal     35 Sunset Rd
Indigo Bunting     Union Transportation Trail
Red-winged Blackbird     Assunpink WMA
Rusty Blackbird     Brig
Common Grackle     Union Transportation Trail
Boat-tailed Grackle     Great Bay Blvd WMA
Brown-headed Cowbird     New Egypt
Baltimore Oriole     Prospect Park
House Finch     35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch     35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow     Lakewood
Tri-colored Heron in salicornia (salt wort) Great Bay Blvd

1 comment:

  1. I love it, your post arrived in my inbox! I think we do see populations declining, from habitat loss, perhaps climate change. Maybe 10-20 years ago kestrels were regular sightings hereabouts. No longer. Sad.

    ReplyDelete