June Swoon

Baby bluebirds at Bright View Farm

As predicted, June was a very slow month, adding only 5 year birds and a frustrating month, missing two biggies--Upland Sandpiper at Lakehurst and Kentucky Warbler in Smithville Park . There were a few species I declined to chase because I didn't feel like driving to Cape May or into the wilds of Hunterdon County.

Horned Lark, Laurel Run Park

I spent a lot of time looking for candidates for Bird A Day--by the time the summer doldrums come around, all the "easy" birds are either used or else "in the bank" for later in the year. Yesterday was a good example of the search. I spent a very pleasant morning with Chris (of Rocky Raccoon fame) at Bright View Farm in Burlington, a place I'd never been. Bobolinks are often seen there and while we had a pretty good day, Bobolinks were not seen there yesterday. I was hoping to use Bobolink for BAD and as all the other birds I saw there were either used or "banked," I drove another 40 minutes deeper into the county, back to Laurel Run Park, where, Chris assured me, Horned Larks were still running around the parking lot. When I first arrived I didn't see any larks, and walk around the winter wheat fields didn't reveal any Dickcissels. Grasshopper Sparrow was a very small consolation prize for all the driving, I thought. But, one more walk around the stubble and gravel near the entrance found a lark beneath a tree. It, and another lark, were semi-cooperative, and I was happy to have the bird on the list because I may go a long time before I see another one.

Today, I was down at Great Bay Blvd, hoping for a pelican or a Least Tern, but came away with neither. I suspect one of the herons or egrets I haven't used yet will be "burned" to keep the list going, that is unless I see a Common Nighthawk over the house or at the Blue Claws game in Lakewood tonight.

We did have a couple of nighthawks over the house two weeks ago when we held a whip-poor-will party with Chris, Susan (who photographed Rocky) and spouses. It was wildly successful as after the appetizer of nighthawks, the whips put on a show, with probably 6 or 7 calling from every direction. It was a life bird for Susan, and Chris said he hadn't heard one in 10 or 15 years.

Other highlights of the month included my walk around Brig (for which my timing was perfect, as a week later the greenhead flies were out in all their viciousness) and our trip up to Old Mine Road.

Lowlights: the misses at Lakehurst, Smithville, and, as an omen, on the first day of the month, missing Black-bellied Whistling Duck in a nondescript park in Robbinsville. (Interestingly, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks seem to prefer out of the way bodies of water, as the dozen down in Cape May on an obscure pond confirm.)

For the month I had 128 species, all in New Jersey.
Counties birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean

Species              First Sighting

Canada Goose   Wells Mills Park

Mute Swan   Forsythe-Barnegat

Wood Duck   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd

American Black Duck   Forsythe-Barnegat

Mallard   Wells Mills Park

Northern Shoveler   Forsythe-Barnegat

Wild Turkey   Old Mine Road IBA

Common Loon   Great Bay Bvld

Double-crested Cormorant   Island Beach SP

Great Blue Heron   Assunpink WMA

Great Egret   Forsythe-Barnegat

Snowy Egret   Forsythe-Barnegat

Little Blue Heron   Forsythe-Barnegat

Tricolored Heron   Island Beach SP

Green Heron   Old Mine Road IBA

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Island Beach SP

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Island Beach SP

Glossy Ibis   Island Beach SP

Black Vulture   Union Transportation Trail

Turkey Vulture   Assunpink WMA

Osprey   Island Beach SP

Mississippi Kite   Waretown

Bald Eagle   Brig

Red-tailed Hawk   W. Bay Ave--Barnegat

Clapper Rail   Great Bay Bvld

American Oystercatcher   Brig

Black-bellied Plover   Island Beach SP

Piping Plover   Island Beach SP

Killdeer   Old Mine Road IBA

Spotted Sandpiper   Old Mine Road IBA

Greater Yellowlegs   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd

Willet   Island Beach SP

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Island Beach SP

Laughing Gull   Forsythe-Barnegat

Ring-billed Gull   Lakehurst NAES

Herring Gull   Island Beach SP

Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Bvld

Gull-billed Tern   Brig

Caspian Tern   Island Beach SP

Common Tern   Brig

Forster's Tern   Island Beach SP

Black Skimmer   Brig

Rock Pigeon   Toms River

Mourning Dove   Wells Mills Park

Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Old Mine Road IBA

Black-billed Cuckoo   Cloverdale Farm

Common Nighthawk   Lakehurst NAES

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift   West Lake Park

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Cloverdale Farm

Belted Kingfisher   Old Mine Road IBA

Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Cloverdale Farm

Downy Woodpecker   Wells Mills Park

Hairy Woodpecker   Walnford Park

Northern Flicker   Assunpink WMA

American Kestrel   Lakehurst NAES

Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP

Eastern Wood-Pewee   Wells Mills Park

Acadian Flycatcher   Assunpink WMA

Willow Flycatcher   Island Beach SP

Least Flycatcher   Old Mine Road IBA

Eastern Phoebe   Wells Mills Park

Great Crested Flycatcher   Wells Mills Park

Eastern Kingbird   Cloverdale Farm

White-eyed Vireo   Wells Mills Park

Yellow-throated Vireo   Old Mine Road IBA

Warbling Vireo   Assunpink WMA

Red-eyed Vireo   Wells Mills Park

Blue Jay   Wells Mills Park

American Crow   Wells Mills Park

Fish Crow   Wells Mills Park

Common Raven   Old Mine Road IBA

Horned Lark   Laurel Run Park

Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Assunpink WMA

Purple Martin   Lakehurst NAES

Tree Swallow   Cloverdale Farm

Barn Swallow   Forsythe-Barnegat

Carolina Chickadee   Wells Mills Park

Black-capped Chickadee   Old Mine Road IBA

Tufted Titmouse   Wells Mills Park

White-breasted Nuthatch   Wells Mills Park

House Wren   Cloverdale Farm

Marsh Wren   Forsythe-Barnegat

Carolina Wren   Old Mine Road IBA

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Wells Mills Park

Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA

Veery   Old Mine Road IBA

Wood Thrush   Assunpink WMA

American Robin   Cloverdale Farm

Gray Catbird   Wells Mills Park

Brown Thrasher   White's Bogs

Northern Mockingbird   West Lake Park

European Starling   Wells Mills Park

Cedar Waxwing   Assunpink WMA

Ovenbird   Wells Mills Park

Black-and-white Warbler   Wells Mills Park

Common Yellowthroat   Wells Mills Park

Hooded Warbler   Old Mine Road IBA

American Redstart   Old Mine Road IBA

Cerulean Warbler   Old Mine Road IBA

Northern Parula   Old Mine Road IBA

Yellow Warbler   Assunpink WMA

Pine Warbler   Wells Mills Park

Prairie Warbler   Wells Mills Park

Black-throated Green Warbler   Old Mine Road IBA

Grasshopper Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA

Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld

Seaside Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld

Chipping Sparrow   Cloverdale Farm

Field Sparrow   Assunpink WMA

Song Sparrow   Forsythe-Barnegat

Eastern Towhee   Wells Mills Park

Scarlet Tanager   Old Mine Road IBA

Northern Cardinal   Wells Mills Park

Blue Grosbeak   Union Transportation Trail

Indigo Bunting   Assunpink WMA

Dickcissel   Laurel Run Park

Red-winged Blackbird   Cloverdale Farm

Eastern Meadowlark   Lakehurst NAES

Common Grackle   Cloverdale Farm

Boat-tailed Grackle   Island Beach SP

Brown-headed Cowbird   Cloverdale Farm

Orchard Oriole   Old Mine Road IBA

Baltimore Oriole   Old Mine Road IBA

House Finch   Cloverdale Farm

American Goldfinch   Island Beach SP

House Sparrow   West Lake Park Common Yellowthroat, Assunpink

A Walk Around Brig 6/18

American Oystercatcher, from north dike

Walking is my preferred mode of birding, by far. Today, instead of driving around the Wildlife Drive at Brig, I did what for years I've wanted to do and walked the 8 mile loop. The condition seemed as amenable as they were ever going to be: not too hot, not too breezy,  & no greenhead flies to speak of (though I did attract a couple of ticks). I set off a little after 8 and arrived back at the parking lot at 12:35.

June is in between migrations, so there weren't a tremendous amount of birds in the pools, but by walking I was able to consider almost every bird that I saw. I didn't feel rushed the way I often do when driving the loop (what's next, what's up there?), and a few birds might have gone unnoticed had I not been walking.

Black-crowned Night-Heron from east dike

I didn't see anything I wouldn't expect to see; Common Tern was probably the most "difficult" species I found, sitting in the usual place on the spillway before the turn onto the north dike. Unfortunately, it flew away when a Snowy Egret decided that that was just the place for it to be.

The diamondback terrapins are crossing the road now and digging their holes in the most inopportune spots. I moved one to the side (they're surprisingly dense) because some drivers are just oblivious.

Terrapins define the word "doggedness." With tremendous effort they haul themselves out of the water, crawl along the road on legs not meant to crawl, dig a hole with legs not meant to dig, and lay their eggs, the majority of which end up like this not long after the mother has left:

A study in futility

That they exist at all is a testament to the law of large numbers.

The most surprising absence on my day list is the lack of raptors aside from the ever-present Ospreys and the resident Peregrine Falcons. Not even a Turkey Vulture, much less an eagle or hawk. Just one of those would have boosted my list up to the magic Heinz number of 57.
56 species
Canada Goose  150
Mute Swan  5    
Mallard  95
Double-crested Cormorant  8
Great Blue Heron  2
Great Egret  30
Snowy Egret  35
Black-crowned Night-Heron  3
Glossy Ibis  16
Osprey  15
Clapper Rail  1     Heard
American Oystercatcher  7     flock of five flew by, two from north dike
Black-bellied Plover  24
Greater Yellowlegs  2     One from north dike, one in Jen's Trail pond
Willet  40
Semipalmated Sandpiper  16
Laughing Gull  150
Herring Gull  25
Gull-billed Tern  8
Caspian Tern  2
Common Tern  1
Forster's Tern  50
Black Skimmer  12
Mourning Dove  4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1     Heard
Peregrine Falcon  3
Eastern Phoebe  1     Heard upland area
Great Crested Flycatcher  1     heard, picnic tables
Eastern Kingbird  2
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1     Heard
Fish Crow  4
Purple Martin  20
Tree Swallow  10
Tufted Titmouse  3
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
House Wren  1     Field just past Experimental Pool driveway
Marsh Wren  3     Heard
Carolina Wren  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
Eastern Bluebird  1
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  20
Common Yellowthroat  15
Yellow Warbler  3
Pine Warbler  1     Heard, upland area
Seaside Sparrow  10
Chipping Sparrow  8
Field Sparrow  1     Heard, fields just past Experimental Pool driveway
Song Sparrow  6
Eastern Towhee  1     Heard upland area
Northern Cardinal  3
Red-winged Blackbird  125
House Finch  5
American Goldfinch  6

Laurel Run Park 6/11--Dickcissel

Dickcissel
Digiphoto: Ray Duffy

I have a special fondness for Dickcissels, since we got our life bird the same day we first saw the house we now live in, 5 years ago. I most often see them in a grasslands preserve up in Somerset County, but when three were reported in nearby Burlington County yesterday, I decided to drive over to the park. That I'd never been there before just added to my interest, since my regular birding spots are in the June doldrums. I didn't expect that my quest for a year bird would turn out to be an adventure.

I found the park easily enough, just under an hour's drive from here and as I was pulling into the parking lot I recognized a birder I know, Ray, from way up in Hudson County. We had both read the same instructions on where to find the bird in the open fields which were planted with winter wheat and we set off walking to the spot we thought they'd be in. We were disabused of this by another birder named Chris, who regularly visits the park. He told us we were as far from the right place as one could be when walking a loop--about 180 degrees. So, taking expert advice we walked around the loop with Chris and sure enough, just in the spot he all but guaranteed the bird we heard the bird calling it's name, at least the first part of it--"dick dick dick." It didn't take long to locate the singing male, sitting on a stalk or stick. Then, from the other side of the path we heard another. When we found that one, it was joined by a female, so speculation was rampant about nesting. Happily, those fields won't be mowed until August, giving the birds plenty of time to nest and raise their brood.

The "original" Dickcissel crossed the road and was fought off by the 2nd male. Unless another female shows up, it looks like he's SOL.  By now, we'd been joined by a few other birders including Susan (whose name I knew, but had never met) who was taking some pretty good shots. I was getting okay shots with my little camera, but the bird was fairly distant. I decided to try to digiscope with my new iPhone (not bragging) and had no luck at all. Ray took my phone, put on his scope and not only got some good shots (above) but also recorded a video of the bird (below).

So, that was a successful outing and it was only about 9 o'clock. On the way to the park I passed another park I'd heard about but never visited, Boundary Creek, only about a mile away from my Laurel Run, and asked Chris and Susan if it was worth looking into. Oh, definitely, they told me and we 3 went over there for a good walk and some fine birds like Willow Flycatcher, Baltimore Oriole and a nesting Barn Swallow. Talk turned to other Burlington hot spots, none of which I'd visited, so the next thing I knew we were caravanning to the Delaware River, after a stop at a Wawa in Edgewater Park, a new one for my list.

Rocky

Rocky ready to attack
Photos: Susan Jarnagin

The first stop was Amico Island Park and it was here that the very pleasant day turned turned scary. Amico, like nearby Palmyra, is formed from dredge spoils out of the Delaware. The river is so heavily and often dredged that there are small sections of Salem County where the spoils have been dumped that are technically part of Delaware, since it's boundary goes all the way to the Jersey shore line. We were walking a loop, where the highlight was a large heron rookery, full of immature Great Blue Herons, when off a side trail we saw a raccoon--immediately dubbed "Rocky." I don't like raccoons and I especially don't like them in the day time because they're supposedly nocturnal and if one is out during the day there's a good chance it is rabid. We were about 25 feet away from the critter, with Chris in the middle when Rocky decided to attack. With a growl it hunched down then sprang at Chris, who kicked it away while I was yelling at it to get out of here. Luckily, the kick was enough to make the raccoon run off, because the kick made Chris lose his balance and fall to the ground. Not so luckily, the raccoon was able to draw blood even through Chris' heavy jeans and that meant he was going to need a prophylactic rabies shot. It was a stark reminder how thin the membrane is between every day life and disaster.

(I received an email from Chris this evening and he had the shot and is fine. A ranger at the park also encountered the raccoon and both agreed that there was no foaming at the mouth, so it more likely that the animal was protecting its unseen young.)

Chris went off to seek medical attention. I followed to Susan to the 4th spot of the day, Taylor's Preserve, which shows up on eBird alerts in winter and during migration, but was pretty quiet today.

In all, I garnered 41 species for the day and have a tale to tell. And there is going to have to be a pretty damned good bird before I go back to Amico Island.

Species   First Sighting

Canada Goose   Laurel Run Park

Mallard   Amico Island Park

Great Blue Heron   Boundary Creek

Turkey Vulture   Taylor's Wildlife Preserve

Red-tailed Hawk   Boundary Creek

Mourning Dove   Laurel Run Park

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Amico Island Park

Willow Flycatcher   Boundary Creek

Great Crested Flycatcher   Boundary Creek

Eastern Kingbird   Boundary Creek

Warbling Vireo   Laurel Run Park

Red-eyed Vireo   Amico Island Park

Blue Jay   Boundary Creek

Horned Lark   Laurel Run Park

Tree Swallow   Laurel Run Park Barn Swallow  Boundary Creek

Carolina Chickadee   Amico Island Park

Tufted Titmouse   Boundary Creek

House Wren   Boundary Creek

Marsh Wren   Boundary Creek

Carolina Wren   Taylor's Wildlife Preserve

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Amico Island Park

American Robin   Laurel Run Park

Gray Catbird   Boundary Creek

Northern Mockingbird   Laurel Run Park

European Starling   Laurel Run Park

Common Yellowthroat   Boundary Creek

Yellow Warbler   Amico Island Park

Grasshopper Sparrow   Laurel Run Park

Chipping Sparrow   Laurel Run Park

Song Sparrow   Laurel Run Park

Eastern Towhee   Taylor's Wildlife Preserve

Northern Cardinal   Amico Island Park

Blue Grosbeak   Laurel Run Park

Dickcissel   Laurel Run Park

Red-winged Blackbird   Laurel Run Park

Common Grackle   Boundary Creek

Brown-headed Cowbird   Amico Island Park

Baltimore Oriole   Boundary Creek

House Finch   Amico Island Park

American Goldfinch   Amico Island Park

Bridge to Nowhere 6/10--A Victim of GPS

I came upon this scene this morning where Stafford Avenue ends at the Bridge to Nowhere. I asked the tow truck driver why the trucker was there to begin with. He told me that he'd followed his GPS to the very end. "It happens all the time," he said. It was dark and there's no sign that says "Dead End" or the more gentle "No Outlet."  It's hard enough to make a U-turn (or K-turn) in a sedan at the terminus of the road; it's impossible with a tractor-trailer. Even the tow truck driver had to make what I'd call a double double-you turn to get positioned with his hook to the truck. The trailer was filled diesel or gasoline; fortunately, nothing was spilling into the wetlands. The tow truck driver also wasn't hooking up the truck until higher ups in the company came to survey the mess.

When he figured out that I was birding the road, he asked me the inevitable question: "Do you see any eagles?"

Lakehurst NAES 6/9--Common Nighthawk

Landscape with Pete
(Jump circle at Lakehurst)

A somewhat disappointing, very windy day at the Lakehurst base, mostly because the main target bird, Upland Sandpiper, was not showing, though Shari's keener ears did hear one half of the wolf whistle call. Since this is the last scheduled trip to the base and since Lakehurst is really the only place in the state where I have a realistic chance of seeing uppies, it looks like that is one species that will be a lacunae in my year list. In my 6 trips to Lakehurst since 2012, this is the first time I've missed the species. A lot of disconsolate faces today out at the jump circle, especially those for whom the bird would be a lifer. Theories, abound, particularly since they were very active on a trip yesterday: too windy, too much helicopter activity, not warm enough, not enough helicopter activity...whatever the reason (& the reason is probably just bad luck) we left without our uppy fix.

I did learn, though, why you can't find uppies at nearby Colliers Mills, which, to my eye, has the same habitat--large swaths of grasslands. The swaths aren't large enough. The jump circle at Lakehurst is 300 acres of unbroken grassland. I don't know what it is at Colliers Mills, but the fields there, large as they are, are broken up by lines of trees and berms, so the fields don't contain enough territory for the birds to breed. They want a lot of room

Consolation prize for the day was a decent look at a Common Nighthawk chasing a Red-tailed Hawk that was probably perilously close, in the nighthawk's mind, to its nest. A very close look at a singing Eastern Meadowlark (county bird) also helped pass the time while we waited for Godot.

Shari also heard the little buzz of a Grasshopper Sparrow for her year list. Everyone else there was more interested in "groppers" than me--a walk along Success Road at Colliers will usually turn up one or two or three.

My list consisted of 24 species. They were:
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  6
Osprey  1
Red-tailed Hawk  2
Ring-billed Gull  1
Herring Gull  1
Rock Pigeon 4
Mourning Dove  1
Common Nighthawk  1
Chimney Swift  2
American Kestrel  2
Willow Flycatcher  1     Heard
Eastern Kingbird  1
American Crow  1
Purple Martin  1
Tree Swallow  5
Barn Swallow  2
American Robin  1     Heard
Gray Catbird  1
Cedar Waxwing  2
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Eastern Meadowlark  1
Common Grackle  1
Brown-headed Cowbird  1