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