August Birding Results

Pectoral Sandpiper, Whitesbog

In the month of August I went to Whitesbog 23 times and made 8 excursions to Brig. That's where the birds were that were reasonably close, so that's where I went. I could have possibly added some species this month had I been willing to "sod farm" down in Salem & Cumberland counties but the drive down there just seemed too long for no guarantees.

With Mike I made a trip to Cape May which was fairly dead and with Shari & Bob I spent a weekend in Delaware which was productive. But I found Whitesbog pretty much irresistible this month. It's quiet. It's calm. There are birds in the bogs, there are birds along the trail and there are birds in out of the way places that only the hard-core birders go. More than 1/2 of the 144 species I listed this month I had at Whitesbog.

Bobolink, Great Bay Blvd

Today, I managed to tear myself away from the bogs and took my 2nd ride of the month down Great Bay Blvd. The first one was in search of a White Ibis (which I found, though White Ibis is becoming a common rarity if you'll forgive the oxymoron) and today's trip was a search for shorebirds, of which there were a fair amount, but none, aside from a Pectoral Sandpiper, that I wouldn't expect this time of year. However, at the end of the road, just as I had started walking north, I came across a bird that said "Dickcissel" to me. Had I not been able to get some photographs, I would have called it that but something didn't sit right with me about the bird, so I didn't immediately list it. The two birds, out of their breeding togs look devilishly close to one another despite being in different families. Looking more closely at my photos at home and looking at different guidebooks, I saw that what I had was not a rarity, but an alternate-plumaged Bobolink. With the Pec, that made 2 county birds for the year, bringing the Ocean County list up to 227. (The extraordinarily rare Reddish Egret  [thanks Greg!] brought my life county list up to 276.)

The full list for the month:

Species                      First Sighting

Canada Goose   Whitesbog

Mute Swan   Cape May Point SP

Wood Duck   Brig

American Black Duck   Whitesbog

Mallard   Whitesbog

Blue-winged Teal   Bombay Hook

Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook

Hooded Merganser   Whitesbog

Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd

Pied-billed Grebe   Bombay Hook

Double-crested Cormorant   Great Bay Bvld

Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP

Great Blue Heron   Whitesbog

Great Egret   Whitesbog

Snowy Egret   Great Bay Bvld

Little Blue Heron   Brig

Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Bvld

Reddish Egret   Island Beach SP

Green Heron   Whitesbog

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

White Ibis   Great Bay Bvld

Glossy Ibis   Whitesbog

Black Vulture   Bombay Hook

Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog

Osprey   Great Bay Bvld

Northern Harrier   Brig

Sharp-shinned Hawk   Drained Pond,  Schoolhouse Rd

Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog

Bald Eagle   Brig

Broad-winged Hawk   Whitesbog

Red-tailed Hawk   Lower Township

Clapper Rail   Brig

Black-necked Stilt   Bombay Hook

American Avocet   Brig

American Oystercatcher   Cape May Point SP

Black-bellied Plover   Brig

Semipalmated Plover   Whitesbog

Killdeer   Whitesbog

Whimbrel   Brig

Marbled Godwit   Bombay Hook

Ruddy Turnstone   Brig

Stilt Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Sanderling   Ted Harvey WMA

Dunlin   Bombay Hook

Baird's Sandpiper   Brig

Least Sandpiper   Whitesbog

White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig

Buff-breasted Sandpiper   Brig

Pectoral Sandpiper   Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Western Sandpiper   Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher   Great Bay Bvld

Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig

Spotted Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Solitary Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Greater Yellowlegs   Whitesbog

Willet   Great Bay Bvld

Lesser Yellowlegs   Whitesbog

Laughing Gull   Whitesbog

Ring-billed Gull   Brig

Herring Gull   Great Bay Bvld

Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Bvld

Least Tern   Great Bay Bvld

Gull-billed Tern   Whitesbog

Caspian Tern   Brig

Black Tern   Brig

Common Tern   Great Bay Bvld

Forster's Tern   Great Bay Bvld

Royal Tern   Cape May Point SP

Black Skimmer   Great Bay Bvld

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

Black-billed Cuckoo   Cloverdale Farm

Common Nighthawk   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog

Red-headed Woodpecker   Cloverdale Farm

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Northern Flicker   Whitesbog

Merlin   Whitesbog

Peregrine Falcon   Brig

Olive-sided Flycatcher   Cloverdale Farm

Eastern Wood-Pewee   Whitesbog

Willow Flycatcher   Great Bay Bvld

Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog

Great Crested Flycatcher   Whitesbog

Eastern Kingbird   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

White-eyed Vireo   Whitesbog

Red-eyed Vireo   Bombay Hook

Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd

American Crow   Whitesbog

Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Horned Lark   Leipsic

Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Purple Martin   Whitesbog

Tree Swallow   Whitesbog

Bank Swallow   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Barn Swallow   Whitesbog

Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

Red-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

House Wren   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Marsh Wren   Brig

Carolina Wren   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Whitesbog

Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog

American Robin   Whitesbog

Gray Catbird   Whitesbog

Brown Thrasher   Whitesbog

Northern Mockingbird   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

European Starling   35 Sunset Rd

Cedar Waxwing   Whitesbog

Ovenbird   Brig

Northern Waterthrush   Whitesbog

Black-and-white Warbler   Whitesbog

Common Yellowthroat   Whitesbog

American Redstart   Whitesbog

Yellow Warbler   Whitesbog

Pine Warbler   Whitesbog

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Whitesbog

Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog

Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld

Seaside Sparrow   Brig

Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Field Sparrow   Brig

Savannah Sparrow   Whitesbog

Song Sparrow   Whitesbog

Eastern Towhee   Whitesbog

Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Blue Grosbeak   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Indigo Bunting   Cape May Point SP

Bobolink   Great Bay Bvld

Red-winged Blackbird   Whitesbog

Eastern Meadowlark   Bombay Hook

Common Grackle   35 Sunset Rd

Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld

Brown-headed Cowbird   Bombay Hook

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   Whitesbog

House Sparrow   Wawa Rt 70 & CR 530

Brig 8/26--Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Buff-breasted Sandpipers at the dogleg 

I went back to Brig this morning to try again for Buff-breasted Sandpipers because it really bugged me that yesterday I couldn't find them. I decided that I would be as patient as I could be and that I would look at every sandpiper that I could see in the area before the observation tower on the south dike. I parked the car on the road and walked the about a 3/4 of a mile along the SW Pool, looking for activity. I saw, up ahead, the refuge's truck parked and directly across from it a lot of shorebirds feeding in the short grass. I know the driver and got there just as he was pulling away. We exchanged greetings and he told me that there were two buffies out there, pretty distant. I set up my scope and started to scan. I found: Pectoral Sandpipers, Greater Yellowlegs, Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitchers, starlings, geese, gulls, and skimmers. I stood there for almost an hour scanning left and right, looking at each bird no matter how distant and I couldn't find the Buff-breasted Sandpipers. When I had first arrived some shorebirds took flight. For all I know, the buffies were in that flight.

I shouldered my scope, finally, and walked back to the car, figuring that I could scan as I drove and that a 2nd loop later might have a happier result. Then a text came in that there were ELEVEN Buff-breasted Sandpipers at the dogleg. I had been thinking that spot would be my next opportunity to find one. All summer I have been bemoaning its flooded state, but yesterday I noticed that a good portion of it was "dry." That is if you consider mud that's probably a foot deep "dry."

It is almost 4 miles from where I was to the dogleg. 4 miles is a long drive at 20 mph (5 miles over the speed limit, I know) and especially aggravating when, in front of you someone is tooling along at 10 in the middle of the road and doesn't have the brains that God gave geese, so he doesn't get out of your way until you're practically up his tailpipe. I ran into (almost) 3 of these fools.

Anyway, I made it to the dogleg, got out the scope and immediately found 3 birds, than another, and when I moved to another area, another 4 for a total of 8. I only need one. 8 Buff-breasted Sandpipers is a lot. The most I've ever seen at one time before was 3 and those were my lifers 10 years ago. I wish I could have photographed them better but they were fairly distant. Big in the scope, small in the camera.

It wasn't the way I had hoped to find them but find them I did. For the rest of the drive I played leap frog with one of the cars that had been in front of me. He was a photographer (naturally) so when he stopped at the dogleg to take pictures of egrets in the cedars, I didn't bother to tell him about the much more interesting birds in the grass because he wouldn't be able to photograph them. We met up again at the sluiceway where yesterday I had the Black Terns. Mostly there were dowitchers there today and 4 Caspian Terns. I walked up the rode to see if there was anything more interesting and then came back. He rolled down his window and asked me if I had seen the Whimbrels. I told him I seem to have missed them. I scoped for a couple of minutes, didn't see any Whimbrels (hard to miss, even for me) and then realized that what he though were Whimbrels were actually Glossy Ibis.  40 of them. I briefly entertained catching up with him and disabusing him of his i.d., but thought better of it.

I was walking on Jen's Trail when I got a voicemail about an appointment back at the house that I had forgotten about. I had plenty of time to get home, but there went the 2nd loop. Consequently, about half the drive I didn't survey. I still wound up with 47 species, only 2 less than yesterday.
Canada Goose  100
Mute Swan  3
American Black Duck  1
Mallard  10
Northern Shoveler  6
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Great Blue Heron  3
Great Egret  30
Snowy Egret  20
Tricolored Heron  2
Black-crowned Night-Heron  5     
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  2     in trees across Gull Pond
Glossy Ibis  40
Osprey  10
Semipalmated Plover  3
Killdeer  2
Least Sandpiper  5
Buff-breasted Sandpiper  8    
Pectoral Sandpiper  10
Semipalmated Sandpiper  45
Short-billed Dowitcher  100
Greater Yellowlegs  20
Lesser Yellowlegs  25
Laughing Gull  200
Herring Gull  100
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Gull-billed Tern  1
Caspian Tern  5
Forster's Tern  20
Black Skimmer  8
White-eyed Vireo  2     Heard, one on Jen's Trail, the other upland area
American Crow  1     Heard
Fish Crow  8
Purple Martin  2
Tree Swallow  25
Barn Swallow  1
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  2
Carolina Wren  1     Heard, parking lot
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
Gray Catbird  2
Brown Thrasher  1
European Starling  50
Eastern Towhee  1     Heard, upland area
Northern Cardinal  2     Heard, upland area
Red-winged Blackbird  100
American Goldfinch  1

Brig 8/25--Black Tern

Black Tern hiding behind a Caspian Tern

Black Tern, center

Go for one bird, find another. I planned not to go to Whitesbog this morning for a change. I was thinking instead of looking around either Barnegat or Tuckerton, or both. A text came in, though, at 7 A.M. about 2 Buff-bellied Sandpipers in the SW Pool at Brig (where Bob & I had the Baird's last week), so instead I scooted down there. I was at the pool about an hour and a half after the initial report. Despite assiduous scanning and walking up and down the dike for about a 1/4 mile, I could only find Pectoral Sandpipers, yellowlegs, and semis. Another pair of birders stopped alongside the road and were equally unsuccessful, so I at least had the consolation that it wasn't just me who couldn't find a bird. With a sigh and a grumble I continued on the 8 mile, one way drive. "You can't go wrong at Brig," I told myself, but the stench of failure filled the car (or was that just low tide?)

Snowy Egret on the rocks

At the first sluice gate beyond the observation tower, I stopped to scan the rocks for terns and possibly turnstones. I saw a big white blob laying across the rocks and didn't at first know what to make of it. It turned out to be a Snowy Egret, lounging on rip-rap. I've never seen an egret "relax" in such a manner:

Tricolored Heron

Further along the south dike I saw a photographer snapping away. I don't usually stop to see what photographers have but as there were no Ospreys in sight and she pointed down to the mud flats, I pulled over. She was very excited and asked if she was looking at a couple of Reddish Egrets. To quote my favorite Hemingway line: Wouldn't it be pretty to think so?

Instead she had a couple (actually 3, there was another a little farther up the channel) Tricolored Herons, all juveniles, showing their tri colors very nicely. She was in heaven as it was a life bird for her. So I pulled out my scope and focused in on one so she could admire it, as she only had a camera and no bins.

We both continued along the drive, she well ahead of me as I stopped to scan for anything unusual at my usual spots (the first turn, the NE corner, the dogleg). I didn't come up with anything. I was happy, though, to see that the dogleg is about halfway drained with a little grass coming up through the mud. This is usually a reliable spot for "grasspipers." Supposedly, there were also two buffies there too, or else the same two from the other side of the pools.

At the sluiceway where the Red-necked Phalarope, American Avocet, and White-faced Ibis have all been seen, my photographer friend was stopped along with another birder. They looked interested. There were lots of different species out on the flats, so I pulled out my scope. The birder was looking through the Short-billed Dowitchers, hoping for a Long-billed. I scanned them all and didn't see anything promising, though my opinion is certainly not authoritative. There were 3 Caspian Terns on the flats and my two companions were saying that this was where a Black Tern had been of late. I didn't see one because, if you look at the picture above, the little tern was hiding behind the Caspian behemoth but eventually it was spotted and while my digiscope photos are not award winning, they did reveal the reason I was having such a hard time keeping track of where the tern was: There were actually two and I was seeing one or the other every time I changed the angle or height of the scope.

Two (count 'em, two) Black Terns with Caspian Tern, Forster's Terns, Herring Gull and Short-billed Dowitchers

So that changed the tenor of the day. I at least had a year bird and a good bird for Bird A Day. I'm probably going back to Brig on Saturday, maybe buffies will still be around. I see, from eBird, that they were seen again in the SW Pool this afternoon. 

I took a walk along Jen's Trail, the first half of which I spent fending off flies, but as I was coming around the last leg of the 1/4 mile trail, the flies disappeared and one spot had 5 species of warblers. Whether they were migrants or residents who haven't left yet I have no way of knowing. All 5 species I saw nest at Brig. 

For the day I had 49 species--one loop plus a little bit of walking down to the Gull Pond. 

Canada Goose  75
Mute Swan  3
Mallard  17
Double-crested Cormorant  15
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  50
Snowy Egret  25    
Tricolored Heron  3     
Black-crowned Night-Heron  2
Glossy Ibis  21
Osprey  10
Cooper's Hawk  1
Clapper Rail  2
Black-bellied Plover  1
Semipalmated Plover  6
Pectoral Sandpiper  10
Semipalmated Sandpiper  50
Short-billed Dowitcher  35
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Willet  1
Lesser Yellowlegs  5
Laughing Gull  200
Herring Gull  100
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Least Tern  5
Gull-billed Tern  1
Caspian Tern  3
Black Tern  2     
Forster's Tern  50
Black Skimmer  14
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
Blue Jay  1     Heard, entrance
American Crow  4
Fish Crow  5
Tree Swallow  25
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  1     Heard, Akers trail
House Wren  1     Heard, Gull Pond road
Gray Catbird  3
European Starling  20
Ovenbird  1
Black-and-white Warbler  1
American Redstart  1
Yellow Warbler  1
Prairie Warbler  1
Field Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1     Heard
Red-winged Blackbird  150

Bombay Hook 8/20--Black-necked Stilt, Marbled Godwit

American Avocets, Bombay Hook

At least once a year, Shari & I like to make a trip to Delaware to bird Bombay Hook & Prime Hook. This year we had the added pleasure of Bob Auster's company. We had extolled the great birding at the two hooks to him so much that I was afraid they, like Whitesbog, might not live up to our descriptions but they both fulfilled our expectations.

We weren't at Bombay Hook more than 15 minutes before we came upon two huge flocks of American Avocets feeding in Raymond Pool. In New Jersey, if there are a few avocets in one spot, birders come running from miles around. At Bombay Hook, they're as common as Semipalmated Sandpipers are at Brig. It was great fun to watch the avocets feed, moving together in a large oval, swishing their bills in the water to find little fish.

We went around the 3 main pools--Raymond, Shearness, & Bear Swamp--& had lunch near Finis Pool. Then we did it again. At our 2nd look at Shearness there was a large flock of shorebirds, terns, geese, you name it, out on a sand bar and indefatigable Bob was determined to check out every bird searching for his target bird of the trip. After a while he yelled out "Stilt!" and I came running up the road. In his scope he had found his lifer Black-necked Stilt.  It is so much more rewarding to find a lifer on your own. Black-necked Stilts are not rare in the Delaware impoundments, but you don't find huge flocks of them as you do avocets, and it is easy to miss the bird. The next day, in the same place, Bob & I saw what we took for another avocet, only to have Shari point out that it was indeed a stilt, probably the same one as the previous day's. Too bad both times the bird was too far away for photography.

On our second trip around Raymond Pool the avocets had moved closer (see above) and there were a couple of birders there who were looking at each & every sandpiper (and there were thousands) trying to tease out a Western Sandpiper. Or White-rumped Sandpiper. These are birds I've seen this year and this month, and while I'm always happy to build up the trip list, the lighting and the distance wasn't going to give me a satisfying look even if one was found.

Now, Marbled Godwits are a different story. Marbled Godwits are big. And there were two  of them in among the avocets. I no more than plunked down my scope and found them. Again, a little too far for photography, but great bird nonetheless. (Now, if I only get them for Ocean County this year.)

On Sunday we drove down to Prime Hook and along Prime Hook Beach Road we had a fantastic amount of birds, including at least 6 White Ibis, another Marbled Godwit, Black Skimmers and Ruddy Turnstones. Prime Hook itself didn't have much in the way of shorebirds, but we did pick up Blue Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting. Fowler Beach Road was closed; it seems a lot of work is being done to the weather damaged roads and for reasons I don't understand, that has moved the water around so that some impoundments, like Broadkill Marsh, are very dry, while others, like along Prime Hook Beach Road, have more water than they usually do.

Water got in the way of our next stop. Shari & I like to go to the DuPont Nature Center in Mispillion--it is where we get her oystercatchers. There is a sign at the beginning of the road that says "WATER ON ROAD" and usually there are a few puddles. But this time there was no distinction between the bay and road and after we watched a couple of cars go through the water up to their wheel wells we decided not to risk it.

We worked our way north and made another trip around Bombay Hook. The skies were getting grayer and grayer and the weather cooling considerably. I kind of pushed us along hoping to make the circuit of the three main pools before the rain started and we timed it just about perfectly, as the skies opened up just as we returned to the visitor's center. It did not, however, make for a very pleasant ride back to New Jersey with returning Delaware shore traffic and torrential rain all the way up to our house.

For the weekend we had 75 species, not bad considering we did little in the way of passerine searching.

Species                First Sighting

Canada Goose   Bombay Hook NWR

American Black Duck   Bombay Hook NWR

Mallard   Bombay Hook NWR

Blue-winged Teal   Bombay Hook NWR

Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook NWR

Pied-billed Grebe   Bombay Hook NWR

Double-crested Cormorant   Bombay Hook NWR

Great Blue Heron   Bombay Hook NWR

Great Egret   Bombay Hook NWR

Snowy Egret   Bombay Hook NWR

Little Blue Heron   Bombay Hook NWR

Tricolored Heron   Bombay Hook NWR

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Bombay Hook NWR

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Bombay Hook NWR

White Ibis   Prime Hook NWR

Glossy Ibis   Bombay Hook NWR

Black Vulture   Bombay Hook NWR

Turkey Vulture   Bombay Hook NWR

Osprey   Bombay Hook NWR

Cooper's Hawk   Frederica

Bald Eagle   Bombay Hook NWR

Red-tailed Hawk   Bombay Hook NWR

Clapper Rail   Bombay Hook NWR

Black-necked Stilt   Bombay Hook NWR

American Avocet   Bombay Hook NWR

Black-bellied Plover   Bombay Hook NWR

Semipalmated Plover   Bombay Hook NWR

Killdeer   Bombay Hook NWR

Marbled Godwit   Bombay Hook NWR

Ruddy Turnstone   Prime Hook NWR

Sanderling   Ted Harvey WMA

Dunlin   Bombay Hook NWR

Least Sandpiper   Bombay Hook NWR

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Bombay Hook NWR

Short-billed Dowitcher   Bombay Hook NWR

Greater Yellowlegs   Bombay Hook NWR

Lesser Yellowlegs   Bombay Hook NWR

Laughing Gull   Bombay Hook NWR

Herring Gull   Bombay Hook NWR

Least Tern   Bombay Hook NWR

Caspian Tern   Bombay Hook NWR

Forster's Tern   Bombay Hook NWR

Royal Tern   Bombay Hook NWR

Black Skimmer   Prime Hook NWR

Mourning Dove   Prime Hook NWR

Belted Kingfisher   Prime Hook NWR

Downy Woodpecker   Bombay Hook NWR

Eastern Wood-Pewee   Bombay Hook NWR

Eastern Phoebe   Prime Hook NWR

Great Crested Flycatcher   Prime Hook NWR

Eastern Kingbird   Bombay Hook NWR

White-eyed Vireo   Prime Hook NWR

Red-eyed Vireo   Bombay Hook NWR

Blue Jay   Bombay Hook NWR

Fish Crow   Prime Hook NWR

Horned Lark   Whitehall Crossroads - Leipsic

Tree Swallow   Bombay Hook NWR

Barn Swallow   Bombay Hook NWR

Carolina Chickadee   Prime Hook NWR

Tufted Titmouse   Prime Hook NWR

White-breasted Nuthatch   Prime Hook NWR

Carolina Wren   Bombay Hook NWR

Gray Catbird   Bombay Hook NWR

European Starling   Prime Hook NWR

Seaside Sparrow   Bombay Hook NWR

Field Sparrow   Bombay Hook NWR

Eastern Towhee   Bombay Hook NWR

Blue Grosbeak   Prime Hook NWR

Indigo Bunting   Prime Hook NWR

Red-winged Blackbird   Prime Hook NWR

Eastern Meadowlark   Bombay Hook NWR

Brown-headed Cowbird   Bombay Hook NWR

House Finch   Prime Hook NWR

American Goldfinch   Bombay Hook NWR

House Sparrow   Bombay Hook NWR Bald Eagle, Bombay Hook