March Wrap-up

Eastern Bluebird, Cloverdale Farm

It was a good month, with 14 out of the 118 species I recorded being year birds. But it was also a frustrating month as I missed--or "dipped" as the birders say--on some desirable birds, including American Woodcock and King Eider. It wasn't for a lack of trying, as I made numerous trips looking for both birds. Granted, I could have gone to other spots for the woodcock, but if I couldn't find it in what is practically my backyard, I didn't want to chase around looking for one in more distant, out of the way spots. In the dark.

My birding M.O. this years seems to have developed into Ocean County birding during the week and on the weekends going outside the county to locales like Brig, Sandy Hook, or even farther afield like the rarely visited Salem County. I've also been investigating less birded areas in my home county in the hopes of finding the off-beat. So far that hasn't been a particularly successful strategy, but it has been interesting going to places I seldom, if ever, visit.

I'd say the highlights of the months were:

• Flushing snipes at Shelter Cove Park
• Seeing the stunning drake Tufted Duck at Sandy Hook
• And the 4th nor'easter of the year which brought us both our first Pine Warbler of the year (after searching every available, likely habitat with no luck) as well as an army of Wild Turkeys

April should be an interesting month with migration activity getting into full swing. It means getting up earlier, since the warblers and other migrants don't keep banker's hours like the waterfowl. As to this month's list, it is presented below with the year birds thusly marked. The rarities (real and just flagged by eBird) are underlined.

Counties birded:

New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Monmouth, Salem

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia

Species             First Sighting

Snow Goose   Brig

Brant   Brig

Canada Goose   Colliers Mills WMA

Mute Swan   Brig

Tundra Swan   Whitesbog

Wood Duck   Whitesbog

Blue-winged Teal   Mannington Marsh

Northern Shoveler   Brig

Gadwall   Brig

Mallard   Colliers Mills WMA

American Black Duck   Colliers Mills WMA

Northern Pintail   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Brig

Redhead   Lake of the Lilies

Ring-necked Duck   Colliers Mills WMA

Tufted Duck   Sandy Hook

Greater Scaup   Great Bay Blvd

Lesser Scaup   Lake of the Lilies

Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Surf Scoter   Shark River Inlet

White-winged Scoter   Sandy Hook

Black Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Long-tailed Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Bufflehead   Brig

Hooded Merganser   Brig

Common Merganser   Sylvan Lake

Red-breasted Merganser   Brig

Ruddy Duck   Lake of the Lilies

Wild Turkey   Crestwood Village

Red-throated Loon   Great Bay Blvd

Common Loon   Great Bay Blvd

Pied-billed Grebe   Stanley H. 'Tip' Seaman County Park

Horned Grebe   Brig

Red-necked Grebe   Manasquan Inlet

Northern Gannet   Allenhurst

Great Cormorant   Spring Lake

Double-crested Cormorant   Lake of the Lilies

Great Blue Heron   Brig

Great Egret   Cattus Island County Park

Snowy Egret   Brig

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Shark River

Black Vulture   New Egypt

Turkey Vulture   Colliers Mills WMA

Osprey   Sandy Hook

Northern Harrier   Amasa Landing Rd.

Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog

Bald Eagle   Brig

Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog

Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA

American Coot   Lake of the Lilies

Sandhill Crane   Salem River WMA

American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Blvd

Black-bellied Plover   Sandy Hook

Piping Plover   Sandy Hook

Killdeer   New Egypt

Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Sanderling   Spring Lake

Dunlin   Great Bay Blvd

Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Wilson's Snipe   Shelter Cove Park

Greater Yellowlegs   Bridge to Nowhere

Ring-billed Gull   Brig

Herring Gull   Brig

Lesser Black-backed Gull   Manasquan Inlet

Glaucous Gull   Long Branch.

Great Black-backed Gull   Brig

Rock Pigeon   New Egypt

Mourning Dove   Colliers Mills WMA

Snowy Owl   Brig

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA

Downy Woodpecker   Bridge to Nowhere

Northern Flicker   Manahawkin WMA

American Kestrel   Sunset Dr, Salem

Merlin   Allenhurst

Peregrine Falcon   Brig

Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog

Blue Jay   Colliers Mills WMA

American Crow   New Egypt

Fish Crow   Colliers Mills WMA

Horned Lark   Mannington Marsh

Tree Swallow   Whitesbog

Carolina Chickadee   Colliers Mills WMA

Tufted Titmouse   Colliers Mills WMA

White-breasted Nuthatch   Colliers Mills WMA

Brown Creeper   Cloverdale Farm

Carolina Wren   Colliers Mills WMA

Golden-crowned Kinglet   Horicon Lake

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA

American Robin   Colliers Mills WMA

Gray Catbird   Brig

Northern Mockingbird   New Egypt

European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA

Cedar Waxwing   Sandy Hook

Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-rumped Warbler   35 Sunset Rd

Prairie Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA

American Tree Sparrow   Brig

Chipping Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park

Field Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA

Fox Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Dark-eyed Junco   Colliers Mills WMA

White-crowned Sparrow   New Egypt

White-throated Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA

Savannah Sparrow   Brig

Song Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA

Swamp Sparrow   Meadowedge Park

Eastern Towhee   Supawna NWR

Northern Cardinal   New Egypt

Eastern Meadowlark   Bridge to Nowhere

Red-winged Blackbird   Colliers Mills WMA

Brown-headed Cowbird   Stafford Forge WMA

Common Grackle   New Egypt

Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Blvd

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow   New Egypt

White-crowned Sparrow, New Egypt

Brig 3/31--Snowy Egret

Snowy Egrets from a distance.

My final look around for year birds this month was at Brig on a field trip with Mike & Pete. While our numbers were good, the only new bird I added for the year was Snowy Egret. Mike saved the day on the 2nd trip around the dikes, finding first a pair, then eventually 5, in the SE pool along the south dike. Usually the field marks for Snowy Egret are obvious, but these were at quite a distance, and while we could tell they had dark bills, it was more size and behavior (dancing with wings flapping) that told us these were not Great Egrets, of which there was an abundance. We're right on the cusp of migration, so while duck & geese numbers were down, shorebirds were not in great supply. We had half a dozen American Oystercatchers and 18 Greater Yellowlegs, along with the requisite Dunlins, but no Lesser Yellowlegs or peeps. By my next trip there everything should be flipped and it will be a shorebird palooza. One can hope.

My last trip of the month netted 64 species, a good number and most of them fun to find.
Snow Goose 400
Brant 200
Canada Goose 60
Mute Swan 12
Wood Duck 2 Entrance Pond
Northern Shoveler 8
Gadwall 5
Mallard 45
American Black Duck 50
Northern Pintail 2 Gull Pond
Green-winged Teal 30
Ring-necked Duck 8
Bufflehead 30
Hooded Merganser 4
Red-breasted Merganser 8
Ruddy Duck 1 SW impoundment
Red-throated Loon 6
Common Loon 1
Horned Grebe 3
Double-crested Cormorant 57 Exact count
Great Blue Heron 10
Great Egret 60
Snowy Egret 5 SE Impoundment
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 9
Osprey 11
Northern Harrier 2
Bald Eagle 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Coot 6
American Oystercatcher 6
Dunlin 55
Greater Yellowlegs 18
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 70
Great Black-backed Gull 5
Peregrine Falcon 1
Blue Jay 2 Heard
American Crow 1
Fish Crow 9
Tree Swallow 40 Mostly around Visitor's Ctr
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 3 Heard
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 1 Heard
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Eastern Bluebird 2 Visitor's Ctr
American Robin 3
Northern Mockingbird 1 Gull Pond
Cedar Waxwing 3
Pine Warbler 3
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Chipping Sparrow 1 Heard parking lot
Field Sparrow 2 Heard upland
Song Sparrow 9
Swamp Sparrow 1 Heard road to Gull Pond
Eastern Towhee 1 Heard upland
Northern Cardinal 3
Red-winged Blackbird 50
Common Grackle 1
Boat-tailed Grackle 1
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow 1

Colliers Mills 3/30--Prairie Warbler

The forecast was for showers all morning and into the afternoon, but that was wrong and by 8:30 conditions were just overcast. Needing a walk, I thought Colliers Mills would be the most productive area close by.

Not that I won't see them eventually in county, but I was hoping for a Tree Swallow or an Eastern Towhee today, neither of which appeared there. The burnt fields were full of robins, blackbirds, and cowbirds; bluebirds weren't hard to find and they are now hanging around the nesting boxes scattered throughout the WMA.

Field Sparrow

The only bird I got a picture of was a Field Sparrow, which I first heard singing in the big field off Success Road. Because of the recent snow and generally colder than usual weather, these fields aren't coming back as fast as they usually do. The only reason I mention it is because this area is one of the few remaining, reliable areas for Grasshopper Sparrow in a couple of months and if the grass doesn't grow back high enough soon enough, we'll be SOL with that species, just as we seem to be with Red-headed Woodpeckers this year. I've searched all the usual spots the last couple of months and none seem to be around. I did get one surprise though.

Walking down Hawkin Road as I circumambulated Turnmill Pond, I was thinking that soon I'd be finding Prairie Warblers along that stretch. "Soon" turned out to be about 15 minutes because I found a nice looking male in the same area as I had Pine Warblers and a Yellow-rumped Warbler. I guess this bird must be in the vanguard because eBird flagged it as rare. I have no doubt as to my i.d., which is only reinforced by the habitat where I found the bird.

27 species
Canada Goose 31
Mallard 2 CM Lake
Bufflehead 3 Turnmill Pond
Turkey Vulture 9
Mourning Dove 6
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Northern Flicker 3
Eastern Phoebe 3
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 2
Fish Crow 1
Carolina Chickadee 2 Heard
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 2 Heard
Eastern Bluebird 7 In fields
American Robin 85
Northern Mockingbird 1
European Starling 1
Pine Warbler 4
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Prairie Warbler 1 Yellow breast with bold black stripes on flanks.
Field Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 2
Northern Cardinal 1 Maintenance area behind parking lot
Red-winged Blackbird 25
Brown-headed Cowbird 10

The weather was going back to drizzle, but just for the heck of it, I drove up the road to Prospertown Lake. I was still hoping for a Tree Swallow, and finally, after find a cormorant, waxwings, and more yellow-rumps, I heard the tittle twitter (I don't think it's an accident that the social media's logo looks like a swallow) and above the lake I finally had my Ocean County Tree Swallow.

Now I'm waiting for an Eastern Towhee to appear in our backyard, where they have nested every year we've been here.

Attention Photographers: The Annual Iconic "You Can Stop Taking Pictures of Ospreys Now I've Got It" Photograph Is Posted

I don't know how I do it, but once again this year at Brig, I took out my camera, pointed it at an Osprey and took the only photograph anyone will ever need of this bird for the remainder of the year if not the decade. It's got everything you'd want in any Osprey photograph: beak, feathers, sticks in nest. So if any photographers are thinking of going to Brig and clogging up the Wildlife Drive waiting for the light to be just right and the bird to be in just the right pose there's no need for you to do that you can go to the ocean and photograph sunrises. No need to thank me.

It was a weird mix of weather for Shari & me there today. We weren't expecting the gale force winds that had her laughing as I ventured out of the car to take my public service picture and was barely able to stay on my feet. After a cloudy start, the sun came out and we had a sun shower, then sleet, snow, and finally back to sun.

Considering the gusty conditions we did all right, managing 39 species. There are a few birds marked "heard" which is probably the most remarkable aspect of the list, considering the banshee-like winds.
Snow Goose 500
Brant 400
Canada Goose 67 pairs all over
Mute Swan 18
Mallard 40
American Black Duck 105
Northern Pintail 7
Green-winged Teal 35
Ring-necked Duck 8
Bufflehead 8
Hooded Merganser 12
Red-breasted Merganser 5
Red-throated Loon 1
Double-crested Cormorant 10
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 20
Turkey Vulture 3
Osprey 2 Setting up on platform, north dike
Northern Harrier 2
American Coot 1 Gull Pond
Dunlin 175
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 100
Great Black-backed Gull 4
Mourning Dove 1 Heard
Blue Jay 1 Heard
American Crow 2
Carolina Chickadee 2
Carolina Wren 1 Heard
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Gray Catbird 1 Entrance Pond
White-throated Sparrow 5
Savannah Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich) 1
Song Sparrow 2
Northern Cardinal 1 Feeder
Red-winged Blackbird 12
Boat-tailed Grackle 1 North dike with RWBL
House Finch 1 Heard
American Goldfinch 5

Bonus photograph, with Osprey on right displaying its attitude toward photographers:

Sandy Hook 3/24--Tufted Duck (drake), Osprey, Piping Plover

Comparison of Ring-necked Duck (left) and Tufted Duck

As I hoped, I've been picking up the year bird pace this month. Sandy Hook today was full of interesting birds on Scott's & Linda's trip where, on our first stop at the ocean by B lot we had my FOY Osprey (hovering above the bay, no photo) and Piping Plover (good look, but too distant for photo). The most noteworthy bird, however, was not a year bird. Scott got a phone call from a birder who had a Tufted Duck up at the North Pond. Tufted Duck is not a year bird for me. I've seen one 3 times this year, probably the same hen that moved around from the Shark River Inlet to Wreck Pond to Lake of the Lilies. What made this bird intriguing was that it was a drake and let's face it unless the bird is a phalarope, males are almost always more interesting to see than females and that isn't being sexist. (You never hear anyone say "OMG, look how gorgeous that female Painted Bunting is.") Most birds are named after the male so if you really want to see the tuft on a Tufted Duck (instead of the vestigial one on a hen), find a drake.

The whole group made its way up the north end of the Hook and we found the bird almost instantly. Getting a decent vantage point to see the duck through the phragmites was more of a challenge and the high ground was also a slippery slope but everyone got to see the bird and it even made itself available for photographs, conveniently swimming with a Ring-necked Duck for easy comparison.

Other birds I was happy to see:

American Oystercatchers (a Zirlin Family favorite) at Spermaceti Cove

Black-bellied Plovers 

After the trip ended, four of us went looking for one more bird, which we found and which I am not allowed to reveal else I suffer the stern look of Bob Auster.  While it wasn't a year bird for me, I was surprised and pleased to find that it was a Monmouth County life bird.

In the non-avian category: Early in the trip Scott and Linda marched the group along a beach on the bay side to see the seals that haul themselves out on sandy island at low tide. If they don't have feathers, I'm usually not very interested in other animal life, but this was an impressive congregation of both Harbor and Gray Seals and way more than I've ever seen outside of Alaska. Someone stopped counting at 136.

Gray Seals (small) and Harbor Seals

For the 8 1/2 hours of birding I did on the Hook I came back with 47 species including That Which Shall Not be eBirded For A Week.
Brant 45
Canada Goose 15
American Black Duck 30
Ring-necked Duck 15
Tufted Duck 1 Tuft clearly seen, brilliant white flanks.
Surf Scoter 8
White-winged Scoter 1
Black Scoter 30
Bufflehead 4
Red-breasted Merganser 1o
Red-throated Loon 1
Common Loon 1
Horned Grebe 3
Northern Gannet 50
Great Cormorant 1
Double-crested Cormorant 2
Great Blue Heron 1 Spermaceti Cove
Black Vulture 2
Turkey Vulture 2
Osprey 3
Bald Eagle 1
American Oystercatcher 8
Black-bellied Plover 4 Beach at the end of the Fisherman's Trail
Piping Plover 1
Sanderling 6
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Ring-billed Gull 10
Herring Gull 350
Great Black-backed Gull 250
Rock Pigeon 10
Mourning Dove 2
Eastern Phoebe 1
American Crow 4
Fish Crow 9
Tree Swallow 1
Carolina Wren 2
American Robin 200
Northern Mockingbird 4
European Starling 100
Cedar Waxwing 55
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Song Sparrow 5
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 10
Common Grackle 4
House Finch 2 Heard North Beach

Whitesbog 3/23--Eastern Phoebe

Eastern Phoebe

Had someone told me when we lived in Brooklyn that one day in my dotage I'd be cutting off huge, damaged branches from a pine tree and dragging them across the yard to pile them up at the curb I'd have thought they were a proponent of the "Many Universes" theory and they were talking about me in an alternate universe. But that's exactly how I spent this morning, cleaning up the damage done by the heavy, wet snow dumped on us Wednesday by the nor'easter #4.

By the time I had finished that task the dishwasher repairman arrived (I never thought I'd have a dishwasher in Brooklyn either) and when he left me with the old guts of the machine to dispose of I drove over to the dump (never thought I'd be going to a dump, either) and since I was in the neighborhood I decided to walk around Whitesbog. Walk being the operative word since driving on the muddy, slushy, puddles-like-ponds roads would have been challenging.

Considering I started just after noon, there were more birds there than I expected. Tundra Swan numbers were down to 10 from about 80, but there was still a large flock of Ring-necked Ducks there. The 2 "interesting" species I found there were Pine Warbler and Fox Sparrow.  There were a few Tree Swallows over the lower bog. I was hoping there would be some over the county line in Ocean but that didn't work out.

Pine Warbler in Ocean County

However, as soon as I crossed over the double-laned road into Ocean County I encountered my first Eastern Phoebe of the year, flitting around the trees that border the first reservoir. I took a lot of pictures the least blurry of which is above. There were also a few Pine Warblers feeding on the muddy edge of that reservoir. The other cool bird I saw was way back at the Upper Reservoir where I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk with all the field marks including excellent glimpses of the "windows" beneath the wings. The only other Red-shouldered Hawk I've seen this year was also at Whitesbog, though on the Burlco side, so that made it a county bird.

While talking to my friend on one of the back roads (he'd just finished walking his dog) we heard a Wood Duck squeal and fly over. Looking behind us I saw a big wetlands area that I'd never noticed before even though I've passed that spot dozens of times. That's what I love about Whitesbog: the more I walk it, the more that is revealed.

For my 4 miles from village to Upper Reservoir and back I had 20 species, which, as I said, is not a bad count for mid-day birding.

Canada Goose   55

Tundra Swan   10

Wood Duck   1

Mallard   12

Ring-necked Duck   70

Hooded Merganser   2

Turkey Vulture   4

Red-shouldered Hawk   1

Eastern Phoebe   1

American Crow   2

Tree Swallow   3

Carolina Chickadee   1

Carolina Wren   1

Golden-crowned Kinglet   1

European Starling   1

Pine Warbler   5

Yellow-rumped Warbler   2

Fox Sparrow   3

Dark-eyed Junco   8

Song Sparrow   6

Pine branches after the storm