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.