Monday, April 30, 2018

April in NJ & Mexico

Hooded Oriole, Puerto Morelos, Mexico
It isn't surprising that with migration starting up, April has been by far my most active month. Add in a week's trip to Mexico, even without very much birding, and that gives the month's total of 200 species a big boost.

As I have been complaining, seemingly ceaselessly, the weather has been against me all month. It has, at least provided a lesson on how resourceful birds can be. Without warm weather, insects have been sparse, so it hasn't been unusual to find Pine Warblers on our suet feeders, as they often are in the winter. But I have never before seen them eat seeds out of the tube feeders as they have been the last couple of weeks. They didn't get this far by not being adaptable.

Every year birders complain that migration is slow or even non-existent. No matter where you are, the birds have passed over you to a location farther north. And every year I hear that "we had no spring," instead, we went directly from winter to summer. I'm already hearing that last one, though summer weather hasn't come close yet. With all that, I have a lot of migratory birds for the month, and some of them--Louisiana Waterthrush, Prothonotary Warbler, Hooded Warbler--can be tough ones to get on the list. Rarities included White Ibis and Summer Tanager. I got good looks at 3 species of owls in two countries.

Here is the list for April
Key: LIFE BIRD, Year Bird, Rarity
County & States birded:
Mexico: Quintana Roo
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean
Species            First Sighting
Snow Goose   Brig
Brant   Sandy Hook
Canada Goose   Sandy Hook
Mute Swan   Sandy Hook
Wood Duck   Butterfly Bogs
Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Shoveler   Forsythe-Barnegat
Mallard   Sandy Hook
American Black Duck   Sandy Hook
Northern Pintail   Manahawkin WMA
Green-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Ring-necked Duck   Sandy Hook
Greater Scaup   Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
Bufflehead   Sandy Hook
Common Goldeneye   Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
Hooded Merganser   Manahawkin WMA
Red-breasted Merganser   Sandy Hook
Plain Chachalaca   Sian Ka’an
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Red-throated Loon   Sandy Hook
Common Loon   Sandy Hook
Pied-billed Grebe   Sandy Hook
Horned Grebe   Sandy Hook
Magnificent Frigatebird   Puerto Morelos
Northern Gannet   Sandy Hook
Great Cormorant   Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
Double-crested Cormorant   Sandy Hook
Brown Pelican   Puerto Morelos
Great Blue Heron   Colliers Mills WMA
Great Egret   Sandy Hook
Snowy Egret   Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
Little Blue Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Tricolored Heron   Cattus Island County Park
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Blvd
White Ibis   Manahawkin WMA
Glossy Ibis   Manahawkin WMA
Black Vulture   Sandy Hook
Turkey Vulture   Sandy Hook
Osprey   Sandy Hook
Snail Kite   Sian Ka’an
Northern Harrier   Sandy Hook
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Sandy Hook
Cooper's Hawk   Sandy Hook
Bald Eagle   Island Beach SP
Red-shouldered Hawk   Sandy Hook
Red-tailed Hawk   Sandy Hook
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Blvd
RUSSET-NAPED WOOD-RAIL   Sian Ka’an
American Coot   Brig
American Oystercatcher   Sandy Hook
Black-bellied Plover   Sandy Hook
Semipalmated Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Piping Plover   Sandy Hook
Killdeer   Sandy Hook
Whimbrel   Great Bay Blvd
Ruddy Turnstone   Puerto Morelos
Sanderling   Sandy Hook
Dunlin   Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper   Manahawkin WMA
Short-billed Dowitcher   Great Bay Blvd
Wilson's Snipe   New Egypt
Greater Yellowlegs   Cattus Island County Park
Willet   Manahawkin WMA
Lesser Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA
Bonaparte's Gull   Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
Laughing Gull   Wawa South Toms River
Franklin's Gull   Puerto Morelos
Ring-billed Gull   Cattus Island County Park
Herring Gull   Sandy Hook
Iceland Gull   Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
Great Black-backed Gull   Sandy Hook
Caspian Tern    Puerto Morelos
Forster's Tern   Island Beach SP
Rock Pigeon   New Egypt
Eurasian Collared-Dove   Puerto Morelos
Common Ground-Dove   Puerto Morelos
PLAIN-BREASTED GROUND-DOVE   Puerto Morelos
Ruddy Ground-Dove   Puerto Morelos
White-winged Dove   Puerto Morelos
Mourning Dove   Sandy Hook
Great Horned Owl   Brick
Ferruginous Pygmy-Owl   Sian Ka’an
Barred Owl   Ocean County
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   35 Sunset Rd
Vaux's Swift   Sian Ka’an
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
CINNAMON HUMMINGBIRD   Villas Silvia
BLACK-HEADED TROGON   Sian Ka’an
TURQUOISE-BROWED MOTMOT   Sian Ka’an
Belted Kingfisher   Cattus Island County Park
YUCATAN WOODPECKER   Sian Ka’an
Golden-fronted Woodpecker   Puerto Morelos
Red-bellied Woodpecker   New Egypt
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Sandy Hook
Downy Woodpecker   Sandy Hook
Hairy Woodpecker   Double Trouble State Park
Northern Flicker   Sandy Hook
American Kestrel   Sandy Hook
Merlin   Sandy Hook
Peregrine Falcon   Great Bay Blvd
WHITE-FRONTED PARROT   Puerto Morelos
BLACK-FACED ANTTHRUSH   Sian Ka’an
TAWNY-WINGED WOODCREEPER   Sian Ka’an
IVORY-BILLED WOODCREEPER   Sian Ka’an
EYE-RINGED FLATBILL   Sian Ka’an
YELLOW-OLIVE FLYCATCHER   Sian Ka’an
ROYAL FLYCATCHER   Sian Ka’an
Eastern Phoebe   Sandy Hook
Brown-crested Flycatcher   Puerto Morelos
Great Kiskadee   Puerto Morelos
Boat-billed Flycatcher   Puerto Morelos
SOCIAL FLYCATCHER   Puerto Morelos
Tropical Kingbird   Puerto Morelos
Couch's Kingbird   Sian Ka’an
Eastern Kingbird   Reeves Bogs
Rufous-browed Peppershrike   Sian Ka’an
LESSER GREENLET   Sian Ka’an
White-eyed Vireo   Island Beach SP
Yellow-throated Vireo   Sian Ka’an
Blue-headed Vireo   Double Trouble State Park
YELLOW-GREEN VIREO   Sian Ka’an
YUCATAN VIREO   Sian Ka’an
Brown Jay   Sian Ka’an
Green Jay   Sian Ka’an
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   Sandy Hook
Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven   Sandy Hook
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Brig
Purple Martin   Woodmansee Blvd
Gray-breasted Martin   Aeropuerto Internacional de Cancun
Tree Swallow   Sandy Hook
Barn Swallow   Cloverdale Farm
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   Crestwood Village
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Brown Creeper   Sandy Hook
Marsh Wren   Manahawkin WMA
Carolina Wren   Sandy Hook
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Island Beach SP
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Sandy Hook
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Collinstown Rd
Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA
Hermit Thrush   Double Trouble State Park
Wood Thrush   Manahawkin WMA
Clay-colored Thrush   Sian Ka’an
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
Gray Catbird   Manahawkin WMA
Tropical Mockingbird   Puerto Morelos
Northern Mockingbird   Sandy Hook
European Starling   Wawa South Toms River
Cedar Waxwing   Sandy Hook
Ovenbird   Manahawkin WMA
Louisiana Waterthrush   Double Trouble State Park
Black-and-white Warbler   Double Trouble State Park
Prothonotary Warbler   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
GRAY-CROWNED YELLOWTHROAT   Puerto Morelos
Common Yellowthroat   Double Trouble State Park
Hooded Warbler   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
American Redstart   Sian Ka’an
Northern Parula   Double Trouble State Park
Magnolia Warbler   Sian Ka’an
Yellow Warbler   Sian Ka’an
Palm Warbler   Forest Resource Education Center
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Sandy Hook
Yellow-throated Warbler   Double Trouble State Park
Prairie Warbler   Double Trouble State Park
Seaside Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Chipping Sparrow   Horicon Lake
Field Sparrow   Sandy Hook
Fox Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-crowned Sparrow   New Egypt
White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Savannah Sparrow   Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow   Sandy Hook
Eastern Towhee   Sandy Hook
Summer Tanager   Double Trouble State Park
RED-THROATED ANT-TANAGER   Sian Ka’an
Northern Cardinal   Sandy Hook
Blue Grosbeak   Double Trouble State Park
YELLOW-BILLED CACIQUE   Sian Ka’an
Hooded Oriole   Puerto Morelos
YELLOW-BACKED ORIOLE   Puerto Morelos
YELLOW-TAILED ORIOLE   Puerto Morelos
Red-winged Blackbird   Sandy Hook
BRONZED COWBIRD   Sian Ka’an
Brown-headed Cowbird   Crestwood Village
MELODIOUS BLACKBIRD   Sian Ka’an
Rusty Blackbird   Whitesbog
Common Grackle   Sandy Hook
Boat-tailed Grackle   Sandy Hook
Great-tailed Grackle   Aeropuerto Internacional de Cancun
YELLOW-THROATED EUPHONIA   Sian Ka’an
House Finch   Sandy Hook
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   Wawa South Toms River
Magnificent Frigatebird, Puerto Morelos