Manahawkin WMA | Backyard 4/28--Chimney Swift, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Marsh Wren, Wood Thrush, Ovenbird

Ovenbird

After a week of parties and socializing in Mexico, I felt I had been too much with people, so Saturday morning I tried to think of the most productive place I could go where I would have some much-needed solitude. Manahawkin WMA checked both boxes. I would have like to have arrived earlier, but after traveling and unpacking and reorganizing my life in addition to a Mets west coast night game, I needed a little extra sleep.

I also, finally, finished my preferred route at the WMA. The last couple of times I'd been there I'd been interrupted (first by sighting the White Ibis, second by a sick cat); this time I was able to carry the scope to the back impoudment, bring it back to the car, then walk the zig-zag trail from Stafford Avenue to the parking lot on Hilliard and back. In Mexico, I knew I was missing a week of migration. New warbler arrivals for me were Yellow Warbler (which we'd seen at Sian Ka'an), and Ovenbird. The picture above is a bit of a cheat. I only heard Ovenbirds at Manahawkin--the next day I was finally able to see one at Huber Preserve and I'm using that picture.

Wood Thrush

On my way back to Stafford Avenue from the impoundments I saw a bird fly low into a scrubby tree. It was hard to make out, but the spotted breast gave it away as a Wood Thrush. I tried for photos but with my camera you get more branches in focus than bird.

As you would expect, there was a lot of bird song all around which often just becomes background "noise." It wasn't for a while that I realized that one of the sounds in the background that had been nagging at me just below the horizon of awareness was the gurgling song of a Marsh Wren. I probably heard more, but I just listed the one that popped into my consciousness.

Other cool birds there were the persisting Blue-winged Teal and 6 Wood Ducks, all drakes, in 2 different locations. Shorebirds were sparse: 1 yellowlegs, two Willets. The Willets were part of the background noise--I think part of the reason I didn't hear the wrens was due to attempting to tune out the constant "pee-willeting" of those birds.

I spent 4 1/4 hours birding the WMA. It didn't feel that long while I was doing it, but once I stopped, I wasn't inclined to explore any other areas very hard. 42 species seems like a decent list to me.
Canada Goose 4
Mute Swan 5
Wood Duck 6
Blue-winged Teal 4
Mallard 3
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 5
Snowy Egret 4
Tricolored Heron 2 Back impoundments
Glossy Ibis 37
Turkey Vulture 3
Osprey 1
Greater Yellowlegs 1
Willet 2
Herring Gull 3
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Forster's Tern 10
Mourning Dove 4
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Heard
Northern Flicker 3
White-eyed Vireo 6
Blue Jay 1
Fish Crow 1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 1
Tree Swallow 5
Barn Swallow 4
Carolina Chickadee 6
Marsh Wren 1 Heard
Carolina Wren 3 Heard
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
Hermit Thrush 1
Wood Thrush 1
American Robin 1
Gray Catbird 3
Ovenbird 4 Heard
Common Yellowthroat 2
Yellow Warbler 3
White-throated Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 4
Northern Cardinal 2
Red-winged Blackbird 25

Tricolored Heron

I got home mid-afternoon and wandered around the backyard or sat on the patio. It was productive dithering, because first I saw a Ruby-throated Hummingbird come to our feeder for the first time this year, and then later, looking up, I saw my first Chimney Swift of the year. It was a good day for catching up with the local avifauna.