Migration May

Piping Plover on nest, Barnegat Light SP

May is the peak of spring migration and I made it my business to put myself where the birds were--for the most part. A few time I went somewhere just because I like it even though I knew the possibility of finding anything new was remote. Today was an example of that--I went to Barnegat Light SP to walk on the beach and hoped to find a Piping Plover, even though I "have" them for the year. I finally found one on my way back, sitting on a nest within a protect cage.

I got more warblers than I usually do and of course, as the previous post recounts, I finally got my life KENTUCKY WARBLER even if it was a heard only bird. I also had some rarities for the month, that is birds that are rare for the location or time, not real rarities like the Roseate Spoonbill that is up in northern NJ. The last rarity I listed was today--2 Common Eiders in the surf off the beach at Barnegat Light. These are probably the 2 birds that have been reported off the tip of Island Beach SP.

Here it is the end of May and I have yet to have visited Cape May. And Cape May in the summer, what with traffic can be daunting, so unless something amazing shows up, it may be fall migration until I get there.

Aside from my Jersey birding, I spent parts of 2 days in Central Park, where I didn't find much in my rushing around, and 2 days with Shari in Delaware where, despite the weather, we got our avocets, stilts, and other hard to find birds.

I listed 174 species this month and 53 year birds, by far the most this year in the United States--last month's list included a lot of Mexican birds. June & July are historically "slow" months--I'll get my walks in and hope for odd birds to show up, but I don't expect any more large lists until the birds start heading south again.

Counties birded:
Delaware: Kent
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean
New York: New York

Species   First Sighting Brant   Island Beach SP Canada Goose   Forsythe-Barnegat Mute Swan   Island Beach SP Wood Duck   Forest Resource Education Center Blue-winged Teal   Forsythe-Barnegat Northern Shoveler   Brig Gadwall   Forsythe-Barnegat Mallard   Forsythe-Barnegat American Black Duck   Forsythe-Barnegat Green-winged Teal   Forsythe-Barnegat Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP Red-breasted Merganser   Forsythe-Barnegat Ruddy Duck   Brig Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd Common Loon   Sandy Hook Horned Grebe   Bombay Hook Double-crested Cormorant   Forsythe-Barnegat Least Bittern   Mercer Corporate Park Great Blue Heron   Forsythe-Barnegat Great Egret   Forsythe-Barnegat Snowy Egret   Forsythe-Barnegat Little Blue Heron   Forsythe-Barnegat Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Bvld Green Heron   Oros Preserve Black-crowned Night-Heron   Oros Preserve Glossy Ibis   Forsythe-Barnegat White-faced Ibis   Brig Black Vulture   Sandy Hook Turkey Vulture   Island Beach SP Osprey   Forsythe-Barnegat Mississippi Kite   Waretown Sharp-shinned Hawk   Sandy Hook Cooper's Hawk   Island Beach SP Bald Eagle   Sandy Hook Red-shouldered Hawk   Reeves Bogs Red-tailed Hawk   Forest Resource Education Center Clapper Rail   Great Bay Bvld Sora   Mercer Sod Farm IBA Common Gallinule   Bombay Hook Black-necked Stilt   Bombay Hook American Avocet   Bombay Hook American Oystercatcher   Sandy Hook Black-bellied Plover   Island Beach SP Semipalmated Plover   Great Bay Bvld Piping Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP Killdeer   Sandy Hook Whimbrel   Brig Ruddy Turnstone   Great Bay Bvld Red Knot   Great Bay Bvld Dunlin   Island Beach SP Least Sandpiper   Forsythe-Barnegat White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig Semipalmated Sandpiper   Island Beach SP Short-billed Dowitcher   Great Bay Bvld Red-necked Phalarope   Whitehall Neck Rd. Spotted Sandpiper   Oros Preserve Solitary Sandpiper   Cloverdale Farm Greater Yellowlegs   Forsythe-Barnegat Willet   Forsythe-Barnegat Lesser Yellowlegs   Forsythe-Barnegat Bonaparte's Gull   Brig Laughing Gull   Wawa South Toms River Herring Gull   Forsythe-Barnegat Great Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP Least Tern   Great Bay Bvld Gull-billed Tern   Brig Caspian Tern   Brig Common Tern   Sandy Hook Forster's Tern   Forsythe-Barnegat Black Skimmer   Brig Rock Pigeon   Wawa South Toms River Mourning Dove   Forsythe-Barnegat Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd Black-billed Cuckoo   Manasquan River WMA Chuck-will's-widow   Collinstown Rd Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd Chimney Swift   William Warren County Park Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Double Trouble State Park Belted Kingfisher   Island Beach SP Red-bellied Woodpecker   Oros Preserve Downy Woodpecker   Manasquan River WMA Hairy Woodpecker   Forest Resource Education Center Northern Flicker   Double Trouble State Park Pileated Woodpecker   William Warren County Park Merlin   Double Trouble State Park Peregrine Falcon   Brig Eastern Wood-Pewee   Huber Preserve Acadian Flycatcher   Evert Trail Alder Flycatcher   Assunpink WMA Willow Flycatcher   Brig Eastern Phoebe   Island Beach SP Great Crested Flycatcher   Island Beach SP Eastern Kingbird   Island Beach SP White-eyed Vireo   Island Beach SP Yellow-throated Vireo   Baldpate Mt Blue-headed Vireo   Island Beach SP Warbling Vireo   Sandy Hook Red-eyed Vireo   Forest Resource Education Center Blue Jay   Oros Preserve American Crow   Island Beach SP Fish Crow   Forsythe-Barnegat Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA Purple Martin   Forsythe-Barnegat Tree Swallow   Oros Preserve Bank Swallow   Reeves Bogs Barn Swallow   Island Beach SP Carolina Chickadee   Forsythe-Barnegat Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd White-breasted Nuthatch   Forest Resource Education Center House Wren   Sandy Hook Marsh Wren   Island Beach SP Carolina Wren   Forsythe-Barnegat Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Island Beach SP Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Island Beach SP Eastern Bluebird   Forest Resource Education Center Veery   Island Beach SP Swainson's Thrush   Sandy Hook Hermit Thrush   Oros Preserve Wood Thrush   Oros Preserve American Robin   Oros Preserve Gray Catbird   Oros Preserve Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP Northern Mockingbird   18 Aberdeen Avenue European Starling   Oros Preserve American Pipit   Sandy Hook Cedar Waxwing   William Warren County Park Ovenbird   Island Beach SP Worm-eating Warbler   Huber Preserve Northern Waterthrush   Sandy Hook Blue-winged Warbler   Manasquan River WMA Black-and-white Warbler   Island Beach SP Prothonotary Warbler   Huber Preserve Nashville Warbler   Manasquan River WMA KENTUCKY WARBLER   Baldpate Mt Common Yellowthroat   Island Beach SP Hooded Warbler   Forest Resource Education Center American Redstart   Island Beach SP Northern Parula   Island Beach SP Magnolia Warbler   Sandy Hook Bay-breasted Warbler   Double Trouble State Park Yellow Warbler   Island Beach SP Chestnut-sided Warbler   Sandy Hook Blackpoll Warbler   Brig Black-throated Blue Warbler   Sandy Hook Palm Warbler   Oros Preserve Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd Yellow-rumped Warbler   Oros Preserve Prairie Warbler   Oros Preserve Black-throated Green Warbler   Forest Resource Education Center Wilson's Warbler   William Warren County Park Grasshopper Sparrow   Bombay Hook Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld Seaside Sparrow   Island Beach SP Chipping Sparrow   Island Beach SP Field Sparrow   Wawa South Toms River White-crowned Sparrow   Sandy Hook White-throated Sparrow   Oros Preserve Savannah Sparrow   Manasquan River WMA Song Sparrow   Forsythe-Barnegat Swamp Sparrow   Sandy Hook Eastern Towhee   35 Sunset Rd Scarlet Tanager   Sandy Hook Northern Cardinal   Oros Preserve Rose-breasted Grosbeak   Island Beach SP Blue Grosbeak   Manasquan River WMA Indigo Bunting   Sandy Hook Bobolink   Mercer Sod Farm IBA Eastern Meadowlark   Mercer Sod Farm IBA Orchard Oriole   Island Beach SP Baltimore Oriole   Island Beach SP Red-winged Blackbird   Forsythe-Barnegat Brown-headed Cowbird   Forsythe-Barnegat Common Grackle   Sandy Hook Boat-tailed Grackle   Forsythe-Barnegat House Finch   Island Beach SP American Goldfinch   Forsythe-Barnegat House Sparrow   Oros Preserve

Baldpate Mt 5/25--KENTUCKY WARBLER

Originally, Mike & I planned to go to Cape May today, where there is a Swainson's Warbler in a restricted trail in Cape May Point SP that had been unrestricted to allow birders to see this southern rarity. It would have been a life bird for both of us. Unfortunately, the unrestricted restricted trail got restricted again on Wednesday, so that put the kibosh on that idea. You're slow, you blow.

The only other warbler that visits New Jersey that I hadn't seen is often reported at Baldpate Mt in Mercer County. It was Mike's idea this morning to go there instead, since it is a warbler hot spot. I've been to Baldpate only a few times and each time never found my life bird there. I don't know many birders in Mercer and from what I understand they tend to be a little protective of their hot spots, so there was no one I could ask for directions, instructions, or advice. It's a big place and little bird.

Yellow-throated Vireo
Point, shoot, get a little lucky

Luckily, today just as we arrived, I ran into a birder I know who works in the area--he lives across the river in Pennsylvania. He told us that there were two Yellow-throated Vireos just beyond the parking lot on the road up to the top of the mountain (which would be a hill anywhere else). Yellow-throated Vireo is always a good bird to find (I'd already heard one in Mexico last month) but what I really wanted to know was where the KENTUCKY WARBLER was.  I'd always been led to believe that this warbler was found in a little spot high on one of the trails, but my friend told us that you could find them along the paved road once you got away from the invasive plant species. With that knowledge, Mike & I set out.

The nickname for Yellow-throated Vireo is "thirty eight" because its song consists of two notes that sound like "three eight!" Almost immediately upon stepping on the road we heard that song ringing out and looked up to find two vireos in the foliage above our heads. I pointed my camera in the general direction of the rapidly flitting birds and actually captured an image of one.

Then, Mike heard the Kentucky Warbler, whose song consists of two notes rapidly repeated--teedle teedle teedle might be a good transcription. I don't like getting a life bird by ear unless it's an owl or nightjar, but at least with this bird it sang constantly and loudly. We looked in the bushes alongside the road for a long time but never even saw movement. A few hours later, on our way back down the trail, in the same spot, the Kentucky Warbler was still singing and still out of sight.

But I got my lifer. It's official if not totally satisfactory. BVD (better view desired) is really AVD (and view desired).

Baldpate, because of the dense foliage and tall trees, is a place where you better accept ear birding because finding the birds up in the canopy is next door to impossible. I did pretty well, only missing the Prairie Warbler that Mike heard. I was able to hear Blackpoll Warbler (one year Bob Auster made me think he was existing in an alternate universe as he raised his finger each time he heard on of about 25 Blackpolls along the road we were walking on) and Black-throated Green Warbler, along with the easier ones like Pine Warbler and Ovenbird. We did actually see some warblers and other passerines too, but a large portion of my list today is "heard." Of course, some birds are so common that you don't even bother to look for them.
49 species
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 4
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 2
Chimney Swift 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3 Heard
Downy Woodpecker 1 Heard
Northern Flicker 2 Heard
Eastern Wood-Pewee 6 Heard
Eastern Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 1 Heard
White-eyed Vireo 1 Heard
Yellow-throated Vireo 2 at bottom of road
Blue-headed Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 1 Heard
Blue Jay 1 Heard
Carolina Chickadee 2 Heard
Tufted Titmouse 1 Heard
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
House Wren 2
Carolina Wren 3 Heard
Veery 3 Heard
Wood Thrush 15 Heard
American Robin 6
Gray Catbird 30
Cedar Waxwing 5
Ovenbird 10 Heard
Blue-winged Warbler 2 Saw one very distantly as it was singing, heard the other
KENTUCKY WARBLER 1 Heard
Common Yellowthroat 5
Hooded Warbler 2 Heard
American Redstart 1
Yellow Warbler 5
Blackpoll Warbler 2 Heard
Pine Warbler 1 Heard
Black-throated Green Warbler 1 Heard
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 1
Eastern Towhee 5
Scarlet Tanager 1 Heard
Northern Cardinal 3
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 6
Baltimore Oriole 2 At top of the "mountain"
Brown-headed Cowbird 2 Top of the hill
House Finch 1
American Goldfinch 1

Baltimore Oriole