Thursday, May 31, 2018

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

Friday, May 25, 2018

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