July Was a Slow Month

Cedar Waxwing and Eastern Bluebird
Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

July started off well with the Roseate Spoonbill at Brig on the first and then the Red-headed Woodpecker on Sooy Road in Burlington County the next day, but it was slog the remainder of the month. I add only two more year birds for the month: the Stilt Sandpiper at Brig and a few Royal Terns near the inlet at Island Beach.

The underlined birds on my list indicate rarities but most of them come with an asterisk--the 3 duck species are rare only for the season. In the winter, eiders, ruddies, and teals would be unremarkable.

I made another trip up to north Jersey to not much avail and I still haven't gotten down to Cape May. I concentrated on Ocean & Burlington Counties for the most part with a few trips down to Brig where over a third of my list was first sighted.

Usually I bird and get my exercise in, but this month, when there was really nothing new to find and no real rarities to chase, I had to, on a number of mornings, force myself to get my walk in somewhere and let the birds come as they may.

At least shorebird migration has started in earnest. But the big disappointment this year is that I'll have to travel around to see them since my usual close August shorebird location--Whitesbog--will not have its bogs drained this year due to the catastrophic breach at the Upper Reservoir this winter which made the water available for irrigation and eventual flooding of the cranberry plants more problematic for the farmer than it usually is. Too bad, because the last few years I've spent the great majority of my time in August at Whitesbog. So this month could be interesting. Or it could be a repeat of July.

Counties birded:
Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean, Sussex, Warren

138 species:

Species            First Sighting

Canada Goose   Brig

Mute Swan   Brig

Wood Duck   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Mallard   Brig

American Black Duck   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Brig

Common Eider   Island Beach SP

Ruddy Duck   Brig

Wild Turkey   Crestwood Village

Double-crested Cormorant   Brig

Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP

Great Blue Heron   Brig

Great Egret   Brig

Snowy Egret   Brig

Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP

Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Blvd

Green Heron   Reeves Bogs

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

Glossy Ibis   Brig

Roseate Spoonbill   Brig

Black Vulture   GSP MM 114

Turkey Vulture   Amasa Landing Rd

Osprey   Brig

Cooper's Hawk   Brig

Bald Eagle   Old Mine Road IBA

Red-shouldered Hawk   Stokes SF

Broad-winged Hawk   Old Mine Road IBA

Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA

Clapper Rail   Brig

American Oystercatcher   Brig

Semipalmated Plover   Brig

Piping Plover   Island Beach SP

Killdeer   Brig

Whimbrel   Brig

Stilt Sandpiper   Brig

Sanderling   Island Beach SP

Least Sandpiper   Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd

Western Sandpiper   Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig

Spotted Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Greater Yellowlegs   Brig

Willet   Brig

Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig

Laughing Gull   Wawa Galloway

Herring Gull   Brig

Lesser Black-backed Gull   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Great Black-backed Gull   Brig

Least Tern   Brig

Gull-billed Tern   Brig

Caspian Tern   Brig

Common Tern   Brig

Forster's Tern   Brig

Royal Tern   Island Beach SP

Black Skimmer   Brig

Rock Pigeon   Highway 206

Mourning Dove   Brig

Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Sooy Pl Rd

Common Nighthawk   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift   Brig

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd

Belted Kingfisher   Delaware Water Gap NRA

Red-headed Woodpecker   Sooy Pl Rd

Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Downy Woodpecker   Old Mine Road IBA

Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Northern Flicker   Colliers Mills WMA

Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP

Eastern Wood-Pewee   Sooy Pl Rd

Acadian Flycatcher   Flatbrookville Rd

Willow Flycatcher   Brig

Eastern Phoebe   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Great Crested Flycatcher   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Eastern Kingbird   Colliers Mills WMA

White-eyed Vireo   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Yellow-throated Vireo   Old Mine Road IBA

Blue-headed Vireo   Delaware Water Gap NRA

Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-eyed Vireo   Sooy Pl Rd

Blue Jay   Brig

American Crow   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Fish Crow   Crestwood Village

Northern Rough-winged Swallow  Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Purple Martin   Brig

Tree Swallow   Brig

Bank Swallow   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Barn Swallow   Brig

Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd

Black-capped Chickadee   Lake Ashroe

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

House Wren   Brig

Marsh Wren   Brig

Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Whitesbog

Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA

Veery   Sandyston

Wood Thrush   Sooy Pl Rd

American Robin   Brig

Gray Catbird   Brig

Brown Thrasher   Brig

Northern Mockingbird   Historic Smithville

European Starling   Brig

Cedar Waxwing   Delaware Water Gap NRA

Ovenbird   Sooy Pl Rd

Black-and-white Warbler   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Prothonotary Warbler   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Common Yellowthroat   Brig

Hooded Warbler   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

American Redstart   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Northern Parula   Old Mine Road IBA

Yellow Warbler   Island Beach SP

Pine Warbler   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Prairie Warbler   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Black-throated Green Warbler   Old Mine Road IBA

Wilson's Warbler   Old Mine Road IBA

Saltmarsh Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park

Seaside Sparrow   Brig

Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Field Sparrow   Brig

Song Sparrow   Crestwood Village

Swamp Sparrow   Reeves Bogs

Eastern Towhee   35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-breasted Chat   Brig

Scarlet Tanager   Old Mine Road IBA

Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Blue Grosbeak   Brig

Indigo Bunting   Colliers Mills WMA

Orchard Oriole   Brig

Baltimore Oriole   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-winged Blackbird   Brig

Brown-headed Cowbird   Colliers Mills WMA

Common Grackle   Colliers Mills WMA

Boat-tailed Grackle   Island Beach SP

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   Brig

House Sparrow   Wawa Rt 70 & CR 530 Brown Pelicans, Island Beach SP