Double Trouble SP | Forsythe-Barnegat 5/8--Semipalmated Plover, Veery

Veery, Double Trouble SP

I've learned from recent experience that birds are not as flighty as I used to think they were. Rarities tend to stay put longer than I expect they will. Consequently, I'm not so pessimistic anymore when I hear about a rare bird somewhere. I think there is actually a decent chance it will stick and that I have shot at finding it. The Wilson's Plover, the Summer Tanager, and the Cerulean Warbler are all good examples of avian stickiness. That means I'm a lot more willing to chase a bird. So in between adding common birds to the year list today, I chased a couple of warblers and impressed myself by finding both.

Of course, you don't find all the cool birds.  I started out at Double Trouble, hoping to find the Evening Grosbeak that had been seen there yesterday. At least I had the consolation that it was in a part of the park I hadn't visited yesterday. I ran into a couple of birder friends, one who had a map of the grosbeak's location and we went off to look--fruitlessly, I might add, but along the way we did come across a couple of Veerys and the usual warblers.  

We also saw, on the path, this:

Possibly the grossest thing I have seen in the Pine Barrens. It was almost as long as my hand. I have an app for identifying unknown bugs and the like: it's called "My Brother." I sent a picture to Harry and he emailed back that this was a Hellgrammite, the larva of a Dobsonfly, normally aquatic but they come onto land to pupate. The adults are huge, coming in at up to 5.5" in length. I hope to never see one.      

Yellow-throated Warbler, Cloverdale

While I was walking around DT after my friends went on to other sites, an alert came in that the Yellow-throated Warbler at Cloverdale was still singing.  This bird was first reported yesterday afternoon and I didn't chase it because I was already home. Now, getting a second chance at this very nice warbler, one that, while not listed as rare in the county is also not common, I headed down to Cloverdale, about 1/2 hour away. I sorta kinda knew where it was supposed to be and after confirming with one of the park's rangers I walked over to the "savanna" habitat they were creating, which is tall pines and oaks and a cleared out understory. There were a lot of trees and no other birders around to give me a hint. But I know the song and thought I heard it. However, I am bad at locating the source of sound. If something sounds like it is singing behind me, when I turn around, it still sounds like it is behind me. But at least I can judge distance a little, so I walked toward the song and with a few minutes got lucky when the bird flew from a pine to an oak. A typical warbler, high up in the crown of the trees. I was able to get a poor photo.     

While I was walking around the bogs, where there were a couple of Solitary Sandpipers along with a Spotted and a Semipalmated, another alert pinged on my phone: Prothonotary Warbler singing near the dam at Wells Mills Park. Wells Mills Park is 15 or 20 minutes away from Cloverdale. I'd heard about this bird a couple of days ago. I assumed it would have moved on. Obviously I was wrong. On the other hand, if it was there an hour ago, chances were good it would be there an hour from now, so, instead of rushing off to my car, I completed my walk and then went over to Wells Mills. 

I knew the exact spot and when I got there I heard the bird singing. But a singing rarity isn't enough for me, so, once again, I tried to follow the sound. This lead to some bushwhacking and walk of about 1000 feet. Amazing how loud a little bird can be. When I had walked past the boat launch and walked onto the white trail it sound like the bird was directly in front of me. But I couldn't see it. I pished, once. It immediately flew out of one tree and into another right above me. I got great looks at it, but no photo. Excellent bird for the county list. I put an alert out that it "continued" and was about to leave when my friends showed up so I walked them back to where the bird had been. Of course, we couldn't find it, but after I left they persisted and eventually did come up with and were able to get great photos of it.

Yesterday, when I was at the Forsythe impoundment in Barnegat I was at a disadvantage, not having a scope. Today, I brought the scope with the plan of checking out the shorebirds there. After my detour to Wells Mills I drove down there and stopped first at the observation deck. For years this has been pretty much a waste of time as all the birds are found at the cut in the phragmites on Bayshore, but today was the exception as the sandbars in front of the platform was rife with shorebirds, including the one species I still needed for the year, Semipalmated Plover.  It was just ridiculous that I should have Wilson's Plover before Semipalmated, but the birds don't know whether they're common or not. 

Semipalmated Plovers with Semipalmated Sandpipers, Forsythe-Barnegat

Having added 2 year birds and 4 county birds I did a quick check of the impoundments from Bayshore, added some egrets, herons, and terns to the list and called it a day, getting home in time to watch the Mets lose a day game in San Diego.