Brig 7/13--Least Bittern, White-faced Ibis

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Here's another Law of Birding (I haven't decided which number on the list it is): If you want to see good birds, go birding with good birders.

I added two year birds to the list today that, had I been by myself, I probably would have overlooked. But since I was on a NJ Audubon field trip at Brig, a fast, cackling call I would have thought was a Clapper Rail instead turned out to be my first Least Bittern of the year. Scott identified it. I've heard Least Bitterns before, but always a softer, cooing kind of call, but Scott, with way more experience hearing them than me, knew it wasn't a rail but a bittern. It did sound a little odd for a clapper, but I wouldn't have guessed bittern.

Later, at the dogleg, Dave, another excellent birder was looking one way when all the rest of the group was looking the other and he found, buried in the vegetation, an immature White Ibis. Not a year bird for me, but it always perks up the day to find one. Then Bill, looking right, spotted another one, so we had two examples of this rarity, though they seem to be showing up in increased numbers lately.

White-faced Ibis

Finally, on our second trip around, just before we were about to enter the upland portion of the drive, Jason spotted a White-faced Ibis, giving us the ibis trifecta. We'd been looking for one all day and he pulled one out of the hat at the last minute.  I would never have recognized this molting individual as anything but the standard issue Glossy Ibis, but those who know what to look for--and have the patience to examine each bird--will usually find the outlier. It was a skittish bird and while I got on it pretty quickly--it is was right in front of us in the channel--given the light and brevity of the sighting it is really an "if you say so" bird for my list. But since I went all of last year without ever tracking one down, I'll take it. The two pictures I took of it prove nothing.

A few other interesting birds we saw today were certainly out of season--a lone Ruddy Duck that has been hanging around the refuge, an early Northern Harrier which the blackbirds were not happy to see, and the two Snow Geese that never left with the other thousands of their brethren. Amusingly, one Snow Goose is not considered rare at Brig in the summer. However, two is considered a "high count" and gets flagged. I have a standard explanation for these situations in my eBird comments: Exact Count. Scott uses "1x1 count." Two fewer keystrokes yet equally huffy.

So with all these good birders (throw Mike, Linda, Carole & Bob into the mix), it isn't surprising that I came away with a list of 75 species for the day. And the greenhead flies weren't even all that bad!

Snow Goose  2    Exact count

Canada Goose  100

Mute Swan  35

Wood Duck  1

Blue-winged Teal  2

Mallard  5    ducklings at dogleg

American Black Duck  4

Ruddy Duck  1    Continuing small duck with stiff tail.

Mourning Dove  2

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1

Clapper Rail  8    Heard young ones in the morning, saw chicks in the afternoon

American Oystercatcher  3

Whimbrel  1

Least Sandpiper  3

Semipalmated Sandpiper  25

Western Sandpiper  1

Short-billed Dowitcher  25

Spotted Sandpiper  2

Greater Yellowlegs  20

Willet  6

Lesser Yellowlegs  10

Laughing Gull  50

Ring-billed Gull  1

Herring Gull  10

Great Black-backed Gull  3

Least Tern  7

Gull-billed Tern  6

Common Tern  2

Forster's Tern  45

Black Skimmer  15

Double-crested Cormorant  25

Least Bittern  1    Heard around marker 4

Great Blue Heron  7

Great Egret  30

Snowy Egret  10

Tricolored Heron  1

Black-crowned Night-Heron  5    Scattered around the refuge

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  2

White Ibis  2    Immature mottled brown And white with orange beaks. At dogleg. 

Glossy Ibis  50

White-faced Ibis  1    Red eye. Seen briefly in channel off north dike. Very skittish.

Turkey Vulture  3

Osprey  10

Northern Harrier  1    Mobbed by blackbirds.

Bald Eagle  1

Willow Flycatcher  1

Eastern Phoebe  1

Eastern Kingbird  1

White-eyed Vireo  2    Heard

Blue Jay  1    Heard

American Crow  1

Fish Crow  2

Purple Martin  20

Tree Swallow  10

Bank Swallow  5

Barn Swallow  10

Carolina Chickadee  1    Heard

Tufted Titmouse  1    Heard

White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Heard parking lot

House Wren  1    Heard

Marsh Wren  6

Carolina Wren  2    Heard

Gray Catbird  2

European Starling  20

American Goldfinch  4    Heard

Chipping Sparrow  2

Seaside Sparrow  7

Saltmarsh Sparrow  1

Song Sparrow  1    Heard

Eastern Towhee  1    Heard

Red-winged Blackbird  50

Common Grackle  1

Boat-tailed Grackle  1

Common Yellowthroat  10

Yellow Warbler  1