Whitesbog 8/19--American Avocet, Black Tern

American Avocet

For the last 3 weeks, ever since I got back from out west, I have gone to Whitesbog almost every day. There have been some interesting birds there, but when your continuing "rarities" are 3 immature Little Blue Herons, you get a little anxious for something else. Today, because I had a doctor's appointment in Manahawkin, I went down to Tuckerton instead (where I picked up a Pectoral Sandpiper for the county).

But, as I predicted on Saturday, when I was birding there with Jim S, the day I don't go there will be the day the cool birds show up. It was late this afternoon; a thunderstorm had just passed through in a few minutes; my phone jingled and there was a text from Jim-- Sandra had an American Avocet at Whitesbog. We've fantasized about one of these birds showing up there. We've heard from our friend who is a Whitesbog stalwart that he's seen one in the past, but he doesn't report birds, so this is officially the first avocet in Burlco.

I was out the door in 3 minutes. When I hit Route 70 another thunderstorm started and the rain was ferocious the entire 10 miles to Whitesbog. I didn't care. I was willing to be drenched for a Whitesbog avocet.  The storm began to slacken as I turned onto the bogs. Sandra was at the cross dike between the two drawn down bogs and there, about halfway out was the avocet. I stood in the drizzle and admired it and took the distant shot above, which was lucky, because right after that photo, my old camera upped and died, the zoom function completely burned out. But I had the avocet. Neither the fact that I had just seen 10,000 avocets in Utah, nor that it wasn't a year bird did anything to diminish my happiness. Whitesbog just enough off the main birding routes so that it feels like an open secret and while it attracts a good number of rarities, they mostly, for some reason, don't linger, so you have to be quick.

Sandra had put out an alert on Jersey Shore Birds so Mike saw it and texted me, assuming I was on my way. I replied that I already had the bird and encouraged him to come have a look-see since the bird appeared to be very comfortable in the puddle, not spooked by passing cars, trucks, dog walkers or dog joggers. Jim was also due soon. 

Sandra left, Mike arrived and it was a drive up bird for him. The biggest problem we all seemed to have was seeing through our fogged up binoculars--the storm had dropped the temperature about 20 degrees, but the humidity was still palpable.

Black Tern (digiscope)

Jim got there a few minutes later. The bird hadn't moved and he got his 2nd county lifer of the day (he had found a Whimbrel on the Delaware earlier). The three of us were scanning the bog, looking at the avocet. Every once in a while Jim would mention that there was something flapping around in the background, but I thought it was just the Laughing Gull that has been in that bog since the weekend.

But then I saw something flying over the bog that wasn't a shorebird. I pointed it out to Mike and I knew it was a tern, but I thought it was the first of the Gull-billed Terns that annually visit the bogs. When we got Jim on it he and Mike came to the simultaneous conclusion that it was the much more interesting Black Tern we were following as it flapped and glided over the bog and then back over to Union Pond. Another example of the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect. Last year, at just about this time, I had a BlackTern on Union Pond, so perhaps they'll also become an annual visitor (though it is getting late for the Gull-billed Terns this year). So those two birds, along with the continuing Little Blues and a Snowy Egret which is new for the year at Whitesbog, made for some great, unexpected birding, late in the day. And I'll be back there tomorrow morning, hoping for more.