October Wrap Up--2 Year Birds

Red-shouldered Hawk, Whitesbog

It seemed like a long month. We started out looking for migrating warblers then, almost imperceptibly, transitioned to looking for arriving sparrows and ducks. One day there were lots of Palm Warblers, the next day, none. But we still have a plethora of Yellow-rumped Warblers which I like to think of as unofficial sparrows. A week ago at Whitesbog, in Ditch Meadow, what I at first thought was going to be a sparrow bonanza on the path turned out, upon closer approach, to be about 50 yumpers feeding in the dirt.

I again spent at least half my birding days at Whitesbog--it's close, it's diverse, and there's often a surprise or two, like the Wilson's Phalarope I found early in the month, or the Red-shouldered Hawk I hunted down a few days ago at the back of Union Pond after hearing it call about a quarter mile away. I even got one of my two year birds for the month Whitesbog--a flyover American Pipit I was fortunate enough to hear and even more fortunate enough to be in the presence of someone who knew what it was.

The month was not without interest--there were some rarities like the Hudsonian Godwit in the Barnegat impoundments that was both a state & county year bird. I made a mad dash down from Woodbridge to find it and after some furious to and fro at the two viewing spots along Bayshore was able to see it just before it flew away. The two American White Pelicans at Brig last week were also state year bird and were, as always, an impressive sight. Some late birds were also recorded--a Blue Grosbeak Mike and I had at the Manasquan River WMA and just today, a Least Sandpiper on Stafford Avenue at the edge of the Manahawkin WMA.

Hudsonian Godwit, 3rd from left  

American White Pelicans

There are many holes in my list that are going to stay as lacunae for the rest of the year. My best hope to boost the year list is to track down any rarities that show up, especially in the waterfowl category (Pink-footed Goose hasn't made an appearance in the state yet), since the warblers I missed are gone 'til next year, as are the thrushes, flycatchers, and so forth. A rare hummingbird is also desired.

For the month I tallied 144 species, mostly in Ocean and Burlington Counties, with a few forays to the north and south.
Counties Birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean.

Species   First Sighting

Brant   Sandy Hook

Canada Goose   Whitesbog

Mute Swan   Manahawkin WMA

Wood Duck   Whitesbog

Northern Shoveler   Sandy Hook

Gadwall   Manahawkin WMA

American Wigeon   Brig

Mallard   Island Beach SP

American Black Duck   Sandy Hook

Northern Pintail   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Island Beach SP

Ring-necked Duck   Brig

Greater Scaup   Sandy Hook

Surf Scoter   Island Beach SP

Black Scoter   Island Beach SP

Ruddy Duck   Assunpink WMA

Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd

Pied-billed Grebe   Brig

Rock Pigeon   Wrangle Brook

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

Clapper Rail   Great Bay Blvd

American Coot   Brig

American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP

Black-bellied Plover   Island Beach SP

Semipalmated Plover   Sandy Hook

Killdeer   Whitesbog

Hudsonian Godwit   Forsythe--Barnegat

Marbled Godwit   Island Beach SP

Ruddy Turnstone   Sandy Hook

Sanderling   Island Beach SP

Dunlin   Island Beach SP

Least Sandpiper   Manahawkin WMA

Pectoral Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Wilson's Phalarope   Whitesbog

Greater Yellowlegs   Whitesbog

Lesser Yellowlegs   Whitesbog

Laughing Gull   Sandy Hook

Ring-billed Gull   Island Beach SP

Herring Gull   Sandy Hook

Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP

Great Black-backed Gull   Sandy Hook

Caspian Tern   Island Beach SP

Forster's Tern   Forsythe--Barnegat

Royal Tern   Sandy Hook

Common Loon   Great Bay Blvd

Double-crested Cormorant   Sandy Hook

American White Pelican   Brig

Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP

Great Blue Heron   Whitesbog

Great Egret   Island Beach SP

Snowy Egret   Forsythe--Barnegat

Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP

Tricolored Heron   Cedar Bonnet Island

Green Heron   Sandy Hook

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Blvd

Black Vulture   35 Sunset Rd

Turkey Vulture   35 Sunset Rd

Osprey   Sandy Hook

Northern Harrier   Sandy Hook

Sharp-shinned Hawk   Sandy Hook

Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog

Bald Eagle   Whitesbog

Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog

Red-tailed Hawk   Robert J Miller Air Park

Short-eared Owl   BC Fairgrounds

Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Sandy Hook

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Downy Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Hairy Woodpecker   BC Fairgrounds

Northern Flicker   Whitesbog

American Kestrel   Whitesbog

Merlin   Sandy Hook

Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP

Eastern Wood-Pewee   Sandy Hook

Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog

White-eyed Vireo   Island Beach SP

Blue-headed Vireo   Manasquan River WMA

Red-eyed Vireo   Island Beach SP

Blue Jay   Whitesbog

American Crow   Whitesbog

Fish Crow   Cedar Bonnet Island

Common Raven   Sandy Hook

Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog

Black-capped Chickadee   Sandy Hook

Tufted Titmouse   Whitesbog

Tree Swallow   Sandy Hook

Golden-crowned Kinglet   Island Beach SP

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Island Beach SP

White-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog

Brown Creeper   Island Beach SP

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Island Beach SP

House Wren   Bunker Hill Bogs

Carolina Wren   Whitesbog

European Starling   Whitesbog

Gray Catbird   Whitesbog

Brown Thrasher   Whitesbog

Northern Mockingbird   Whitesbog

Eastern Bluebird   Cloverdale Farm

Hermit Thrush   Island Beach SP

American Robin   Sandy Hook

Cedar Waxwing   Island Beach SP

House Sparrow   Tip Seaman County Park

American Pipit   Whitesbog

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

Pine Siskin   Cloverdale Farm

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Grasshopper Sparrow   BC Fairgrounds

Chipping Sparrow   Whitesbog

Field Sparrow   Island Beach SP

Dark-eyed Junco   Island Beach SP

White-crowned Sparrow   Island Beach SP

White-throated Sparrow   Sandy Hook

Seaside Sparrow   Sandy Hook

Nelson's Sparrow   Sandy Hook

Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd

Savannah Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island

Song Sparrow   Whitesbog

Lincoln's Sparrow   Island Beach SP

Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog

Eastern Towhee   Whitesbog

Eastern Meadowlark   Island Beach SP

Baltimore Oriole   Double Trouble State Park

Red-winged Blackbird   Island Beach SP

Brown-headed Cowbird   BC Fairgrounds

Common Grackle   Whitesbog

Boat-tailed Grackle   Island Beach SP

Northern Waterthrush   Island Beach SP

Black-and-white Warbler   Manasquan River WMA

Nashville Warbler   Bunker Hill Bogs

Common Yellowthroat   Whitesbog

American Redstart   Whitesbog

Northern Parula   Island Beach SP

Bay-breasted Warbler   Island Beach SP

Blackpoll Warbler   Sandy Hook

Black-throated Blue Warbler   Island Beach SP

Palm Warbler   Cloverdale Farm

Pine Warbler   Whitesbog

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Island Beach SP

Prairie Warbler   Island Beach SP

Black-throated Green Warbler   Island Beach SP

Northern Cardinal   Whitesbog

Blue Grosbeak   Manasquan River WMA

Indigo Bunting   Island Beach SP

                                                            

Pectoral Sandpiper, Whitesbog

Sandy Hook 10/25--Nelson's Sparrow

It's been a hard month for new year birds. Even an exciting sighting, like yesterday's American White Pelicans at Brig only counts for a state year bird, since I saw over a hundred of them in Utah/Idaho. I did hear an American Pipit last week at Whitesbog, but a "pip" flying overhead that I would have missed if Jim hadn't been standing next to me doesn't yield a lot of material for me. So, while the going out and looking for birds parts of the month have been for the most fun and interesting, the sitting at home and reviewing the database aspect has been pretty dull.

Mike trying not to step on a Nelson's Sparrow

Friday, Mike and I went up to Sandy Hook for one of Scott's half-day Fridays walks and there were abundant birds--especially if you like Yellow-rumped Warblers--but nothing new, again, until after the trip ended at Spermaceti Cove, when Mike & I went a little farther south to Plum Island, historical location of Nelson's Sparrow, the most elusive, in New Jersey, of the saltmarsh sparrows. We knew, from others on the walk, that a few had been seen there in the morning. We walked along the edges of the reeds and within a few minutes one flushed up, gave us a good look at its diagnostic blurry breast, flew off, reappeared a couple of times very briefly, then disappeared altogether, despite Mike walking through the marsh, trying to push it out for a couple of other birders who got there after we'd seen it,while at the same time being careful not to step on one of these mouse-like birds.

My Sandy Hook list came out to 45 species. Mike had a few more, but nothing that I coveted.

Brant  30

Canada Goose  25

American Black Duck  3

Greater Scaup  1    Spermaceti Cove

Surf Scoter  10

Mourning Dove  3

Black-bellied Plover  30

Herring Gull  10

Great Black-backed Gull  3

Royal Tern  3

Common Loon  1

Double-crested Cormorant  5

Great Blue Heron  2

Great Egret  1

Black Vulture  1

Osprey  1

Sharp-shinned Hawk  1

Cooper's Hawk  1

Bald Eagle  1

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1

Red-bellied Woodpecker  1

Northern Flicker  5

Merlin  2

Eastern Phoebe  3

Blue-headed Vireo  2

Red-eyed Vireo  1    Bike path

Tree Swallow  175

Golden-crowned Kinglet  3

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  4

Brown Creeper  1

Carolina Wren  6    Heard

European Starling  1

Northern Mockingbird  10

Hermit Thrush  2

American Robin  10

House Sparrow  1    Heard

House Finch  3

Field Sparrow  3

Dark-eyed Junco  1

White-throated Sparrow  1    Heard

Nelson's Sparrow  1

Song Sparrow  40

Swamp Sparrow  2

Eastern Towhee  5

Yellow-rumped Warbler  50

Crash

Shari bought new curtains for the bedroom. Very nice curtains with birds in the pattern. This is the top sheet that came with them. However, I don't plan on having any of my guests walking through my window.  As Mike pointed out, anyone walking through my window is not a guest. 

"Wow" indeed. 

Whitesbog 10/15--2nd Shorebird Season

Wilson's Phalarope (right) with Lesser Yellowlegs, Union Pond

It looks like we're going to get a second shorebird season at Whitesbog. For the last month or so the drawn down bogs have been empty of any birds, save for the occasional Killdeer, but Union Pond, just on the other side of the road, has been slowly draining, exposing fresh mud and vegetation.

Pectoral Sandpipers

This morning, I could hear the Killdeer calling from the Pond when I was on the other side of the middle bog. Walking over there, sans scope, since I wasn't expecting to need it, I saw a big flock of them. My first count was 30, but then I noticed that some were not Killdeer. I continued around the pond and despite having the sun almost directly in my eyes, I could see that there were 5 shorebirds that I at first took for Dunlins (which are rare in Burlco) but then decided, after some thought, that they were Pectoral Sandpipers. I continued my walk, satisfied with adding Pec to the month list. It was fairly active around Union Pond and Ditch Meadow, with a good influx of the common fall warblers like Yellow-rumps, Palms, Pines, and a couple of "Yellowstarts."  The most interesting warbler though was in the bog behind the village (I was putting in the miles today) where I found an immature Nashville Warbler.

Walking back out to the bogs, I decided to recheck Union Pond to see if anything new had come in. At first I was disappointed to see that most of the Killdeer had flown off, along with half the Pecs. But, some new, interesting shorebirds had indeed come in, including one Dunlin and some Lesser Yellowlegs. In with the yellowlegs was another shorebird that struck me as really odd. Because the light was harsh and I didn't have my scope, I wasn't willing to put out an alert until I got home to view my photos and to get a second opinion from the Burlco eBird reviewer, who confirmed my strong suspicion that the smaller bird with the white face, gray back and needle-like bill was a Wilson's Phalarope, a rarity in the state, never mind the county and pretty late to boot. Two rare birds on that pond is pretty good work for one day.

Dopey Duck

One of the first birds I saw today, just after dawn, was a Bald Eagle perched up in a tree on the northern side of Union Pond. And below it, persisting for more than a month despite the eagle's presence was the bird I've come to call "Dopey Duck." Someone released this big, white, domestic duck and I and the regulars thought it didn't have much of a survival chance with the all the raptors around, but somehow Dopey has managed to thrive. For the first month or so, it was accompanied by what looked like a Mallard/Black Duck hybrid, but that duck seems not to have made it.

Not counting Dopey Duck, I had 39 species for my walk around the bogs and the village, which is a very good number for the date and the place.

Mallard (Domestic type)  1    Dopey Duck 

Mourning Dove  2    Village

Killdeer  25

Dunlin  1    Brown/gray sandpiper with slightly curved Bill, smaller than pecs, killdeer. 

Pectoral Sandpiper  5

Wilson's Phalarope  1    White face, pale breast, gray back, needle like bill

Lesser Yellowlegs  7

Great Blue Heron  2

Turkey Vulture  8

Northern Harrier  1    Ditch Meadow

Bald Eagle  1    Union Pond

Belted Kingfisher  1    Union Pond

Red-bellied Woodpecker  4

Downy Woodpecker  1

Northern Flicker  2

Eastern Phoebe  1    Lower Bog

Blue Jay  10

American Crow  2

Carolina Chickadee  3

Tufted Titmouse  3

Golden-crowned Kinglet  1    Heard

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2

Carolina Wren  1    Heard

European Starling  12

Gray Catbird  1    Heard

Eastern Bluebird  1    Heard

American Robin  10

Chipping Sparrow  2

Field Sparrow  2

White-throated Sparrow  5

Song Sparrow  10

Swamp Sparrow  3

Eastern Towhee  4

Red-winged Blackbird  1    Flyover, middle bog

Nashville Warbler  1    Immature

American Redstart  2    Yellowstarts

Palm Warbler  7

Pine Warbler  10

Yellow-rumped Warbler  15

Northern Cardinal  3

Island Beach SP 10/13--Lincoln's Sparrow

Herring Gulls, American Oystercatcher, Marbled Godwit,
Beach at A21

BVD! While on Scott's trip up and down Island Beach SP we stumbled upon a couple of Lincoln's Sparrows. However, a combination of narrow trails and a large group, along with the essential shyness of the birds, made getting a decent look at them near impossible. The first one, at the end of the Johnny Allen Cove trail, I missed completely. The second one, on the entrance path at Spizzle Creek, I caught glimpses of, mostly of the head, but if you put all my glimpses together, you'd probably have a whole bird. It isn't like the bird would pop up and perch on a tree top. Instead, we kept pushing it along and it kept diving into "deep" grass (compared to the bird) or else into the shrubbery lining the path. It was my first year bird of the month. Not that unusual I suppose, given how far into the year we are, but it feels odd to go a couple of weeks without adding anything to the list.

It's a difficult time of the year to find places to bird. While the crowds have left the beaches of Sandy Hook and Island Beach, the hunters have started to take over the WMAs and while I'm not that scared of being shot, persistent gun fire can make the birding experience very unpleasant.

The two most "interesting" birds to me on Sunday, leaving aside the frustrating Lincoln's, were the Eastern Meadowlark off the dune crossover at the first bathing beach that Scott speculated had been blown in off the ocean and the continuing Marbled Godwit on the southern end of the park. A few in our group had never seen a Marbled Godwit and it was fun to get them on this rather impressive sandpiper.

Other "rarities" for the day included a singing White-eyed Vireo on Reed's Road and a Bay-breasted Warbler along with a Northern Waterthrush at Spizzle Creek. Their rarity is based on their lateness, not their scarcity.

We birded the place hard, starting around 9 and finishing up around 4, looking around at almost all the hot spots in the park from Reed's Road down to the Winter Anchorage. In that time I listed 66 species and I missed at least 5 that Mike saw.

Surf Scoter  1    Off first bathing beach

Black Scoter  10

American Oystercatcher  4

Black-bellied Plover  5

Semipalmated Plover  1    Heard flyover

Marbled Godwit  1    Continuing large cinnamon colored godwit with bicolored bill.

Laughing Gull  15

Ring-billed Gull  1

Herring Gull  100

Lesser Black-backed Gull  5

Great Black-backed Gull  15

Caspian Tern  1

Royal Tern  2

Double-crested Cormorant  200

Brown Pelican  25

Great Egret  6

Tricolored Heron  1    Winter Anchorage

Northern Harrier  1

Sharp-shinned Hawk  2

Cooper's Hawk  1

Belted Kingfisher  2

Red-bellied Woodpecker  2

Northern Flicker  5

Merlin  1

Peregrine Falcon  2

Eastern Phoebe  2

White-eyed Vireo  1    Heard, clearly, on Reed's Road. Singing multiple times

Blue Jay  1    Heard

Carolina Chickadee  2    Heard

Tree Swallow  500

Golden-crowned Kinglet  4

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2

Brown Creeper  1    Spizzle Creek

Carolina Wren  2    Heard

European Starling  5

Gray Catbird  6

Brown Thrasher  1

Northern Mockingbird  2

Hermit Thrush  1    Spizzle Creek

American Robin  10

House Sparrow  2

House Finch  25

Chipping Sparrow  20

Field Sparrow  1

Dark-eyed Junco  1

White-crowned Sparrow  1    Road to Winter Anchorage

White-throated Sparrow  20

Savannah Sparrow  1

Song Sparrow  40

Lincoln's Sparrow  1    Spizzle Creek

Swamp Sparrow  1    Spizzle Creek

Eastern Towhee  3

Eastern Meadowlark  1    Off boardwalk of first bathing beach

Red-winged Blackbird  5

Boat-tailed Grackle  6

Northern Waterthrush  1    Spizzle  Briefly seen heard chip note multiple times

American Redstart  1    Interpretive Center

Northern Parula  2    Spizzle Creek

Bay-breasted Warbler  1    Fat warbler, wing bar, still had some color Spizzle Creek

Black-throated Blue Warbler  1    Female, Johnny Allen trail

Palm Warbler  2

Pine Warbler  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler  3

Prairie Warbler  1    Spizzle Creek

Black-throated Green Warbler  1    Reed's Road

Northern Cardinal  1    Heard