November in Review--3 Year Birds, 1 Lifer

Bell's Vireo, Sandy Hook

Again, for the 2nd month in a row, only 3 year birds added to the list, but what birds! All rarities, all vagrants, and seeing them ran the gamut of how to find birds.

The first rarity, the Bell's Vireo at Sandy Hook, was the most fun because it was both unexpected and easy--we happened to be with a group a few hundred feet away from the where the bird had just been reported; we walked over, looked around for a few a minutes and there it was and everyone was surprised and happy. No chasing involved.

The 2nd year bird of the month was more of an expedition--a chase for multiple birds with only one success but it was our life bird LECONTE'S SPARROW. Shari, Mike, and I traveled down to Cape May to the "magic field" where all sorts of interesting birds were (and still are) being reported, but it took us almost all the day to finally stumble upon the LeConte's. It was bad enough that we couldn't also find the Golden-crowned Sparrow that was down there which would also have been a year bird, but when we decided to search for the Wood Stork a birder nearby turned around and said, "It's dead." That put a damper on the quest.

Finally, today was the kind of birding I dislike the most--traveling, for a 2nd time, to search a small area for a small bird. At least in the "magic field" we got to walk around a large area. Searching for the Pacific-slope Flycatcher today I walked almost 2 miles back and forth on what might have been an eighth of a mile stretch of trails.

As for the rest of the month, I spent most of it walking in my favorite spots--Assunpink, Manasquan Reservoir, Whitesbog, Manahawkin, Island Beach--plus I added a new favorite place in the extension of the Union Transportation Trail into Ocean County. While I haven't found anything new there, yet, it is only because it late in the year. I feel confident that this barely mowed power line cut will produce many warblers, sparrows, and other passerines in the new year. Plus, the hardwoods along the trail look very inviting for a Pileated Woodpecker.

Prairie Warbler,
Barnegat Light SP

Other interesting birds for the month, rare but not new, were the returning Trumpeter Swans to Stone Tavern Lake, a Cackling Goose for the county on Deerhead Lake, and a very late Prairie Warbler in the dunes of Barnegat Light.

I'm up to 293 NJ birds for the year, more than I've seen in the state any other year. If I'd been willing to chase more, or go on a pelagic, or was just a better birder, I could conceivable have 300 species which is the bogie for the state. With good weather and little less shilly-shallying, I could probably still make 300. But the weather looks lousy for the first couple days of the month and Cape May is an awful long way away.

For the month I had 136 species, all in the state, from Cape May to Sandy Hook.
Counties Birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean.

Species              First Sighting

Snow Goose   Manasquan Reservoir

Brant   Sandy Hook

Cackling Goose   Deer Head Lake

Canada Goose   Manasquan Reservoir

Mute Swan   Manasquan Reservoir

Trumpeter Swan   Stone Tavern Lake

Tundra Swan   Bamber Lake

Wood Duck   Sandy Hook

Northern Shoveler   Manasquan Reservoir

Gadwall   Assunpink WMA

American Wigeon   Assunpink WMA

Mallard   Manasquan Reservoir

American Black Duck   Manasquan Reservoir

Northern Pintail   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Brig

Ring-necked Duck   Manasquan Reservoir

Greater Scaup   Brig

Lesser Scaup   Assunpink WMA

Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Surf Scoter   Sandy Hook

White-winged Scoter   Sandy Hook

Black Scoter   Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal

Long-tailed Duck   Island Beach SP

Bufflehead   Manasquan Reservoir

Common Goldeneye   Assunpink WMA

Hooded Merganser   Holly Lake

Red-breasted Merganser   Sandy Hook

Ruddy Duck   Manasquan Reservoir

Wild Turkey   Brig

Pied-billed Grebe   Manasquan Reservoir

Horned Grebe   Brig

Red-necked Grebe   Brig

Rock Pigeon   Manasquan Reservoir

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

American Coot   Manasquan Reservoir

American Avocet   Brig

American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP

Black-bellied Plover   Sandy Hook

Killdeer   Brig

Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Sanderling   Sandy Hook

Dunlin   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Purple Sandpiper   Island Beach SP

Western Sandpiper   Brig

Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig

Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig

Laughing Gull   Manasquan Reservoir

Ring-billed Gull   Manasquan Reservoir

Herring Gull   Sandy Hook

Iceland Gull   Island Beach SP

Lesser Black-backed Gull   Sandy Hook

Great Black-backed Gull   Sandy Hook

Royal Tern   Sandy Hook

Red-throated Loon   Manasquan Reservoir

Common Loon   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Northern Gannet   Sandy Hook

Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Double-crested Cormorant   Manasquan Reservoir

Great Blue Heron   Manasquan Reservoir

Great Egret   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Snowy Egret   Brig

Little Blue Heron   Brig

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

Black Vulture   Sandy Hook

Turkey Vulture   35 Sunset Rd

Osprey   Sandy Hook

Golden Eagle   The Beanery

Northern Harrier   Sandy Hook

Sharp-shinned Hawk   Sandy Hook

Cooper's Hawk   Sandy Hook

Bald Eagle   Sandy Hook

Red-shouldered Hawk   Sandy Hook

Red-tailed Hawk   Sandy Hook

Great Horned Owl   Brig

Barred Owl   The Beanery

Belted Kingfisher   Manasquan Reservoir

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   35 Sunset Rd

Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker   Assunpink WMA

Pileated Woodpecker   Assunpink WMA

Northern Flicker   Manasquan Reservoir

Merlin   Sandy Hook

Peregrine Falcon   Sandy Hook

Pacific-slope Flycatcher   Palmyra Cove Nature Park

Eastern Phoebe   Sandy Hook

Bell's Vireo   Sandy Hook

Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd

American Crow   Manasquan Reservoir

Fish Crow   Assunpink WMA

Common Raven   Berkeley

Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

Golden-crowned Kinglet   35 Sunset Rd

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Sandy Hook

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper   Sandy Hook

House Wren   The Beanery

Winter Wren   Palmyra Cove Nature Park

Marsh Wren   Brig

Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd

European Starling   Manasquan Reservoir

Gray Catbird   Manasquan Reservoir

Brown Thrasher   Assunpink WMA

Northern Mockingbird   Manasquan Reservoir

Eastern Bluebird   Union Transportation Trail

Hermit Thrush   Sandy Hook

American Robin   Manasquan Reservoir

Cedar Waxwing   Palmyra Cove Nature Park

House Sparrow   Holly Lake

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Snow Bunting   Island Beach SP

Chipping Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Field Sparrow   Union Transportation Trail

Fox Sparrow   Manasquan Reservoir

Dark-eyed Junco   Sandy Hook

White-crowned Sparrow   Sandy Hook

White-throated Sparrow   Manasquan Reservoir

LECONTE'S SPARROW   The Beanery

Nelson's Sparrow   Brig

Savannah Sparrow   Sandy Hook

Song Sparrow   Manasquan Reservoir

Lincoln's Sparrow   Brig

Swamp Sparrow   Assunpink WMA

Eastern Towhee   Brig

Eastern Meadowlark   The Beanery

Red-winged Blackbird   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Common Grackle   Assunpink WMA

Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Palm Warbler   Sandy Hook

Pine Warbler   Whiting

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Manasquan Reservoir

Prairie Warbler   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd Boat-tailed Grackle, Barnegat Light SP Great Black-backed Gull, Barnegat Light SP