April Birding During a Pandemic

Ovenbird, Whiting WMA

Birding ethically and legally during a pandemic was hard enough; the weather this month made it doubly difficult. I remember April that started out with snowstorms heavy enough to cancel baseball's Opening Day, but I don't recall an April as relentlessly cold, windy, and rainy as this past month. Many days I awoke to miserable conditions and many days I forced myself to go out in less than ideal weather for my walk. I can never tell if the winds are propitious for migration. All I know is that there were winds and winds keep the birds down.

The only real bright spot was our backyard where the turkeys, the whip-poor-will, and, toward the end of the month, the hummingbird, kept us entertained. Especially the turkeys which we found strutting around our yard almost every day, the big Toms displaying, while a gang of four "Terror Turkeys" would stand in the middle of the street and stop traffic, two standing in the road while the other two would rush over from the side and attack a car's tires. Very amusing, even when it happened to me.

I, for the most part, stuck close to the house, either exploring parts of the WMA that, even after 8 years here, I'd never bothered to walk to, or else edge birding along the power line cut that runs along the edge of the development.

I did make a few forays farther afield, to other WMAs around the county and once to Brig with Shari, but avoided the parks, even when they were open. Not only is it hard to social distance on the narrow park trails, but all those people discourage any kind of serious birding.

So, what did I find? 26 new species for the year, a couple right here in the back yard, but about half of them in our one loop around Brig. From what I can glean from my sporadic reading of others' reports (I've turned off the alerts app on my phone because I got tired of the ceaseless chatter about next to nothing), migration has been slow this year. However, every year, it seems, migration is slow. Might that be because of the supposedly billions of birds that no longer exist? Seems logical to me.

For the month I recorded 106 species. As a comparison, last year I listed 172 species. Going all the way back to 2016, my worst April was 137 species. So, Covid-19, wind and rain, not mention occasional car trouble, all managed to reduce me to a pitiable number.  But, on the other hand, I am healthy, Shari is healthy. I assume, if you're reading this, you are too. Stay that way.

Species         First Sighting

Brant   Brig

Canada Goose   Meadow View Ln

Mute Swan   Double Trouble State Park

Wood Duck   Meadow View Ln

Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA

Mallard   Meadow View Ln

American Black Duck   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Brig

Ring-necked Duck   Colliers Mills WMA

Hooded Merganser   Crestwood Village

Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd

American Coot   Brig

American Oystercatcher   East Bay Av

Black-bellied Plover   Brig

Killdeer   Colliers Mills WMA

Whimbrel   Brig

Red Knot   Brig

Stilt Sandpiper   Brig

Dunlin   Brig

White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig

Pectoral Sandpiper   Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig

Greater Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA

Willet   Brig

Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig

Laughing Gull   Brig

Ring-billed Gull   Brig

Herring Gull   Manahawkin WMA

Great Black-backed Gull   Brig

Gull-billed Tern   Brig

Forster's Tern   Brig

Double-crested Cormorant   Manahawkin WMA

Great Blue Heron   Meadow View Ln

Great Egret   Double Trouble State Park

Snowy Egret   Manahawkin WMA

Green Heron   Manahawkin WMA

Glossy Ibis   Manahawkin WMA

Black Vulture   Colliers Mills WMA

Turkey Vulture   Crestwood Village

Osprey   Whiting WMA

Northern Harrier   Rt 539 New Egypt

Cooper's Hawk   Meadow View Ln

Bald Eagle   Meadow View Ln

Red-shouldered Hawk   Meadow View Ln

Red-tailed Hawk   Crestwood Village

Belted Kingfisher   Meadow View Ln

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Meadow View Ln

Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Meadow View Ln

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker   Whiting WMA

Pileated Woodpecker   Meadow View Ln

Northern Flicker   Meadow View Ln

American Kestrel   Rt 539 New Egypt

Eastern Phoebe   Meadow View Ln

Eastern Kingbird   Manasquan River WMA

White-eyed Vireo   Meadow View Ln

Blue Jay   Meadow View Ln

American Crow   Whiting WMA

Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Carolina Chickadee   Meadow View Ln

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

Purple Martin   Meadow View Ln

Tree Swallow   Meadow View Ln

Barn Swallow   Brig

Golden-crowned Kinglet   Colliers Mills WMA

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Double Trouble State Park

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Double Trouble State Park

House Wren   Whiting WMA

Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd

European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA

Gray Catbird   Manasquan River WMA

Brown Thrasher   Manahawkin WMA

Northern Mockingbird   Colliers Mills WMA

Eastern Bluebird   Meadow View Ln

Hermit Thrush   Meadow View Ln

Wood Thrush   Manasquan River WMA

American Robin   Crestwood Village

House Sparrow   Crestwood Village

House Finch   Meadow View Ln

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Chipping Sparrow   Meadow View Ln

Field Sparrow   Double Trouble State Park

Dark-eyed Junco   Meadow View Ln

White-throated Sparrow   Meadow View Ln

Seaside Sparrow   Brig

Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Swamp Sparrow   Double Trouble State Park

Eastern Towhee   Double Trouble State Park

Red-winged Blackbird   Meadow View Ln

Brown-headed Cowbird   35 Sunset Rd

Common Grackle   Crestwood Village

Boat-tailed Grackle   East Bay Av, Stafford Township

Ovenbird   Manahawkin WMA

Common Yellowthroat   Colliers Mills WMA

Palm Warbler   Double Trouble State Park

Pine Warbler   Meadow View Ln

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Meadow View Ln

Prairie Warbler   Manasquan River WMA

Northern Cardinal   Meadow View Ln Blue Grosbeak   Manasquan River WMA

Palm Warbler, Whiting WMA