May Birding Social Distancing Edition

Brig Wildlife Drive

I don't really mind birding by my lonesome but trying to stay away from others does constrain me from chasing rare birds since everyone else is going to be chasing those birds too. There was a really interesting sea bird event this month that I opted out of--mostly because I hate seawatching, but also because I feared the crowds. And there is nothing more frustrating than hearing someone has the rarity in his scope and you can't find it and now you can't even share his scope.

Jen's Trail at Brig

I seem to gravitate to the same spots--Whitesbog, Colliers Mills, Manahawkin, Great Bay Blvd, with dollops of Manasquan River WMA and Double Trouble thrown in. All of them have the walking advantage. I don't enjoy standing in one place waiting for birds to fly by or appear at a feeder and I don't like driving along roads looking and listening. Yeah, you can get a lot of birds that way, but not every day is the World Series of Birding. Which, this year, was a virtual WSB that I participated in by going to Whitesbog and recording birds in my backyard. 

I stayed away from Island Beach SP to the detriment of my warbler list--again, places like Reed's Road are too popular. June is historically the start of the summer doldrums which are broken up by the appearance of rarities but see the first paragraph. The best solution--find my own rarities which is a rare event but it does happen. 

For the month I had 144 species of which 44 were year birds and a few of which were rarities. 

Counties birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean

Species   First Sighting

Brant   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Canada Goose   Meadow View Ln

Mute Swan   Holly Lake

Wood Duck   Whitesbog

Mallard   Meadow View Ln

American Black Duck   Whitesbog

Bufflehead   Brig

Red-breasted Merganser   Reeves Bogs

Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd

Mourning Dove   Meadow View Ln

Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Manasquan River WMA

Black-billed Cuckoo   Colliers Mills WMA

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift   Manasquan River WMA

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd

Clapper Rail   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Virginia Rail   Reeves Bogs

Black-necked Stilt   Brig

American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Semipalmated Plover   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Killdeer   Meadow View Ln

Ruddy Turnstone   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Red Knot   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Dunlin   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Least Sandpiper   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Short-billed Dowitcher   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Spotted Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Solitary Sandpiper   Reeves Bogs

Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Willet   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Lesser Yellowlegs   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Laughing Gull   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Herring Gull   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Least Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Gull-billed Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Caspian Tern   Double Trouble State Park

Common Tern   Brig

Forster's Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Black Skimmer   Brig

Common Loon   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Double-crested Cormorant   Meadow View Ln

Great Blue Heron   Meadow View Ln

Great Egret   Double Trouble State Park

Snowy Egret   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Little Blue Heron   Forsythe--Barnegat

Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Green Heron   Whitesbog

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Glossy Ibis   Bunker Hill Bogs

Black Vulture   Manasquan River WMA

Turkey Vulture   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Osprey   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Cooper's Hawk   Meadow View Ln

Bald Eagle   Whitesbog

Red-shouldered Hawk   Reeves Bogs

Red-tailed Hawk   Whitesbog

Great Horned Owl   Whitesbog

Belted Kingfisher   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Red-headed Woodpecker   South Park Rd

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Meadow View Ln

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Northern Flicker   Meadow View Ln

Eastern Wood-Pewee   South Park Rd

Acadian Flycatcher   Brig

Alder Flycatcher   Manahawkin WMA

Willow Flycatcher   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Phoebe   Meadow View Ln

Great Crested Flycatcher   Meadow View Ln

Eastern Kingbird   Whitesbog

White-eyed Vireo   Meadow View Ln

Yellow-throated Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA

Blue-headed Vireo   Meadow View Ln

Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-eyed Vireo   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Blue Jay   Meadow View Ln

American Crow   Meadow View Ln

Fish Crow   Meadow View Ln

Carolina Chickadee   Meadow View Ln

Tufted Titmouse   Meadow View Ln

Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Whitesbog

Purple Martin   Colliers Mills WMA

Tree Swallow   Meadow View Ln

Barn Swallow   Whitesbog

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Meadow View Ln

House Wren   Forest Resource Education Center

Marsh Wren   Manahawkin WMA

Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd

European Starling   35 Sunset Rd

Gray Catbird   Meadow View Ln

Brown Thrasher   Meadow View Ln

Northern Mockingbird   Meadow View Ln

Eastern Bluebird   Double Trouble State Park

Wood Thrush   Meadow View Ln

American Robin   35 Sunset Rd

Cedar Waxwing   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

House Sparrow   Subaru

House Finch   Meadow View Ln

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Chipping Sparrow   Meadow View Ln

Field Sparrow   Meadow View Ln

White-crowned Sparrow   Whitesbog

White-throated Sparrow   Meadow View Ln

Seaside Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Savannah Sparrow   Whitesbog

Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog

Eastern Towhee   Meadow View Ln

Orchard Oriole   Whitesbog

Baltimore Oriole   Whitesbog

Red-winged Blackbird   Meadow View Ln

Brown-headed Cowbird   Meadow View Ln

Common Grackle   Meadow View Ln

Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Ovenbird   Meadow View Ln

Worm-eating Warbler   South Park Rd

Blue-winged Warbler   Manasquan River WMA

Black-and-white Warbler   Meadow View Ln

Prothonotary Warbler   Bunker Hill Bogs

Common Yellowthroat   Meadow View Ln

Hooded Warbler   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

American Redstart   Reeves Bogs

Northern Parula   Colliers Mills WMA

Magnolia Warbler   Double Trouble State Park

Yellow Warbler   Whitesbog

Blackpoll Warbler   Reeves Bogs

Black-throated Blue Warbler   Whitesbog

Palm Warbler   Meadow View Ln

Pine Warbler   Meadow View Ln

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Meadow View Ln

Prairie Warbler   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Black-throated Green Warbler   Bunker Hill Bogs

Scarlet Tanager   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve

Northern Cardinal   Meadow View Ln

Rose-breasted Grosbeak   35 Sunset Rd

Blue Grosbeak   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve

Indigo Bunting   Manasquan River WMA Turkey up a tree in our backyard