June Review Summer Doldrums Edition

Well, at least it was a good month for Yellow-breasted Chats. These noisy non-warblers that are probably more closely related to our tanagers were pretty easy to find this month. I had them in 3 counties (Atlantic, Ocean, & Monmouth) which is surely a record for me. The ones in Ocean, Mike and I found in Double Trouble SP. They're a hard bird for Ocean County and attracted a lot of attention until the shearwater show at Barnegat Light distracted everybody and pulled them to the shore. 

Yellow-breasted Chat, Brig

The chats at Double Trouble were totally unexpected and the first ones ever reported for that park. Mike and I were walking int he Sandy Damage Area when I heard one blatting away. I was quite familiar with the "song" having spent a good portion of the previous day looking for and eventually find a couple of them at Brig where they have become a relatively easy annual species ever since they use a hydro-axe and turned woods into fields. 

For the last day of the month I went to the aviation beacon field at Assunpink, which has always been the place they were easiest to find. Today was no exception. I heard one almost immediately in a hedgerow they seem to prefer and walked over there where one of my friends was also looking for it. We never could persuade the bird to come out (pishing sounds pretty weak when a chat is a on a roll) but like the whip-poor-will, their song is so distinctive that you don't feel cheated if you only hear one. 

Great Egret with strange red tail feathers, Brig

I added 8 more species for the year which is not very impressive, but I haven't really been working at it. I chased the shearwaters and, while eventually successful, the chase didn't pass the fun test. I haven't chased other birds in the county. My routine has been to get up fairly early, get to a place that is close by, bird for 3 hours or so and be home by mid-morning. If the birds are where I want to be, fine. I bird every day but I don't want to bird all day. 

This time of year the best places to bird, I feel, are out in the fields and around the bogs. The shore is empty and the sand tough on the legs, the marshes are full of greenhead flies and in the woods you switch to swatting deer flies. I'm not looking to make myself miserable; I can read the news for that.

For the month I had 118 species in Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth and Ocean Counties. 

Species             Location Canada Goose   Double Trouble State Park Mute Swan   Manahawkin WMA Wood Duck   Whitesbog Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA Gadwall   Manahawkin WMA Mallard   Whitesbog American Black Duck   Whitesbog Surf Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd Rock Pigeon   Stafford Preserve Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Double Trouble State Park Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Manasquan River WMA Clapper Rail   Brig Black-necked Stilt   Brig American Avocet   Brig American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP Black-bellied Plover   Brig Piping Plover   Island Beach SP Killdeer   Whitesbog Whimbrel   Brig Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig Greater Yellowlegs   Brig Willet   Manahawkin WMA Laughing Gull   Brig Ring-billed Gull   Island Beach SP Herring Gull   Manasquan River WMA Great Black-backed Gull   Manahawkin WMA Least Tern   Brig Gull-billed Tern   Brig Caspian Tern   Brig Common Tern   Brig Forster's Tern   Manahawkin WMA Black Skimmer   Brig Great Shearwater   Barnegat Lighthouse SP Double-crested Cormorant   Brig Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP Great Blue Heron   Double Trouble State Park Great Egret   Double Trouble State Park Snowy Egret   Manahawkin WMA Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP Tricolored Heron   Manahawkin WMA Green Heron   Brig Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Brig Glossy Ibis   Double Trouble State Park Turkey Vulture   Manasquan River WMA Osprey   Manahawkin WMA Bald Eagle   Laurel Run Park Red-tailed Hawk   Lakehurst Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA Red-bellied Woodpecker   Manasquan River WMA Downy Woodpecker   Double Trouble State Park Hairy Woodpecker   Double Trouble State Park Northern Flicker   Whitesbog Peregrine Falcon   Cedar Bonnet Island Eastern Wood-Pewee   Manasquan River WMA Acadian Flycatcher   Union Transportation Trail Willow Flycatcher   Brig Eastern Phoebe   Double Trouble State Park Great Crested Flycatcher   Double Trouble State Park Eastern Kingbird   Manasquan River WMA White-eyed Vireo   Double Trouble State Park Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA Red-eyed Vireo   Manasquan River WMA Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd American Crow   35 Sunset Rd Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd Carolina Chickadee   Manasquan River WMA Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Manasquan River WMA Purple Martin   Brig Tree Swallow   Manasquan River WMA Bank Swallow   Stafford Preserve Barn Swallow   Manasquan River WMA Cliff Swallow   Wesley Lake White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Manasquan River WMA House Wren   Manasquan River WMA Marsh Wren   Manahawkin WMA Carolina Wren   Manasquan River WMA European Starling   35 Sunset Rd Gray Catbird   Manasquan River WMA Brown Thrasher   Brig Northern Mockingbird   Stafford Preserve Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog Veery   Double Trouble State Park Wood Thrush   Manasquan River WMA American Robin   Manasquan River WMA Cedar Waxwing   Whitesbog House Sparrow   Union Transportation Trail House Finch   35 Sunset Rd American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd Grasshopper Sparrow   Laurel Run Park Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd Field Sparrow   Manasquan River WMA Seaside Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA Song Sparrow   Double Trouble State Park Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog Eastern Towhee   Manasquan River WMA Yellow-breasted Chat   Brig Orchard Oriole   Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area Baltimore Oriole   Whitesbog Red-winged Blackbird   Manasquan River WMA Brown-headed Cowbird   Manasquan River WMA Common Grackle   Whitesbog Boat-tailed Grackle   Brig Ovenbird   Manasquan River WMA Black-and-white Warbler   Double Trouble State Park Common Yellowthroat   Manasquan River WMA Hooded Warbler   Double Trouble State Park Yellow Warbler   Whitesbog Pine Warbler   Double Trouble State Park Prairie Warbler   Double Trouble State Park Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd Blue Grosbeak   Manasquan River WMA Indigo Bunting   Manasquan River WMA

Turkey on the neighbor's pickup truck.

Barnegat Light SP 6/29--Great Shearwater

I've been doing a lot of "off-chance" birding of late. On the off chance that I might find a Least Bittern I've been searching certain parts of Whitesbog and Reeves Bog where my informant has heard and seen them. I haven't. On the off chance that I might find a Roseate Tern, or one of the two shearwater species that have been reported numerous times, last week I walked the beach at Island Beach SP and stood on the jetty for two hours at Barnegat Light SP. No chance. 

But today, on the off chance that my luck would change, I returned to Barnegat Light and again walked out on the jetty as far as I felt safe. I saw another birder all the way at the end by the tower, but my first slight slip stopped where I was. There have been reports of big feeding flocks of gulls & terns around the fishing boats, but the flocks I've seen haven't exactly been swarms and today was no different. Lots of terns diving, Laughing Gulls and Herring Gulls flying overhead, but nothing resembling a shearwater. Not that I'm any kind of authority on shearwaters. I've seen one in Cape May, and thousands one day in Australia and that's the extent of my experience of shearwaters--if someone hadn't been with me to tell me what they were, I'd have never known.

So, I was feeling pretty frustrated and bored before too long today standing on the rocks, looking at gulls that looked very much like the little stick figures we used to draw in school to indicate birds over the sea. Instead of watching birds, I decided to watch the birder. When he picked up his camera, I got interested and following along with where he was aiming I saw one bird that definitely wasn't a gull or tern. Dark, long, straight wings, flying low over the water. I had in my binoculars but dropped it when I tried to find it in the scope. I had the feeling...

The birder soon after turned around and I waited for him to reach me. He turned out to be a birder I know from North Jersey and when I inquired as to his success vis a vis shearwaters he confirmed that he'd been looking at one and showed me the picture he took on the preview screen of his camera. We discussed its flight pattern and he agreed that it went flying back toward where I'd seen my mystery bird. That was enough for me and that's how I got my shitty shearwater sighting for Ocean County. Great Shearwater, which wasn't a life bird. I was hoping for a Cory's Shearwater, which would have been a lifer. For every 4 or 5 Great Shearwaters that have been reported, there has been one Cory's. It is unusual to see so many shearwaters shore for so long, but apparently the fish have moved closer in and the birds go where the food is. 

I don't much like Barnegat Light in the summer--to much traffic to get on and off the island, too many people. I was figuring I wouldn't have to go there this summer since I'd seen a Piping Plover at Island Beach and usually I make one trip in the hot weather to get that species. 

Which were abundant today. I saw 6 of them and enjoyed seeing the adults and chicks running and stopping, running and stopping, going from the sandy area to the mud flats near the jetty much more than I did looking at distant sea birds. 

Piping Plover Chicks

So, unless someone can guarantee me a life bird, I'm done for the summer going to Barnegat Light. I much more enjoy the solitude of the bogs to the slog through the sands of the shore. 

24 species

Mallard  11

Surf Scoter  1    Drake off 8th st jetty

Mourning Dove  1

American Oystercatcher  7

Piping Plover  6    Banded birds

Laughing Gull  100

Herring Gull  50

Great Black-backed Gull  25

Common Tern  50

Forster's Tern  2

Great Shearwater  1    Larger than LAGU, long straight wings, flying low over water

Double-crested Cormorant  7

Great Egret  1

Glossy Ibis  3

Osprey  4    One carrying a huge whitefish

American Crow  5

Tree Swallow  1

Barn Swallow  4

Gray Catbird  1

House Sparrow  1

House Finch  1

Song Sparrow  2

Red-winged Blackbird  2

Northern Cardinal  1    Heard

Whitesbog 6/18--Piebald Deer

I was kicking around the Ocean County side of Whitesbog today, finding the usual birds. I took a little walk on the beach of Big Tank--which, happily, has been blocked off to vehicles with I-beams--to see if anything unusual was in the backwater behind it. No birds, but I did come across the fabled Piebald Deer of Whitesbog. This female has been seen in the same area for about 4 years now. My informant tells me that last year she birthed an all-white fawn. Probably would be an interesting Mendelian study. 

If this were a bird, everyone would be going crazy to see it. But, it, like hope, is a thing without feathers, and thus not on any alerts. 

I also came across the cleanest snapping turtle I've ever seen. Too young to have algae and other encrustations growing on its shell. My friend bravely picked it up by its tail--kids, don't try this in the wild--and tossed into it the water (after first determining that it wasn't laying any eggs), mostly to keep his dog's nose safe. 

Laurel Run Park 6/12--Grasshopper Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

I had a choice this morning, as I saw it. I could, for the third time, go to Stafford Preserve, which is an ugly housing development set next to a vast sandy wasteland with an acre or so of scrubby fields that no one has had the chance to build on yet and frustrate myself by being someplace I don't like looking for a certain bird or I could go to Laurel Run Park in Burlco, which is part of a preserved farm with a mile long loop around grasslands, hard by Rancocas Creek and be pretty certain of finally finding Grasshopper Sparrow. I chose the latter. 

I was hoping that maybe a Dickcissel would also appear, as Laurel Run has hosted that species a couple of times, but I settled for the "gropper." I made two loops around and found 2, perhaps 3--one flew and landed a little too fast for me to get my bins on it. It was a pleasant morning, but not much else was showing itself. Goldfinches were attracted to the huge purple thistle plants. Interestingly, on my 2nd trip around, all the Grasshopper Sparrows disappeared. Strange how that can happen. Is it unintentional inattentiveness on my part? 

About a mile away from Laurel Run is another park--Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area which has boardwalks and observation platforms overlooking the Rancocas. The idea of the Rancocas being a "creek" seems pretty peculiar when you see a barge drifting along it and know that up until the 1920's there were ferries and tugboats running up and down it as it was the best way to get to Philadelphia from that area. 

I hadn't been to the park in at least a year, maybe two. I remembered it being larger but I was able to cover all the trails, essentially a figure 8, twice, pretty quickly.  I found a few birds I like, including a pair of Orchard Orioles but by far the most interesting sighting was of a Yellow Warbler nest hanging over the main viewing platform. The warblers were going back and forth with food, so I assumed there were nestlings inside, but, as I was taking pictures of the nest while they were out gathering more food, I couldn't figure out what the red triangle sticking up was. It wasn't until I got home and looked at the photos that I realized it was the open mouth of begging baby. 

 

The park had prominent Covid-19 signs posted, stating that masks were required. I'm very cautious, but I doubt the necessity for masks walking trails, but I put mine on and  I'm happy to say that at least in Burlington County, the residents take the rules seriously, since almost everyone I passed, including little kids, had their face coverings in place. 

Wesley Lake 6/11-- Cliff Swallow

Barn Swallow

I probably wouldn't have made a special trip up to Wesley Lake in Ocean Grove this year to see the Cliff Swallows that nest there under one of the arched concrete bridges, but since a dental appointment in Sea Girt had me only 13 minutes away (excluding the wrong turn I always make of Rte 71), I drove up there late this morning. At first I saw no swallows, but after figuring out the parking payment machine a swallow flew right over my head. Looked good and I followed it as it swooped over the the grassy area across the street and then when it landed on a chain blocking access to a path. Was I having the good fortune of actually see a Cliff Swallow in non-motion? All the times I have gone there I have been lucky if I got a blurry shot of one zipping over the water. And, disappointingly, this bird turned out to be a Barn Swallow as it had no "headlight" on the crown. 

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

In fact, all the swallows swooping over the water and lawns looked like Barn Swallows to me--even the ones without the deep swallow-tails were obviously juveniles since I could see white spots on their tails. But finally, as I stood on the bridge I saw one with an obvious white spot and then later I could see swallows flying up into the recesses of the arches where they presumably nest. So, no pictures of Cliff Swallows. But I did get the best pictures of Northern Rough-winged Swallows I've ever taken, so that was a little bonus. The other entertainment there was watching an Osprey pick a huge fish right out of the lake by just letting its talons graze the surface of the water. 

Least Tern

My next stop was a few miles south at the Shark River, another annual visit where I like to look at the Least Tern colony. They were there, in good numbers, though this year I must have been a little early for the nestlings to have arrived since all I saw were adults courting each other with one feeding the other a small fish. I listed 40 terns, which broke the eBird filter. Forty Least Tern probably would be alot anywhere else in Monmouth County, but the filter doesn't allow for the one nesting site in the vicinity. A couple of American Oystercatchers were present, one sitting on a nest too. There are sometimes Black Skimmers there, to round out the nesting colony, but not this time. 

American Oystercatcher

On nest

Island Beach SP 6/9--Piping Plover, Brown Pelican

Piping Plover

The lesson for today is: You've got the scope on your shoulder, put it down and use it--you might see something. I went to Island Beach today for the first time in months, hoping to find Brown Pelican and figuring I might get lucky and see my first Piping Plover of the year, though Barnegat Light or Holgate are more reliable spots. 

I was lucky first, but only because I set up the scope. About halfway to the inlet from A23 (which was closed to parking [pandemic restrictions]so I had to start my trek about an 1/8 of mile north from A22), I saw two American Oystercatchers at the edge of the surf through my binoculars. They were the first birds of interest I'd seen--everything else was a gull--and I saw them clearly enough with bins. Those big red beaks are hard to miss. But I spread out the legs of the scope and took a

American Oystercatchers

closer look and there, running around with them was the Piping Plover, the color of the sand and almost impossible to see without magnification. Long before my approach brought me near, the trio moved up into the sand, deftly avoiding the many vehicles speeding along the beach. 

There wasn't much else to see all the way to the inlet and nothing in the inlet itself. Not surprising considering the number of jet skis and power boats, not to mention two Coast Guard cutters practicing towing each other. My normal route is to walk to the back of the inlet. I passed a couple of Eastern Kingbirds that seemed out of place hunting in the sandy area and

Eastern Kingbird

perching on fence poles, but there still seemed to be no activity in the inlet. I was wondering if it was worth walking all the way back since it was high tide and the remnant of the old dike and all the little outcroppings were covered in water. Still, I though there might be something interesting in the pool at the very beginning of the jetty, so I kept walking. After a little turn I stood on a rock and very distantly saw a few birds perched out near one of the Sedge Islands. 

Again, looking through my binoculars they seemed to be cormorants and gulls. But scanning with the scope I found among the cormorants one pelican swimming along. Much too far for my

Brown Pelican with Double-crested Cormorant

camera, but I did manage a couple of digiscope pix. Again, the lesson is not to be so lazy. It's ridiculous. I carry the scope for a mile and half and yet I have to force myself to look through it. There's no rational explanation. 

The walk back seemed a lot longer than the walk out. The oystercatchers were still in place, but the plover was gone. I submitted a band report on the plover and got a report back almost immediately. His name is Pinto, he was was fledged & banded about 8 miles north along the shore in 2019 and those tracking him have yet to find him with a nest. 

21 species (+1 other taxa)

American Oystercatcher  2

Piping Plover  1

Laughing Gull  70

Ring-billed Gull  1    Back of inlet

Herring Gull  10

Great Black-backed Gull  8

Sterna sp.  1

Double-crested Cormorant  11

Brown Pelican  1

Great Egret  1

Snowy Egret  1

Glossy Ibis  1

Osprey  2

Eastern Kingbird  2

Fish Crow  5

Gray Catbird  1

Northern Mockingbird  1    Heard

Song Sparrow  3

Eastern Towhee  1    Heard

Common Grackle  1

Common Yellowthroat  2

Yellow Warbler  2

Brig 6/7--American Avocet

Black-necked Stilt & American Avocet

Because I haven't been paying very much attention to the rare bird alerts of late, I didn't know until Shari & I got to Brig that there were reports of American Avocet from the previous day. This was in addition to the long-staying Black-necked Stilts, which I was hoping Shari would get a chance to see. 

The magic Goose Marker of late is number 4 and when we arrived there I immediately spotted the stilts and so did Shari and then a couple of birders we knew who we'd been following said that the avocets were also in sight. It didn't take long to find a couple, then another, and then somehow they coalesced into a flock of 5 with the stilts prancing around them. No need to go to Bombay Hook this year! 

Later, up at the observation tower our buddy Bob found another avocet, bringing our total up to 6. I have seen both species in the state and at Brig previously, but I have never seen them both in one day and I have certainly never seen them together. That's the kind of occurrence that keep your interest in birding alive during the summer doldrums. Of course at Bombay Hook you might see 400 avocets in the Raymond Pool but as my saying goes, you only need one and today we had that times six. 

American Avocet up at the observation tower area (#6)

We did one loop around the Wildlife Drive and took a walk from the parking lot that including the Leeds Eco-trail and the grasslands area around the still-closed Visitor's Center. Egrets were surprisingly sparse. We did well with the tern species, with 6 examples of the family including our favorite, Black Skimmer. No raptors to speak of, other than the ubiquitous Ospreys, still attracting the heavy artillery of photographers who are still trying to get "the" shot.  

55 species in a little over 5 hours. And not a greenhead fly in sight--in a month that will drastically change. 

Canada Goose  50

Mute Swan  13

Mallard  25

Wild Turkey  1

Mourning Dove  3

Clapper Rail  2

Black-necked Stilt  3    Continuing black and white shorebirds with pink legs

American Avocet  6    Shorebirds w upturned bills, russet heads, black and white bodies

Semipalmated Sandpiper  20

Greater Yellowlegs  6

Willet  9

Laughing Gull  100

Herring Gull  5

Great Black-backed Gull  1

Least Tern  3

Gull-billed Tern  4

Caspian Tern  2

Common Tern  1

Forster's Tern  50

Black Skimmer  48

Double-crested Cormorant  3

Great Blue Heron  5

Great Egret  5

Snowy Egret  10

Black-crowned Night-Heron  1    Dog leg

Glossy Ibis  20

Turkey Vulture  1

Osprey  15

Willow Flycatcher  1    Heard

Great Crested Flycatcher  1    Heard

White-eyed Vireo  3    Heard

Blue Jay  2    Heard

American Crow  1

Fish Crow  3

Tufted Titmouse  1

Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1

Purple Martin  12

Tree Swallow  3

Bank Swallow  4

Barn Swallow  2

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1

House Wren  2    Heard

Marsh Wren  10    Heard

Carolina Wren  1    Heard

Gray Catbird  5

American Robin  2

House Finch  1    Feeder

Seaside Sparrow  20

Song Sparrow  2

Red-winged Blackbird  50

Brown-headed Cowbird  4

Boat-tailed Grackle  1

Common Yellowthroat  4

Yellow Warbler  3

Pine Warbler  1

Stafford Preserve 6/5--Bank Swallows

I went to Stafford Preserve today, which, despite its bucolic name, is nothing more than a condominium development behind a shopping mall both of which are built on a former landfill. I have gone there on occasion in the past for some specialties that are attracted to crappy land like Horned Lark but I haven't been there in a few years and, where in my previous visits the condos were in a small area in relation to the open grasslands and sand pits of the former dump, the housing has become much more sprawling and the grasslands are confined to an acre or so between the Costco Parking lot and the main entrance to the Preserve.

Bank Swallow nest holes

It was there that I was looking for Grasshopper Sparrow this morning, since they appear to be a no-show at Colliers Mills this year. I didn't have any more luck there than I did at Colliers that last couple of times I've been there, but I still considered the trip a success because back in the wastelands, walking through wet, sticky clay, I headed toward a huge sand pile that looked like it had a number of holes punched in it. They were Bank Swallow nests and Bank Swallows were flying around them. Swallows on the wing can be difficult, at least for me. Sure, I can pick out a Barn from a Tree, but another, less frequent swallow, zipping by me at speed, doesn't often give me a chance to discern any field marks. 

But when I see swallows around holes in a big hill, I know what they are. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a picture to document your sighting. 

I realized that, while I have of course managed to pick out a Bank Swallow or two in flight while living in New Jersey, this was the first time I'd seen a nesting site in the state. Shari & I always used to go to Great Kills Park on Staten Island where they nested in 10 foot high cliff face facing the bay that was washed away by Superstorm Sandy. So it had to be the year before the storm that I last saw nesting Bank Swallows. 

After I saw the swallows I looked once again for the Grasshopper Sparrows but only came up with a number of Field Sparrows instead. A parking lot, condos clustered together, and acres of empty clay flats punctuated by mountains of sand and scattered construction machinery do not combine for a scenic walk in the wild, so, while I'd like to see some Grasshopper Sparrows, I don't know how much time I want to spend in an area clearly not set aside for natural pursuits. Especially in these times of upheaval, I can just imagine the Manahawkin Police Department investigating a suspicious character walking past row after row of "luxury housing" with binoculars and camera.