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| Green Heron, Whitesbog |
Not only did I bird Whitesbog 28 out of the 31 days of August, almost the rest of my time was spent in Burlington County, with a trip to Palmyra yesterday and a walk around Reeves Bog on August 2nd to avoid the Ruff hysteria at Whitesbog (I got there early and I got out early that day). I spent one day on Great Bay Blvd with a side trip up to Waretown to finally tick the Mississippi Kite. Aside from the kite, which I wanted to keep my consecutive streak alive, I did no chasing. Lately, I've been of a mind that I want the cool birds to be where I want to be and if there is a rare bird somewhere I don't feel like being, then I'll just let it go by. For instance: when I found the American Golden-Plovers and the Buff-breasted Sandpiper at Whitesbog, my first thought was "Good. Now I don't have to go up to those sod farms in Monmouth and Mercer."
I like Ocean County 3 seasons out of 4, but in the summer it seems like an awfully long drive to LBI just to look for terns, and Island Beach is not somewhere I want to be on weekends. Burlington county is not crowded and surprisingly few people know about places like Reeves Bogs or South Park Road. And even most of those birders who come to Whitesbog for the rarities only know the bogs. I dread finding a rarity in Ditch Meadow because of its inaccessibility.
A few birds went unremarked this month because they weren't "new" for the year, but they were still exciting finds either because of the location or the date. During my walk around Reeves Bogs I found a beautiful Hooded Warbler male that just popped out at me on a trail that I recently discovered and had only birded for the second time. Reeves looks like it has plenty of good habitat for Hooded but this was the first one I've seen there. Probably just passing through. I also saw a very early Northern Harrier there that day hunting over the bogs. When we saw one this weekend at Whitesbog someone commented that it was early and the one at Reeves was there almost a month ago.
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| Baltimore Oriole, Backyard |
Finally, in a way, the most exciting bird of the month was found in our own backyard. I was standing in the bedroom one afternoon last week, talking to Shari, looking at our neighbor's suet feeder when I cut the conversation short and told her to come quick. Our first backyard Baltimore Oriole was clinging to the suet cage. Baltimore Orioles are not really a Pine Barrens bird--they prefer deciduous trees in which to building their hanging nests and this is the first one that has managed to find our yard during migration. The oriole was our 98th yard bird, not bad for our little patch of ground. It helps to have 1200 acres of WMA behind the house.
For the month, birding only Burlington and Ocean Counties, I had 130 species, a fairly small number, but I did add 9 year birds to the list and, most importantly, I had the more fun birding this month that I've had all year. Because, as I often have to say to some fervid birder who wants to know if I'm "going" for this or that bird, "It ain't a job."
| Species First Sighting |
| Canada Goose Whitesbog |
| Wood Duck Whitesbog |
| Blue-winged Teal Whitesbog |
| Mallard Whitesbog |
| American Black Duck Whitesbog |
| Green-winged Teal Whitesbog |
| Wild Turkey 35 Sunset Rd |
| Rock Pigeon Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| Mourning Dove Whitesbog |
| Yellow-billed Cuckoo Whitesbog |
| Common Nighthawk 35 Sunset Rd |
| Eastern Whip-poor-will 35 Sunset Rd |
| Chimney Swift Whitesbog |
| Ruby-throated Hummingbird 35 Sunset Rd |
| Clapper Rail Great Bay Blvd |
| Black-bellied Plover Whitesbog |
| American Golden-Plover Whitesbog |
| Semipalmated Plover Whitesbog |
| Killdeer Whitesbog |
| Ruff Whitesbog |
| Least Sandpiper Whitesbog |
| White-rumped Sandpiper Whitesbog |
| Buff-breasted Sandpiper Whitesbog |
| Pectoral Sandpiper Whitesbog |
| Semipalmated Sandpiper Whitesbog |
| Western Sandpiper Whitesbog |
| Short-billed Dowitcher Great Bay Blvd |
| Wilson's Snipe Whitesbog |
| Spotted Sandpiper Whitesbog |
| Solitary Sandpiper Whitesbog |
| Greater Yellowlegs Whitesbog |
| Lesser Yellowlegs Whitesbog |
| Laughing Gull Lakehurst--Route 70 |
| Ring-billed Gull Whitesbog |
| Herring Gull Great Bay Blvd |
| Great Black-backed Gull Great Bay Blvd |
| Least Tern Great Bay Blvd |
| Caspian Tern Whitesbog |
| Forster's Tern Great Bay Blvd |
| Double-crested Cormorant Great Bay Blvd |
| Least Bittern Whitesbog |
| Great Blue Heron Whitesbog |
| Great Egret Reeves Bogs |
| Snowy Egret Great Bay Blvd |
| Tricolored Heron Great Bay Blvd |
| Green Heron Whitesbog |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron Great Bay Blvd |
| Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Great Bay Blvd |
| Glossy Ibis Great Bay Blvd |
| Black Vulture Whitesbog |
| Turkey Vulture Whitesbog |
| Osprey Great Bay Blvd |
| Mississippi Kite Waretown |
| Northern Harrier Reeves Bogs |
| Cooper's Hawk Whitesbog |
| Bald Eagle Great Bay Blvd |
| Red-shouldered Hawk Whitesbog |
| Broad-winged Hawk Whitesbog |
| Red-tailed Hawk Whitesbog |
| Eastern Screech-Owl Whitesbog |
| Great Horned Owl Whitesbog |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker Whitesbog |
| Downy Woodpecker 35 Sunset Rd |
| Hairy Woodpecker Whitesbog |
| Northern Flicker Reeves Bogs |
| American Kestrel Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| Merlin Whitesbog |
| Peregrine Falcon Whitesbog |
| Eastern Wood-Pewee Whitesbog |
| Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Whitesbog |
| Willow Flycatcher Whitesbog |
| Least Flycatcher Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| Eastern Phoebe Whitesbog |
| Great Crested Flycatcher Whitesbog |
| Eastern Kingbird Whitesbog |
| White-eyed Vireo Whitesbog |
| Warbling Vireo Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| Red-eyed Vireo Whitesbog |
| Blue Jay 35 Sunset Rd |
| American Crow Whitesbog |
| Fish Crow 35 Sunset Rd |
| Common Raven Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| Carolina Chickadee Whitesbog |
| Tufted Titmouse 35 Sunset Rd |
| Purple Martin Whitesbog |
| Tree Swallow Whitesbog |
| Bank Swallow Whitesbog |
| Barn Swallow Whitesbog |
| Cliff Swallow Whitesbog |
| White-breasted Nuthatch Whitesbog |
| Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Whitesbog |
| House Wren Whitesbog |
| Carolina Wren 35 Sunset Rd |
| European Starling Whitesbog |
| Gray Catbird Whitesbog |
| Brown Thrasher Whitesbog |
| Northern Mockingbird Whitesbog |
| Eastern Bluebird Whitesbog |
| Veery Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| American Robin Whitesbog |
| Cedar Waxwing Whitesbog |
| House Sparrow Whiting |
| House Finch 35 Sunset Rd |
| American Goldfinch Reeves Bogs |
| Chipping Sparrow 35 Sunset Rd |
| Field Sparrow Whitesbog |
| Seaside Sparrow Great Bay Blvd |
| Saltmarsh Sparrow Great Bay Blvd |
| Song Sparrow Whitesbog |
| Swamp Sparrow Whitesbog |
| Eastern Towhee 35 Sunset Rd |
| Bobolink Whitesbog |
| Baltimore Oriole 35 Sunset Rd |
| Red-winged Blackbird Whitesbog |
| Brown-headed Cowbird Whitesbog |
| Common Grackle 35 Sunset Rd |
| Boat-tailed Grackle Great Bay Blvd |
| Ovenbird Whitesbog |
| Black-and-white Warbler Whitesbog |
| Common Yellowthroat Whitesbog |
| Hooded Warbler Reeves Bogs |
| American Redstart Whitesbog |
| Magnolia Warbler Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| Bay-breasted Warbler Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| Black-throated Blue Warbler Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| Pine Warbler Reeves Bogs |
| Prairie Warbler Reeves Bogs |
| Scarlet Tanager Palmyra Cove Nature Park |
| Northern Cardinal 35 Sunset Rd |
| Blue Grosbeak Whitesbog |
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