November Recap--Sparse Edition

Cooper's Hawk, Tip Seaman Park

Looking over my records for the past years, I see that I never add many species in November. The reasons are obvious: Migration is over and by this time of the year I've seen more than 70% of the species that have been recorded in NJ (hell, by the end of January I've seen 50% of the birds that will be on my list) and those that I didn't see are long gone. So it's no surprise that I only added 4 species to the year list this month. 

One was embarrassing--there's no other word for going that long without seeing a Bonaparte's Gull. I guess I just didn't want to hang around Manasquan Inlet very much this year. One was unsatisfactory--flyover Red Crossbills, kip kip kip. The other two were fine additions. A Common Ground Dove hovers just on the cusp of MEGA and to get one in Ocean County, where it was a one day wonder was very gratifying. Then there was the American White Pelican which finally yielded to something that is not a big trait of mine--persistence. But yesterday I was finally able to see this handsome bird. 

Evening Grosbeak, Wells Mills Park

I listed a few other interesting birds this month--a couple of Evening Grosbeaks again at Wells Mills Park which seemed to be the hot spot in the state for them, a couple of Common Gallinules on Holly Lake in Tuckerton (I seem to be the only one who ever see two there) and a grunting Virginia Rail back in Reeves Bogs where only the intrepid or the insane are prone to go. 

Psychically, between the the election with its laughable but terrifying aftermath and the surging pandemic, it has been a brutal month. I find a walk on the dams at Whitesbog, early in the morning, birds or not birds, is about the most soothing thing I can do, so I spent a lot of time there, which may have cut into my list, but it was worth it. Other spots I hit this month were Island Beach, Assunpink, and Colliers Mills. The last two are full of hunters, but only at Colliers Mills do I worry about getting shot. 

The list for the month:

Counties Birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean

Species           First Sighting
Snow Goose   Brig
Brant   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Canada Goose   Whitesbog
Mute Swan   Manahawkin WMA
Tundra Swan   Reeves Bogs
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Northern Shoveler   Brig
Gadwall   Brig
American Wigeon   Brig
Mallard   Barnegat Light Marina
American Black Duck   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Pintail   Brig
Green-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Canvasback   Brig
Ring-necked Duck   Whitesbog
Lesser Scaup   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter   Island Beach SP
White-winged Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Long-tailed Duck   Island Beach SP
Bufflehead   Whitesbog
Hooded Merganser   Brig
Red-breasted Merganser   Island Beach SP
Ruddy Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Pied-billed Grebe   Wells Mills Park
Horned Grebe   Island Beach SP
Rock Pigeon   Barnegat Light Marina
Common Ground Dove   Cedar Bonnet Island
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
Virginia Rail   Reeves Bogs
Common Gallinule   Holly Lake
American Coot   Assunpink WMA
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Killdeer   Colliers Mills WMA
Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Sanderling   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Dunlin   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Wilson's Snipe   Whitesbog
Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Bonaparte's Gull   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Laughing Gull   Barnegat Light Marina
Ring-billed Gull   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Herring Gull   Manahawkin WMA
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull   Barnegat Light Marina
Royal Tern   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Red-throated Loon   Island Beach SP
Common Loon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Northern Gannet   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
American White Pelican   Brig
American Bittern   Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Great Egret   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Black Vulture   Brig
Turkey Vulture   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Harrier   Manahawkin WMA
Sharp-shinned Hawk   35 Sunset Rd
Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog
Bald Eagle   New Egypt
Red-shouldered Hawk   Reeves Bogs
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Downy Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Northern Flicker   Reeves Bogs
American Kestrel   Assunpink WMA
Merlin   Assunpink WMA
Peregrine Falcon   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Eastern Phoebe   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Blue Jay   Colliers Mills WMA
American Crow   New Egypt
Fish Crow   New Egypt
Common Raven   Reeves Bogs
Carolina Chickadee   Colliers Mills WMA
Tufted Titmouse   Colliers Mills WMA
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Colliers Mills WMA
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Colliers Mills WMA
White-breasted Nuthatch   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown Creeper   Colliers Mills WMA
Winter Wren   Whitesbog
Carolina Wren   Colliers Mills WMA
European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird   Cedar Bonnet Island
Brown Thrasher   Brig
Northern Mockingbird   Whitesbog
Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA
Hermit Thrush   Whitesbog
American Robin   Colliers Mills WMA
House Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Evening Grosbeak   Wells Mills Park
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
Red Crossbill   Island Beach SP
Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   Colliers Mills WMA
Chipping Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Field Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
American Tree Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Fox Sparrow   Whitesbog
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Savannah Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Song Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Swamp Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Towhee   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Meadowlark   Island Beach SP
Red-winged Blackbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown-headed Cowbird   Union Transportation Trail
Rusty Blackbird   Whitesbog
Common Grackle   Assunpink WMA
Boat-tailed Grackle   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Pine Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-rumped Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Brig 11/29--American White Pelican

American White Pelican with Double-crested Cormorants

I finally found the American White Pelican at Brig today. You'd think with a bird this big it wouldn't be hard to see but the impoundments are large and if a big bird is way on the other side and you don't know the precise location it can be...difficult as 3 previous fruitless trips proved. Today my strategy was to go just go for the bird without spending (wasting) time counting ducks along the way. I gleaned from eBird that Goose Marker 15 was the spot to scan from, which is 3/4 of the way around the drive, so I plunked myself down there and scoped out the far corner where I could see a flock of big white birds, which I assumed, correctly, were Tundra Swans. Just as I was getting discouraged that that was all they were, the pelican loomed large in my eyepiece. I was lucky. Most reports said the bird was resting, which meant that it's beak was tucked in and it was identified purely by size, a trick at that distance. But I clearly saw the beak and when the pelican spread its wings, the black edges of the primaries. I was even able to get digiscope some documentary photos. I must have really wanted this bird because normally I wouldn't expend that much effort to find one. 

Impressive

I pointed the bird out to a couple of birders who were passing by. One guy asked me if I'd seen the pelican and when I replied in the affirmative, he asked me "How many?" 

"How many? How many do you want!" 

So now that I'd gotten the target bird out of the way and on the year list (a pathetic exercise this pandemic year but old habits die hard), I could actually do some birding. I parked at Jen's Trail and walked it then hiked the rest of the upland trail to the exit, took the old rail bed trail and hiked over to the Gull Pond. With the return trip it was a walk of just under 4 miles. I didn't find anything special, but I didn't expect to. If I expected to find a special bird, it wouldn't be special, would it? Like the Red Crossbills which made a brief appearance on Jen's Trail about an hour after I was there, seen by a couple of birding acquaintances of mine that I saw when I returned to my car. Figures. 

Now that I had found the target bird and had my walk in, I could count ducks, so I did a second loop and found all the expected species plus the infrequently reported Canvasbacks, which I had overlooked when I was scoping the pelican and swans. Another birder acquaintance of mine told me to look for them there. They were mixed in with a huge flock of ducks from which I was able to pick out one wigeon with the help of my friends. The rest of the flock, distant and in silhouette in the sun, could have been listed as "duck, sp. 500" but that wouldn't be very helpful, would it? 

The list for the day--decent, but with some big gaps of common species:

48 species

Snow Goose  500

Canada Goose  225

Mute Swan  3

Tundra Swan  20

Northern Shoveler  35

Gadwall  2

American Wigeon  1

Mallard  40

American Black Duck  100

Northern Pintail  100

Green-winged Teal  75

Canvasback  10

Ring-necked Duck  10

Bufflehead  10

Hooded Merganser  40

Ruddy Duck  40

Horned Grebe  7

Greater Yellowlegs  110

Ring-billed Gull  20

Herring Gull  15

Great Black-backed Gull  3

Double-crested Cormorant  30

American White Pelican  1   

Great Blue Heron  5

Black Vulture  1

Turkey Vulture  2

Northern Harrier  2

Bald Eagle  1

Red-bellied Woodpecker  2

Peregrine Falcon  1

Blue Jay  8

American Crow  6

Carolina Chickadee  8

Tufted Titmouse  2

Golden-crowned Kinglet  1

Red-breasted Nuthatch  2    Upland near exit ponds

White-breasted Nuthatch  1    Heard

Carolina Wren  3    Heard

European Starling  10000    Murmuration

Northern Mockingbird  1

Eastern Bluebird  3

American Robin  15

American Goldfinch  2    Heard

Dark-eyed Junco  1

White-throated Sparrow  1    Heard

Song Sparrow  1

Eastern Towhee  3

Northern Cardinal  1    Entrance Pond

A baleful look from a Peregrine Falcon

Island Beach SP 11/28---Red Crossbill

"Kip, Kip, Kip," is the transliteration of the call flyover Red Crossbills give as they zip above your head, unseen. This being an irruption year--first the hordes of siskins, then the flocks of Evening Grosbeaks--I've been seeing reports of crossbills from all over the state, but today, walking through the parking lot at Island Beach during Scott's field trip, was the first time I've heard them this year. That I know of. When I see all these reports I'm led to wonder if I too haven't been below a flock of kipping crossbills and have been either too oblivious or too deaf to notice them. Today I heard the birds but in the way that you hear the refrigerator just as it turns itself off. I wasn't aware of the calls until Scott and David pointed them out. How many times in the last few weeks when I've been birding alone has this happened? No way to know. 

Actually, not only was it the first time I've heard Red Crossbills this year, it was the first time I'd ever heard them. All the other occasions that I've seen these birds they were quietly feeding, another trait they're known for--noisy on the fly, silent on the feed.  But, glad as I am to have them "on the list," especially for the county, I have to admit that a few kips in the morning air is not nearly as satisfying as viewing them. But despite looking at various conifers along the roadside and in the parking lots, those were the only the birds to make themselves manifest. 

For a beautiful fall day, with virtually no wind, which made sea watching not a torture, there weren't all that many birds to be found on the ocean (the usual ducks, loons and gannets), the bay (Buffleheads and Horned Grebes) or the trails (practically zip). Had I been birding solo, I'd chalk up the short list to my mediocre birding skills. With Scott and Linda leading the way, I know that the birds just weren't there. 

The one other species I was happy to see was the American Tree Sparrow that popped up on the Johnny Allen Cove trail. Not rare, but not ubiquitous either, a pretty little sparrow that for some reason I knock myself out to find early in the year. 

For the day we (Shari & I) had 34 species. 

Brant  125

American Black Duck  6    Bay side from A6

Common Eider  7    Hens flying south

Surf Scoter  17

White-winged Scoter  1    From Swimming Beach 1

Black Scoter  3

Long-tailed Duck  7

Bufflehead  150

Red-breasted Merganser  3

Horned Grebe  15    Bay side

Herring Gull  10

Great Black-backed Gull  2

Red-throated Loon  12

Common Loon  15

Northern Gannet  40

Double-crested Cormorant  20

Great Blue Heron  1    Spizzle Creek

Northern Harrier  1    Spizzle Creek

Red-tailed Hawk  1

Peregrine Falcon  1    On tower outside of park entrance

American Crow  1    Swimming Beach 1 parking lot

Carolina Chickadee  4

Red-breasted Nuthatch  1    In cedar outside park entrance

Carolina Wren  1    Heard

European Starling  8    Wire outside park entrance

Northern Mockingbird  6    

House Sparrow  4    Entrance feeder

House Finch  25

Red Crossbill  2    Heard kip kip kip flyovers

American Goldfinch  2    Heard

American Tree Sparrow  1    Johnny Allen

Dark-eyed Junco  2

Song Sparrow  1

Yellow-rumped Warbler  1

Photo of lizard-like root taken in dunes by Shari Zirlin

Cedar Bonnet Island 11/11--Common Ground Dove

After a lackluster few hours on Great Bay Boulevard (although I did re-find, on Holly Lake, the Common Gallinule that had been at nearby Tip Seaman Park last month), I was on my way down to Brig to look for the American White Pelican that has been there since the weekend. Always a nice bird to have on the year list. I had already stopped at Wawa to get my coffee and lunch and was within sight of the stop light at Great Creek Road when a text came in from Steve: Common Ground Dove at Cedar Bonnet Island. (For the safety conscious among you, the text was voiced through my car radio.)

Screeeech! I pulled a u-turn on Route 9 and headed back north. I've seen plenty of white pelicans in NJ, but a Common Ground Dove would check the boxes on a lot of lists. When I got there, the parking lot off Route 72 was just about filled. I hustled to catch up with Steve and a couple of other birders and we walked to the last known sighting area. This a restoration site, so the area was dense in grass, reeds, and saplings, all painstakingly replanted in the last few years. Before we could spend much time looking for the bird, we saw a few other birders up the path from us. They had the bird. Had.

It had been on the gravel path, but as soon as we got there, this very shy bird retreated into the grass. We could still make it out, moving around, but I only got a very brief full body look when it emerged into a bare spot in the vegetation. Pinkish face, gray/tan body, spotted. Small. Very, very small. It quickly moved into the grass again. I blindly shot a few picture. And damn, if a couple didn't actually capture an image of the bird. They're not going to win any awards, but they're proof I saw my first Common Ground Dove for 

The Year

The State

The County.

I waited around an hour for it to show itself again, but except for a brief flight which happened while my back was turned, it didn't reappear as the bird mob grew larger and a rain storm moved in across the bay.  Neither condition I enjoy so I left as the crowd continue to grow and the first rain drop hit as I was about 100 yards from the parking lot. 

Barnegat Light SP 11/6--Bonaparte's Gull

Bonaparte's Gull

Hard to believe I got to November 6th before seeing a Bonaparte's Gull but it's been that kind of year. (Terrible.)  I was surprised to find that it was new for the year. I knew I hadn't seen one in Ocean, but I assumed one of the trips early in the year up to Sandy Hook had produced a sighting. I was wrong. 

It figures that on a day that promised to be warm and windless at the tippy-top of Long Beach Island, my kind of day, the tippy-top of Long Beach Island would be socked in by fog because that's what happens on warm, windless days in November. Duh.

White-winged Scoter

However, while I couldn't spend a lot of time scoping distant flocks of ducks because of the gray curtain over the water, that was all right. I don't especially enjoy scoping distant flocks of ducks. For one thing, it makes me seasick. I was able to see some ducks pretty close up, including a drake White-winged Scoter that was floating placidly in the inlet just a few feet away from the concrete walkway. And already the Harlequin Ducks are back (and flagged as rare). It seem like they stayed later than usual and showed up early. I counted 5 drakes and 3 hens in the inlet (which broke the eBird filter) the second time I climbed up onto the jetty from the beach. By that time the fog had lifted a little and I could see them off the rocks past the battery of fishing rods that lined the jetty. 

Harlequin Ducks

The scanning I did do was of the relatively new pond in the dunes that was created for nesting birds in the summer. It was full of gulls and floating among the usual big gulls was one Bonaparte's. Three Ruddy Ducks were also swimming around in the pool. An unusual duck for the park, one that I rarely see there, but then, this is new habitat for them. 

What I was really hoping for was not ducks, or gulls, or shorebirds. I wanted Common Redpolls. This being an irruption year for the northern finches and with them reported yesterday, I thought there might be a chance I'd stumble upon this occasional visitor. And while I frequented the right habitat--a stand of reeds, beach grass, and hoary mugwort that had a flock of 30 Pine Siskins feeding in it, there were no redpolls in the mix. I have seen redpolls in 2 places in NJ: Barnegat Light and our feeders. Until an Evening Grosbeak appears, the redpolls stand as the best bird we've had in the yard. 

An early walk around Cedar-Bonnet Island verged on pointless because the fog was so dense I could barely see a fifty feet in front of my though I did manage to spot a Northern Harrier as it took off from a fence post and a stop at the Bayview Marina was similarly view obstructed. 

My walk at Barnegat Light, with a stop in the Maritime Forest, some time in the dunes, and a couple of precarious climbs onto the jetty, produced 33 species. 

Canada Goose  27

Mallard  2

Common Eider  18

Harlequin Duck  8    

White-winged Scoter  1    

Black Scoter  9

Bufflehead  1

Ruddy Duck  3    

Ruddy Turnstone  3

Sanderling  12

Purple Sandpiper  2

Bonaparte's Gull  1

Laughing Gull  10

Ring-billed Gull  3

Herring Gull  250

Great Black-backed Gull  25

Royal Tern  1

Common Loon  1

Double-crested Cormorant  10

Peregrine Falcon  3

American Crow  5

Red-breasted Nuthatch  1    Heard maritime forest

Carolina Wren  2    Heard

European Starling  20

Northern Mockingbird  1

American Robin  1    Heard maritime forest

House Sparrow  5

Pine Siskin  30

American Goldfinch  1

Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)  1

Song Sparrow  2

Boat-tailed Grackle  10

Yellow-rumped Warbler  12