Island Beach SP 4/9--Piping Plover, Glossy Ibis

Piping Plover

Island Beach has by far the most species listed for the county, so if you're in the market for something "new" that's the place to go. I went Wednesday, planning to spend most of the day there and ran into some birders I know so we scoured the park, but, while I came up with some state birds for the year (I'd seen them in Delaware last month), I didn't find any year birds. So I tried again today, starting at Reed's Road, which, in the cold mist had no migrating species, and then, after checking out the beach, I hit Spizzle Creek, which had a lot of herons a couple of days ago. They were there again today, but it wasn't until I was on my way back from the southern fork that I finally saw a flock of Glossy Ibis over head.  "Land, land," I implored, and they did, but out of sight behind a line of cedars. That was a disappointment, but at least I had them on the list.

American Oystercatchers

Then I decided to walk the beach from A23 south. I figured there might be something new there, though I'd heard that Piping Plovers were being seen much farther north on the beach this year instead of the southern section. It was unsurprisingly sparse on the beach and in the water, though the Northern Gannets were close in and fun to watch flying north. A couple of American Oystercatchers were on the beach, but aside from the usual gulls, nothing much else. I suspect I overlooked some Lesser Black-backed Gulls because there were a lot of immature gulls along the foggy beach but unless I see an adult with yellow legs I don't bother trying to figure out what they are--gull molts are not my forte. 

I was walking at pretty good pace because the sand was hard and the breeze was cold despite the temperature supposedly being in the 50's, when suddenly a little plover ran right by me--Piping Plover! I took the camera off my shoulder and, despite it being the simplest P&S I could buy, the damn thing at that moment decided that the settings I had it on were no appropriate for the lighting conditions and would not take a picture. Meanwhile, I saw that there were two plovers running at the edge of the water like Sanderlings do, and after turning my camera on and off and randomly changing some controls I was finally able to get a documentary shot or two of one of the plovers. 

With that, I turned around instead of walking down to the inlet. Sure, I could have padded the list with the ducks that are still hanging out there, but I decided to save my energy for one or two more trails on my way out, hoping against hope for a newly arrived warbler, vireo, or flycatcher, none of which appeared. 

Still, two year birds is a decent morning's "work;" someone pointed out Wednesday that if you get too many year birds all at once, it just makes the subsequent outings duller, since there's nothing new to find. 

37 species for the day, down significantly from Wednesday (53) when I was with more eyes.

Species                  First Sighting

Brant   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Canada Goose   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Mute Swan   Reed’s Road

Mallard   Reed’s Road

American Black Duck   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Bufflehead   Reed’s Road

Red-breasted Merganser   Reed’s Road

Mourning Dove   Winter Anchorage

American Oystercatcher   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Black-bellied Plover   Northern Natural Area

Piping Plover   Southern Natural Area

Sanderling   Northern Natural Area

Herring Gull   Northern Natural Area

Great Black-backed Gull   Northern Natural Area

Forster's Tern   Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail

Northern Gannet   Northern Natural Area

Double-crested Cormorant   Southern Natural Area

Great Blue Heron   Winter Anchorage

Great Egret   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Snowy Egret   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Little Blue Heron   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Tricolored Heron   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Glossy Ibis   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Osprey   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Belted Kingfisher   Reed’s Road

Peregrine Falcon   Winter Anchorage

Fish Crow   Reed’s Road

Carolina Chickadee   Reed’s Road

Carolina Wren   Reed’s Road

Brown Thrasher   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Hermit Thrush   Reed’s Road

American Robin   Reed’s Road

Song Sparrow   Reed’s Road

Red-winged Blackbird   Reed’s Road

Boat-tailed Grackle   Winter Anchorage

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Reed’s Road

Northern Cardinal   Reed’s Road