June Recap--Doldrums Edition

Cedar Waxwing, Whitesbog

If April is the cruelest month, June is the dullest. Not surprisingly, I wasn't able to add very many year birds to my list, though the results were not as paltry as the month's entries would indicate. At Brig, for instance, I finally got a Chimney Swift for the year, but there is not much to say other than it was pointed out by Bob Auster. You can't exactly go looking for habitat for swifts, so it is just a question of when your life vector intersects with their life vector.  Of course, once I added it to the list, I started seeing them more frequently and in Ocean County too.

The same problem, to a large extent, goes for Common Nighthawks. There are places they're more likely to appear, but again, it is more luck than design. We lucked out in our backyard, the same day Bob pointed out the swift. We sitting on the patio in the early evening, having an adult beverage, when Bob thought he heard a woodcock. "Unlikely," I replied. And then, hearing it "peeent" again, I realized it was nighthawk (or nighthawks) flying above us. Add two aerial species to the list. 

I ramble around Colliers Mills quite a bit and go to areas that are at best lightly birded but I had never ventured very much further south than a pond on Hawkin Road. Just didn't look promising. But on a tip from Scott I walked about mile further down the road and off on another trail where I came across a Summer Tanager singing in exactly the spot he had pinned on the map. Despite standing there for more than a half hour and listening to the bird sing and sing, I could not get eyes on it. Not much of an entry there. I also discovered a rather large pond there (which I realized later is the southern end of the pond that is off the berm that dams Turnmill Pond) and it looks like it might be a good area for ducks in the winter. I also had Veery and Hooded Warbler back there, so it is worth the walk. 

Last weekend we visited friends out on Long Island. They live in a leafy suburb just over the Queens border where the streets are lined with full grown oak, maples, and London planes. In the morning I walked around the neighborhood with him as he walked the dog and heard most of the songs you'd expect--cardinal, Song Sparrow, Fish Crow (if you want to call that a song), robin, Blue Jay, Mourning Dove, chickadee...wait a minute. I'm in New York. That's a Black-capped Chickadee and that's the first one I've heard all year, not having ventured much above the Raritan. I did consider writing an entry titled "Inadvertent Year Bird" but it would have consisted of the paragraph you just read.

So only seven year birds for the month. Other cool birds were the continuing Common Eiders in Barnegat Inlet, where until recently some King Eiders were mixed in (Steve advised me to look at my pictures of the eiders and sure enough there were 3 hens in the flock) and Whitesbog has been a regular stop for me where the ever-shabbier Bufflehead continues and I learn more botany from my friend as we hike around the remote areas crossing his precarious bridges. 

Black-and-white Warbler, Double Trouble SP

For the month 130 species. 

Counties Birded: 

New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean

New York: Nassau

Species                First Sighting Snow Goose   Brig

Canada Goose   Whitesbog

Mute Swan   Brig

Wood Duck   Reeves Bogs

Mallard   Double Trouble State Park

American Black Duck   Whitesbog

King Eider   Island Beach SP

Common Eider   Island Beach SP

Black Scoter   Island Beach SP

Bufflehead   Whitesbog

Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd

Mourning Dove   Whitesbog

Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Double Trouble State Park

Common Nighthawk   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift   Brig

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd

King Rail   Whitesbog

Clapper Rail   Brig

Virginia Rail   Reeves Bogs

American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Semipalmated Plover   Brig

Piping Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Killdeer   Manchester Dump

Ruddy Turnstone   Brig

White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig

Greater Yellowlegs   Brig

Willet   Brig

Laughing Gull   Brig

Herring Gull   Brig

Great Black-backed Gull   Brig

Least Tern   Double Trouble State Park

Gull-billed Tern   Brig

Caspian Tern   Brig

Common Tern   Brig

Forster's Tern   Brig

Black Skimmer   Brig

Brown Booby   Surf City

Double-crested Cormorant   Brig

Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP

Least Bittern   Lakehurst Railroad Tracks

Great Blue Heron   Whitesbog

Great Egret   Double Trouble State Park

Snowy Egret   Brig

Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP

Tricolored Heron   Waretown

Green Heron   Whitesbog

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Beach Haven Inlet

Glossy Ibis   Brig

Black Vulture   Jumping Brook Preserve

Turkey Vulture   Crestwood Village

Osprey   Brig

Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog

Bald Eagle   GSP MM 48

Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog

Broad-winged Hawk   Double Trouble State Park

Red-tailed Hawk   Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters

Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog

Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Downy Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Hairy Woodpecker   Double Trouble State Park

Northern Flicker   Whitesbog

Peregrine Falcon   Cedar Bonnet Island

Olive-sided Flycatcher   Double Trouble State Park

Eastern Wood-Pewee   Whitesbog

Acadian Flycatcher  Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Willow Flycatcher   Brig

Eastern Phoebe   Double Trouble State Park

Great Crested Flycatcher   Whitesbog

Eastern Kingbird   Whitesbog

White-eyed Vireo   Double Trouble State Park

Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-eyed Vireo   Whitesbog

Blue Jay   Crestwood Village

American Crow   Whitesbog

Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Common Raven   Whitesbog

Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog

Black-capped Chickadee   Malverne

Tufted Titmouse   Whitesbog

Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Whitesbog

Purple Martin   Whitesbog

Tree Swallow   Whitesbog

Bank Swallow   Reeves Bogs

Barn Swallow   Whitesbog

White-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Double Trouble State Park

House Wren   Whitesbog

Marsh Wren   Brig

Carolina Wren   Whitesbog

European Starling   35 Sunset Rd

Gray Catbird   Whitesbog

Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP

Northern Mockingbird   Crestwood Village

Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog

Veery   Double Trouble State Park

Wood Thrush   Double Trouble State Park

American Robin   Double Trouble State Park

Cedar Waxwing   Whitesbog

House Sparrow   Brig

House Finch   Double Trouble State Park

American Goldfinch   Double Trouble State Park

Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Field Sparrow   Double Trouble State Park

Seaside Sparrow   Brig

Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog

Eastern Towhee   Whitesbog

Orchard Oriole   Colliers Mills WMA

Baltimore Oriole   Whitesbog

Red-winged Blackbird   Whitesbog

Brown-headed Cowbird   Double Trouble State Park

Common Grackle   Whitesbog

Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Ovenbird   Whitesbog

Black-and-white Warbler   Whitesbog

Prothonotary Warbler   Reeves Bogs

Common Yellowthroat   Whitesbog

Hooded Warbler   Double Trouble State Park

Yellow Warbler   Whitesbog

Pine Warbler   Whitesbog

Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog

Summer Tanager   Colliers Mills WMA

Scarlet Tanager   Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve

Northern Cardinal   Double Trouble State Park

Indigo Bunting   Brig

Dickcissel   Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters Black Vultures, Jumping Brook Preserve

LBI 6/28--Brown Booby

Scoping the distant pilings off 9th Street in Surf City through the heat haze, I could persuade myself that one of those roosting birds was not a cormorant but was instead the Brown Booby reported yesterday. Even with the eyepiece turned all the way up to 60X it was a hard sell. It was only when I saw a long yellow bill that I said, "Yeah, that's it," and figured I'd have to be satisfied with a truly crummy look at this county lifer. 

A couple was watching the kid's sailing regatta that was taking place in front of me (and off and on blocking my view of the distant pilings) and the guy asked me if I ever saw any albatrosses out there in Barnegat Bay. "At least," I said to myself, "he's not asking about eagles." I explained the extreme unlikelihood of finding any albatrosses in a bay in New Jersey, but did tell them there was a rare bird way out there. They took a mild interest in the fact and then the conversation moved on to Peregrine Falcons, of which there are a few in the vicinity. Charismatic birds are the bridge between birders and non-birders.

Had I not been in one of my rare "Birding Ambassador" moods, I would have shouldered the scope after seeing the yellow bill of the booby and gone home, but as we were talking I noticed a bird flying just our north that was not a cormorant. Even they could see it naked eye. It flew in front of us and dove, clumsily, took off, dove again. At one point it was chased by a Herring Gull looking to steal anything it might find. 

Now I had a decent look at the booby, one I could take home without a grumble. The couple left and apologized for distracting me when of course they hadn't but had made me stay still long enough to actually see the bird in action instead of counting a blob in the eyepiece.

Shari always tells me it pays to be nice. 

Question: Why Are There No Birds on These Feeders?

Whitesbog Village

 

PPA HQ 6/17--Dickcissel

Dickcissel, PPA HQ

To amuse myself I sought--and found--three different kinds of rarities in Burlco today. The first one is what I'd consider a rarity in the pure sense, a bird that doesn't show up much in these parts (NJ). The Dickcissel is mostly a mid-western grasslands birds. There are many grasslands extant in NJ anymore, but Burlington County has some patches and today at the Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters (PPA HQ) three of as many 6 reported Dickcissels were present. I arrived early and started walking around the deer fence enclosing the fields. I heard the characteristic "dik dik sssssssssss" and was thinking I might have to be satisfied with that when one flew in, and, as advertised, alighted on the fence and continued singing. In the sunlight it was just gorgeous. Then I saw another a little farther down the fence line and finally, walking on the other side of the field I heard another one singing that managed to stay unsighted. Pretty good for me who has never encountered more than one at a time. I have an extra-avian fondness for Dickcissels because on the same day that Shari & I first viewed the house we live in we also made a trip up to Negri-Nepote and got our life Dickcissel there, so the bird is always connected with that life change from Brooklyn to NJ in my memory. 

Red-headed Woodpecker, 
South Park Rd

My second stop was South Park Road in Tabernacle. There I found a Red-headed Woodpecker, which to my mind is not so much rare as "localized." I can think of 3 or 4 places off-hand in the county where you can find the bird--the habitat they like is surprisingly sparse in the county--but Burlington is a big place (the largest county by area in the state) and those areas where the woodpeckers are found are relatively small and three of them fairly close to each other. So it is rare only in the sense that there just aren't a lot of them in Burlington County

The third so-called rarity is a "seasonal" example. At Whitesbog, ever since the end of May, there has been a drake Bufflehead in the Middle Bog. In the winter you wouldn't look twice at this bird. Obviously, he should be long gone and north of here yet here he is mid-June and seeming pretty comfortable. I've been watching the bird for a couple of weeks now (I'm at Whitesbog two or three times a week lately) and at first there was speculation that the bird was ill or injured as it seem to spend a lot of time preening itself or just sitting atop the water with its head tucked in. But today it was actively diving. There's plenty of pickerel in the bog but it may also be eating the vegetation at the bottom along with worms, snails and other invertebrates. So it won't starve. I'm interested to see how long it stay and if it will still be there in August when, I hope, the bog will be drawn down. I don't know if it can fly, so it may have to waddle over to Union Pond. 

Bufflehead, Whitesbog

Double Trouble SP 6/1--Olive-sided Flycatcher

I started the new month off at Whitesbog, walking deep into the woods around the abandoned Antrim Brook bogs, hard by Fort Dix, with my friend who not only knows every trail in there but has made some of them. We weren't though, in the woods when we heard my first rarity of the month. We were walking near Big Tank when we heard "Keer keer keer," a Red-shouldered Hawk that, according to my informant, has been hanging around the Upper Reservoir all spring.  We heard it multiple times but could never get highs on it through the dense trees lining the road. We heard it move off and continued what eventually became our 6 mile looping walk. 

While we were somewhere around Otter Pond (now a meadow since it breached in the Upper Reservoir's catastrophic flood of a few years ago) I got a text from Steve alerting me to a rarity over at Double Trouble about 15 miles away or the next universe depending on how you measure distance. I wasn't planning on going over there but I was happy to have the knowledge. 

As I was leaving, my friend asked me if I'd seen the Bufflehead in the Middle Bog over on the Burlco side. I'd missed it coming in but quickly found the drake in the corner of the bog. It has been there, again according to my informant, for the last few days, ever since the storms came through. He theorized that it's injured and that is probably the reason the little duck isn't long gone to its breeding area. 

I had an errand to do after I left Whitesbog (I often combine a dump run with a visit there), and after leaving the dump I still had some energy so I opted for Double Trouble after all. The rarity there is a bird that has shown up in the park in the past--an Olive-sided Flycatcher--and since I knew the exact spot it was visiting I couldn't pass up the binary opportunity of it's either there or it isn't. After chasing a gull yesterday up and down the bayshore, I wasn't in the mood for search of hither and yon. 

I walked over to the sawmill and looked around all tops of the dead trees but didn't see the bird. It was late morning and not many birds were evident, though on the first of the month, even a robin can trigger a list. I decided to walk to where an OSFL had spent some time a couple of years ago, the cedar restoration are, and if it wasn't there, go home. It wasn't there and I was going home when, passing the sawmill again I saw a bird perched on the highest branch of a dead tree. It was silhouetted against the sun but just by behavior and profile I knew it was the flycatcher. By the time I got around the sawmill, closer to the stand of trees, the bird had flown. But then, as if materializing, it was on another branch and this time I could get some details on the bird though again I was going by the field marks of large head, apparently short tail, "vest." It disappeared to the left then reappeared with, off all things in its mouth, a big fly (or other kind of insect I suppose). Once I heard it sing the song transliterated as "Quick three beers" though it doesn't sound like that to me.

I took all the lousy pictures I could and then, having added a few more month birds as well as this year bird decided that noon was a good time to go do something else for the rest of the day. 

May Recap--3 Life Birds

Cape May Warbler, Cedar Bonnet Island

It was quite a month that started out with a Ruff and ended with a first NJ record HEERMAN'S GULL, with two other life birds in between as well as a long-staying Pacific Golden-Plover.  One trip to Brig yielded three shorebird rarities. A busy month that adds over 50 year bird makes it seems madness to try to write about each new bird encountered, so I skipped chronicling my annual trip to Wesley Lake for Cliff Swallows, nor did I write a story about every warbler that flitted by.  

I ranged a little farther than usual with a trip to Delaware that bumped up the list by four and our chase in Cape May County (which seems like another state to me) that also put SWAINSON'S WARBLER finally on our list. With the Swainson's I think there is only one warbler in the lower 48 we're missing; it's name escapes me, but you have to walk a few miles in rugged terrain in Texas to get it. Unlikely.

Migration seems just about over and summer usually slows down, which is all right with me. The more I chase around after this bird or that, the sillier it seems. Any game whether baseball or birding, seen from outside the frame, appears absurd. And I have Whitesbog as a default location. Lately, I have been taking long walks through some of the more obscure parts of the old bogs; I'm fortunate to have a guide who not only knows his way around, but has built the bridges that get you over some of the breaches. 

For the month: 194 species. I haven't had a month that productive without traveling in recent memory.

Counties birded:

Delaware: Kent, Sussex

New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean

Species           First Sighting
Snow Goose   Brig
Brant   Wetlands Institute
Canada Goose   Brig
Mute Swan   Brig
Wood Duck   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue-winged Teal   Wetlands Institute
Northern Shoveler   Brig
Mallard   Ocean City Welcome Center
American Black Duck   Wetlands Institute
Green-winged Teal   Bombay Hook
Common Eider   Island Beach SP
Black Scoter   Island Beach SP
Bufflehead   Island Beach SP
Northern Bobwhite   Bombay Hook
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Pied-billed Grebe   Brig
Rock Pigeon   Milford Neck Wildlife Area
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Whitesbog
Chuck-will's-widow   Collinstown Road
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Manasquan River WMA
King Rail   Brig
Clapper Rail   Ocean City Welcome Center
Virginia Rail   Bombay Hook
Black-necked Stilt   Bombay Hook
American Avocet   Brig
American Oystercatcher   Wetlands Institute
Black-bellied Plover   Wetlands Institute
Pacific Golden-Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Semipalmated Plover   Brig
Killdeer   Colliers Mills WMA
Whimbrel   Brig
Ruddy Turnstone   Waretown
Red Knot   Great Bay Blvd
Ruff   Forsythe-Barnegat
Stilt Sandpiper   Forsythe-Barnegat
Curlew Sandpiper   Brig
Sanderling   Island Beach SP
Dunlin   Forsythe-Barnegat
Purple Sandpiper   Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper   Cedar Bonnet Island
White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig
Pectoral Sandpiper   Forsythe-Barnegat
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Forsythe-Barnegat
Western Sandpiper   Forsythe-Barnegat
Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Wilson's Phalarope   Brig
Red-necked Phalarope   Brig
Spotted Sandpiper   Cedar Bonnet Island
Solitary Sandpiper   Double Trouble State Park
Greater Yellowlegs   Forsythe-Barnegat
Willet   Forsythe-Barnegat
Lesser Yellowlegs   Forsythe-Barnegat
Bonaparte's Gull   Waretown
Laughing Gull   Wawa South Toms River
HEERMANN'S GULL   North Cape May
Ring-billed Gull   Brig
Herring Gull   Forsythe-Barnegat
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull   Ocean City Welcome Center
Least Tern   Brig
Gull-billed Tern   Brig
Caspian Tern   Brig
Common Tern   Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern   Ocean City Welcome Center
Black Skimmer   Brig
Common Loon   Great Bay Blvd
SOOTY SHEARWATER   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Brig
American White Pelican   Brig
Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP
Least Bittern  Whitesbog
American Bittern   Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron   Brig
Great Egret   Forsythe-Barnegat
Snowy Egret   Forsythe-Barnegat
Little Blue Heron   Wetlands Institute
Tricolored Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Green Heron   Wetlands Institute
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
White Ibis   Ocean City Welcome Center
Glossy Ibis   Ocean City Welcome Center
Black Vulture   Wawa Rt 70 & CR 530
Turkey Vulture   Wawa South Toms River
Osprey   Forsythe-Barnegat
Northern Harrier   Island Beach SP
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Double Trouble State Park
Cooper's Hawk   Manasquan River WMA
Bald Eagle   Colliers Mills WMA
Broad-winged Hawk   Manasquan River WMA
Red-tailed Hawk   Double Trouble State Park
Great Horned Owl   Collinstown Road
Belted Kingfisher   Manahawkin WMA
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Manasquan River WMA
Downy Woodpecker   Manasquan River WMA
Hairy Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker   Colliers Mills WMA
American Kestrel   Colliers Mills WMA
Merlin   Island Beach SP
Peregrine Falcon   Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Wood-Pewee   Colliers Mills WMA
Acadian Flycatcher   Huber Preserve
Willow Flycatcher   Manahawkin WMA
Eastern Phoebe   Colliers Mills WMA
Great Crested Flycatcher   Manasquan River WMA
Eastern Kingbird   Manahawkin WMA
White-eyed Vireo   Manasquan River WMA
Yellow-throated Vireo   Bombay Hook
Blue-headed Vireo   Manasquan River WMA
Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo   Manasquan River WMA
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   Ocean City Welcome Center
Carolina Chickadee   Manasquan River WMA
Tufted Titmouse   Manasquan River WMA
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
Purple Martin   Wetlands Institute
Tree Swallow   Manasquan River WMA
Bank Swallow   Stafford Preserve
Barn Swallow   Forsythe-Barnegat
Cliff Swallow   Wesley Lake
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Island Beach SP
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Manasquan River WMA
White-breasted Nuthatch   Manasquan River WMA
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Colliers Mills WMA
House Wren   Emson Preserve
Marsh Wren   Manahawkin WMA
Carolina Wren   Manasquan River WMA
European Starling   35 Sunset Rd
Gray Catbird   Manasquan River WMA
Brown Thrasher   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Mockingbird   Wetlands Institute
Eastern Bluebird   Manasquan River WMA
Veery   Double Trouble State Park
Swainson's Thrush   Bombay Hook
Wood Thrush   Manasquan River WMA
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing   Brig
House Sparrow   Waretown
House Finch   Wetlands Institute
Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   Manasquan River WMA
Grasshopper Sparrow   Bombay Hook
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Manasquan River WMA
Dark-eyed Junco   Island Beach SP
White-crowned Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island
White-throated Sparrow   Manasquan River WMA
Seaside Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Savannah Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Song Sparrow   Ocean City Welcome Center
Swamp Sparrow   Manasquan River WMA
Eastern Towhee   Manasquan River WMA
Yellow-breasted Chat   Brig
Eastern Meadowlark   Manasquan River WMA
Orchard Oriole   Manasquan River WMA
Baltimore Oriole   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-winged Blackbird   Manasquan River WMA
Brown-headed Cowbird   Manasquan River WMA
Common Grackle   Crestwood Village
Boat-tailed Grackle   Ocean City Welcome Center
Ovenbird   Manasquan River WMA
Northern Waterthrush   Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue-winged Warbler   Manasquan River WMA
Black-and-white Warbler   Manasquan River WMA
Prothonotary Warbler   Huber Preserve
SWAINSON'S WARBLER   Higbee Beach WMA
Tennessee Warbler   Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Yellowthroat   Manasquan River WMA
Hooded Warbler   Double Trouble State Park
American Redstart   Manasquan River WMA
Cape May Warbler   Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Parula   Colliers Mills WMA
Magnolia Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Bay-breasted Warbler   Island Beach SP
Yellow Warbler   Brig
Blackpoll Warbler   Whitesbog
Black-throated Blue Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Palm Warbler   Manasquan River WMA
Pine Warbler   Manasquan River WMA
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Prairie Warbler   Manasquan River WMA
Black-throated Green Warbler   Manasquan River WMA
Wilson's Warbler   Island Beach SP
Scarlet Tanager   Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Cardinal   Manasquan River WMA
Rose-breasted Grosbeak   Double Trouble State Park

Indigo Bunting   Emson Preserve

Blue Grosbeak   Manasquan River WMA

Indigo Bunting, Manasquan River WMA