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