October Review--Sparse

Royal Tern, Double-crested Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Herring Gull, IBSP Marina

A lot of birding this month, but not much new, though, compared to the pandemic constrained birding of 2020, I've already surpassed my numbers for the year overall and for Ocean County. We started the month with the last two days of our Delaware vacation (although what I'm taking a vacation from is mysterious), and it was there that we picked up two year birds, an Hudsonian Godwit at Bombay Hook and a Brown-headed Nuthatch at Cape Henlopen SP which we visited for the first time. 

After that my trips consisted of a combination of my usual haunts (Whitesbog, Reeves Bogs, Brig, Great Bay Blvd) and spots more lightly birded such as FREC, Bunker Hill Bogs, Bamber Lake & Horicon Lake, where I hoped something unusual would go overlooked had I not birded there that day. Nope. I only was able to find two new year birds the rest of the month: a Gray-cheeked Thrush way in the back at Reeves Bogs and a very brief look at a Clay-colored Sparrow at Island Beach on one of Scott's NJA trips. 

Rusty Blackbird, Reeves Bogs

The month was not without its rewards though. At Great Bay Blvd I was able to add American Golden-Plover to my county year list, giving me, as Scott pointed out, all three pluvialis species that showed up in the county this year (Black-bellied, American Golden and Pacific Golden) in one place. At Reeves Bogs last week I came upon and was able to photograph a very nice example of a Rusty Blackbird; not rare, but sought after as they are rapidly diminishing. There is one stretch of trail there that runs along a maple swamp where they are fairly reliable in the right season and last week the main satisfaction I had was hearing it first and then tracking down the bird. 

But probably the most interesting bird of the month I saw today. I went to Island Beach today to walk the southern end of the park to the jetty and then the back of the inlet, hoping for some interesting seabirds (say a jaeger) or shorebirds (say a Red Knot) or gulls (say an Iceland). Nope. Had I stopped at Reed's Road there was the very slight off chance that I might have seen the White-winged Dove that flew over Scott's head, but I didn't stop there. When I was just about back to the car returning from the inlet, I got a text from Steve that there was a Cattle Egret at the IBSP Marina--8 miles away. That seemed like an unusual place for one to be and while it wouldn't be a year county bird, it would certainly be an interesting addition to my Island Beach list. Then I got a follow up text that there were five Cattle Egrets. That's just down right weird. But, after I got there (if you don't strictly follow the speed limits you can do it in 11 minutes) there they were, standing on one of the docks with the gulls, cormorants, and Royal Terns. Later, I took a short walk up the alley that runs between the houses and the park boundary and when I was coming back I thought I saw a white plastic bag flying around in the farmer's market field. The white fluttering turned out to be one of the Cattle Egrets and then, when I got out into the open, all five of them took off, circled the field a few times and disappeared. They were later found about a half mile north of there. A satisfying end to the month in which I listed 146 species. 

Counties birded:

Delaware: Kent, Sussex

New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean

Species               First Sighting
Snow Goose   Bombay Hook
Brant   Island Beach SP
Canada Goose   Dover
Mute Swan   Bombay Hook
Wood Duck   Reeves Bogs
Blue-winged Teal   Bombay Hook
Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook
Gadwall   Bridge to Nowhere
American Wigeon   Bombay Hook
Mallard   Bombay Hook
American Black Duck   Bombay Hook
Northern Pintail   Bombay Hook
Green-winged Teal   Bombay Hook
Ring-necked Duck   Butterfly Bogs
Lesser Scaup   Holly Lake
Common Eider   Island Beach SP
Surf Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
White-winged Scoter   Manasquan Inlet
Black Scoter   Island Beach SP
Bufflehead   Bayview Ave Park
Hooded Merganser   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Red-breasted Merganser   Island Beach SP
Ruddy Duck   Lake of the Lilies
Wild Turkey   Bombay Hook
Pied-billed Grebe   Bombay Hook
Rock Pigeon   Milton
Mourning Dove   Cape Henlopen State Park
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Island Beach SP
Chimney Swift   Whitesbog
Clapper Rail   Bombay Hook
Sora   Bombay Hook
American Coot   Lake of the Lilies
American Avocet   Bombay Hook
American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Blvd
Black-bellied Plover   Bombay Hook
American Golden-Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Semipalmated Plover   Whitehall Crossroads
Killdeer   Whitesbog
Hudsonian Godwit   Bombay Hook
Ruddy Turnstone   Great Bay Blvd
Sanderling   Island Beach SP
Dunlin   Bombay Hook
White-rumped Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Western Sandpiper   Brig
Short-billed Dowitcher   Bombay Hook
Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Greater Yellowlegs   Bombay Hook
Lesser Yellowlegs   Bombay Hook
Laughing Gull   Cape Henlopen State Park
Ring-billed Gull   Manahawkin Lake
Herring Gull   Cape Henlopen State Park
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull   Cape Henlopen State Park
Caspian Tern   Bombay Hook
Forster's Tern   Prime Hook
Royal Tern   Cape Henlopen State Park
Common Loon   Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Gannet   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Cape Henlopen State Park
Brown Pelican   Cape Henlopen State Park
Great Blue Heron   Prime Hook
Great Egret   Bombay Hook
Snowy Egret   Bombay Hook
Little Blue Heron   Cedar Bonnet Island
Tricolored Heron   Bombay Hook
Cattle Egret   IBSP Marina
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Island Beach SP
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Roseate Spoonbill   Bombay Hook
Black Vulture   Cape Henlopen State Park
Turkey Vulture   N Dupont Hwy, Dover
Osprey   Prime Hook
Northern Harrier   Bombay Hook
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Cape Henlopen State Park
Cooper's Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Bald Eagle   Bombay Hook
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Cape Henlopen State Park
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Dover
Downy Woodpecker   Cape Henlopen State Park
Hairy Woodpecker   Reeves Bogs
Northern Flicker   Dover
American Kestrel   Colliers Mills WMA
Merlin   Reeves Bogs
Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe   Cape Henlopen State Park
Blue-headed Vireo   Island Beach SP
Red-eyed Vireo   Cape Henlopen State Park
Blue Jay   Dover
American Crow   Dover
Fish Crow   Point Pleasant
Common Raven   Whitesbog
Carolina Chickadee   Dover
Tufted Titmouse   Dover
Tree Swallow   Bombay Hook
Bank Swallow   Brig
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Cape Henlopen State Park
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Cape Henlopen State Park
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Island Beach SP
White-breasted Nuthatch   Reeves Bogs
Brown-headed Nuthatch   Cape Henlopen State Park
Brown Creeper   South Park Rd
Winter Wren   Island Beach SP
Marsh Wren   Brig
Carolina Wren   Dover
European Starling   Dover
Gray Catbird   Cape Henlopen State Park
Brown Thrasher   Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird   Dover
Eastern Bluebird   Cape Henlopen State Park
Gray-cheeked Thrush   Reeves Bogs
Hermit Thrush   Island Beach SP
American Robin   Cape Henlopen State Park
Cedar Waxwing   Island Beach SP
House Sparrow   Wawa Dover
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   Bombay Hook
Chipping Sparrow   Cape Henlopen State Park
Clay-colored Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Field Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Dark-eyed Junco   Island Beach SP
White-crowned Sparrow   Island Beach SP
White-throated Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Savannah Sparrow   Bombay Hook
Song Sparrow   Reeves Bogs
Swamp Sparrow   Reeves Bogs
Eastern Towhee   Bombay Hook
Eastern Meadowlark   Great Bay Blvd
Red-winged Blackbird   Bombay Hook
Brown-headed Cowbird   Cedar Bonnet Island
Rusty Blackbird   Reeves Bogs
Common Grackle   Island Beach SP
Boat-tailed Grackle   Island Beach SP
Northern Waterthrush   Island Beach SP
Black-and-white Warbler   Cape Henlopen State Park
Common Yellowthroat   Reeves Bogs
American Redstart   Island Beach SP
Northern Parula   Island Beach SP
Blackpoll Warbler   Island Beach SP
Black-throated Blue Warbler   Island Beach SP
Palm Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Pine Warbler   Cape Henlopen State Park
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Reeves Bogs
Northern Cardinal   Dover
Indigo Bunting   Colliers Mills WMA