May Wrap-up: Migration Semi-madness Edition

Black-bellied Whistling Duck, Delaware

Snowy Egret, Whitesbog (unusual there)

On the phone today, a friend mentioned that migration this month was awful. He's not the first birder to tell me that lately. I don't know. I have no standard against which to measure it, since there are so many variables, like, where I was and when I was there, but it seems that every year migration is awful. Then again, there are the missing BILLION or so birds, so that might have something to do with it. 

As for me, I felt like I had a pretty good month. I had vowed to myself to go to Island Beach more often than I usually do, and I did, and thanks to Steve and Scott I was able to tally up pretty good numbers there. I did a modicum of successful chasing: Arctic Tern at Assunpink, Black-bellied Whistling Ducks in Delaware, to mention two. I went to the "zoo" with Shari when we drove down to the Ocean City Visitor's Center to see the heron rookery with its nesting White Ibises and Yellow Crowned Night-Herons. We spent 3 days in Delaware, racking up the specialties of that state. The only place I feel that I neglected was Whitesbog, but I'll make up for that in summer, assuming the bogs are drawn down again. 

8 new warbler species for the month, 4 colorful cardinal "allies" and 4 FOY flycatchers along with a couple of new thrushes speckle the list. My total for the month, 175, is less than last May's but that can be attributed to my disinclination to drive down to Brig. Supposedly we enter the summer doldrums now until the shorebirds reverse their migration in late July. I have my sights on a couple of more less obscure spots where I hope to turn up a rarity, so that will keep me interested until things pick up. 

Counties birded:

Delaware: Kent, Sussex

New Jersey: Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean

Species                              First Sighting
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  Amalfi Dr. Retention Pond
Brant  Island Beach SP
Canada Goose  Island Beach SP
Mute Swan  Island Beach SP
Wood Duck  Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal  Island Beach SP
Mallard  Riverfront Landing
American Black Duck  Island Beach SP
Green-winged Teal  Island Beach SP
Bufflehead  Island Beach SP
Red-breasted Merganser  Island Beach SP
Ruddy Duck  Assunpink WMA
Wild Turkey  35 Sunset Rd
Horned Grebe  Island Beach SP
Mourning Dove  Island Beach SP
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  Jumping Brook Preserve
Chuck-will's-widow  Collinstown Road
Eastern Whip-poor-will  35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift  Jumping Brook Preserve
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  Island Beach SP
Clapper Rail  Great Bay Blvd WMA
Sandhill Crane  Jumping Brook Preserve
Black-necked Stilt  Bombay Hook
American Avocet  Bombay Hook
American Oystercatcher  Island Beach SP
Black-bellied Plover  Island Beach SP
Semipalmated Plover  Island Beach SP
Piping Plover  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Killdeer  Whitesbog
Whimbrel  Island Beach SP
Marbled Godwit  Island Beach SP
Ruddy Turnstone  Great Bay Blvd WMA
Red Knot  Great Bay Blvd WMA
Sanderling  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Dunlin  Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper  Island Beach SP
White-rumped Sandpiper  Great Bay Blvd WMA
Semipalmated Sandpiper  Great Bay Blvd WMA
Short-billed Dowitcher  Island Beach SP
Spotted Sandpiper  Island Beach SP
Solitary Sandpiper  Island Beach SP
Greater Yellowlegs  Island Beach SP
Willet  Island Beach SP
Lesser Yellowlegs  Island Beach SP
Bonaparte's Gull  Island Beach SP
Laughing Gull  Riverfront Landing
Ring-billed Gull  Island Beach SP
Herring Gull  Riverfront Landing
Iceland Gull  Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull  Island Beach SP
Least Tern  Great Bay Blvd WMA
Caspian Tern  Bombay Hook
Common Tern  Island Beach SP
Arctic Tern  Assunpink WMA
Forster's Tern  Island Beach SP
Royal Tern  DuPont Nature Center
Black Skimmer  Great Bay Blvd WMA
Red-throated Loon  Island Beach SP
Common Loon  Island Beach SP
Wilson's Storm-Petrel  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Northern Gannet  Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant  Island Beach SP
Brown Pelican  Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron  Island Beach SP
Great Egret  Island Beach SP
Snowy Egret  Island Beach SP
Little Blue Heron  Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron  Island Beach SP
Green Heron  Assunpink WMA
Black-crowned Night-Heron  Ocean City Welcome Center
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  Ocean City Welcome Center
White Ibis  Ocean City Welcome Center
Glossy Ibis  Island Beach SP
Turkey Vulture  Island Beach SP
Osprey  Island Beach SP
Northern Harrier  Island Beach SP
Cooper's Hawk  Manasquan River WMA
Bald Eagle  Colliers Mills WMA
Red-tailed Hawk  Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Red-headed Woodpecker  Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker  Colliers Mills WMA
Downy Woodpecker  Whitesbog
Hairy Woodpecker  Whitesbog
Northern Flicker  Whitesbog
Merlin  Island Beach SP
Peregrine Falcon  Island Beach SP
Eastern Wood-Pewee  Colliers Mills WMA
Acadian Flycatcher  Double Trouble SP
Willow Flycatcher  Island Beach SP
Least Flycatcher  Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe  Crestwood Village
Great Crested Flycatcher  Island Beach SP
Eastern Kingbird  Island Beach SP
White-eyed Vireo  Island Beach SP
Yellow-throated Vireo  Huber Preserve
Blue-headed Vireo  Island Beach SP
Warbling Vireo  Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo  Huber Preserve
Blue Jay  35 Sunset Rd
American Crow  Island Beach SP
Fish Crow  35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Chickadee  Island Beach SP
Tufted Titmouse  35 Sunset Rd
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  Jumping Brook Preserve
Purple Martin  Cranberry Bogs
Tree Swallow  Riverfront Landing
Bank Swallow  Cranberry Bogs
Barn Swallow  Riverfront Landing
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  Island Beach SP
Golden-crowned Kinglet  Island Beach SP
White-breasted Nuthatch  Colliers Mills WMA
Brown-headed Nuthatch  Cape Henlopen State Park
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  Island Beach SP
House Wren  Island Beach SP
Marsh Wren  Island Beach SP
Carolina Wren  Island Beach SP
European Starling  Island Beach SP
Gray Catbird  Island Beach SP
Brown Thrasher  Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird  Island Beach SP
Eastern Bluebird  Whitesbog
Veery  Island Beach SP
Hermit Thrush  Island Beach SP
Wood Thrush  Island Beach SP
American Robin  Crestwood Village
Cedar Waxwing  Island Beach SP
House Sparrow  Riverfront Landing
House Finch  Island Beach SP
American Goldfinch  Island Beach SP
Grasshopper Sparrow  Bombay Hook
Chipping Sparrow  Island Beach SP
Field Sparrow  Island Beach SP
Dark-eyed Junco  Great Bay Blvd WMA
White-throated Sparrow  Island Beach SP
Seaside Sparrow  Great Bay Blvd WMA
Saltmarsh Sparrow  Great Bay Blvd WMA
Savannah Sparrow  Jumping Brook Preserve
Song Sparrow  Riverfront Landing
Swamp Sparrow  Island Beach SP
Eastern Towhee  Island Beach SP
Yellow-breasted Chat  Double Trouble SP
Eastern Meadowlark  Whitehall Crossroads
Orchard Oriole  Jumping Brook Preserve
Baltimore Oriole  Island Beach SP
Red-winged Blackbird  Island Beach SP
Brown-headed Cowbird  Island Beach SP
Common Grackle  Crestwood Village
Boat-tailed Grackle  Island Beach SP
Ovenbird  Island Beach SP
Northern Waterthrush  Island Beach SP
Blue-winged Warbler  Huber Preserve
Black-and-white Warbler  Island Beach SP
Prothonotary Warbler  Huber Preserve
Nashville Warbler  Jumping Brook Preserve
Common Yellowthroat  Island Beach SP
Hooded Warbler  Colliers Mills WMA
American Redstart  Manasquan River WMA
Northern Parula  Island Beach SP
Magnolia Warbler  Huber Preserve
Bay-breasted Warbler  Island Beach SP
Blackburnian Warbler  Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow Warbler  Island Beach SP
Blackpoll Warbler  Island Beach SP
Black-throated Blue Warbler  Island Beach SP
Palm Warbler  Island Beach SP
Pine Warbler  Whitesbog
Yellow-rumped Warbler  Island Beach SP
Prairie Warbler  Island Beach SP
Black-throated Green Warbler  Island Beach SP
Canada Warbler  Island Beach SP
Scarlet Tanager  Island Beach SP
Northern Cardinal  35 Sunset Rd
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  Island Beach SP
Blue Grosbeak  Colliers Mills WMA
Indigo Bunting  Ephraim P. Emson Preserve