Every year in late September I go down to the inlet at the end of Great Bay Blvd to engage in one of my more aggravating birding activities--looking for a Nelson's Sparrow. This entails walking gingerly through the marsh, preferably at high tide so that the search area is a bit more confined, hoping to "kick up" (not literally, though sometimes when frustration is high, I'd really like to) one of these secretive sparrows that tend to walk through spartina like mice. They may fly for a short distance but then they dive down into the grass. And to double the aggravation, they look very much like Saltmarsh Sparrows (they used to be considered the same species), which behave the same way. If I should be so lucky as to have one stay in sight, what I focus on is the chest--I'm looking for a sparrow with blurry lines on its chest rather than the crisper stripes of a Saltmarsh.
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| Nelson's Sparrow (you see the problem) |
The tide
was high today and I didn't have my muck boots, so there was a section I couldn't get to, but even with that there was big area to search, and I was seeing multiple sparrows jumping up and disappearing before I could get my bins on them. The sun glare wasn't helping either. There were a few I though might be good candidates, but I couldn't really tell. I saw two go under the walkway to the Rutgers building, but the water was high there so I couldn't chase them. Finally, coming back, a sparrow flew up and landed about 10 feet away from me. It had dived into high grass, of course, but the stand was just thin enough for me to see the bird for an extended time and see the blurry breast. I took a picture or two, which proves only that sparrow and grass in harsh sunlight are the same color. A few minutes later, as I got closer to the beach, I saw another bird scurrying around in front of me--this one was actually
on the sand. But, of course, it turned out to be the less interesting (for today) Saltmarsh cousin.
The cedar groves at the ends of both wooden bridges were chockablock with
Black-crowned Night-Herons--I listed 36 but there could have been many more. They would fly out of the trees in groups of 5 or 6 then go stand in the marsh, while others took their places. Most of them were adults. Of the two
Yellow-crowned Night-Herons I saw, both were immature--black beaks, tail feathers not covering the feet when they stood. It is my impression that Yellow-crowns have better posture than Black-crowns. You have to be of a certain age, like me, to think of Richard Nixon when you see a Black-crown roosting in a tree.
As I was walking back to my car, a Peregrine Falcon alighted on of the crossbeams of the power line tower at the base of the bridge. Ocean County had workmen on the bridge, replacing planks, and one of them asked me the usual question, had I seen anything "good." I pointed out the falcon to him and got it in the scope. He seemed mildly impressed, but when I told him that it was the fastest animal on earth he was really impressed. And so was I. I realized that Peregrines are so common nowadays, that we take for granted what an amazing bird it is. A bird that can fly 200 mph. Just sitting there.
For the whole road, 32 species
Mourning Dove 4
Black-bellied Plover 200
Semipalmated Plover 7
Least Sandpiper 4
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Laughing Gull 100
Herring Gull 25
Great Black-backed Gull 2
Forster's Tern 42
Royal Tern 3
Double-crested Cormorant 11
Great Blue Heron 12
Great Egret 53
Snowy Egret 32
Tricolored Heron 1
Green Heron 1 Bulwark
Black-crowned Night-Heron 36
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 2
Northern Harrier 1
Northern Flicker 2
Peregrine Falcon 3 One banded, but can't read band.
Tree Swallow 60
European Starling 50
Gray Catbird 4
Brown Thrasher 1 North of second wooden bridge
House Finch 1
Nelson's Sparrow 1
Saltmarsh Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 3
Red-winged Blackbird 2
Boat-tailed Grackle 21
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