September Wrap-up--Migration Edition

Buff-breasted Sandpiper with Semipalmated Plover, Big Tank, Whitesbog OC side

September was certainly a more wide-ranging month for me than August. While I continued visiting Whitesbog fairly regularly, I expanded my searches to the shore (Sandy Hook, IBSP, Brig, Great Bay Blvd) and the Delaware River (Palmyra in the south and Pennsylvania, where we attended a hippie/hick wedding overlooking the river, to the north). 

September is migration month. The shorebird migration that started in August continued at a decent pace through the first two weeks of September--Baird's Sandpiper being the standout at Whitesbog, along with Long-billed Dowitcher, Buff-breasted Sandpiper (Big Tank on the OC side, county lifer) and American Golden-Plover. The warblers started showing up at IBSP and Sandy Hook, and I got a "second chance" on at least one bird that I missed in spring, Cape May Warbler. Connecticut Warbler, that fall rarity, I had three times--once each at Sandy Hook, IBSP, and yesterday at Palmyra.  Other second chance birds were Swainson's Thrush, and Gray-cheeked Thrush. The first Swainson's was on Reed's Road at IBSP. Yesterday at Palymyra the park was awash in Swainson's (Jim & I counted 18, which has to be personal high for me) and we tracked down a Gray-cheeked Thrush that practically had a sign on it reading "I am not a Swainson's." 

Up in Beach Lake, Pennsylvania, Shari & I were thrilled to get a Black-capped Chickadee for the year. Since we rarely get above the Raritan, we hardly ever see this very common bird. While we didn't do too much birding there, I did find a few warblers, a Pileated Woodpecker, and our first Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers of the season. A week later, the sapsuckers had made it down to south Jersey. 

Toward the end of the month the sparrows were the show. I missed Clay-colored Sparrow at Whitesbog while in Pennsylvania (Jim's text set off some serious teeth-gnashing), but Lincoln's Sparrow at IBSP, Nelson's Sparrow at GBB were some compensation, and White-throated Sparrow, and Dark-eyed Junco (early) signaled the arrival of fall; the American Tree Sparrow I had at Whitesbog this morning on the OC side clinched it. 

Rose-breasted Grosbeak, female, backyard feeders

In the closer to home the better the bird category I have this little vignette: earlier this week, while reading on the patio, I looked up at the feeders (I put them back up a little more than a week after the bear incident) and had one of those "What the heck is that?" moments. Fortunately, the bird was happily chowing down on the dish of seeds and nuts and stayed long enough for me to identify it as a female Rose-breasted Grosbeak (our first of the year in the backyard, another second chance bird) and to let me get photographs of it. Aside from the Lark Sparrow at Reeves Bogs, it was my happiest sighting of the month. 

For the month: 166 species 13 year birds.

Counties birded:

New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean, Sussex

New York: Sullivan

Pennsylvania: Pike, Wayne

Species           First Sighting
Canada Goose  Whitesbog
Mute Swan  Brig
Wood Duck  Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal  Whitesbog
Northern Shoveler  Brig
Mallard  Whitesbog
American Black Duck  Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal  Whitesbog
Red-breasted Merganser  Island Beach SP
Northern Bobwhite  Colliers Mills WMA
Wild Turkey  Schoolhouse Rd
Pied-billed Grebe  Brig
Rock Pigeon  Wrangle Brook
Mourning Dove  Whitesbog
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  Island Beach SP
Common Nighthawk  Whitesbog
Eastern Whip-poor-will  Whitesbog
Chimney Swift  Whitesbog
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  Whitesbog
American Avocet  Brig
American Oystercatcher  Sandy Hook
Black-bellied Plover  Great Bay Blvd
American Golden-Plover  Union Transportation Trail
Semipalmated Plover  Whitesbog
Killdeer  Whitesbog
Stilt Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Sanderling  Island Beach SP
Baird's Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Least Sandpiper  Whitesbog
White-rumped Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Buff-breasted Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Pectoral Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Semipalmated Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Short-billed Dowitcher  Whitesbog
Long-billed Dowitcher  Whitesbog
Wilson's Snipe  Whitesbog
Spotted Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Solitary Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Greater Yellowlegs  Whitesbog
Lesser Yellowlegs  Whitesbog
Laughing Gull  Whitesbog
Ring-billed Gull  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Herring Gull  Whitesbog
Great Black-backed Gull  Sandy Hook
Caspian Tern  Sandy Hook
Common Tern  Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern  Great Bay Blvd
Royal Tern  Island Beach SP
Common Loon  Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant  Island Beach SP
Brown Pelican  Island Beach SP
American Bittern  Sandy Hook
Great Blue Heron  Whitesbog
Great Egret  Whitesbog
Snowy Egret  Island Beach SP
Little Blue Heron  Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron  Island Beach SP
Green Heron  Whitesbog
Black-crowned Night-Heron  Whitesbog
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  Great Bay Blvd
Glossy Ibis  Brig
Black Vulture  35 Sunset Rd
Turkey Vulture  Whitesbog
Osprey  Whitesbog
Northern Harrier  Sandy Hook
Sharp-shinned Hawk  Brig
Cooper's Hawk  Whitesbog
Bald Eagle  Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk  Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk  Union Transportation Trail
Eastern Screech-Owl  Whitesbog
Belted Kingfisher  Island Beach SP
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  Beach Lake
Red-bellied Woodpecker  35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker  35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker  35 Sunset Rd
Pileated Woodpecker  Beach Lake
Northern Flicker  Whitesbog
American Kestrel  Sandy Hook
Merlin  Whitesbog
Peregrine Falcon  Island Beach SP
Eastern Wood-Pewee  Whitesbog
Eastern Phoebe  Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher  Whitesbog
Eastern Kingbird  Whitesbog
White-eyed Vireo  Whitesbog
Philadelphia Vireo  Sandy Hook
Warbling Vireo  Sandy Hook
Red-eyed Vireo  Sandy Hook
Blue Jay  35 Sunset Rd
American Crow  Whitesbog
Fish Crow  Whiting Commons
Common Raven  Island Beach SP
Carolina Chickadee  Whitesbog
Black-capped Chickadee  Beach Lake
Tufted Titmouse  35 Sunset Rd
Purple Martin  Whitesbog
Tree Swallow  Whitesbog
Bank Swallow  Whitesbog
Barn Swallow  Whitesbog
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  Sandy Hook
Golden-crowned Kinglet  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Red-breasted Nuthatch  Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch  Whitesbog
Brown Creeper  Sandy Hook
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  Whitesbog
House Wren  Whitesbog
Marsh Wren  Sandy Hook
Carolina Wren  Whitesbog
European Starling  Whitesbog
Gray Catbird  Whitesbog
Brown Thrasher  Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird  Whitesbog
Eastern Bluebird  Reeves Bogs
Veery  Island Beach SP
Gray-cheeked Thrush  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Swainson's Thrush  Island Beach SP
Hermit Thrush  Beach Lake
Wood Thrush  Whitesbog
American Robin  Whitesbog
Cedar Waxwing  Sandy Hook
House Sparrow  Union Transportation Trail
House Finch  35 Sunset Rd
Purple Finch  Island Beach SP
American Goldfinch  35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow  35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow  Sandy Hook
Lark Sparrow  Reeves Bogs
American Tree Sparrow  Whitesbog
Dark-eyed Junco  Island Beach SP
White-throated Sparrow  Island Beach SP
Nelson's Sparrow  Great Bay Blvd
Saltmarsh Sparrow  Great Bay Blvd
Savannah Sparrow  Colliers Mills WMA
Song Sparrow  Whitesbog
Lincoln's Sparrow  Island Beach SP
Swamp Sparrow  Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee  Whitesbog
Bobolink  Whitesbog
Baltimore Oriole  Island Beach SP
Red-winged Blackbird  Whitesbog
Brown-headed Cowbird  35 Sunset Rd
Common Grackle  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Boat-tailed Grackle  Island Beach SP
Ovenbird  Island Beach SP
Northern Waterthrush  Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler  Sandy Hook
Nashville Warbler  Whitesbog
Connecticut Warbler  Sandy Hook
Common Yellowthroat  Whitesbog
American Redstart  Whitesbog
Cape May Warbler  Sandy Hook
Northern Parula  Sandy Hook
Magnolia Warbler  Beach Lake
Bay-breasted Warbler  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Yellow Warbler  Sandy Hook
Blackpoll Warbler  Sandy Hook
Black-throated Blue Warbler  Whitesbog
Palm Warbler  Sandy Hook
Pine Warbler  Whitesbog
Yellow-rumped Warbler  Whitesbog
Prairie Warbler  Whitesbog
Black-throated Green Warbler  Sandy Hook
Scarlet Tanager  Island Beach SP
Northern Cardinal  35 Sunset Rd
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  Sandy Hook
Indigo Bunting  Sandy Hook