April Review--37 Year Birds

Red-tailed Hawk, Cranberry Bogs-Dover Road

Just as it is a commonplace for people to say, "We don't have spring anymore, we go directly from winter to summer," a similar sentiment regarding migration is constantly expressed by birders--that is: Migration stinks this year." 

I think I have heard this every year that I've been a birder, and maybe migration was different back in the day. There are a few possible explanations for the idea that migration is disappointing this year (and every year). One is delusion--just as there really is a spring but people forget the nice days as soon as it gets really warm, migration may be more or less as it always has been, but birders forget the good days when they're slogging around not finding much. 

Or, possibly, to quote Randy Newman, "What has happened down here is the winds have changed." Maybe an overall weather pattern has shifted migration to the west--apparently Texas and the Gulf Coast are doing spectacularly this year. 

But the explanation I favor is the one that is probably too painful to accept, even though the scientific evidence coincides with every birder's experience: There just aren't as many birds as there use to be. Climate change leads to loss of habitat, development leads to loss of habitat, farming leads to loss of habitat, and so forth. To paraphrase Senator Everett Dirksen, "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking about a lot of birds." 

Wild Turkey, backyard

With all that said, I had a pretty good month, despite the lack of warblers. I added 37 species to my year list and quite a few of them were rarities, including two county lifers--Common Murre at Manasquan Inlet and Roseate Tern, today, just outside Island Beach SP. Yesterday, there was the White-faced Ibis at Meadowedge Park, and earlier in the month I found the Vesper Sparrow that stayed a few days by the beeping monitors on Great Bay Blvd. Last Friday, I ventured up to Sandy Hook to go on one of Scott's trips and was pleased to finally get Black-capped Chickadee for the year. May not seem like an exciting bird, but when you live in south Jersey, surrounded by Carolina Chickadees, the Black-capped version becomes a target. I remember once being in Central Park at the feeders, talking to a local birder and I told him that every one of the birds we were looking at I had in my backyard...except that one--the Black-capped Chickadee. Shari & I spent two day in Nassau County with our friends and I didn't find any chickadees there, so it was becoming something of a mini-nemesis. 

And, as always, Eastern Whip-poor-will has been calling every night that I listen for it since early in the month--even tonight, it is singing in the rain. 

For the month,134 species. The list includes our last day in Delaware, the weekend in New York, and 4 New Jersey counties.

Counties birded:

Delaware: Kent, New Castle

New Jersey: Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean   

New York: Nassau

Species   First Sighting
Brant   Manasquan Inlet
Canada Goose   Dover Mall Pond
Mute Swan   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Wood Duck   Jumping Brook Preserve
Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Shoveler   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Mallard   Jumping Brook Preserve
American Black Duck   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Green-winged Teal   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ring-necked Duck   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Black Scoter   Manasquan Inlet
Bufflehead   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Hooded Merganser   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Red-breasted Merganser   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ruddy Duck   Hempstead Lake SP
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Mourning Dove   Dover
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Virginia Rail   Whitesbog
American Coot   Colliers Mills WMA
American Oystercatcher   Manasquan Inlet
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Piping Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Killdeer   Jumping Brook Preserve
Sanderling   Sandy Hook
Dunlin   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Short-billed Dowitcher   Manahawkin WMA
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Spotted Sandpiper   IBSP Marina
Greater Yellowlegs   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Willet   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Lesser Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA
Common Murre   Manasquan Inlet
Bonaparte's Gull   IBSP Marina
Laughing Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Herring Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Great Black-backed Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Caspian Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Roseate Tern   IBSP Marina
Forster's Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Common Loon   Manasquan Inlet
Northern Gannet   Manasquan Inlet
Double-crested Cormorant   Manasquan Inlet
American Bittern   Manahawkin WMA
Great Blue Heron   Jumping Brook Preserve
Great Egret   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Snowy Egret   Cattus Island County Park
Little Blue Heron   Shelter Cove Park
Tricolored Heron   Shelter Cove Park
Green Heron   Pond on Schoolhouse Road
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
White Ibis   Ocean City Welcome Center
Glossy Ibis   Cattus Island County Park
White-faced Ibis   Meadowedge Park
Black Vulture   Wawa-Medford
Turkey Vulture   Wawa-Medford
Osprey   Manasquan Inlet
Northern Harrier   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Cooper's Hawk   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Bald Eagle   Jumping Brook Preserve
Red-shouldered Hawk   Jumping Brook Preserve
Red-tailed Hawk   Middletown DE
Belted Kingfisher   Double Trouble SP
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Downy Woodpecker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Hairy Woodpecker   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Northern Flicker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Merlin   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe   Jumping Brook Preserve
White-eyed Vireo   Manahawkin WMA
Blue Jay   Jumping Brook Preserve
American Crow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Fish Crow   Dover
Common Raven   Jumping Brook Preserve
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Black-capped Chickadee   Sandy Hook
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Purple Martin   Jakes Branch County Park
Tree Swallow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Barn Swallow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Jumping Brook Preserve
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
House Wren   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Marsh Wren   Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren   Dover
European Starling   Dover
Gray Catbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown Thrasher   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Mockingbird   Wawa Dover
Eastern Bluebird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Hermit Thrush   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Wood Thrush   Double Trouble SP
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   Wawa Dover
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
Red Crossbill   Double Trouble SP
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Vesper Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Seaside Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island
Savannah Sparrow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Eastern Towhee   Cattus Island County Park
Red-winged Blackbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Brown-headed Cowbird   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Rusty Blackbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Common Grackle   Wawa Dover
Boat-tailed Grackle   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Ovenbird   Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Yellowthroat   Colliers Mills WMA
Hooded Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow Warbler   Meadowedge Park
Palm Warbler   Jumping Brook Preserve
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Jumping Brook Preserve
Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal   Dover
Indigo Bunting   IBSP Marina

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center