Whitesbog 4/21--Ovenbird, Prairie Warbler

Prairie Warbler

I haven't been to Whitesbog all month, which is a long gap for me. I wasn't expecting much, but I enjoy walking the bogs there more than anyplace else. I decided to do the Ocean County side, where the trails are less populated, if you want to consider 3 or 4 dog walkers on the Burlco side, population. As soon as I slipped my car into "my" spot, I heard (then saw) a Black-and-white Warbler and the first of many, many Common Yellowthroats--which I was actually to see today instead of just hearing them as I had been for the last week. Walking the borderline between the counties I heard Ovenbird coming from the trail that leads to Little Tank, so I walked there, flushing Wood Ducks on my way. I heard another but didn't even try to track them down visually. 

However, walking along the side of Little Tank, I heard a Prairie Warbler's ascending buzz and that one I did want to see, so I hung around an oak with catkins and soon enough the warbler made an appearance. Oddly, it was the only one I saw there today--they're usually a little more abundant. 

What was abundant: the aforementioned Common Yellowthroats, Red-winged Blackbirds, and an ungodly number of Eastern Towhees. I was commanded to drink my tea from every direction almost every step I took during my 4-mile walk. I ran into my informant, and he told me that Virginia Rails were back at the usual spot (not saying where), so I walked over there, made a few grunt calls and had a response (and some bush rustling) from one or two rails which were right in front of me. And like my informant, once I knew that they were there, I left them to themselves. 

Back in the Antrim Bogs, hard by the Fort Dix border, I had a good number of Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, visual of a croaking Common Raven, a calling Red-shouldered Hawk, and a Cooper's Hawk mobbed by blackbirds. 

In all 42 species on my hike from the county line, past the Upper Reservoir, along the Antrim Bogs, and then a walk around what we still call Otter Pond, even though it is acres of grassland now. 

Canada Goose  2
Wood Duck  4
Mallard  5
Mourning Dove  2
Virginia Rail  1     1+
Killdeer  1
Double-crested Cormorant  4     One in Second Reservoir three flyover
Turkey Vulture  1
Cooper's Hawk  1     Mobbed by blackbirds
Red-shouldered Hawk  1     
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  5
Common Raven  1     
Carolina Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  2
Tree Swallow  10
Red-breasted Nuthatch  3     Little Tank & Antrim Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  7
Carolina Wren  1
Brown Thrasher  1
Eastern Bluebird  1
American Robin  1
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  1
Savannah Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  5
Swamp Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  75     All over. Not especially high count for distance walked & time of year
Red-winged Blackbird  40
Common Grackle  1
Ovenbird  2
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  50
Palm Warbler  1
Pine Warbler  4
Prairie Warbler  1