July Wrap-up: And I Thought June Was Dull

Seaside Sparrow, Manahawkin WMA

Aside from a couple of trips to Brig, where I was happy to add American Avocet to the Jersey year-list, I spent July traipsing through cranberry bogs--Whitesbog, Reeves Bogs, Jumping Brook Preserve, Double Trouble and the unnamed bogs on Dover Road. And in all those bogs I saw pretty much what I'd expect to see this time of year. The weather makes a difference. Last year we were in such a drought that the old bogs at Whitesbog were evaporating pretty quickly and then, because the farmer needed the water, he started to pump them out. Consequently, there were plenty of shorebirds to look at. This year, the bogs remain full and thus, no shorebird activity. In fact, aside from a Spotted Sandpiper at Reeves, I didn't see one shorebird at any of the bogs. They're all high with water (Jumping Brook, thanks to beavers, is impassable unless you have thigh-high boots), except for one breached bog on Dover Road which had shorebirds in the spring, on their way north, but none have stopped on the southbound trip. 

Green Heron, Cranberry Bogs

So, my two new birds this month were the long-staying Black-bellied Whistling Duck at Cedar Point (as of yesterday, still hanging around) and the Sandwich Terns in Point Pleasant Beach, which also seem in no hurry to leave. I avoided the ocean this month, so I had no shot at shearwaters. To keep myself entertained, I made a little game of finding birds that, while not rare, are only in a few locations--Red-headed Woodpecker a few times at both Colliers Mills and South Park Road (on the side of another old cranberry bog), Hooded Warbler at Colliers Mills, and Virginia Rail a couple of times at Reeves Bogs. I was also lucky with owls--one morning at Whitesbog I saw a Great Horned Owl chased by a blackbird and last week, getting to Reeves just at dawn I heard an Eastern Screech-Owl. And our whip-poor-will has not sung since early in the month which I take with some consternation, since in the past they have been reliable through the middle of September. 

For the month, 124 species.

Counties Birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean

Species                                      First Sighting
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck   Cedar Point
Canada Goose   Reeves Bogs
Mute Swan   Cedar Point
Wood Duck   Jumping Brook Preserve
Mallard   Reeves Bogs
American Black Duck   Brig
Wild Turkey    Whiting
Rock Pigeon   South Toms River
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Reeves Bogs
Common Nighthawk   Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Jumping Brook Preserve
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Brig
Virginia Rail   Reeves Bogs
American Avocet   Brig
American Oystercatcher   Brig
Black-bellied Plover   Brig
Killdeer   Brig
Whimbrel   Brig
Stilt Sandpiper   Brig
Least Sandpiper   Brig
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig
Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Spotted Sandpiper   Reeves Bogs
Greater Yellowlegs   Brig
Willet   Brig
Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig
Laughing Gull    Tabernacle
Ring-billed Gull   Brig
Herring Gull   Cedar Point
Great Black-backed Gull   Brig
Least Tern   Brig
Gull-billed Tern   Brig
Caspian Tern   Brig
Common Tern   Brig
Forster's Tern   Cedar Point
Royal Tern   Baltimore Avenue
Sandwich Tern   Baltimore Avenue
Black Skimmer   Brig
Double-crested Cormorant   Cedar Point
Great Blue Heron   Reeves Bogs
Great Egret   Cedar Point
Snowy Egret   Brig
Little Blue Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Tricolored Heron   Brig
Green Heron   Jumping Brook Preserve
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig
Glossy Ibis   Brig
Black Vulture   Pond on Schoolhouse Road
Turkey Vulture    Tabernacle
Osprey   Brig
Bald Eagle   Brig
Red-shouldered Hawk   Jumping Brook Preserve
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Screech-Owl   Reeves Bogs
Great Horned Owl   Whitesbog
Belted Kingfisher   Cedar Point
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Double Trouble SP
Northern Flicker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Merlin   Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Wood-Pewee   Jumping Brook Preserve
Willow Flycatcher   Brig
Eastern Phoebe   Reeves Bogs
Great Crested Flycatcher   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Kingbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
White-eyed Vireo   Jumping Brook Preserve
Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue Jay   Jumping Brook Preserve
American Crow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Chickadee   Jumping Brook Preserve
Tufted Titmouse   Jumping Brook Preserve
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
Purple Martin   Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters
Tree Swallow   Reeves Bogs
Bank Swallow   Brig
Barn Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
White-breasted Nuthatch   Jumping Brook Preserve
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Reeves Bogs
House Wren   Colliers Mills WMA
Marsh Wren   Brig
Carolina Wren   Jumping Brook Preserve
European Starling   Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters
Gray Catbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Brown Thrasher   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Mockingbird   South Park Rd
Eastern Bluebird   Reeves Bogs
Veery   Double Trouble SP
Wood Thrush   Jumping Brook Preserve
American Robin   Jumping Brook Preserve
Cedar Waxwing   Jumping Brook Preserve
House Sparrow   Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   Jumping Brook Preserve
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Seaside Sparrow   Brig
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Brig
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow   Reeves Bogs
Eastern Towhee   Jumping Brook Preserve
Orchard Oriole   Cranberry Bogs
Red-winged Blackbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Brown-headed Cowbird   Reeves Bogs
Common Grackle   Jumping Brook Preserve
Boat-tailed Grackle   Brig
Ovenbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Black-and-white Warbler   Whitesbog
Common Yellowthroat   Jumping Brook Preserve
Hooded Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow Warbler   Manahawkin WMA
Pine Warbler   Jumping Brook Preserve
Prairie Warbler   Reeves Bogs
Scarlet Tanager   Reeves Bogs
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd
Blue Grosbeak   Colliers Mills WMA
Indigo Bunting   Colliers Mills WMA