October Review--Barrier Island Edition

Fully half the species I saw this month were from Island Beach SP, and most of those were listed on the first day of the month on Scott's NJ Audubon trip. Throw in three trips to Cedar Bonnet Island, a couple of trips to Holgate on the south end of LBI and a trip to the north end at Barnegat Lighthouse SP and almost all my birds this month were from barrier islands. Of the 5 year birds this month, 3 of them came from that great trip on 10/1--the Lark Sparrow, the Dickcissel, and my first life bird since Oregon, the CORY'S SHEARWATER. 

The other two species I listed this month were Bobolink on Cedar Bonnet Island and Nelson's Sparrow down at the end of Great Bay Blvd where they're fairly reliable this time of year, albeit frustratingly elusive, running through the spartina like mice instead of flying around like any other self-respecting sparrow. 

There were, though, a few sightings this month that amused me for one reason or another (and amusement, when you boil it all down, is the point of all this folderol). 

In the middle of the month Shari & I had to spend a lost, rainy weekend in Dobbs Ferry, NY, for reasons too dull to go into here, where the highlight of the trip (aside from leaving) was crossing the Tappan Zee Bridge (aka The Mario S. Cuomo Bridge) on our way home and seeing a Bald Eagle fly over the Hudson. I was astonished to discover, upon looking at my eBird records, that it was a state lifer, the first Bald Eagle I'd ever seen in New York State. Upon reflection, I realized it wasn't all that amazing since when we lived in NY we rarely ventured outside the 5 boroughs and eagles, at least 12+ years ago, were not a humdrum sighting as they are here. It was also, my first Rockland County listing ever. As I said, we rarely left the city limits to do our birding back then. 

I hardly ever go into the Whiting WMA behind our house anymore because I pretty much know what I'm going to find back there. But last week I took a long walk around it and no surprise, found what I expected--Pine Warblers, chickadees, titmice, bluebirds, jays, woodpeckers, and so on. However, at the pond that is back there I saw four American Black Ducks. I've seen Wood Ducks back there, ring-necks, Hooded Mergansers, & Mallards, of course, but to my memory I'd never seen black ducks until last week. I checked when I got home, and I was right. They are the 100th species listed in that hot spot, of which I have seen 97. (I have to say that I am dubious about the Red-headed Woodpecker listing, but I can't disprove it and it isn't totally out of the question.) I also saw 6 Great Blue Herons fly out of the trees at the pond, so there may be a roost back there, but I'm not that motivated to traipse back again to find out. 

Eared Grebe
Manasquan Reservoir

I took a walk around the Manasquan Reservoir this month, and just to see if I could do it, looked for the Eared Grebe that was reported. Lots and lots of Ruddy Ducks in the SW corner and, true to the rule, just as I gave up, what should float into my scope view but the Eared Grebe. I managed a digiscope photo, but since it wasn't even a year bird (Oregon), it wasn't noteworthy enough for a full entry. It isn't exactly an accomplishment to find a bird that is supposed to be there. 

On Sunday, I found myself at Stafford Forge. I was hoping for ducks in the reservoir there, but my hopes were without feathers. Walking around the big field in the front, I saw a bird skulk off the path into the woods. Immediately I recognized it as a Chukar, and of course, knew I couldn't count it, but, if you want to be amused, there's the bird that will do it for you. I can't help but anthropomorphize and think that this survivor (obviously, they are released in the WMA) was giving me a baleful look over its shoulder, as if to say, "I got this far without being killed, are you going to give me grief too?" It is a pretty bird; I wish I'd seen one out west where they are countable.

Chukar, Stafford Forge

And speaking of countable: eBird did its taxonomy revision this month. I knew I was going to "lose" one species when the Pacific-slope and Corderillan flycatchers were lumped together as Western Flycatcher, but I didn't realize that the Cattle Egrets I saw in Australia were now distinct from the Cattle Egrets I've seen everywhere else, or that the Intermediate Egret I saw in South Africa was now Yellow-billed Egret, whereas the ones I saw in Australia are now Plumed Egret, or that the Gull-billed Terns we saw in Australia are no longer Gull-billed Terns but are rather Australian Terns. That made for a net gain of 2 birds on my life list. 

For this month, barring any splits or lumps, I listed 139 species:

Species   First Sighting
Brant   Great Bay Blvd
Canada Goose   Island Beach SP
Mute Swan   Cedar Bonnet Island
Wood Duck   Reeves Bogs
American Wigeon   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Mallard   Island Beach SP
American Black Duck   Cedar Bonnet Island
Green-winged Teal   Island Beach SP
Ring-necked Duck   Deer Head Lake
Lesser Scaup   Assunpink WMA
Black Scoter   Island Beach SP
Bufflehead   Bamber Lake
Hooded Merganser   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Red-breasted Merganser   Island Beach SP
Ruddy Duck   Whitesbog
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Pied-billed Grebe   Whitesbog
Eared Grebe   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Rock Pigeon   South Toms River
Mourning Dove   South Toms River
Clapper Rail   Island Beach SP
American Coot   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
American Oystercatcher   Holgate
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Killdeer   Double Trouble SP
Semipalmated Plover   Island Beach SP
Piping Plover   Holgate
Greater Yellowlegs   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Sanderling   Island Beach SP
Dunlin   Island Beach SP
White-rumped Sandpiper   Holgate
Least Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Holgate
Laughing Gull   Island Beach SP
Ring-billed Gull   Island Beach SP
Herring Gull   Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Caspian Tern   Holgate
Forster's Tern   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Tern   Island Beach SP
Royal Tern   Island Beach SP
Common Loon   Island Beach SP
CORY'S SHEARWATER   Island Beach SP
Northern Gannet   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Island Beach SP
Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP
Yellow-crowned Night Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Black-crowned Night Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron   Island Beach SP
Snowy Egret   Island Beach SP
Great Egret   Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron   Island Beach SP
White Ibis   Island Beach SP
Black Vulture   Lake Takanassee
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog
Osprey   Island Beach SP
Northern Harrier   Holgate
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Island Beach SP
Cooper's Hawk   Double Trouble SP
Bald Eagle   Tappan Zee Bridge
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Wawa Lakehurst
Belted Kingfisher   Island Beach SP
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Cranberry Bogs
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Downy Woodpecker   Island Beach SP
Hairy Woodpecker   Horicon Lake
Northern Flicker   Island Beach SP
Merlin   Island Beach SP
Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP
Eastern Wood-Pewee   Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe   Island Beach SP
White-eyed Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue-headed Vireo   Island Beach SP
Red-eyed Vireo   Island Beach SP
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   Horicon Lake
Fish Crow   Whitesbog
Common Raven   Double Trouble SP
Carolina Chickadee   Island Beach SP
Tufted Titmouse   Colliers Mills WMA
Horned Lark   Holgate
Tree Swallow   Island Beach SP
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Island Beach SP
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Island Beach SP
White-breasted Nuthatch   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Cedar Bonnet Island
Brown Creeper   Island Beach SP
House Wren   Island Beach SP
Winter Wren   Reeves Bogs
Marsh Wren   Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   South Toms River
Gray Catbird   Island Beach SP
Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird   Island Beach SP
Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA
Hermit Thrush   Island Beach SP
American Robin   Island Beach SP
Cedar Waxwing   Island Beach SP
House Sparrow   Island Beach SP
House Finch   Colliers Mills WMA
Pine Siskin   Double Trouble SP
American Goldfinch   Island Beach SP
Chipping Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Clay-colored Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Field Sparrow   Double Trouble SP
Lark Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Dark-eyed Junco   Island Beach SP
White-crowned Sparrow   Island Beach SP
White-throated Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Nelson's Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Savannah Sparrow   Whitesbog
Song Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Lincoln's Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Swamp Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Eastern Towhee   Colliers Mills WMA
Bobolink   Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-winged Blackbird   Island Beach SP
Common Grackle   Meadowedge Park
Boat-tailed Grackle   Island Beach SP
Black-and-white Warbler   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Yellowthroat   Island Beach SP
American Redstart   Island Beach SP
Cape May Warbler   Island Beach SP
Magnolia Warbler   Island Beach SP
Bay-breasted Warbler   Island Beach SP
Black-throated Blue Warbler   Island Beach SP
Palm Warbler   Island Beach SP
Pine Warbler   Island Beach SP
Yellow-rumped Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Wilson's Warbler   Island Beach SP
Northern Cardinal   Island Beach SP
Rose-breasted Grosbeak   Island Beach SP
Indigo Bunting   Island Beach SP
Dickcissel   Island Beach SP

A Difference Between Birding & Mothing

Violet Dart
The blue shadows are an effect of the early morning light.

Yesterday morning I noticed this moth on the front of our house. It looked both unusual and familiar--I thought maybe I'd seen it before, either on the local Wawa wall or last year when my brother, the entomologist, set up his lights overnight. I couldn't find a picture of it in my hodge-podge collection of insects, so, as I usually do, I sent it to Harry.

It turned out to be a Violet Dart, a somewhat uncommon moth, with most records being from Massachusetts and New Jersey and most of those records clustered along the coast. That is, it isn't really a Pine Barrens species, though we obviously have lots of sand, which they prefer. I posted it on iNaturalist, since it was so unusual.

My brother doesn't think he's ever seen one, and if my brother hasn't seen one, that means that lots of lepidopterists haven't either. If I had found the avian equivalent of this moth, I'm not exactly sure what that might be but let's say a Painted Bunting, I'd be making appointments for birders to come see it at our house. But with a moth--no big reaction. They're here, they're gone, and staking out my property is a losing game. Besides, as my brother has pointed out, the area around our house is loaded with rare insects. So is yours. We just have to look harder for them. Some species may have already gone extinct outside your window. 

A little story about the word "mothing." Vladimir Nabokov, arguably the 20th century's greatest novelist, was also an expert lepidopterist (there is a whole set of butterflies that he did work on referred to as "Nabokov's blues"). His first novel written in English, Bend Sinister, was published in 1947. The last line of this rather pessimistic book about political tyranny is

                                                                                        A good night for mothing.

"Mothing" was a word virtually unknown in the late 40's.  The copy editor changed it to "nothing" assuming it was a typo, especially given the overall tone of the story. And yet, that one letter, n, changes the whole meaning of the ending. Fortunately, Nabokov, a stickler if there ever was one, changed it back. STET. Given the state of copy editing and proofreading nowadays (there is none), it gives me some perverse comfort that even 75 years ago, there were these potentially terrible lapses. 

Cedar Bonnet Island 10/5--Bobolinks

Bobolinks

I hadn't even heard a "plink" all year. That's usually how I get my first Bobolink of the year, standing in a bog with the Burlco Boys when one of them calls my attention to the call of a Bobolink speeding by overhead.  I was thinking that this morning, walking around Cedar Bonnet Island, which, through most of September had reports of Bobolink, yet the couple of times I was there, I never saw or even heard one. I figured my chances for that bird this year had pretty much gone by now. Which is the recipe for finding the bird: You must truly give up. 

I didn't expect warblers this morning--it's getting late in migration and the number of birds crossing Ocean County last night, according to BirdCast, was ridiculously low. I got there just at dawn and not much was moving around in the trees. The center of the island has been replanted with native grasses and trees, and this is usually a good place to look for sparrows--which were in abundance, but only Song & Savannah. Then, sitting in some bare trees, illuminated by the harsh, rising sun, I saw some sparrowish  that I didn't recognize.  They were extraordinarily yellow, which I at first thought was due to the sunlight, but soon saw that was their coloration, perhaps accentuated by the yellow orb behind me. But I couldn't figure out what they were. I knew what they were not--sparrows, Dickcissels (5 Dickcissels would be record-shattering), blackbirds, though they did kind of look like icterids, meadowlarks...I took pictures, from a distance (it's always from a distance), and, just as they flew off, the penny dropped: Bobolinks!

Bobolinks, of course, molt into plumage in the fall that is completely different from their reversed tuxedo breeding plumage, and not seeing them all that often, I was slow to identify them.  So I felt simultaneously happy & dumb. 

Cedar Bonnet was supposed to be a quick stop, because I planned a long walk at Holgate, on the south end of LBI--10 miles that seems like 50 to me. And a good thing I planned a short walk, because as I was leaving, a school bus dumped 30 teenagers out at the entrance (no idea what kind of class trip this was) and when I got to the parking lot, the photographers were out in full force, getting ready to march in. 

Piping Plover

My semiannual walk on Holgate (I usually go once in the winter, once in the early fall) was pretty good. Nothing much in the ocean, but the bayside and the beach had more shorebirds than I expected, including 6 Piping Plovers, which surprised me, as I think of them as summer birds.  One of the reasons, though, that Holgate is inaccessible in summer is that the Piping Plovers nest there, as they do on the northern end of the island at Barnegat Light. So I guess these were lingerers.

For the two stops, 35 species.

Canada Goose
Mallard
American Black Duck
Green-winged Teal
American Oystercatcher
Semipalmated Plover
Piping Plover
Sanderling
White-rumped Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Laughing Gull
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Lesser Black-backed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Caspian Tern
Double-crested Cormorant
Brown Pelican
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Northern Harrier
Belted Kingfisher
Northern Flicker
Merlin
Carolina Wren
Gray Catbird
American Robin
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Bobolink
Common Yellowthroat
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler

Island Beach SP 10/1--CORY'S SHEARWATER, Lark Sparrow, Dickcissel

Scott advertised a "flash" trip to Island Beach SP the other day, as the winds and weather were predicted to be favorable--after a week of rain, just dryness would be favorable. I'm always hoping that, surrounded by experts, I'll get birds I might normally "see" on my own but would be reluctant to identify. That was the case today, as I got an unlikely life bird in the CORY'S SHEARWATER that one birder found flying offshore and that Scott was able to distinguish from the slightly more likely Great Shearwater or Sooty Shearwater (which I've seen off the beach a few times).  That was completely unexpected. We followed the bird off-shore for a good bit, then dropped it as it swooped behind the swells, only to reappear a few minutes later, much closer to shore where we able to study its wings and coloring. Since I know virtually nothing about shearwaters, I was completely reliant on Scott and Carole to point out the field marks on a bird that this non-pelagic birder never expected to see.

Earlier in the day, just starting the trip, we spend a long time in the alley that runs along the northern border of the park--this strip of grass, with reeds on one side and the backyards of houses on the other, is often productive and today was no exception. We found a Lark Sparrow, possibly the same one that Steve found last week in more or less the same spot, along with many sparrows--someone turned on the White-throated Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco spigot last night, as these birds, made their FOS appearances for me. 

BirdCast reported that 1,876,000 birds passed through Ocean County last night. Obviously, not that many landed. While we didn't do Reed's Road (too many cars in the parking lot when got there) we did do its cousin, the Tidal Pond trail, and while there were a few warblers scattered around, there wasn't an abundance of them compared to the sparrows, or even the kinglets, both flavors, which were fluttering all about us. While on the trail Scott pointed out the flatulent call of a Dickcissel flying overhead. If it wasn't such a distinctive (and funny) sound, I'd be reluctant to count it but a bird that gives you the raspberries while zipping unseen overhead just has to be put on the list. 

White Ibis

I also added to my Ocean County year list--the 3 species above, of course, but also, finally, a White Ibis on Spizzle Creek trail (and a patch bird too), a Wilson's Warbler in the magic alley (I'd only see this species in Oregon this year), & a Lincoln's Sparrow mixed in with the junco and white-throats along the relatively dry part of the Spizzle Creek trail. 

For the day I counted 73 species there...I missed a couple of warblers and some other birds off shore or zipping by too fast for me, but, with a life bird in my home state and home county, it was an extremely satisfying day, probably one of the top 10 birding days of the year. 

Mallard  1
Green-winged Teal  10     Ocean
Rock Pigeon  5
Mourning Dove  2
Clapper Rail  1     Heard Spizzle
Semipalmated Plover  2
Sanderling  65
Dunlin  1
Laughing Gull  5
Ring-billed Gull  1
Herring Gull  100
Lesser Black-backed Gull  6
Great Black-backed Gull  40
Royal Tern  1
Common Loon  1     Ocean
CORY'S SHEARWATER  1     Shearwater with no collar all dark above. flap & soar. 
Double-crested Cormorant  30
Brown Pelican  13
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  9
Snowy Egret  1
Little Blue Heron  2
Tricolored Heron  1
White Ibis  1     Spizzle
Osprey  4
Sharp-shinned Hawk  1
Belted Kingfisher  2
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  10
Merlin  2
Peregrine Falcon  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1     Spizzle
Eastern Phoebe  3
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tree Swallow  10
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  8
Golden-crowned Kinglet  6
Brown Creeper  1
House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  3
Gray Catbird  30
Brown Thrasher  2
Northern Mockingbird  2
American Robin  1
Cedar Waxwing  20
House Sparrow  2
American Goldfinch  1
Chipping Sparrow  1
Clay-colored Sparrow  1     Visitors center
Lark Sparrow  1     Harlequin face pattern. In alley just on edge of park
Dark-eyed Junco  4
White-crowned Sparrow  1     Immature. Brown on the head   Clear breast pink bill. 
White-throated Sparrow  35
Song Sparrow  5
Lincoln's Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Boat-tailed Grackle  5
Common Yellowthroat  1
American Redstart  1
Cape May Warbler  3     Exact count  2 on tidal pond trail. 1 on Spizzle
Magnolia Warbler  1
Bay-breasted Warbler  2
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1
Palm Warbler  2
Pine Warbler  1
Wilson's Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  1
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  2
Indigo Bunting  2     Johnny Allen & Spizzle
Dickcissel  1     Flatulent call. Flyover

Semipalmated Plover