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