November in Review--A Make-do Month

Or catch as catch can, not to be confused with Ketchikan in Alaska. Because my uxorious duties came first this month, ferrying Shari to doctor appointments, physical therapy, and outings to friends, as well as staying close to home to assist her with quotidian tasks, I had to squeeze in my birding with make do spots, like the pond on Stonybrook, or the Whiting WMA behind the house. Even when I felt comfortable enough to leave her, early in the morning, I didn't want to stray too far from home in case I had to get back fast (which, happily, never happened). 

Hooded Mergansers, Pond on Stonybrook

Belted Kingfisher, Pond on Stonybrook

Great Egret, Pond on Stonybrook

So, I found my amusements where I could, whether it was Hooded Mergansers, a late Great Egret, and a Belted Kingfisher on the Stonybrook retention pond, or fighting young tom turkeys this afternoon in the back yard. Of the four year-birds added this month, the most spectacular was New Jersey's first Limpkin, which I was lucky enough to see just two days before the Monmouth SPCA determined it was malnourished (no apple snails hereabouts) and dehydrated and brought it to an avian rehabilitator. (What the rehabilitator will do if the bird gets well is an open question. I doubt there are funds to fly it back to Florida. Mike's suggestion was to donate it to a zoo.)

Young toms fighting in the backyard.

But the bird that pleased me the most was the American Pipit I found one morning last week at Whitesbog on the dam between the Lower & Middle Bogs. I was driving along when I saw a bird in front of me bobbing its tail. My first thought was Palm Warbler (tail bobbing) but I immediately saw it was too big and not yellow and said "Pipit" to myself just as it flew away, flashing its white outer tail feathers. I go long periods between pipit sightings, and to find one "on my own" is much more pleasurable than having it pointed out to me, or, more typically, have its call identified as it zips overhead. 

The dearth of waterfowl at Whitesbog, Reeves Bogs, Double Trouble, and Colliers Mills has been extremely disappointing, and the tiny numbers of Tundra Swans disturbing. I found I was only listing about half the number of species that I would expect of whatever kind of bird in all these places. Even our feeders have not been very active of late. So, with those conditions, it doesn't surprise me that my 107 species this month is the lowest November number I've had since 2012, and back then, I'd skip a day or two of birding. 

Counties birded: Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean

Species   First Sighting
Brant   Island Beach SP
Canada Goose   Berkeley Island County Park
Mute Swan   Wrangle Brook
Tundra Swan   Whitesbog
Wood Duck   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Shoveler   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Gadwall   Colliers Mills WMA
Mallard   Horicon Lake
American Black Duck   Double Trouble SP
Green-winged Teal   Double Trouble SP
Canvasback   Whitesbog
Ring-necked Duck   Whitesbog
Black Scoter   Island Beach SP
Bufflehead   Colliers Mills WMA
Hooded Merganser   Crestwood Village
Red-breasted Merganser   Island Beach SP
Ruddy Duck   Whitesbog
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Ring-necked Pheasant   Colliers Mills WMA
Pied-billed Grebe   Whitesbog
Rock Pigeon   Wawa South Toms River
Mourning Dove   Berkeley Island County Park
American Coot   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Limpkin   Manasquan
Killdeer   Horicon Lake
Greater Yellowlegs   Cranberry Bogs
Sanderling   Island Beach SP
Dunlin   Island Beach SP
Pectoral Sandpiper   Whitesbog
Parasitic Jaeger   Island Beach SP
Bonaparte's Gull   Island Beach SP
Laughing Gull   Berkeley Island County Park
Ring-billed Gull   Monmouth Medical Center
Herring Gull   Berkeley Island County Park
Great Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern   Island Beach SP
Royal Tern   Island Beach SP
Red-throated Loon   Island Beach SP
Common Loon   Berkeley Island County Park
Northern Gannet   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Berkeley Island County Park
Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP
Great Egret   Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron   Berkeley Island County Park
Black Vulture   Crestwood Village
Turkey Vulture   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Northern Harrier   Island Beach SP
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Island Beach SP
Cooper's Hawk   35 Sunset Rd
Bald Eagle   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Rough-legged Hawk   BC Fairgrounds
Great Horned Owl   35 Sunset Rd
Belted Kingfisher   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Double Trouble SP
Northern Flicker   Double Trouble SP
Merlin   Island Beach SP
Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe   Double Trouble SP
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   BC Fairgrounds
Common Raven   Cranberry Bogs
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Colliers Mills WMA
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Double Trouble SP
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Island Beach SP
Brown Creeper   35 Sunset Rd
Winter Wren   Double Trouble SP
Carolina Wren   Double Trouble SP
European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird   Island Beach SP
Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird   Berkeley Island County Park
Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA
Hermit Thrush   Double Trouble SP
American Robin   Double Trouble SP
Cedar Waxwing   Colliers Mills WMA
House Sparrow   Monmouth Medical Center
American Pipit   Whitesbog
House Finch   Berkeley Island County Park
Pine Siskin   Cranberry Bogs
American Goldfinch   Colliers Mills WMA
Chipping Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Field Sparrow   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Dark-eyed Junco   Berkeley Island County Park
White-throated Sparrow   Berkeley Island County Park
Savannah Sparrow   Double Trouble SP
Song Sparrow   Berkeley Island County Park
Swamp Sparrow   Berkeley Island County Park
Eastern Towhee   Double Trouble SP
Eastern Meadowlark   BC Fairgrounds
Baltimore Oriole   Eno's Pond
Red-winged Blackbird   Berkeley Island County Park
Brown-headed Cowbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Grackle   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Yellowthroat   Island Beach SP
Palm Warbler   Double Trouble SP
Pine Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Double Trouble SP
Northern Cardinal   Double Trouble SP

Kvetching

It is better to light one candle

Than to curse the darkness...

But not as much fun.

Manasquan 11/15--Limpkin

On one shoulder, Rational Larry kept whispering in my ear, "It's just a bird. It's not a life bird. You've seen plenty of them." On the other shoulder, Birder Larry (a.k.a Irrational Larry), was shouting, "It's a GREAT bird. FIRST in the fricking state! It's only 23 miles away!" They were both talking about the Limpkin, of course, which was first found on Sunday, then seen by multitudes the last couple of days while I stuck close to home as Shari recovers from knee surgery. 

There seems to be two schools of thought on this bird. Some people report that it doesn't look well and just stands around without eating. Others, including me this afternoon, saw it constantly picking at the ground, presumably eating.  What it is eating is another question, since its main food source in Florida is apple snails of which there is a dearth in New Jersey. Worms? Slugs? Whatever it's eating, there must be a lot of them in that neighborhood in Manasquan because for the fourth day the Limpkin was still around. So, when Shari's friend came to visit around noon, Birder Larry said hello/goodbye and drove 45 minutes up Routes 70 & 35 to see if he could add this bird to his Year/Monmouth County/New Jersey lists. 

The bird, I was glad to hear, had moved from the backyards of the neighborhood (I hate walking around a residential neighborhood looking for a bird, even if the homeowners are friendly) and to a field very close to Route 35. In fact, 100 more feet and the bird would've been in the middle of the highway. I made a right off the highway and immediately saw two birders with scope and camera, looking and shooting, so I knew I'd at least see the bird. I didn't think the bird would be right in front of me when I crossed the street. It seemed to have no fear or interest in onlookers, as it constantly picked at the soil. I knew one of the birders, otherwise I probably wouldn't have stayed there as long as I did--7 minutes. It is a great bird, it is a great addition to the lists, but, that was driving, not birding.  

As to the Western Cattle Egret seen nearby at the National Guard Training Center, no thanks, seen plenty of Cattle Egrets in my time (though not since they got split into Western & Eastern species). As to the Sage Thrasher at Brig--it would be a good addition to the Jersey list, but it's not even a year bird (Oregon) and, under the circumstances, just too far. 

Whitesbog 11/13--Canvasback (Patch Bird)

Canvasback, Union Pond

For the last week I have been, as my ex-Marine friend would say, "confined to quarters," attending to Shari after her knee replacement surgery. (A note of advice: Take care of your knees. The recovery from this surgery involves excruciating pain. "Some discomfort" my ass.) Aside from trips to CVS for her drugs and Wawa for ice, I haven't been able to leave the house, so my birding has been limited to our backyard, but today I was able to get out for a bit and go to Whitesbog. I wanted to see if the Tundra Swans had come back yet. The answer is a qualified "yes" as there was only one swan in the lower bog. As the sixth law of birding states: "You only need one," but that is a disappointing number for this time of year.

However, I did add a patch bird to my list. Since, aside from my backyard, I have more lists from Whitesbog (both sides, Burlington and Ocean Counties combined) than any other spot, this is not an insignificant event. It was also my 200th bird for the combined patch list. I intended to just walk around Union Pond given my limited time. I was on the dam between it and the Middle Bog when a guy (who had used "my" parking spot at the double-laned road) stopped and asked me why no birds were singing. I was explaining that most birds don't sing in November, when I saw that the white lump in the middle of the pond was not just a weird reflection, but the body of a Canvasback. I told him I couldn't talk to him anymore as there was a rare duck in the water and walked to the edge to get a better look. Canvasbacks aren't really rare in Burlington, but they are scarce at Whitesbog. I didn't know it at the time, but this one turned up yesterday. I haven't been keeping track of the birds around lately--why torture myself?--so this duck was a complete surprise to me. I was able to get a doc shot of the duck. I then walked around the pond to the other side, hoping for a better angle. I should have known better, since I was facing into the sun then, but, I did see a large flock of Ring-necked Ducks from that side, with the Canvasback, in the silly phrase often used on eBird, "loosely associating" with them. I guess that is supposed to indicate that the duck was more or less in the vicinity of the flock of its aythya cousins. At one point the whole flock got up and flew briefly, and the huge Canvasback, compared to the Ring-necks, was obvious. Also, "loosely associating" with a flock of American Goldfinches on the back side of the pond and in Ditch Meadow, were a few Pine Siskins, my first of the year in Burlco. So, in all, a productive 65 minutes before I had to leave to buy more ice at Wawa, even if my count was a mere 19 species.

Tundra Swan  1
Mallard  2
Canvasback  1    
Ring-necked Duck  35
Bufflehead  3
Ruddy Duck  8     Middle Bog
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Killdeer  1
Bald Eagle  2
Northern Flicker  1
American Crow  3
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Hermit Thrush  2
Pine Siskin  3     
American Goldfinch  15
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Song Sparrow  2

Tundra Swan, Lower Bog

My Latest Favorite Bird Names

Sometimes I just hit the "Surprise Me" button on the species pages of eBird to get a random bird. I might find all the funny names of cisticolas (bubbling, chattering, chirping, churring, croaking, etc. all the way to zitting) or species like the Inaccessible Island Finch or the Inaccessible Island Rail which leads one to wonder how anyone ever found them if they're so inaccessible. 

Perplexing Scrubwren was a recent favorite of mine but the two best, so far, have to be:

Mysterious Starling

Conservation status: Extinct

Invisible Rail

Number of sightings: 0

BC Fairgrounds 11/5--Rough-legged Hawk

I have been informed that
this is actually a Red-tailed Hawk.
However, I did see the real
Rough-legged in flight later

The universe went back into sync the other day when a Rough-legged Hawk showed up at the Burlington County Fairgrounds. Every year the grasslands of the former Mercer Sod Farm hosts this tundra breeding species, but this winter, one didn't show up. The Fairgrounds are where Shari & I got our lifer Rough-leg, after numerous trips, and almost every year since then, I've stopped by to find one, a kind of sentimental journey. 

This morning, early, I made the trip out there and immediately ran into a couple of birders I know that I hadn't seen in quite a while. I was hanging around the little pond (which has signage around it that says "Meadow Habitat" which is like labeling my lawn a forest), hoping to see the American Bittern that had also been reported. I thought it might be a little early for the hawk to be up and about as there were no thermals yet. We exchanged phone numbers and they went off to search out the hawk while I circled the pond. Just as I had made one turn around it I got a call that they thought they had the bird. I drove over and looked in their scope and saw a preening hawk with a dark belly and the distinctive white at the base of the tail. I put the bird in my scope (ain't official until it's in my scope) and managed a decent digiscope. Great, a really good-looking hard-to-find bird on the list.  (That makes 2 for the month; yesterday the sharp eyes & identification skills of Jason D found a Parasitic Jaeger at IBSP on Scott's NJA trip). 

I then walked the fence line, looking for more hawks and what-not (the what-not turned out to be a couple of Eastern Meadowlarks, always a nice bird to see). A birder stopped and said that the bittern had been showing nicely a few minutes ago, so I quick-stepped it back there only to hear that it had slunk back into the reeds. Then I got a phone call from another birder who told me that he had just seen it--he drove up and said we were in the right place (but it was the wrong time). I hung out for a while, walked halfway around the pond, and the bittern still didn't come out. 

I went back to my car, scoped some more, saw the Rough-legged Hawk soaring over Rt 206, found a Merlin on the weather station tower, then drove back to the pond for a third try at the bittern. While I stood there I thought, "I've seen a couple of bitterns this year. I've seen bittern in Burlington County in the past. Is it going to make a difference in my life if I see an American Bittern in Burlington County this year? Did it make a difference in my life that last time I saw an American Bittern in Manahawkin? In Budd's Bogs?" When you start having these kinds of thoughts, the only thing to do is what I did next: get in the car and go.