August Wrap-up--3 States, 7 Year Birds

Shari with a Rumble Pig

Shari & I birded three states this month (four, technically, if you count the House Sparrows I listed at two rest stops in Pennsylvania). Beside New Jersey and Delaware, we spent a couple of days in the Binghamton, NY area where birding was a secondary consideration. Binghamton is the carousel capitol of the country (six in the area, all free), and the Mets have a Double A minor league team there (the Rumble Ponies, which are what merry-go-round horses are called there), plus a funny little zoo. A late friend of mine & I had a theory that any city is interesting for two days, and so it was for Binghamton. But we did get some birding in. Our hotel was on the Chenango River, not far from its confluence with the Susquehanna River. It was peculiar to see Common Mergansers in August on the river, and one morning we spent birding the Binghamton University Nature Refuge where we found Shari's year Pileated Woodpecker and saw a Red-tailed Hawk with a snake in its talons streaming behind it as it flew before landing in a snag and having a meal of it.

I bookended the month with year birds not documented in the blog--a White-faced Ibis at Manahawkin which I probably would never have found in the huge Glossy Ibis flock without some kindly help, and this morning, at Whitesbog, birding with eyes sharper than mine, a Tennessee Warbler, which is just the second one I've seen there.   

In years past I would have spent virtually every day at Whitesbog with the bogs drawn down, but drought & beavers have made it impossible for the farmer to accommodate the birders. However, Union Pond, to which the water has been cut off, has dried up nicely and over the last few days many rare shorebirds have made an appearance there, including, while I was in Delaware, two flyover Hudsonian Godwits! Yesterday, I went there and was lucky enough to see a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, the second one reported there this month, so my wish to see one at Whitesbog was fulfilled. Now the Lower Bog is being pumped out in anticipation of the cranberry harvest mid-month, so I'll be spending more time there, hoping for a September to remember.    

For the month, 144 species:

Counties birded:

Delaware: Kent

New Jersey: Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean

New York: Broome

Sandhill Cranes, Bear Swamp Pool, Bombay Hook
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Species                 First Sighting
Canada Goose   Manahawkin WMA
Mute Swan   Manahawkin WMA
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook
Gadwall   Bombay Hook
Mallard   Manahawkin WMA
American Black Duck   Manahawkin WMA
Green-winged Teal   Bombay Hook
Common Eider   Island Beach SP
Common Merganser   Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Promenade
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon   Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Promenade
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Whitesbog
Common Nighthawk   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Whitesbog
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Bombay Hook
Sora   Bombay Hook
Sandhill Crane   Bombay Hook
Black-necked Stilt   Bombay Hook
American Avocet   Bombay Hook
American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP
Black-bellied Plover   Island Beach SP
Killdeer   Whitesbog
Semipalmated Plover   Manahawkin WMA
Marbled Godwit   Bombay Hook
Short-billed Dowitcher   Manahawkin WMA
Long-billed Dowitcher   Manahawkin WMA
Wilson's Snipe   Bombay Hook
Spotted Sandpiper   Whitesbog
Solitary Sandpiper   Whitesbog
Lesser Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA
Willet   Island Beach SP
Greater Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA
Ruddy Turnstone   Island Beach SP
Stilt Sandpiper   Manahawkin WMA
Buff-breasted Sandpiper   Reed Sod Farm
Sanderling   Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper   Manahawkin WMA
Pectoral Sandpiper   Manahawkin WMA
Western Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Whitesbog
Laughing Gull   Manahawkin WMA
Ring-billed Gull   Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Promenade
Herring Gull   Manahawkin WMA
Great Black-backed Gull   Manahawkin WMA
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Caspian Tern   Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern   Manahawkin WMA
Common Tern   Island Beach SP
Royal Tern   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Reeves Bogs
Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP
American Bittern   Bombay Hook
Yellow-crowned Night Heron   Bombay Hook
Little Blue Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Tricolored Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Snowy Egret   Manahawkin WMA
Green Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Great Egret   Manahawkin WMA
Great Blue Heron   Manahawkin WMA
White Ibis   Manahawkin WMA
Glossy Ibis   Manahawkin WMA
White-faced Ibis   Manahawkin WMA
Black Vulture   Union Transportation Trail
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog
Osprey   Double Trouble SP
Northern Harrier   Bombay Hook
Cooper's Hawk   Reeves Bogs
Bald Eagle   Reeves Bogs
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Broad-winged Hawk   Bombay Hook
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Pileated Woodpecker   Binghamton University Nature Preserve
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog
Merlin   Whitesbog
Peregrine Falcon   Bombay Hook
Eastern Wood-Pewee   35 Sunset Rd
Acadian Flycatcher   Manahawkin WMA
Willow Flycatcher   Whitesbog
Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher   Manahawkin WMA
Eastern Kingbird   Manahawkin WMA
White-eyed Vireo   Whitesbog
Red-eyed Vireo   Manahawkin WMA
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   Whitesbog
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Black-capped Chickadee   Ross Park Zoo
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Horned Lark   Reed Sod Farm
Bank Swallow   Bombay Hook
Tree Swallow   Whitesbog
Purple Martin   Whitesbog
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Whitesbog
Barn Swallow   Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Beach Ave
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Whitesbog
House Wren   Whitesbog
Marsh Wren   Manahawkin WMA
Carolina Wren   Whitesbog
European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird   35 Sunset Rd
Brown Thrasher   Double Trouble SP
Northern Mockingbird   Manahawkin WMA
Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing   Reeves Bogs
House Sparrow   Island Beach SP
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Whitesbog
Seaside Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee   Whitesbog
Bobolink   Bombay Hook
Orchard Oriole   Manahawkin WMA
Baltimore Oriole   Whitesbog
Red-winged Blackbird   Manahawkin WMA
Common Grackle   35 Sunset Rd
Boat-tailed Grackle   Island Beach SP
Northern Waterthrush   Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler   Reeves Bogs
Tennessee Warbler   Whitesbog
Common Yellowthroat   Manahawkin WMA
American Redstart   Reeves Bogs
Yellow Warbler   Reeves Bogs
Pine Warbler   Whitesbog
Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd
Blue Grosbeak   Colliers Mills WMA

George Johnson Park