Whitesbog 9/23--American Golden-Plover

Really bad digiscope of American Golden-Plover

Not having much luck with the camera this month. Today, I didn't neglect to take it with me, but the battery died, so, when I finally found, after searching all month, an American Golden-Plover at the back of Union Pond, I had to resort to trying a digiscope and both the lighting and the bird's active feeding were against me.  

I actually gave Whitesbog a pass yesterday, since over the last few days the shorebird activity had died down and I was getting bored counting Great Egrets (42 today, my biggest count so far). I wasn't sure if I was going to go back today until I saw an alert for American Golden-Plover at Whitesbog but on the Ocean County side. I knew that was wrong just by looking at the number of egrets listed and from the birder's description of where he'd seen them (he had 2). It's easy, if you're not familiar with Whitesbog, to pick the wrong county pin since in places you can be standing in Burlington but be much closer to the Ocean County pin. (The border line is just about 50 feet east of the double-laned road at the back of the Upper Bog.)

Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets, dawn, Upper Bog

When I arrived about a half-hour before sunrise, I could already see, in the gloaming, the big flock of Great Egrets standing at the back of Union Pond. Among them were 3 or 4 smaller egrets/herons. In that light I couldn't make out what they were, but fortunately, at 6:43, just a couple of minutes before dawn, the entire flock got up and headed for the Upper Bog to eat breakfast along the Cranberry Run channel. With them were 3 Snowy Egrets, rare in Burlington County and continuing since last week. (Later in the morning I found the continuing Little Blue Heron, also "rare," in Union Pond, feeding with a group of egrets who had flown back to it.)

I scoped out the back of Union Pond and could see some shorebird activity, but it all seemed to be both species of yellowlegs and Killdeer, which has been the case for the last few days. But there's always the possibility of something interesting being there with a closer look, as indeed there was when I walked back there and set the scope down...Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Golden-Plover! It was an immature bird, a lovely golden-brown, with a short beak and a beady eye. Golden-Plover is annual at Whitesbog and one had been seen there briefly when I was in Delaware. Usually, plovers do "touch-and-goes" at Whitesbog, so I was a little surprised to find this one hanging out overnight--its compatriot seems to have left, unless they both left, and this is a third bird. No way to tell. 

With the plover about the only expected rarity that hasn't touched down at Whitesbog this year is Short-billed Dowitcher. I guess that gives me an incentive to return a couple of more times.

The relatively small list for the morning:

31 species
Wood Duck  3
Green-winged Teal  6     Union Pond
Mourning Dove  1
American Golden-Plover  1     
Killdeer  8
Lesser Yellowlegs  5
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Little Blue Heron  1     Continuing. 
Snowy Egret  3     Continuing with Great Egrets. 
Great Blue Heron  4
Turkey Vulture  2
Cooper's Hawk  2
Bald Eagle  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Merlin  1
Blue Jay  5
American Crow  6
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  3
Carolina Wren  1
Gray Catbird  8
House Finch  1     Village
Song Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  9
Common Yellowthroat  1
Pine Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  1