August Wrap-up: Shorebirds, Spoonbills, & Bobolinks

American Golden-Plovers

A couple of trips to Brig and another excursion to Bombay Hook provided all the new birds for the year, aside from the Forked River spoonbills so early in the month that it seems like last August. That is until today. Up until this afternoon, I had listed American Golden-Plover 48 times with a total number of 92 individuals--the highest count I ever had was 18. Today, on a sod farm in Burlington County I saw a flock of FORTY-THREE of them in a recently mowed alfalfa field. (I don't know why a sod farm has an alfalfa field; I am going on information that the agronomist who found them told me.) I had seen his report yesterday, and after walking around Reeves Bogs this morning, I drove over there only to find nothing. I figured it was a one-day wonder until I got home, and the reports started rolling in, including a sighting of an Upland Sandpiper in the same field, another example of the Patagonia Picnic Table Effect. 

I figured I could stay home, watch the Mets game and be aggravated on two fronts, or I could get back in the car and try again. I tried again. Fortunately, this time there was a line of birders who I knew parked on the side of the road and both the plovers and the uppie were easy to see, though very hard to photograph. How I missed the plovers the first time I don't know unless they were over a small rise in the field and were flushed by ATV activities in the field. Whatever the reason, I'm glad I went back, since the Mets played another crappy game and lost. 

Red-breasted Nuthatch

While I was at Reeves Bogs this morning, I walked along Coopers Road in the state forest. I had a suspicion I might find a Red-breasted Nuthatch, which seem to be irrupting this month. At the corner of Cooper and Muddy I found one, yanking away, and managed to get a decent photograph as it hopped from pine branch to pine branch. In itself, a Red-breasted Nuthatch is not remarkable, but an irruption of RB Nuts is often a precursor of northern finches coming this far south in the winter. We'll see. 

For the month I tallied 137 species

Counties Birded:

Delaware: Kent

New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean

Species                First Sighting
Canada Goose   Brig
Mute Swan   Brig
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal   Bombay Hook
Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook
Gadwall   Bombay Hook
Mallard   Whitesbog
American Black Duck   Bombay Hook
Green-winged Teal   Bombay Hook
Ruddy Duck   Lake of the Lilies
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon   South Toms River
Mourning Dove   Whitesbog
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Whitesbog
Common Nighthawk   Whitesbog
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Cranberry Bogs
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Blvd
Sandhill Crane   Bombay Hook
Black-necked Stilt   Bombay Hook
American Avocet   Brig
American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Blvd
American Golden-Plover    Allen Sod Farm
Killdeer   Double Trouble SP
Semipalmated Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Upland Sandpiper    Allen Sod Farm
Hudsonian Godwit   Brig
Marbled Godwit   Brig
Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Long-billed Dowitcher   Bombay Hook
Wilson's Phalarope   Brig
Red-necked Phalarope   Brig
Spotted Sandpiper   Brig
Solitary Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig
Willet   Great Bay Blvd
Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Blvd
Ruddy Turnstone   Great Bay Blvd
Curlew Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Stilt Sandpiper   Brig
Sanderling   Cattus Island County Park
White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig
Least Sandpiper   Whitesbog
Pectoral Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Western Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig
Laughing Gull   Great Bay Blvd
American Herring Gull   Great Bay Blvd
Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Blvd
Black Skimmer   Brig
Least Tern   Brig
Gull-billed Tern   Brig
Caspian Tern   Brig
Forster's Tern   Great Bay Blvd
Common Tern   Brig
Royal Tern   Port Mahon Rd.
Double-crested Cormorant   Brig
White Ibis   Brig
Glossy Ibis   Brig
Roseate Spoonbill   Forked River
Yellow-crowned Night Heron   Brig
Black-crowned Night Heron   Brig
Little Blue Heron   Cattus Island County Park
Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Snowy Egret   Great Bay Blvd
Green Heron   Whitesbog
Great Egret   Great Bay Blvd
Great Blue Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Black Vulture   Brig
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog
Osprey   Brig
Cooper's Hawk   Cattus Island County Park
Bald Eagle   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher   Cattus Island County Park
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker   Cattus Island County Park
Hairy Woodpecker   Double Trouble SP
Northern Flicker   Cattus Island County Park
Peregrine Falcon   Brig
Eastern Wood-Pewee   Whitesbog
Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher   Whitesbog
Eastern Kingbird   Whitesbog
White-eyed Vireo   Double Trouble SP
Red-eyed Vireo   Double Trouble SP
Blue Jay   Manahawkin
American Crow   Whitesbog
Fish Crow   Manahawkin
Common Raven   Cranberry Bogs
Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Bank Swallow   Whitesbog
Tree Swallow   Whitesbog
Purple Martin   Brig
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Whitesbog
Barn Swallow   Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch      Reeves Bogs
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Whitesbog
Northern House Wren   Whitesbog
Marsh Wren   Great Bay Blvd
Carolina Wren   Whitesbog
European Starling   Whitesbog
Gray Catbird   Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird   Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Bluebird   Cattus Island County Park
American Robin   Double Trouble SP
Cedar Waxwing   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   Lake of the Lilies
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   Whitesbog
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Brig
Seaside Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park
Song Sparrow   Whitesbog
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee   Whitesbog
Bobolink   Bombay Hook
Baltimore Oriole   Island Beach SP
Red-winged Blackbird   Whitesbog
Brown-headed Cowbird   Double Trouble SP
Common Grackle   Whitesbog
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Blvd
Ovenbird   Whitesbog
Northern Waterthrush   Island Beach SP
Black-and-white Warbler   Whitesbog
Common Yellowthroat   Whitesbog
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal   Whitesbog
Blue Grosbeak   Brig
Indigo Bunting   Brig