End of the Year

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Port Royal Golf Course, Bermuda

Steve Weiss, in one of his posts on his interesting and informative blog (I've learned more about cetaceans than I ever thought I'd know) mentioned in passing his rules for chasing rarities. Which got me to wondering about what rules I seem to follow, and since I'm a believer in the psychological precept that you don't do what you think but you think what you do, I thought that examining some bird chases might give an idea as to my de facto rules. Because a lot of birds have come up "nah" the last couple of years, so what was it about the ones that did pique my interest? 

The Trumpeter Swan last week is a good example of a chase I'd make. First of all, very few Trumpeters show up in NJ. Secondly, this would be record for my home county; so it would have been a year bird and a county bird. Thirdly, it wasn't all that far away, and it was in a spot I know well. Finally, if I failed at finding it, there was still a lot of birding to be done in the area. 

The ideal chase was a couple of years ago, when possibly the rarest bird ever to show up in New Jersey--the Red-flanked Bluetail--appeared in a backyard in my development about a mile from here. I could just walk over there (and I did). Life bird, state bird, county bird. The next year, early in January, I went over again--year bird for county and state. 

When a Pomarine Jaeger showed up at Barnegat Light a couple of years ago, that was also a bird I just had to see, since Pomarine Jaegers are rarely seen from shore and I don't go out on boats. Also a life bird. The Townsend's Warbler at Eno's Pond was not a life bird, but it was a county bird and again, Eno's Pond is a place I know well and easy to get to. Gray Kingbird a few years ago at Barnegat Light? That's worth a look. Western Kingbird in Tuckerton--that became a nemesis bird, it took me at least four tries (I'm not usually that persistent) but it was a county bird. 

This year there was a Yellow-headed Caracara in an industrial park in Wilmington, Delaware. That would have been a life bird, but as I said to Shari, I really don't relish the idea of chasing a bird in an industrial park. There was a Short-billed Gull up in Raritan Bay earlier this month that a lot of birders went running for. It's a fantastic find, especially by the bird expert who loves to look through the big gull flocks looking for the oddity. I've seen Short-billed Gulls (in Alaska). They were called Mew Gulls then. I didn't cotton to the idea of driving up the parkway standing around waiting for the right tide and then picking through hundreds of gulls to find one that had a mirror on P10. 

Nor did I want to go to Hunterdon County for the long-staying MacGillivray's Warbler. Too far, too hard, I've seen it out west. 

It appears that my rules for chasing must meet most of these conditions: 

Lifer or at least a

County bird +

Site familiarity +

Ease of access +

High possibility of success.

Of course, it's always better if you just happen to be there when a rarity shows up--like the Say's Phoebe at Sandy Hook this year, or the Bell's Vireo there a few years ago. 

Roseate Spoonbill, Forked River

With all that said, looking at my list, I did chase a little this year: Clay-colored Sparrow at the PPA, Eurasian Wigeon at Lake of the Lilies, Kind Eider at Tuckerton, Upland Sandpiper at a sod farm in Burlington with 45 American Golden Plovers, Roseate Spoonbill in an obscure neighborhood in Forked River (this sort of broke a rule, but it was a county year bird and it also goes on the Goofy Looking Bird list) Black-necked Stilt in Manahawkin. For the year only 267 species. There wasn't much traveling--only a couple of non-birding trips to Bermuda and North Carolina and a couple of visits to Delaware. 

The list below is color-coded Bermuda, Delaware, North Carolina, New Jersey, and typographically Rarity, LIFE BIRD (only one of those all year)

WHITE-TAILED TROPIC BIRD, Bermuda

Species                            First Sighting                                    .

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck   Port Royal GC #17 Pond
Snow Goose   35 Sunset Rd
Greater White-fronted Goose   Lake Carasaljo
Brant   Sandy Hook
Cackling Goose   Marshall's Pond
Canada Goose   35 Sunset Rd
Mute Swan   Manahawkin Lake
Trumpeter Swan   Stafford Forge WMA
Tundra Swan   Whitesbog
Wood Duck   Lake Carasaljo
Blue-winged Teal   Brig
Northern Shoveler   Marshall's Pond
Gadwall   Ocean Acres Pond
Eurasian Wigeon   Lake of the Lilies
American Wigeon   Marshall's Pond
Mallard   Whitesbog
American Black Duck   Sandy Hook
Northern Pintail   Double Trouble SP
Green-winged Teal   Ocean Acres Pond
Canvasback   Riverfront Landing
Redhead   Lake Carasaljo
Ring-necked Duck   Butterfly Bogs WMA
Greater Scaup   Sandy Hook
Lesser Scaup   Double Trouble SP
King Eider   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Common Eider   Sandy Hook
Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter   Sandy Hook
White-winged Scoter   Sandy Hook
Black Scoter   Sandy Hook
Long-tailed Duck   Sandy Hook
Bufflehead   Sandy Hook
Common Goldeneye   Harvey Cedars
Hooded Merganser   Bunker Hill Bogs
Common Merganser   Pemberton Lake WMA
Red-breasted Merganser   Sandy Hook
Ruddy Duck   East Bay Av
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon   Manahawkin Lake
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Common Nighthawk   35 Sunset Rd
Chuck-will's-widow   Collinstown Road
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Whitesbog
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Common Gallinule   Spittal Pond NR
American Coot   Lake of the Lilies
Sandhill Crane   Whitesbog
Black-necked Stilt   Manahawkin WMA
American Avocet   Brig
American Oystercatcher   Holgate
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
American Golden-Plover   Brig
Killdeer   Manahawkin Lake
Semipalmated Plover   Manahawkin WMA
Piping Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Upland Sandpiper   Allen Sod Farms
Hudsonian Godwit   Brig
Marbled Godwit   Brig
Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig
American Woodcock   Manahawkin WMA
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs
Wilson's Phalarope   Brig
Red-necked Phalarope   Brig
Spotted Sandpiper   Colliers Mills WMA
Solitary Sandpiper   Colliers Mills WMA
Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig
Willet   Cedar Bonnet Island
Greater Yellowlegs   Bridge to Nowhere
Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Red Knot   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Curlew Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Stilt Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Buff-breasted Sandpiper   Reed Sod Farm
Sanderling   Sandy Hook
Dunlin   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Baird's Sandpiper   Sandy Hook
White-rumped Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Least Sandpiper   Island Beach SP
Pectoral Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Western Sandpiper   Bombay Hook
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Parasitic Jaeger   Island Beach SP
Bonaparte's Gull   Brig
Black-headed Gull   Bayview Ave Marshes
Laughing Gull  Baltimore Avenue
Ring-billed Gull   Bunker Hill Bogs
American Herring Gull   Sandy Hook
Great Black-backed Gull   Sandy Hook
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Black Skimmer   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Least Tern   Graveling Point
Gull-billed Tern   Brig
Caspian Tern   Holly Lake
Forster's Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Common Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Roseate Tern   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Royal Tern   Fort Fisher SRA
Pied-billed Grebe   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Horned Grebe   Sandy Hook
Eared Grebe   Brig
WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD   Dockyard
Red-throated Loon   Sandy Hook
Common Loon   Sandy Hook
Northern Gannet   Sandy Hook
Anhinga   Cape Fear River
Great Cormorant   Sandy Hook
Double-crested Cormorant   Sandy Hook
White Ibis   Brig
Glossy Ibis   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
White-faced Ibis   Manahawkin WMA
Roseate Spoonbill   Forked River
American Bittern   Manahawkin WMA
Least Bittern   Brig
Yellow-crowned Night Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
Black-crowned Night Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Snowy Egret   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Green Heron   Whitesbog
Great Egret   Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron   Sandy Hook
American White Pelican   Brig
Brown Pelican   Kure Beach
Black Vulture   New Egypt
Turkey Vulture   Sandy Hook
Osprey   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Whitesbog
Cooper's Hawk   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Harrier   Sandy Hook
Bald Eagle   Sandy Hook
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Forest Resource Education Center
Eastern Screech-Owl   Stafford Avenue
Great Horned Owl   Beach Ave
Barred Owl   Cranberry Bogs
Long-eared Owl   Beach Ave
Belted Kingfisher   Manahawkin WMA
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Bridge to Nowhere
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Downy Woodpecker   Sandy Hook
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Pileated Woodpecker   Snow’s Cut Trail
Northern Flicker   BC Fairgrounds
American Kestrel   Pasadena Road
Merlin   Island Beach SP
Peregrine Falcon   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Olive-sided Flycatcher   Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Wood-Pewee   Manahawkin WMA
Acadian Flycatcher   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Willow Flycatcher   Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog
Say's Phoebe   Sandy Hook
Great Crested Flycatcher   Lakehurst Railroad Tracks
Great Kiskadee   Dockyard
Eastern Kingbird   Cloverdale Farm
White-eyed Vireo   Manahawkin WMA
Yellow-throated Vireo   Sooy Pl Road
Blue-headed Vireo   Island Beach SP
Eastern Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo   Manasquan River WMA
Blue Jay   Forest Resource Education Center
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven   Sandy Hook
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Horned Lark   Jackson Liberty HS
Bank Swallow   Thompson/Wright Preserve
Tree Swallow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Purple Martin   Brig
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Double Trouble SP
Barn Swallow   Cranberry Bogs
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Cranberry Bogs
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Brown-headed Nuthatch   Carolina Beach State Park
Red-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Brown Creeper   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Double Trouble SP
Northern House Wren   Island Beach SP
Winter Wren   Whitesbog
Marsh Wren   Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   BC Fairgrounds
Gray Catbird   Manahawkin WMA
Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog
Veery   Double Trouble SP
Swainson's Thrush   Double Trouble SP
Hermit Thrush   Whitesbog
Wood Thrush   Manasquan River WMA
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing   Island Beach SP
House Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
American Pipit   Island Beach SP
House Finch   Sandy Hook
Purple Finch   Whitesbog
Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   Sandy Hook
Snow Bunting   Sandy Hook
Grasshopper Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Chipping Sparrow   Forest Resource Education Center
Clay-colored Sparrow   Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters
Field Sparrow   New Egypt
American Tree Sparrow   Whitesbog
Fox Sparrow   Beach Ave
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-crowned Sparrow   New Egypt
White-throated Sparrow   Forest Resource Education Center
Vesper Sparrow   Double Trouble SP
Seaside Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park
Nelson's Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Savannah Sparrow   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Lincoln's Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Swamp Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Towhee   Cattus Island County Park
Yellow-breasted Chat   Cranberry Bogs
Bobolink   Bombay Hook
Eastern Meadowlark   Robert J. Miller Air Park
Orchard Oriole   Colliers Mills WMA
Baltimore Oriole   Whitesbog
Red-winged Blackbird   Bridge to Nowhere
Brown-headed Cowbird   New Egypt
Rusty Blackbird   Lake Carasaljo
Common Grackle   BC Fairgrounds
Boat-tailed Grackle   Bridge to Nowhere
Ovenbird   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Worm-eating Warbler   Dot and Brooks Evert Memorial Nature Trail
Louisiana Waterthrush   Double Trouble SP
Northern Waterthrush   Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue-winged Warbler   Manasquan River WMA
Black-and-white Warbler   Double Trouble SP
Prothonotary Warbler   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Common Yellowthroat   Manahawkin WMA
Hooded Warbler   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
American Redstart   Cedar Bridge Tavern County Park
Cape May Warbler   Island Beach SP
Northern Parula   Manasquan River WMA
Magnolia Warbler   Cedar Bonnet Island
Bay-breasted Warbler   Island Beach SP
Blackburnian Warbler   Double Trouble SP
Northern Yellow Warbler   Cattus Island County Park
Chestnut-sided Warbler   Cedar Bonnet Island
Blackpoll Warbler   Whitesbog
Black-throated Blue Warbler   Manasquan River WMA
Palm Warbler   Cranberry Bogs
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Sandy Hook
Prairie Warbler   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Black-throated Green Warbler   Island Beach SP
Summer Tanager   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Scarlet Tanager   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Western Tanager   Sandy Hook
Northern Cardinal   Whitesbog
Rose-breasted Grosbeak   Manasquan River WMA
Blue Grosbeak   Colliers Mills WMA
Indigo Bunting   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Painted Bunting   Fort Fisher SRA

Stafford Forge WMA 12/26--Trumpeter Swan

A few days ago, Trumpeter Swan popped up on my Rare Bird Alerts for Ocean County. With no photos attached and an unhelpful "This is a Trumpeter Swan" in the details box, my reaction was "Yeah, right."  The site, Stafford Forge WMA, often has Tundra Swans in the lake and since there has never been a Trumpeter Swan in Ocean (in fact, the only accepted records in NJ for Trumpeters that I know of were the birds at Assunpink that showed up for about 10 consecutive years, though not this year), I assumed it was a misidentification. It happens all the time. Last year someone swore he had 20 Trumpeters in Burlington County. They were Tundras. There have been reports of a Trumpeter at Whitesbog. I've gone to look--Tundra. 

But yesterday some pictures showed up on the alerts from birders I respect and the bird, an immature one, looked pretty good for Trumpeter. This morning, I drove down there and almost immediately found the bird in question, near 4 Mute Swans. Everything about the swan looked good for Trumpeter--a triangular, canvasback-like bill, a V at the base of the bill where it meets the head, pink at the base, black at the tip, a thick neck --save for the fact that it looked small. Trumpeter Swans are about the same size at Mute Swans. Tundra Swans are smaller. Compared to the Mute Swans this swan was, if anything, intermediate between them and a Tundra Swan. I was hoping that this wasn't an Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds situation, where everybody sees what they want to see. If I’d encountered this bird with no expectations, I probably would have assumed Tundra because it appeared on the smaller side. After checking references at home, I learned that Trumpeter cygnets don’t attain adult proportions until their second summer. Understanding that explained the apparent discrepancy, and I felt comfortable identifying it as a Trumpeter—a year bird and, even better, a life county bird.

Marshall's Pond 12/11--Cackling Goose

I found it funny, in a non-funny way, this morning, that I saw more species (17) looking out the side window at our bird bath, suet feeders, and half-empty hopper feeder than I did in more than two hours and 4 miles of walking in the wind and cold at Double Trouble SP (15).  Winter birding (and it isn't even officially winter) can be slow in the Pine Barrens. So, when I got a text from Steve that there was a Cackling Goose at Marshall's Pond in Toms River, I was inclined to chase it, especially when I realized it was another waterfowl (like the Eurasian Wigeon at Lake of the Lilies last month), that I hadn't gotten onto the year list.

Marshall's Pond is about 15 miles away so about a half hour later I was at the site, and only then did it dawn on me that I would have to look through roughly 250 to 400 Canada Geese to find the one goose that was 2/3 the size of the rest of them with a stubby bill. Not as bad as looking through a thousand Snow Geese for the one Ross's Goose, but still, not much fun with the winds gusting to 36 mph and the real feel temperature around 17. Steve's photo had shown a neat little package of 3 Canada Geese with the Cackler tucked in. The reality of course was the flock of geese was spread out for a thousand feet and somewhere in there was the Cackler. I started at the outflow pipe and worked my way west to the sand bar without finding the goose, then proceeded to walk back east. When I got back to the outflow pipe, I stood on unstable rocks and scanned again. Suddenly it appeared. Then disappeared. Then appeared. As waterfowl are wont to do, it was playing the avian version of 3-card monte. Finally, I was able to keep it in sight long enough to get some pictures with it next to Canada Geese for comparison. 

American Wigeon with Canada Goose

I walked east to the end of the pond where there were a few duck species--Bufflehead, American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallard, and Ring-necked Duck, then returned to the outflow pipe area. The trick to me, with a rare waterfowl, is if you can relocate it after you've gone for a few minutes. If you can, then you've really seen it. And I could. It took a little bit, but once again I found the Cackler, this time with its head tucked in floating amidst the larger geese. 

As I was telling Shari the story this evening at dinner, I remembered another little amusing fact--the first time we met Steve was at Marshall's Pond, on a cold January day many years ago (it might have been the first) when we were looking for another rare goose, either a Ross's or a Cackling, I can't recall which. Yesterday, I had been on Hooper Avenue for a doctor's appointment and considered going over to Marshall's Pond afterward to see what was there, but I thought it was too cold and windy to be appealing. And realistically, had I gone, I wouldn't have spent 40+ minutes looking through a flock of geese for the one outlier. When they were handing out patience, I was too impatient to stand in that line. 

PPA 12/7--Clay-colored Sparrow

 After an unproductive but enjoyable abbreviated walk around Reeves Bogs with my informant and his dog (abbreviated because the trail along the maple swamp is not only flooded but now iced over, making the leaps over the gaps more treacherous than a couple of old guys are willing to risk--the dog is more sure-footed and doesn't care if he does get wet), I drove over to the Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters (PPA) on the site of the old Bishop farm, hoping that the previously reported Clay-colored Sparrow was still hanging around. 

I had read that the sparrow was being seen between the buildings and that seemed like a limited area to search, but when I got there it was a case of Birding Law #4: Don't look for the bird, look for the birders. I saw two guys at the north end of the parking lot staring intently at a weedy area and a pile of dirt, so I walked over and asked if they had the sparrow. They weren't sure, there was a sparrow kicking around in the grass that they couldn't quite get a handle on, but the bird had been seen in the last 15 minutes. With the usual vague directions ("there's a point of dirt just to the left of the 13th blade of grass") I got on the bird they were interested in. "I see a White-crowned Sparrow," I said, and they immediately agreed that was not the bird we wanted. Then, one of my friends came up, we said "Hello" and he pointed to the left of where we'd been looking, to some grass in front of the concrete parking stops. It's a relatively small sparrow and was easily lost in the weeds but it fed out in the open with some Song Sparrows long enough for me to get a few doc shots. Not only a year bird, but, it turned out, a Burlington County lifer. 

Having got my bird within 5 minutes, I walked around the property with my friend, going into the fields where, in the summer, they grow the vegetables and fruits that Shari buys with our membership in the Rancocas Farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Lots of sparrows, finches, waxwings, and so forth, but nothing really exciting. Still, more than twice as many species than I saw at Reeves and in half the time.

22 species
Mourning Dove  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Northern Harrier  1
Northern Flicker  1
Blue Jay  1
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  1
Carolina Wren  1
European Starling  5
Northern Mockingbird  4
Eastern Bluebird  2
American Robin  5
Cedar Waxwing  6     Around buildings
House Sparrow  5
House Finch  25
American Goldfinch  2
Clay-colored Sparrow  1     
White-crowned Sparrow  1     Near parking lot
White-throated Sparrow  2
Savannah Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  10
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2