Reed Sod Farm 9/6--American Golden-Plover

A quiet Sunday morning seemed the perfect time to check out one of the sod farms in Monmouth County. I gravitate to the Reed property on Old York Road because it is adjacent to the Union Transportation Trail and it has the best viewing of any of the other sod farms in the area in terms of not getting your ass swiped off by a passing truck. And since I have spent more time there than any of the other farms, I have had more luck there than any of the other farms. 

But I was dismayed when I pulled into the UTT parking lot across the road from the farm and saw that the field was 5 feet high in weeds--no sod, no dirt. This didn't look promising, so instead of taking my scope, I just walked down Herbert Road, past the house, toward Old York Road. There, I could see, was sod and some harvested areas. But it wasn't until I got to the pull out about a quarter of a mile down the road that I saw any bird activity. 

Most of the activity, I was certain, was from Killdeers--because most of the birds there are always Killdeers and I could hear their little Penny Henny yips--but one bird, more of a moving lump from the distance it was from me, was intriguing--I could see more black on it than anything else. I turned around, went back to the car, drove to the pull out, plunked down the scope and scanned. After a while, besides the dozen or so Killdeers and a few Least Sandpipers, I found what I was looking for--the black on the moving lump was the behind of an American Golden-Plover--the black extends all the way up to the vent (nice euphemism) on this species. The pictures I was able to take from two football fields away are barely doc shots, but they'll do. I thought the bird would be flagged "rare," and I was thinking how I would describe the field marks, but at this time of year the species is no longer considered rare in Monmouth County. 

I walked closer to Old York Road, hoping for something else rare, but the only activity was in that one spot. Returning, I scoped again and was surprised to find the bird immediately. Then I found another. Then, scanning a bit more the east, another. Having seen 43 Golden-Plovers last year on a sod farm in Burlington, I didn't think much of this count until a count of "3" broke the eBird filter. I put down my snotty "exact count" (it's even snottier when the count is "2") to explain how I had arrived at such an outlandish number and let it go at that. 

After that I walked on the Union Transportation Trail for a couple of miles--nothing new, and the only really noteworthy bird was a very late Veery calling in the woods north of Assunpink Creek. 

Colliers Mills 9/4--Least Flycatcher

Coyote (also known as American Jackal)

Yesterday, despite having what my mother would have called "a touch of the flu," (caught from Shari, who had the full nelson version), I took my usual walk around Colliers Mills. After going to the woods north of Success Road to check off my Red-headed Woodpecker for the month, I started to walk around the field on the south side of the road. Before I got 20 feet in on the mowed path, I saw, amazingly, my first Least Flycatcher of the year, a returning bird no doubt on its way back south.  It sat on a twig right in front of me for a few seconds, hopped to another, and was gone before any photos were able to be taken. Ah well, powering through the flu was worth it. 

What was especially noteworthy to me though was an animal without feathers. I was in the back of the wetlands north of Turnmill Pond when I saw standing in the middle of the mud and water lilies, a coyote. At first, I took it for a fox, which you might expect there, but it obviously wasn't that. As soon as I said to myself, "Well, that explains why there's no birds here," 5 Wood Ducks flew up and out of the reeds. The coyote, once it caught a look at me, also ran off, happily in the opposite direction of where I was headed. 

I've seen a coyote around here before--one ran past me at Whitesbog while I was in my car a few years ago and I got a distant pic, and my informant has shown me coyote scat on the trails there, but this is the first good long look I've gotten of one.  I'm going to go on the assumption that they're more scared of people than people are scared of them--otherwise, it puts a severe crimp in my route there. 

The woods and fields were fairly quiet there yesterday; only 22 species for slightly under 3 hours of birding (and coughing). 

Wood Duck  5
Mourning Dove  1
Solitary Sandpiper  1
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Least Sandpiper  15
Great Blue Heron  1
Red-headed Woodpecker  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Hairy Woodpecker  1     Heard
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Least Flycatcher  1     
White-eyed Vireo  3
Blue Jay  1
Carolina Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  2
Eastern Bluebird  5
American Robin  1
Eastern Towhee  1
Baltimore Oriole  1     Hawkin Road
Common Yellowthroat  1
Pine Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  1

August Review--One (Count 'em) One Year Bird

Pied-billed Grebe, Whitesbog

 The Third Law of Birding states that "Wherever you are, you should be somewhere else." But what if you don't feel like being somewhere else?  Then you get my August. 

Places like Cedar Bonnet Island, Barnegat Lighthouse, Sandy Hook, Island Beach, were the places where the interesting birds of summer were to be found, but the triple threats of insects, people, and traffic kept me away. 

Purple Martins, Franklin Parker Preserve

Instead, I cycled through my favorite places: Whitesbog, Colliers Mills, the cranberry bogs on Dover Road, Franklin Parker Preserve and hoped that the birds would be where I wanted to be.  Aside from the White Ibis at Whitesbog, the birds I found this month were predictable species. The Purple Martin show at Franklin Parker was spectacular--every dead tree in the reservoir had a couple of hundred martins perched on it, and the Red-headed Woodpeckers at Colliers Mills are always worth looking
for. 

Red-headed Woodpecker, Colliers Mills

I got a little jolt mid-month at Whitesbog when I saw that the Fenwick Bogs (the working bogs that haven't been worked for the past couple of years) had barriers put up.  Since they haven't been growing cranberries there it didn't make sense to put them off-limits but then the explanation came out that the water in the bogs was going to be used in the harvest and that they wanted to keep the dogwalkers out so the dog feces wouldn't contaminate water. Which made sense, on the face of it. And then I thought: and every time an egret takes flight, it ejects a stream of guano into the water, and of course, the deer know enough to wander outside the bogs to do their business, as do the bunny rabbits, the groundhogs, the raccoons, and squirrels. Still, on my last couple of walks there, my trespassing has been discreet--I go in on a trail with no barrier and thus have plausible deniability. One morning I found myself away well before dawn and drove over there just in time to see the Common Nighthawks flying around in the east. It was bittersweet, because back in the days when the bogs would be drawn down, that was just the appetizer for a long day's banquet of shorebirds and waders. 

I made one trip to Brig, where I got my only year bird for the month--the American Avocets, and they made up for the missed birds there. The flies at Brig weren't too bad, though they didn't encourage one to stand in the road and endlessly scope for rare sandpipers 1000 yards away.  I made a couple of trips down to Great Bay Blvd in Tuckerton--early in the month it was a doable walk; last week, the flies drove me away. 

Caspian Tern, Franklin Parker Preserve

For the month 112 species, the last two this morning at Double Trouble--Chimney Swifts and a calling Rose-breasted Grosbeak, a very unusual bird for this time of year. 

Species                First Sighting
Canada Goose    Costco parking lot, Brick
Mute Swan    Holly Lake
Wood Duck    Cranberry Bogs
Northern Shoveler    Brig
Mallard    Cranberry Bogs
American Black Duck    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Wild Turkey    South Park Rd
Rock Pigeon    South Toms River
Mourning Dove    Cranberry Bogs
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Colliers Mills WMA
Common Nighthawk    Whitesbog
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift    Double Trouble SP
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    Cranberry Bogs
Clapper Rail    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
American Avocet    Brig
American Oystercatcher    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-bellied Plover    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Killdeer    Franklin Parker Preserve
Semipalmated Plover    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Hudsonian Whimbrel    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Short-billed Dowitcher    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Spotted Sandpiper    Whitesbog
Solitary Sandpiper    Franklin Parker Preserve
Lesser Yellowlegs    Franklin Parker Preserve
Greater Yellowlegs    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ruddy Turnstone    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Least Sandpiper    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Brig
Laughing Gull    Cranberry Bogs
American Herring Gull    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Great Black-backed Gull    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black Skimmer    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Least Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Gull-billed Tern    Whitesbog
Caspian Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Forster's Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Royal Tern    Waretown
Pied-billed Grebe    Whitesbog
Double-crested Cormorant    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
White Ibis    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Glossy Ibis    Brig
Black-crowned Night Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Little Blue Heron    Cranberry Bogs
Tricolored Heron    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Snowy Egret    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Green Heron    Cranberry Bogs
Great Egret    Cranberry Bogs
Great Blue Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Turkey Vulture    South Park Rd
Osprey    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Cooper's Hawk    Brig
Bald Eagle    Cranberry Bogs
Red-tailed Hawk    Cranberry Bogs
Belted Kingfisher    Cranberry Bogs
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    South Park Rd
Downy Woodpecker    Cranberry Bogs
Hairy Woodpecker    Cattus Island County Park
Northern Flicker    Whitesbog
American Kestrel    Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Cranberry Bogs
Willow Flycatcher    Cattus Island County Park
Eastern Phoebe    Colliers Mills WMA
Great Crested Flycatcher    35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Kingbird    Cranberry Bogs
White-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Lake Shenandoah County Park
Red-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Blue Jay    Cranberry Bogs
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven    Whitesbog
Carolina Chickadee    Cranberry Bogs
Tufted Titmouse    South Park Rd
Tree Swallow    Cranberry Bogs
Purple Martin    Cranberry Bogs
Barn Swallow    Cranberry Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch    South Park Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Cranberry Bogs
Northern House Wren    Cattus Island County Park
Marsh Wren    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Carolina Wren    Colliers Mills WMA
European Starling    Pinelands Alliance Headquarters
Gray Catbird    Cranberry Bogs
Brown Thrasher    Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird    Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Bluebird    Cranberry Bogs
American Robin    Cranberry Bogs
Cedar Waxwing    Cranberry Bogs
House Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
House Finch    Cranberry Bogs
American Goldfinch    Cranberry Bogs
Chipping Sparrow    Cranberry Bogs
Field Sparrow    Cranberry Bogs
Seaside Sparrow    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Song Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Towhee    Cranberry Bogs
Baltimore Oriole    35 Sunset Rd
Red-winged Blackbird    Cranberry Bogs
Common Grackle    Franklin Parker Preserve
Boat-tailed Grackle    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ovenbird    Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler    Cranberry Bogs
Common Yellowthroat    Cranberry Bogs
Pine Warbler    Whitesbog
Prairie Warbler    Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Cardinal    Cranberry Bogs
Rose-breasted Grosbeak    Double Trouble SP
Blue Grosbeak    South Park Rd
Indigo Bunting    Brig

Brig 8/16--American Avocet

American Avocets

I wasn't going to go two months without adding a year bird, was I? Since the local spots have had the same old same old and the weather was propitious, I drove down to Brig early this morning--there were possibilities there, only one of which I considered likely. 

I started the trip walking around the Visitor's Center, looking for the Lark Sparrow that has been hanging in the vicinity for a few days, but it wasn't around and when a couple of other birders showed up looking for it, I decided to bail and do some real birding. 

At the Gull Pond the light was terrible, but I did manage to pick out two Northern Shovelers in among the Mallards--mostly by size and behavior (they were "shoveling") but they did pick their bills out of the shallow water a couple of times to give me the clinching look--they were either hens or eclipsed drakes--too far, to glary, to tell and who cares?

Starting around the Wildlife Drive I was surprised at how little water was in the impoundments--great, desert-like stretches without a puddle. It is traditional to complain about the water levels at Brig but this seemed extreme--it made me regret even more missing the trip to Bombay Hook this year. And that is why I was at Brig--if I wasn't going to get one of my favorite shorebirds in Delaware, then I was hoping I could add it to list in Galloway. And just before the observation tower on the south dike, when I stopped to scan the shorebirds in one of the few decent expanses of water, there they were--6 American Avocets, and even in the lousy light I could see their buffy flanks. A couple had extremely turned up beaks, making them females. Six also was more than eBird thought proper. Luckily, they were all together and I could fit them in one photo frame. 

On the north dike, shorebirds were abundant--but they were much too distant to call them anything other than "peeps." The close-in mud flats had a decent flock of Semipalmated Plovers and a few scattered shorebirds, but if there were any phalaropes, Western Sandpipers, stints, or other rarities, they were among the specks a quarter mile away. Those birds that weren't specks were mostly Short-billed Dowitchers. I bet there was a Long-billed Dowitcher or two in with them, but again, distance was not my friend.

I parked my car at Jen's Trail and decided take my walk along the upland portion of the drive where the greenhead flies tend not to attack you--they pass that job onto the deer flies which are at least easier to kill.  While I was walking a truck pulled alongside me with a couple of birding friends. They'd also been looking for the Lark Sparrow with no luck. They had also missed the avocets, so I told them where they were if they wanted to make a second loop. They did, and on the way back to my car I saw them again. I was about 200 yards away from my car when my friend called me to say that the Lark Sparrow was back, sitting in a dead tree by the pay kiosk across from the Visitor's Center. I hoofed it to my car (my pedometer said I was walking 3.8 mph) and drove about the speed limit to get there, but of course, it was gone by the time I arrived. I spent the next 45 minutes or so walking around the area, looking for the bird, but it was really a half-hearted attempt on my part. The bird could be anywhere and anywhere includes lots of places I can't be. 

For the day, 58 species, a decent number. 

Canada Goose  15
Mute Swan  12
Wood Duck  2
Northern Shoveler  2     
Mallard  20
Mourning Dove  12
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Clapper Rail  2
American Avocet  6     
Black-bellied Plover  30
Killdeer  1
Semipalmated Plover  85
Short-billed Dowitcher  150
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Greater Yellowlegs  5
Ruddy Turnstone  1
Least Sandpiper  120
Semipalmated Sandpiper  30
peep sp.  2000     Too far out to identify
Laughing Gull  150
American Herring Gull  20
Black Skimmer  2
Least Tern  10
Caspian Tern  8
Forster's Tern  105
Double-crested Cormorant  175
White Ibis  16
Glossy Ibis  85
Black-crowned Night Heron  1
Tricolored Heron  1
Snowy Egret  50
Great Egret  80
Great Blue Heron  21
Osprey  3
Cooper's Hawk  1
Bald Eagle  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Eastern Kingbird  2
Blue Jay  3
American Crow  15
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tree Swallow  35
Barn Swallow  4
Northern House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  3
European Starling  50
Gray Catbird  10
Northern Mockingbird  1
House Sparrow  3
American Goldfinch  8
Chipping Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Common Yellowthroat  2
Northern Cardinal  2

Indigo Bunting  1 

Whitesbog 8/10--White Ibis

Immature White Ibis between Great Egrets

This used to be a big deal. Ten years ago, a White Ibis showing up in New Jersey brought throngs. Now they breed in the hundreds in the state (to the detriment, from what I can tell, of the Yellow-crowned Night-Herons at the Ocean City Visitor's Center rookery--there are only so many trees).  Yet, they're still flagged as rare in Burlington County, and it is only the second one I've seen there--the first one was 10 years ago--and it was a very big deal when Jim Schill found it in the Lower Bog.

Alas, the days of the drawing down the bogs are over, but the Fenwick Bogs--the original 19th century bogs--have been flooded for the last couple of years to rid the vines of girdle worm, and in summer they attract a lot of herons and egrets and even a few shorebirds. When I was walking around them, I saw a mixed flock of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons dancing around on one of the dikes. There was another smaller, brown bird with them that I knew was going to be interesting. Truth be told, I was hoping for a Limpkin, but it "only" turned out to be an immature White Ibis. I was able to get close enough to get some photos without scaring away the birds, but soon, though the egrets and herons stayed on, the ibis flew off, so I didn't put it on the RBA for Burlco, since--nothing worse than "there was a cool bird here, but now it's gone." 

I'll keep working the bogs--there's no reason a Limpkin couldn't show up, or a Roseate Spoonbill, or a Western Reef-Heron, or...after all, birds have wings.

Birds have wings

Meanwhile, back in the real world, I had 28 species:

Canada Goose  9
Wood Duck  1
Mallard  2
Mourning Dove  5
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Least Sandpiper  7
White Ibis  1   
Green Heron  3
Great Egret  9
Great Blue Heron  8
Belted Kingfisher  1     Heard Rome Pond
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Eastern Kingbird  4
White-eyed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1     Heard
American Crow  4
Common Raven  1     Heard Fenwick Bogs
Carolina Chickadee  2
Purple Martin  40
Barn Swallow  2
Gray Catbird  8
American Goldfinch  1
Field Sparrow  1     Heard entrance field
Song Sparrow  4
Eastern Towhee  3
Red-winged Blackbird  15
Common Yellowthroat  2

July Wrap-up--Zero Year Birds

Red-headed Woodpecker, Cloverdale Road

If June was a quiet month, then July, to make an oxymoronic statement, was deafeningly silent. Through all my wanderings during the month, I wasn't able to add one bird to the year list. True, I wasn't spending my time seawatching, where I might have lucked onto a storm-petrel or shearwater, but even if I had been of a mind to chase, there was nothing to chase. 

The month had its compensations in the places I birded. I spend a lot of time walking around Whitesbog with my informant where I learned the history, cultivation, and processing of the Elizabeth blueberry and got a refresher course on how to separate Virginia meadowbeauty from Maryland meadowbeauty. As the month progressed, we watched the bogs get discovered by Great Egrets, as they always do this time of year, only they are using the flooded Fenwick bogs instead of the 3 bogs to the east, which are no longer drawn down.   With a little luck and some evaporation, I'm hoping that we may get something of a shorebird season in those formerly working bogs (now under water for the last two years to kill girdle worm). So far, only Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpipers, and Semipalmated Plovers in low numbers have been found feeding in them. 

Turkey Vulture, Whitesbog

And I spent a pleasant morning down at Brig with my buddy Bob Auster. It was only my second trip to Brig this year, and while we dipped on most of the rarities that had been reported there (though we did get the Black-necked Stilts at the Gull Pond), there was a good variety of shorebirds, egrets, and terns to sort through and the greenhead flies were not too bad, with only one painful bite on my elbow. 

I trudged around Colliers Mills, I trudged around the cranberry bogs on Dover Road, I trudged around Double Trouble, I even trudged up and down the Union Transportation Trail by Sharon Station because that day I didn't feel like worrying about ticks. I always say that if the birding isn't productive, at least I got my exercise in. At least I got a lot of exercise in July.

For the month, 112 species in 4 counties: Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean.

Species                 First Sighting
Canada Goose    Colliers Mills WMA
Mute Swan    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Wood Duck    Whitesbog
Mallard    Whitesbog
American Black Duck    Brig
Wild Turkey    35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon    Union Transportation Trail
Mourning Dove    Whitesbog
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Whitesbog
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift    Brig
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail    Brig
Black-necked Stilt    Brig
American Oystercatcher    Brig
Black-bellied Plover    Brig
Killdeer    Double Trouble SP
Semipalmated Plover    Brig
Short-billed Dowitcher    Brig
Spotted Sandpiper    Horicon Lake
Willet    Waretown
Greater Yellowlegs    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Stilt Sandpiper    Brig
Least Sandpiper    Cattus Island County Park
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Brig
Laughing Gull    Whitesbog
American Herring Gull    Cattus Island County Park
Great Black-backed Gull    Brig
Black Skimmer    Brig
Least Tern    Brig
Gull-billed Tern    Whitesbog
Caspian Tern    Brig
Forster's Tern    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Common Tern    Brig
Double-crested Cormorant    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
White Ibis    Waretown
Glossy Ibis    Cranberry Bogs
Black-crowned Night Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Little Blue Heron    Cranberry Bogs
Tricolored Heron    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Snowy Egret    Cranberry Bogs
Green Heron    Whitesbog
Great Egret    Cranberry Bogs
Great Blue Heron    Whitesbog
Black Vulture    Crestwood Village
Turkey Vulture    Whitesbog
Osprey    Cattus Island County Park
Cooper's Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Bald Eagle    Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk    Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher    Cranberry Bogs
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker    Whitesbog
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Whitesbog
Willow Flycatcher    Cattus Island County Park
Eastern Phoebe    Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher    Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Kingbird    Whitesbog
White-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo    Double Trouble SP
Blue Jay    35 Sunset Rd
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow    Whitesbog
Common Raven    Cranberry Bogs
Carolina Chickadee    Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse    Double Trouble SP
Tree Swallow    Whitesbog
Purple Martin    Whitesbog
Northern Rough-winged Swallow    Cranberry Bogs
Barn Swallow    Cranberry Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch    Whitesbog
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Whitesbog
Northern House Wren    Whitesbog
Marsh Wren    Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren    35 Sunset Rd
European Starling    Whitesbog
Gray Catbird    Whitesbog
Brown Thrasher    Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird    Crestwood Village
Eastern Bluebird    Colliers Mills WMA
Veery    Double Trouble SP
Wood Thrush    Cranberry Bogs
American Robin    Whitesbog
Cedar Waxwing    Whitesbog
House Sparrow    Crestwood Village
House Finch    35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch    Whitesbog
Chipping Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow    Whitesbog
Seaside Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Song Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow    Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee    Whitesbog
Orchard Oriole    Whitesbog
Red-winged Blackbird    Whitesbog
Brown-headed Cowbird    Union Transportation Trail
Common Grackle    Whitesbog
Ovenbird    Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler    Whitesbog
Common Yellowthroat    Whitesbog
Northern Yellow Warbler    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Pine Warbler    Double Trouble SP
Prairie Warbler    Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal    35 Sunset Rd
Blue Grosbeak    Colliers Mills WMA
Indigo Bunting    Union Transportation Trail

Always Read the Directions

We just bought a new washing machine. It comes with a "Pet Pro" option, which, not having any pets, we don't need. However, for those who do have pets, the company's lawyers insisted that this note be appended to the directions:

 But if you missed those directions, I'm sure putting Fido in the microwave is a good way of drying him off.

June Wrap-up--Quiet

Green Heron, Whitesbog

Not even doing something wacky like breaking out of my two-county comfort zone and doing a loop at Brig could make June anything other than dull. Migration ended; the warblers are in the boreal forest, the shorebirds are in the arctic, and what we have left, we've pretty much seen. In the whole month I was able to add 4 birds to the year list, 3 of which have been chronicled in entries below. The fourth one was Common Nighthawk which we heard flying over the house a couple of evenings early in the month. All the rare birds--shearwaters, storm-petrels, and really rare birds (a White-tailed Tropicbird was just documented), have been seen from fishing boats and whale-watching trips on neither of which you will ever find me. I'd like to hear a Barred Owl, but not enough to get up a 4 AM or go down to Manahawkin at dusk to hear it. 

Cedar Waxwing, Cranberry Bogs

I spent most of my time at my personal Big Four: Whitesbog, Colliers Mills, Double Trouble, and the Cranberry Bogs on Dover Road. I'm always hoping for the rarities in the places I want to be, instead of chasing them at places I don't particularly want to travel to, and, as I said to Shari today, about 1 time in a 100 it works--like last month at Double Trouble when I found 4 Black-necked Stilts in the Mill Pond. But most of the time it's just like walking through a party attended by old familiar friends. 

For the month a mere 120 species. Because we had to make a trip into New York on June 1, a Blue Jay on Broadway, and a Great Egret in a marsh off the Turnpike were anomalies on the list. The New York trip also explains the entries for the Toms River Bus Station.

Common Name    First Sighting
Canada Goose    Whitesbog
Mute Swan    Waretown
Wood Duck    Cranberry Bogs
Mallard    Whitesbog
American Black Duck    Cranberry Bogs
Black Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Wild Turkey    35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon    South Toms River
Mourning Dove    35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Whitesbog
Black-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    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
American Oystercatcher    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black-bellied Plover    Brig
Killdeer    Whitesbog
Piping Plover    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Short-billed Dowitcher    Brig
Wilson's Phalarope    Brig
Spotted Sandpiper    Lighthouse Center
Solitary Sandpiper    Double Trouble SP
Lesser Yellowlegs    Brig
Willet    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Greater Yellowlegs    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Ruddy Turnstone    Island Beach SP
Dunlin    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Laughing Gull    Cattus Island County Park
American Herring Gull    Cattus Island County Park
Great Black-backed Gull    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Skimmer    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Least Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Caspian Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Forster's Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Roseate Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Royal Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Loon    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant    Whitesbog
White Ibis    Waretown
Glossy Ibis    Island Beach SP
Yellow-crowned Night Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-crowned Night Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Little Blue Heron    Cattus Island County Park
Tricolored Heron    Cattus Island County Park
Snowy Egret    Cattus Island County Park
Green Heron    Whitesbog
Great Egret    New Jersey Turnpike N
Great Blue Heron    Whitesbog
Brown Pelican    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Turkey Vulture    Whitesbog
Osprey    Toms River bus station
Cooper's Hawk    Whitesbog
Bald Eagle    Double Trouble SP
Red-tailed Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Cattus Island County Park
Downy Woodpecker    Cattus Island County Park
Hairy Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Northern Flicker    Whitesbog
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Cattus Island County Park
Willow Flycatcher    Cattus Island County Park
Eastern Phoebe    Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher    Cattus Island County Park
Eastern Kingbird    Cattus Island County Park
White-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Yellow-throated Vireo    Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Blue Jay    2197 Broadway
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven    Island Beach SP
Carolina Chickadee    35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse    Double Trouble SP
Bank Swallow    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Tree Swallow    Cattus Island County Park
Purple Martin    Whitesbog
Northern Rough-winged Swallow    Whitesbog
Barn Swallow    Cattus Island County Park
White-breasted Nuthatch    35 Sunset Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Whitesbog
Northern House Wren    Cattus Island County Park
Marsh Wren    Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren    Colliers Mills WMA
European Starling    35 Sunset Rd
Gray Catbird    Toms River bus station
Brown Thrasher    Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Bluebird    35 Sunset Rd
Veery    Double Trouble SP
Wood Thrush    Double Trouble SP
American Robin    35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing    Cranberry Bogs
House Sparrow    Toms River bus station
House Finch    Toms River bus station
American Goldfinch    35 Sunset Rd
Grasshopper Sparrow    Colliers Mills WMA
Chipping Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow    Whitesbog
Seaside Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Song Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow    Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee    35 Sunset Rd
Orchard Oriole    Whitesbog
Baltimore Oriole    South Park Rd
Red-winged Blackbird    Cattus Island County Park
Brown-headed Cowbird    Colliers Mills WMA
Common Grackle    Whitesbog
Boat-tailed Grackle    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Ovenbird    Whitesbog
Blue-winged Warbler    Manasquan River WMA
Black-and-white Warbler    Whitesbog
Common Yellowthroat    Cattus Island County Park
Hooded Warbler    Double Trouble SP
American Redstart    Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Yellow Warbler    Cattus Island County Park
Pine Warbler    Whitesbog
Prairie Warbler    Whitesbog
Summer Tanager    South Park Rd
Scarlet Tanager    South Park Rd
Northern Cardinal    Toms River bus station
Blue Grosbeak    Whitesbog
Indigo Bunting    Colliers Mills WMA
Dickcissel    Juliustown-Georgetown Rd

Barnegat Light SP 6/21--Roseate Tern

Roseate Tern, Least Tern, Forster's Tern

When I awoke at 5:30 morning, I looked out the window and saw my brother sorting through his catch on the white tablecloth.  I joined him for a while and help disassemble the lights and cords. He took off for other places to look for butterflies and beetles, and I had to decide where to go for the day. Fighting off deer flies in the woods didn't hold much appeal, so I figured I'd go to Barnegat Light SP and hope for the best. 

This was either the 3rd of 4th expedition to find Roseate Tern in the county, and I promised myself while waiting at one of the stop lights on Central Avenue that if I didn't find one this time, I give up, no more slow-motion rides for 8 miles northward on LBI. When I finally arrived, just after the park was open, I shouldered my scope and ventured forth. Since the "bowl" is stringed off to protect the nesting Piping Plovers, oystercatchers, Least Terns, and skimmers, finding a decent vantage point is a challenge. There are a few gaps in the dunes that afford an obstructed view, and the first one is right where the water flows in from the inlet to feed the pond that was dug out a few years ago. I plunked down my scope, saying let the frustration begin, and boom--there was a Roseate Tern. Just luck, no skill, perhaps a dash of persistence. I swiveled the scope a little to the left and there were two more, breaking my all-time record for most Roseate Terns seen at one time but you only need one. 

Piping Plover

There were plenty of Piping Plovers scurrying about--they all looked grown up to me, and I saw two immature oystercatchers running to mama. There were a lot of Black Skimmers in the bowl and while the Least Tern colony wasn't overwhelming as it was a couple of weeks ago, there was still an impressive number there. 

I walked down to the ocean and south to the sunken mast. A few years ago, this mast of an old fishing boat was deep in the dunes and now it is about 20 feet off the beach which gives one an idea of how much erosion the island is undergoing. I saw 3 hen Black Scoters, which isn't remarkable for these normally winter waterfowl, but then, scanning farther out, I saw a huge flock of scoters--more than enough to break the eBird filter, but looking back at my list from a year ago I had a big flock in the same place then too. 

For the morning's walk 30 species. 

Mallard  3
Black Scoter  50     
Mourning Dove  1
American Oystercatcher  7
Piping Plover  8
Willet  1
Greater Yellowlegs  1     Bowl
Laughing Gull  10
American Herring Gull  30
Great Black-backed Gull  3
Black Skimmer  20
Least Tern  50
Caspian Tern  1     Bowl
Forster's Tern  15
Common Tern  5
Roseate Tern  3     
Common Loon  1     Near scoters
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Snowy Egret  1
Great Egret  4
Osprey  4
Fish Crow  1
European Starling  1
American Robin  1
House Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  2
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Boat-tailed Grackle  2
Common Yellowthroat  2
Northern Cardinal  1

Backyard Bugs

Diplotaxis varia

My brother came over yesterday evening to "light up" our yard in order to attract the beetles and moths he collects. It's a pretty simple set up: you throw a white sheet over the picnic table, turn on three strong lights, then sit back and wait for dozens, then dozens and dozens of insects to land on the sheet (and sometimes you) and pick through the ones you are interested in. The main beetle he was interested in was Diplotaxis varia, which are abundant this time of year in the Pine Barrens. He knows someone in Italy who for some reason is obsessed with these beetles and every once in a while Harry sends him a batch. The one to the left I collected early this month and kept in the freezer. At first, we thought this might be the only one he'd get, but by this morning, when he came back to see what had landed on (and under) the sheet, he'd collected so many that he was tossing them back into the woods. 

For the early part of the evening the insects landing on the sheet (and sometimes me) were mostly beetles. Harry kept up a running commentary as he sorted through the bugs on the sheet and this is some of what I picked up.

Scarab beetles

These are scarab beetles. What kind of scarab beetles? We don't know. The most expert entomologist in the world wouldn't know what species they were unless that expert dissected them and examined their genitalia. Obviously, we weren't going to do field surgery last night.

 

Grapevine pelidnota

This is a Grapevine pelidnota. Very common, my brother says, hardly worth collecting. They're all over our backyard and yet, until last night, I never knew it

Psuedo-scorpion

This one is not an insect, it is an arachnid, an example of one of the psuedo-scorpions. The photo is about five times larger than life size. This little guy rides on the inside of the wings of beetles, feeding on mites that live there. It is sort of the oxpecker of the arachnid world. 

Later in the evening, the moths began to be attracted to the lights. As Harry says, no one truly understands why moths are attracted to lights because as soon as they get there, they become stunned and thus potential food. Harry has seen raccoons, turkeys, and various birds eating moths off a wall he has lit up. But I find the moths a lot more interesting than the beetles--especially now that I know that some of the beetles also have the psuedo-scorpion under their wings. 

Hebrew moth

This one is a Hebrew moth.  It is called that because the wing markings supposedly look like Hebrew lettering. Perhaps to a romantic 18th century lepidopterist they did, but to me I at best see a little heart toward the bottom. 

Checkered apogeshina moth

These next two are just interesting moths, no fascinating facts about them.

The first is a Checkered apogeshina moth, while the one below is the Common lytrosis.

Common lytrosis

Finally, this last moth is one my brother got a little excited about: It is a Northern pine sphinx moth:

Can you see it? It blends in perfectly with the  bark of the pine tree, even aligning itself to the grain of the bark. Here's another picture. I was a foot away and could barely make it out:

I won't even speak of the crane flies, ladybugs (all invasive), and various unpronounceable beetles that landed on the sheet. Suffice it to say that more species of insects lurk in a Pine Barrens backyard than there are species of birds in New Jersey.

Hey kids, you too can find bugs in your backyard with this easy to do set up. Of course, you won't know what they are, but they're there!