Manahawkin WMA | Barnegat 4/28--Lesser Yellowlegs, Purple Martin, Northern Parula, Worm-eating Warbler

 I parked high up on Stafford Avenue this morning, on the northern edge of the Manahawkin WMA and walked down about a mile, ear birding for the most part. The most intriguing bird I heard was a Worm-eating Warbler.I'd seen that Worm-eating had been reported there the day before, but I was skeptical.  Manahawkin isn't a place I'd expect to find one, but the zinging call was pretty loud. Merlin is notorious for mixing up Pine Warbler (also there), Chipping Sparrow, and Worm-eating. Their calls are very similar, and Merlin is far from perfect. In order to convince myself that it wasn't a Chipping Sparrow I was hearing, I played back the so-called song of the Worm-eating. It got an immediate response, and that was good enough for me.

I also heard another warbler I wouldn't be looking for there--a Blue-winged Warbler was obvious with its "Buzz-kill" "song." This was a bonus bird for me since I'd spent yesterday morning circling the back field at the Manasquan River WMA looking unsuccessfully for one. Farther down the road I heard my FOY Northern Parula. Ovenbirds and Common Yellowthroats were background noise. Of all the warblers I heard along that stretch of road, the only one I saw was Black-and-white Warbler. 

After that I drove down to the marsh and parked by the trail that runs between the impoundments. The DEP had recently hired a contractor to rehabilitate the water control system, putting in new sluice gates and culverts and they did a wonderful job clearing the trail and widening it at the "T" so that mowers can now run down the full length of the berm. They're supposedly doing it so that it will be better habitat for shorebirds, but the water was high today and the only shorebirds I saw were 3 Greater Yellowlegs. But it's early.

Lesser Yellowlegs with Dunlin

Speaking of yellowlegs, after I made a quick stop at Woodmansee Blvd to check out the Purple Martin houses (a spot that we used to check when I did the World Series of Birding with Pete and Mike), I thought I'd look at the impoundment at Forsythe-Barnegat from the observation platform. Most of the time there's very little to see there, but today, as was the case last year, the shallow water was loaded with Lesser Yellowlegs. I estimated a filter-busting 100, but there were probably more. Unfortunately, they were not mixing with the Greater Yellowlegs that were there, so I didn't get any good comparison photos. There was also a big flock of Dunlin, most of them half-way into their alternate plumage. Again, Merlin came in handy, since recording the flock proved they were Lesser Yellowlegs. A lot of softer "do-do's" instead of the louder, more insistent "do-do-do" of the Greater. 

for the three spots this morning I had 50 species. The Manahawkin list is the one of interest.

44 species
Canada Goose  2
Mute Swan  5
Mallard  1
Mourning Dove  1
Willet  1
Greater Yellowlegs  3
Laughing Gull  2
American Herring Gull  3
Forster's Tern  6
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Glossy Ibis  15
Tricolored Heron  1
Snowy Egret  2
Great Egret  4
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Hairy Woodpecker  1     Heard Stafford
Northern Flicker  3
Great Crested Flycatcher  3
White-eyed Vireo  4
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  2
Tree Swallow  12
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Gray Catbird  4
Wood Thrush  5
American Robin  4
American Goldfinch  2
White-throated Sparrow  1
Seaside Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  40
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
Ovenbird  25
Worm-eating Warbler  1
Blue-winged Warbler  1     
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  30
Northern Parula  1
Northern Yellow Warbler  3
Pine Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  1