Sandy Hook 10/6--Western Kingbird, Lincoln's Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler

Western Kingbird

On Sunday Scott announced a "flash" field trip at Sandy Hook for today, the winds from the northwest apparently being favorable for a good migration day. I have to admit that I pay zero attention to these forecasts since the direction of the winds never makes much sense to me and the all the radar sites show you birds in the air, not on the ground--meaning the mysterious winds might be good for them, but not necessarily good for you.  Still, Sandy Hook is a migrant trap, so I drove on up there this morning. 

Because we were all able-bodied, Scott decided that we'd walk up to the famous "bug light" (don't ask me why it's called that) on the northern tip, which is the hot spot on the Hook for migrating warblers. It's a fairly long hike through sand with a maritime forest on both sides of the path. We didn't find much until we got to the very end of the trail where other birders were scanning the trees. The first year bird I got was a Tennessee Warbler, not an especially easy bird to find and not an especially interesting looking bird--and from what I could tell, no drabber in autumn than in spring. The second year warbler was close by--a Blackburnian Warbler, looking like a washed-out version of the spring exemplar. There were a lot of other warblers and tweety birds there, but only one or two individuals of each. Walking back, another birder told us that right around the bend of the path there was a Western Kingbird. Now that would be something to see so we hustled a couple of hundred feet and found 4 birders who pointed out the bird flying away down to a stand of trees close to the beach. Picking our way through the detritus thrown up from the bay by the recent nor'easter, we found the kingbird actively hunting from tree to tree, flying down into the brush, then coming up again to perch. My first observation of the bird was an "if you say so" look, but as we approached and got closer it became a more satisfying checkmark for the day. We chased and watched the bird for 15 minutes or so, then made the long trudge back to M lot. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

After lunch, we drove down to the Road to Nowhere hoping for some thrushes, which did not show, but we did have a good look at a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and in the brush and weeds my first Lincoln's Sparrow of the year, hanging next to a Song Sparrow to give a good comparison. All this time, Scott kept veering off into the underbrush trying to kick up a Connecticut Warbler, with no luck. It seems that it's gotten late early for them. 

With four year birds and a rarity (plus two county life birds, the kingbird and the Blackburnian), I was feeling pretty happy and glad I'd made the long drive north. The bonus bird of the day came at the very end at the last stop, Lot B, which is also where we began the day. This morning, almost the first thing Scott said to me was that he & Carole had heard a Lapland Longspur fly overhead--it is much too early for Snow Buntings but only a bit early for Longspurs. At the end of the trip, we were all standing on the steps near the restrooms looking at the ocean, when Carole saw a little bird fly by, but too fast to i.d., though she thought "Longspur." I was ready to go so I went back to the car, took off my bins, took off my gaiters, and stuck the camera in my backpack. I went back just to say goodbye to everyone when they were all yelling at me to hurry up, look, look, overhead--there was the longspur. It came to rest atop the roof of the pavilion and stayed perched there for what seemed like 5 minutes. Scott lent me his bins so I could get a non-naked eye look at it, a much better look than I had January 2 this year on the Kick Off trip at the Hook.

With that cool bird for the day, I finally left, with 56 species on my list--a lot less than others, but I didn't strain for every warbler or vireo called out.

Canada Goose  35
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1
Black-bellied Plover  1
Semipalmated Plover  4
Laughing Gull  5
American Herring Gull  10
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Royal Tern  10
Double-crested Cormorant  10
Great Egret  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Black Vulture  3
Turkey Vulture  1
Osprey  1
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  10
Merlin  2
Eastern Phoebe  5
Western Kingbird  1     
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Common Raven  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  8
Golden-crowned Kinglet  4
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2
Brown Creeper  2
European Starling  3
Gray Catbird  2
Northern Mockingbird  12
Cedar Waxwing  15
House Finch  4
American Goldfinch  2
Lapland Longspur  1     
Field Sparrow  1
White-crowned Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Lincoln's Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  4
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Tennessee Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  1
Cape May Warbler  1
Northern Parula  2
Blackburnian Warbler  1     
Blackpoll Warbler  1
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1
Palm Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  20
Black-throated Green Warbler  1