Cedar Bonnet Island 9/30--Last Day Best Day--Peregrine Falcon, Bobolink, Mourning Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler

Bobolink

 On the last day of the month, I went to Cedar Bonnet Island and had my best day birding in a long time. I haven't had 5 year birds in one day since we were in Mexico. I met a couple of birders I know, as I will inevitably to there, and they started rattling off all the warblers they'd seen in the half hour they were there before I arrived. Out of them all, I was only interested in one and while they said there were quite a few Cape May Warblers, I was able to find one of them pointed it out to me atop a tall cedar. You only need one and I had managed to miss this warbler during the spring, so now was my rebound chance. 

Cape May Warbler

We two then walked out to the big field in the middle of the island. While I had seen a half dozen Bobolinks ("plink!) fly over, I really wanted to get decent looks and that field, in the fall, is an attractor. It didn't take long to find a few. Getting decent pictures, as they flew around and dove down into the brush took longer. 

She had to go to work so we split up as I looked into the marsh. When I got back to the entrance alley there were a couple of more birders I knew and while we caught up, the activity really picked up. There were a couple of Yellow-billed Cuckoos skulking around in the trees, and between 3 and 6 (depending on who was counting) Scarlet Tanagers, along with a very late Blue Grosbeak (call only). Then, what I assumed was going to be the bird of the day was spotted--a Yellow-throated Warbler giving good looks and posing briefly for those with better cameras than mine. Above us a flock of Common Ravens flew over. I counted 6. Which is a lot for around here, but that was only a small part of the flock, since another guy had 18 flying over the field. But, as one birder pointed out, not all those birds were ravens. There was a Peregrine Falcon flying against the grain of their flight. Then another showed up and they briefly locked claws, as eagles will sometimes do. When someone mentioned that the bird flu had had a devastating effect on the Peregrine Falcon population, I had the explanation of why it had taken me 9 months to finally see a couple. 

The Yellow-throated Warbler was not the bird of the day. The spot we had been standing in was not exactly random. The day before a Mourning Warbler had been seen in the understory there and there was an undercurrent of hope that it had stayed overnight. It had, because while everyone else was picking out the Scarlet Tanagers, the warbler popped up briefly, right in front of me on a bare branch--I saw all the field marks--eye ring, beak, olive back, yellow breast, a big warbler. While the guy next to me saw half the field marks he wasn't too concerned since he'd seen it yesterday. For me, though, it was not only a year bird, but a county bird, bringing my Ocean County total up to 333. And only the 8th one I've seen, ever, and only my third in New Jersey, and the last one I saw was 10 years ago at Sandy Hook. A damn difficult bird.

That capped off the day and month for me, and while I still had walking to do, nothing at Manahawkin WMA came close to matching what I'd seen on Cedar Bonnet. 

For September, 132 species with 12 year birds.

Counties Birded: Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean

Species                First Sighting
Canada Goose    Whitesbog
Mute Swan    Wrangle Brook
Wood Duck    Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal    Island Beach SP
Mallard    Whitesbog
American Black Duck    Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal    Island Beach SP
Wild Turkey    Schoolhouse Rd
Rock Pigeon    Waretown
Mourning Dove    Whitesbog
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    35 Sunset Rd
American Oystercatcher    Island Beach SP
Black-bellied Plover    Island Beach SP
American Golden-Plover    Reed Sod Farm
Killdeer    Reed Sod Farm
Semipalmated Plover    Island Beach SP
Hudsonian Whimbrel    Island Beach SP
Marbled Godwit    Island Beach SP
Short-billed Dowitcher    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Spotted Sandpiper    Whitesbog
Solitary Sandpiper    Colliers Mills WMA
Greater Yellowlegs    Whitesbog
Ruddy Turnstone    Island Beach SP
Buff-breasted Sandpiper    Reed Sod Farm
Sanderling    Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper    Colliers Mills WMA
Pectoral Sandpiper    Reed Sod Farm
Laughing Gull    Island Beach SP
Ring-billed Gull    Lake Carasaljo
American Herring Gull    Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull    Island Beach SP
Lesser Black-backed Gull    Island Beach SP
Black Skimmer    Island Beach SP
Caspian Tern    Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Common Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Royal Tern    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Pied-billed Grebe    Whitesbog
Double-crested Cormorant    Island Beach SP
White Ibis    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Glossy Ibis    Island Beach SP
Black-crowned Night Heron    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Little Blue Heron    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Tricolored Heron    Island Beach SP
Snowy Egret    Waretown
Green Heron    Whitesbog
Great Egret    Whitesbog
Great Blue Heron    Whitesbog
Brown Pelican    Island Beach SP
Black Vulture    Rt 9 Waretown
Turkey Vulture    Crestwood Village
Osprey    Island Beach SP
Cooper's Hawk    Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Northern Harrier    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Bald Eagle    Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk    Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk    Allentown
Belted Kingfisher    Island Beach SP
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Downy Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Northern Flicker    Whitesbog
American Kestrel    Colliers Mills WMA
Merlin    Island Beach SP
Peregrine Falcon    Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Whitesbog
Least Flycatcher    Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Phoebe    Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher    Whitesbog
White-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Yellow-throated Vireo    Meadowview Lane
Blue-headed Vireo    Cedar Bonnet Island
Philadelphia Vireo    Island Beach SP
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Lake Carasaljo
Red-eyed Vireo    Union Transportation Trail
Blue Jay    35 Sunset Rd
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow    Reed Sod Farm
Common Raven    35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Chickadee    Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse    Whitesbog
Horned Lark    Reed Sod Farm
Tree Swallow    Whitesbog
Barn Swallow    Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch    Whitesbog
Red-breasted Nuthatch    Island Beach SP
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Whitesbog
Northern House Wren    Whitesbog
Marsh Wren    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Carolina Wren    35 Sunset Rd
European Starling    Whitesbog
Gray Catbird    Whitesbog
Brown Thrasher    Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird    Reed Sod Farm
Eastern Bluebird    Colliers Mills WMA
Veery    Union Transportation Trail
American Robin    Colliers Mills WMA
Cedar Waxwing    Island Beach SP
House Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
House Finch    35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch    Whitesbog
Chipping Sparrow    Whitesbog
Lark Sparrow    Island Beach SP
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Savannah Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Song Sparrow    Whitesbog
Swamp Sparrow    Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee    Whitesbog
Bobolink    Cedar Bonnet Island
Baltimore Oriole    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-winged Blackbird    Union Transportation Trail
Common Grackle    Lake Carasaljo
Boat-tailed Grackle    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Northern Waterthrush    Island Beach SP
Mourning Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Yellowthroat    Whitesbog
American Redstart    Whitesbog
Cape May Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Parula    Island Beach SP
Northern Yellow Warbler    Island Beach SP
Palm Warbler    Island Beach SP
Pine Warbler    Whitesbog
Yellow-throated Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Prairie Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Scarlet Tanager    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Cardinal    Whitesbog
Rose-breasted Grosbeak    Island Beach SP
Blue Grosbeak    Cedar Bonnet Island
Dickcissel    Island Beach SP

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

Double Trouble SP 5/19--Black-necked Stilt

Black-necked Stilts, Double Trouble

After spending the weekend walking back and forth, up and down a couple of migrant hot spots rubbing shoulders with many birders and photographers, a Garboesque feeling came over me on Monday--I want to be alone. The best idea I had for that notion yesterday was the Huber Preserve--another hot spot teeming with birders in pursuit of its warbler specialties, pretty much empty on a weekday. Besides, there were a few bird possibilities that I was hoping for. But hope is a thing without feathers. 

Prothonotary Warbler, Huber

I started off pretty well there with a very loud and insistent Yellow-throated Vireo singing. I eventually tracked it down to the very top of tree close to the entrance. Huber is a reliable spot for them and the entrance or Sooy Place Road is where you'll find them. But that was it for year birds there. Despite being assured that Barred Owl starts hooting around the bridge area mid-morning, there were no hoots for me. And Summer Tanager, a long-shot I know, but last year I had two birds in the area, was also a no-show. Still, a morning with Prothonotary, Hooded, and Blue-winged Warblers is not a bust.  

As I've mentioned before, I have found that if I don't feel like going to a certain spot, it's usually a good idea to override that feeling and go. Yesterday, after I'd done my walk at Huber I was considering driving down the road about 3/4 of a mile to where Burrs Mill Brook goes under Sooy Place Road and opens up to a swamp. Nah, I'm tired. Yeah, go, it's only 3 minutes away and there's no more walking involved. 

Red-headed Woodpecker,
Sooy Place Rd.

As I got out of the car, I was glad the positive birding angel on my shoulder was persuasive, because immediately I heard the loud, very loud, "Queer!" calls of a Red-headed Woodpecker. I can find Red-headed Woodpeckers anytime I want at Colliers Mills, but in Burlco, despite there being more places they frequent than in Ocean County, they are flagged as rare. Despite sounding like the bird was right on top of me, it took me a while before I located it high up the trunk of a very dead tree, banging away and then screaming. 

This morning, despite the BirdCast count of close to a million birds flying across Ocean County during the night, I was not tempted to go to Reed's Road or Cedar Bonnet Island. Instead, a long walk around Double Trouble SP suited my mood. As I almost always do, I started the walk from the parking lot west to Mill Pond. I was thinking that I have found some weird birds for the area there--Black Skimmer and Caspian Term immediately come to mind--and when I saw mud flats instead of open water I thought the potential for an oddity was high. As soon as I approached the spillway I saw 3 or 4 shorebirds in the back. "I don't know, those don't look like yellowlegs," I said to myself and putting up my binoculars it was obvious that I'd stumbled upon 4 Black-necked Stilts, rare for the area, rare for New Jersey, and just weird so far inland. They were half-way across the pond but I was able to get documentary photos. I texted the one person who I know birds Double Trouble as much as I do and lives nearby, but she couldn't get there this morning. I told her that they might hang around and no sooner had I sent the text than the birds upped and flew--perhaps to the back of the pond, perhaps to some inaccessible marsh. Talk about your lifeline intersecting with a bird's lifeline!

Today is our anniversary (19 blissful years) and we often go to Delaware to celebrate. We didn't this year, but Black-necked Stilts (one of the few shorebirds we target when we're there) are an appropriate find for the day. 

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Double Trouble

Walking around back to the Sweetwater Bogs, I was happy to see another oddity, though this one has been there at least a week--a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in the middle bog. Yellow-crowned Night-Herons had not been reported in the park until last week, but with the stilts today, that means it has had its bird list up by two in the last week or so. 

For my walk around Double Trouble, alone, I had 41 species.

Mallard  4
Mourning Dove  1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1
Black-necked Stilt  4     
Killdeer  1     Mill Pond
Greater Yellowlegs  1     Mill Pond
Least Sandpiper  3     Mill Pond
Laughing Gull  2
Glossy Ibis  3
Yellow-crowned Night Heron  1
Great Egret  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  2
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  3
Eastern Kingbird  2
White-eyed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  2
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Gray Catbird  10
Veery  1
American Robin  2
Cedar Waxwing  1
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  5
Red-winged Blackbird  12
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Common Grackle  1
Ovenbird  12
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  5
Pine Warbler  5
Prairie Warbler  9

Great Bay Blvd 5/12--Red Knot, Common Tern

Red Knots

Mid-May is the time to look for Red Knots, and you don't have to go to the Delaware Bayshore in Cape May to find this threatened species. It isn't the spectacle that you'll find there, but this time of year, the beach at Great Bay Inlet is a reliable spot to find a good flock of knots, and if you're a lister, you only need one. 

This morning I counted 38 birds jabbing at the mud during low tide. The controversy in Cape May is always about limiting the horseshoe crab harvest (their blood is used in medical tests and their bodies as bait), since the Knots depend on the crab eggs for their nutrition when they stop over on their long journey from South America to the Arctic. There are horseshoe crabs at Tuckerton, but not in great numbers so I have to suppose that the Knots were making do with the invertebrates that the Dunlins and turnstones were feeding on too. 

Terns were flying over the bay, but I'm very bad at distinguishing Forster's Terns from Common Terns on the wing, so I was happy when I was able to compare two pairs roosting on pilings by the Rutgers Research Center. The Common Terns have the redder bills, the shorter legs and this was clear in the scope. 

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

I was also happy to find my FOY United States Yellow-crowned Night-Heron on the way down to the inlet. It was in the night-heron roost at the first bridge along with a few Black-crowned Night-Herons. I'd seen a few at Rio Lagartos last month, but this was the one that really counts. 

And as a little bonus, from that same bridge I spied in the distance a Hudsonian Whimbrel in the marsh, a much more satisfactory look than the flyover trio at Cedar Bonnet Island on Sunday. 

Lots of shorebirds today:

44 species
Brant  9
Canada Goose  3
Mute Swan  1
Mallard  1
Mourning Dove  7
Clapper Rail  4
American Oystercatcher  1
Black-bellied Plover  6
Semipalmated Plover  8
Hudsonian Whimbrel  1
Short-billed Dowitcher  215
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Willet  12
Greater Yellowlegs  14
Ruddy Turnstone  25
Red Knot  38
Dunlin  80
Least Sandpiper  17
Semipalmated Sandpiper  7
Laughing Gull  45
American Herring Gull  20
Black Skimmer  10
Least Tern  3
Gull-billed Tern  2     Tuckerton Cove
Forster's Tern  25
Common Tern  2
Double-crested Cormorant  16
Yellow-crowned Night Heron  1
Black-crowned Night Heron  5
Snowy Egret  10
Great Egret  20
Osprey  7
Tree Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  25
Marsh Wren  2
Gray Catbird  5
Northern Mockingbird  1
Seaside Sparrow  9
Song Sparrow  7
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Boat-tailed Grackle  40
Common Yellowthroat  6
Northern Yellow Warbler  3
Northern Cardinal  1

Cedar Bonnet Island | Barnegat Lighthouse SP 5/11--Least Tern, Cedar Waxwing

Least Tern

I returned this morning to Cedar Bonnet Island despite the blustery weather. It's days like this, cool, windy, wet, that make the cliche about going directly from winter to summer without a spring inevitable. I didn't think much would be around and I was right, but I did, finally, break a 4-month 10-day streak of not seeing a Cedar Waxwing. A half dozen flew overhead and this time low enough for me to count them. Not the ideal look for what is my favorite bird, but after 130 days, I'll take it. 

A portion of the flock roosting on the beach

Cedar Bonnet was just a quick walk on the way to Barnegat Lighthouse SP. This time of year the pool area is stringed off for breeding Piping Plovers and Least Terns and I wanted to see the terns. Fortunately, the wind died down and so the supposed real feel of 41 degrees didn't seem too onerous. As I walked along the dunes down to the beach, I could hear the terns, but none of them seemed to be around until suddenly, about halfway down, they started making an appearance, first as one or two but by the time I reached the ocean, dozens upon dozens were roosting on the beach, their back turned toward the wind. I saw a count of 66 yesterday, and I thought, when I saw a flock take off from the beach, that there must be at least 100, but the eBird filter balks at more than fifty. This looks like it is going to be a major breeding colony, much larger than the one up by the Shark River inlet in Belmar. It's an impressive sight and a hopeful sign. I also saw a couple of the Piping Plovers and a half dozen American Oystercatchers which also take advantage of the protected area. Surprisingly, I only saw one Forster's Tern and no Common Terns, which I was also hoping for. Purple Sandpipers, a park specialty, are still hanging in; Harlequin Ducks long gone. 

The Barnegat Lighthouse list:

36 species
Brant  85
Mallard  2
American Black Duck  2     Pool
Black Scoter  20
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
American Oystercatcher  6
Semipalmated Plover  1
Piping Plover  2
Willet  1
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Ruddy Turnstone  6
Sanderling  25
Purple Sandpiper  20
Laughing Gull  10
American Herring Gull  15
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Lesser Black-backed Gull  1
Least Tern  50     50+
Forster's Tern  1
Common Loon  1
Double-crested Cormorant  20
Great Egret  1
Osprey  2
Fish Crow  1
Gray Catbird  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
American Robin  3
House Sparrow  4
House Finch  1
Song Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  5
Common Grackle  1
Boat-tailed Grackle  2
Common Yellowthroat  3
Northern Cardinal  1

Great Egret in full breeding plumage

Cedar Bonnet Island | Manahawkin WMA 5/10--Hudsonian Whimbrel, Acadian Flycatcher, Nashville Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler

 

Bay-breasted Warbler

A couple of years ago, one of the maintenance men from our village knocked on the door and said that there was a complaint that I was using a chain saw to illegally cut down trees in our yard.  It seems a neighbor had seen me carrying broken branches from a storm out to the curb while at the same time she heard a leaf blower and surmised that I was up to no good. I just laughed at the absurd notion of me using a chain saw, invited the guy to look around while we commiserated about the busybodies in the neighborhood. The only idea more unlikely than me using power tools is me getting a good photograph of a warbler. Case in point to the left. 

I didn't check to see if it was a good migration day or not, I just went to Cedar Bonnet Island early this morning, despite the foggy conditions.  I rationalized that maybe the fog would knock the birds down into the little alleyway of trees that leads to the restoration area.  Naturally, I wasn't the only one with this idea, and I quickly ran into a pod of birders I know (and thankfully, like) who quickly filled me in on the really cool warblers I'd already missed. And would continue to miss until I connected with a Nashville Warbler, high up in a tree. And then two more Nashville Warblers. I have gone a few years without seeing Nashville and now I'd seen three in three minutes. (I wish that Nashville Warblers hybridized with Tennessee Warblers to give us Nashville Tennessee Warblers, but there don't seem to be any records of this hybrid.)

Next up was an exhausted Bay-breasted Warbler that just sat on a branch, the only reason I was able to get the low-quality photo I did.  Warbler flitting from branch to branch, obscured to leaves give me no chance. Then someone heard Blackpoll Warbler. Since Blackpoll is way out of my hearing range, I had to see this bird in order to count it. Fortunately, I was able to find it in the canopy, and then, for good measure, another one came by. Finally, after whiffing a couple of times on Black-throated Green Warbler, I was able to get eyes on one practically on top of our heads, then two more, a male and female, in the more traditional "way up there."  There was also an big influx of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on the island--more than I've ever seen in one place. I counted 7 but I wouldn't be surprised if the count was twice that. 

That short alley is probably a tenth of mile long--I looked at the pedometer on my phone after being there much longer than I planned and saw that I had walked back and forth, craning my neck for over a mile. Having exhausted, I thought, the entertainment possibilities of that stretch, I walked with a couple of the guys around the larger part of the island. The new bird there, which I probably would have missed had I not been alerted by a sharper-eyed friend, was Hudsonian Whimbrel (it used to be just "Whimbrel" until it was split into a North American and European species), a trio flying over. It wasn't an ideal look, but whimbrel is a hard bird for Ocean County, so I'll take it. We also saw a red fox kit, very calmly sitting in the middle of the path. Unfortunately, it had an injured leg, so its adulthood prospects are low. 

Coming back to the alley we met up with the two guys who'd stayed behind. They were on a pair of Magnolia Warblers. I'd seen them in Mexico, but it was new for the state, new for the county. After 2 hours and 45 minutes, I decided to finish my walk on the mainland and drove over to Manahawkin WMA. Unlike the last time I was there, the impoundments were pretty busy with shorebirds, but nothing new, unlike this day last year when there were both a Black-necked Stilt and a continuing White-faced Ibis in the back impoundment. I walked up Stafford for about a mile and found a few passerines I hadn't had on Cedar Bonnet. Flycatcher were a topic of conversation while we were walking and we were reviewing the various calls of the birds that should be appearing soon--Fitz-bew, Fee-be-o, Quick-three-beers, and Pizza! And I heard Pizza! about halfway up the road, so my last year bird for the day turned out to be Acadian Flycatcher. Couldn't find it, of course. Have to go to Huber to get eyes on it, since they nest by the bridge. 

For the two spots I had 67 species. For me, an excellent count. 

Canada Goose    Cedar Bonnet Island
Mute Swan    Manahawkin WMA
Mallard    Manahawkin WMA
Mourning Dove    Cedar Bonnet Island
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Semipalmated Plover    Cedar Bonnet Island
Hudsonian Whimbrel    Cedar Bonnet Island
Short-billed Dowitcher    Cedar Bonnet Island
Lesser Yellowlegs    Manahawkin WMA
Willet    Cedar Bonnet Island
Greater Yellowlegs    Manahawkin WMA
Least Sandpiper    Cedar Bonnet Island
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Manahawkin WMA
Laughing Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Herring Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Black-backed Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
Forster's Tern    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Loon    Cedar Bonnet Island
Glossy Ibis    Cedar Bonnet Island
Little Blue Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Tricolored Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Snowy Egret    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Egret    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Blue Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Osprey    Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Manahawkin WMA
Northern Flicker    Manahawkin WMA
Acadian Flycatcher    Manahawkin WMA
Great Crested Flycatcher    Manahawkin WMA
White-eyed Vireo    Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-eyed Vireo    Manahawkin WMA
Blue Jay    Manahawkin WMA
American Crow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Carolina Chickadee    Manahawkin WMA
Tufted Titmouse    Manahawkin WMA
Tree Swallow    Manahawkin WMA
Barn Swallow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Manahawkin WMA
Northern House Wren    Cedar Bonnet Island
Marsh Wren    Manahawkin WMA
Carolina Wren    Cedar Bonnet Island
Gray Catbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Wood Thrush    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Robin    Cedar Bonnet Island
House Finch    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Goldfinch    Manahawkin WMA
Field Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Seaside Sparrow    Manahawkin WMA
Song Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Orchard Oriole    Manahawkin WMA
Red-winged Blackbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Boat-tailed Grackle    Cedar Bonnet Island
Ovenbird    Manahawkin WMA
Black-and-white Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Nashville Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Yellowthroat    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Parula    Cedar Bonnet Island
Magnolia Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Bay-breasted Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Yellow Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blackpoll Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Pine Warbler    Manahawkin WMA
Prairie Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Black-throated Green Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Cardinal    Cedar Bonnet Island
Rose-breasted Grosbeak    Cedar Bonnet Island
Indigo Bunting    Cedar Bonnet Island

Barnegat Lighthouse SP 11/25

Eastern Meadowlark

 In an early Peterson guide I used to have, long since fallen to pieces and discarded, I remember being struck by a phrase in his introduction, discussing habitat and the kinds of birds one should expect to find in them: "A meadowlark needs a meadow." It seemed axiomatic at the time, but even Homer nods, as, over the years I have compiled a little list in my head of all the spots I have seen meadowlarks that were not meadows, including the marsh at the Bridge to Nowhere, Rome Pond at Whitesbog, an airport runway, and today, in the big sandy area next to the concrete walkway at Barnegat Lighthouse SP. I was walking back toward the lighthouse when I saw to my left a large bird fly off into a little bit of scrub. It's outer white tail feathers immediately told me what it was, but I was certainly surprised, not having that bird on my expected list for the day. Yet, there it was, picking at the little bush it had flown to. I suppose with no bugs around whatever seeds or berries it could find in that wasteland would have to suffice for a diet. It wasn't particularly shy, so I was able to get some decent pictures of it. 

Blue-headed Vireo

It was a day of little discoveries. Earlier I stopped off at Cedar Bonnet Island, only because the traffic on the bridge to LBI was at a standstill, so I figured I'd walk around the refuge and let it ease up. I'm glad I did, because though the birdage wasn't heavy, as I was walking out on the entrance path I came across what I mistook for a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, which would be "infrequent" according to eBird, but instead it turned out to be a Blue-headed Vireo, which, for this time of year, is "rare." The spectacles fooled me initially, but I was able to get one quick photo and my suspicion that the bird was too big and too inactive for a kinglet was confirmed. 

Back at Barnegat Lighthouse, I climbed the hill to overlook the pool and saw a big flock of American Oystercatchers and, just like at Holgate, where there are a lot of oystercatchers in winter there is a good

Marbled Godwit

chance of finding a Marbled Godwit mixed in among them. This was a much better look than I had at Holgate last month, the birds being only about a hundred yards away instead of half a mile. Also within that big scooped out area was a large flock of Snow Buntings swirling around. I looked in vain for a Lapland Longspur. Snow Buntings are a restless species, seemingly constantly in motion, but at one point, while I was scanning the ocean at the beach, the flock landed behind me and was stationery long enough for me to count up to 73. 

What I really wanted from the ocean was White-winged Scoter, which I hadn't seen January and hadn't seen in the county yet this year.  I was hopeful that the ocean would be calm, since the inlet seem lake-like, but the seas were rough, and it made finding the ducks a challenge, though I did tally Common Eiders and Harlequin Ducks around the old, submerged jetty, but the scoters I was hoping for were not swimming. Instead, there were big flocks of Black Scoters flying along the horizon and finally, after my patience was just about spend, a couple of big ducks with white wings shot past me going south, followed a few minutes later by another 9 more. So, I had my target and few more goodies and trudged back to the parking lot, stopping along the jetty until I got a couple of Ipswich Savannah Sparrows to round out the list. Oh yes, one Purple Sandpiper on the north jetty, viewed with the scope, so I got all the Barney specialties.

Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)

My Barnegat Light list: 

31 species (+1 other taxa)
Brant  75
Canada Goose  4
Mallard  15
American Black Duck  10
Common Eider  7
Harlequin Duck  6
White-winged Scoter  11
Black Scoter  130
scoter sp.  25
American Oystercatcher  33
Black-bellied Plover  1
Marbled Godwit  1
Ruddy Turnstone  10
Dunlin  5
Purple Sandpiper  1
Bonaparte's Gull  2
American Herring Gull  100
Great Black-backed Gull  30
Horned Grebe  1
Red-throated Loon  25
Common Loon  4
Northern Gannet  50
Double-crested Cormorant  2
Northern Flicker  1
Blue Jay  1     Heard
Common Raven  2     Two large croaking corvids over the pool
Carolina Wren  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
House Sparrow  5
Snow Bunting  73
Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich)  2
Eastern Meadowlark  1