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

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

May Wrap-up--Migration in Fits

Black-necked Stilt, Manahawkin WMA

May never quite felt like May this year. Cold mornings, wrong winds, rain, and the usual complaints from birders about migration. I don’t know if migration was good or bad this year—seeing reports of 1 million birds over Ocean County would lead me to believe “good” but I’ve been doing this close to fifty years and I still haven’t heard anyone say, “What a great migration.” It’s always too something: too cold, too windy, too rainy. Meanwhile the real reasons for fewer birds — habitat loss, pesticides, building lights, wind turbines — are too depressing to contemplate

Still, the list grew. It always does. Sandy Hook and Island Beach carried most of the weight. Inland, Colliers Mills was its usual reliable mix of sand, gunfire, and birds, with the occasional surprise —Grasshopper Sparrow, Veery, Worm‑eating Warbler. Manahawkin WMA produced the flycatchers and and yet another Black-necked Stilt! The Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve had the expected warblers and vireos, and remains one of the few places in the area where you can stand on a trail deep in the preserve and not hear any noise from civilization save the occasional airplane.

Shari & I went on our annual date: dinner then down to Collinstown Road for Chuck-will’s-widow. Warblers came in fits and starts: Magnolia, Bay‑breasted, Blackpoll, Chestnut‑sided, Northern Parula on the good days; not much of anything on the others.

By the end of the month the list stretched from Brant to Indigo Bunting, a respectable range for a month that never quite got going. Nothing dramatic, but still May, and still worth being out.

June, with migration over, tends to be a dull month or so they say. I say, go out and see what’s around.

For the month, 168 species in Ocean and Burlington Counties.

Species    First Sighting
Brant    Sandy Hook
Canada Goose    Sandy Hook
Mute Swan    Manahawkin WMA
Wood Duck    Reeves Bogs
Mallard    Island Beach SP
American Black Duck    Sandy Hook
Green-winged Teal    Island Beach SP
Surf Scoter    Island Beach SP
White-winged Scoter    Island Beach SP
Black Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Bufflehead    Island Beach SP
Red-breasted Merganser    Sandy Hook
Wild Turkey    Crestwood Village
Rock Pigeon    South Toms River
Mourning Dove    Sandy Hook
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Whitesbog
Black-billed Cuckoo    Cranberry Bogs
Chuck-will's-widow    Collinstown Road
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift    Sandy Hook
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail    Island Beach SP
Black-necked Stilt    Double Trouble SP
American Oystercatcher    Sandy Hook
Black-bellied Plover    Sandy Hook
Killdeer    Island Beach SP
Semipalmated Plover    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Piping Plover    Island Beach SP
Hudsonian Whimbrel    Cedar Bonnet Island
Short-billed Dowitcher    Island Beach SP
Wilson's Phalarope    Forsythe-Barnegat
Spotted Sandpiper    Horicon Lake
Solitary Sandpiper    Cranberry Bogs
Lesser Yellowlegs    Sandy Hook
Willet    Island Beach SP
Greater Yellowlegs    Island Beach SP
Ruddy Turnstone    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Red Knot    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Stilt Sandpiper    Forsythe-Barnegat
Sanderling    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Dunlin    Island Beach SP
Purple Sandpiper    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Least Sandpiper    Island Beach SP
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Laughing Gull    Sandy Hook
Ring-billed Gull    Horicon Lake
American Herring Gull    Sandy Hook
Great Black-backed Gull    Sandy Hook
Lesser Black-backed Gull    Sandy Hook
Black Skimmer    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Least Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Gull-billed Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Forster's Tern    Sandy Hook
Common Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Royal Tern    Island Beach SP
Red-throated Loon    Island Beach SP
Common Loon    Sandy Hook
Northern Gannet    Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant    Sandy Hook
White Ibis    Island Beach SP
Glossy Ibis    Island Beach SP
Yellow-crowned Night Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-crowned Night Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Little Blue Heron    Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron    Island Beach SP
Snowy Egret    Sandy Hook
Green Heron    Cranberry Bogs
Great Egret    Sandy Hook
Great Blue Heron    Sandy Hook
Black Vulture    Sandy Hook
Turkey Vulture    Sandy Hook
Osprey    Sandy Hook
Sharp-shinned Hawk    Sandy Hook
Cooper's Hawk    Sandy Hook
Northern Harrier    Sandy Hook
Bald Eagle    Sandy Hook
Red-tailed Hawk    Sandy Hook
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Sandy Hook
Downy Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Northern Flicker    Sandy Hook
Merlin    Sandy Hook
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Colliers Mills WMA
Acadian Flycatcher    Manahawkin WMA
Willow Flycatcher    Manahawkin WMA
Eastern Phoebe    Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Great Crested Flycatcher    Reeves Bogs
Eastern Kingbird    Sandy Hook
White-eyed Vireo    Island Beach SP
Yellow-throated Vireo    Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Blue-headed Vireo    Island Beach SP
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo    Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Blue Jay    Sandy Hook
American Crow    Colliers Mills WMA
Fish Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven    Sandy Hook
Carolina Chickadee    Island Beach SP
Tufted Titmouse    Reeves Bogs
Bank Swallow    Sandy Hook
Tree Swallow    Sandy Hook
Purple Martin    Cranberry Bogs
Northern Rough-winged Swallow    Sandy Hook
Barn Swallow    Sandy Hook
Cliff Swallow    Cedar Bridge Tavern County Park
Ruby-crowned Kinglet    Sandy Hook
White-breasted Nuthatch    Whiting WMA
Red-breasted Nuthatch    Island Beach SP
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Reeves Bogs
Northern House Wren    Sandy Hook
Marsh Wren    Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren    Horicon Lake
European Starling    Sandy Hook
Gray Catbird    Sandy Hook
Brown Thrasher    Sandy Hook
Northern Mockingbird    Sandy Hook
Eastern Bluebird    35 Sunset Rd
Veery    Colliers Mills WMA
Wood Thrush    Colliers Mills WMA
American Robin    Sandy Hook
Cedar Waxwing    Cedar Bonnet Island
House Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
House Finch    35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch    Sandy Hook
Grasshopper Sparrow    Colliers Mills WMA
Chipping Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow    Whiting WMA
White-throated Sparrow    Sandy Hook
Seaside Sparrow    Sandy Hook
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Savannah Sparrow    Sandy Hook
Song Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow    Reeves Bogs
Eastern Towhee    Sandy Hook
Orchard Oriole    Manahawkin WMA
Baltimore Oriole    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-winged Blackbird    Sandy Hook
Brown-headed Cowbird    35 Sunset Rd
Common Grackle    Sandy Hook
Boat-tailed Grackle    Sandy Hook
Ovenbird    Sandy Hook
Worm-eating Warbler    Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Waterthrush    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue-winged Warbler    Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Black-and-white Warbler    Reeves Bogs
Prothonotary Warbler    Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Nashville Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Yellowthroat    Sandy Hook
Hooded Warbler    Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
American Redstart    Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Northern Parula    Island Beach SP
Magnolia Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Bay-breasted Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Yellow Warbler    Sandy Hook
Chestnut-sided Warbler    Island Beach SP
Blackpoll Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Black-throated Blue Warbler    Island Beach SP
Pine Warbler    35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler    Reeves Bogs
Prairie Warbler    Reeves Bogs
Black-throated Green Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Summer Tanager    Manasquan River WMA
Scarlet Tanager    Island Beach SP
Northern Cardinal    35 Sunset Rd
Rose-breasted Grosbeak    35 Sunset Rd
Blue Grosbeak    Colliers Mills WMA
Indigo Bunting    Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Colliers Mills 5/21--Grasshopper Sparrow

Although they're not flagged as rare in Ocean County, there is not much appropriate habitat (grasslands) for Grasshopper Sparrows, making them really difficult to find.  They're reliable on the Lakehurst Base around the jump circle, but I don't have access to that site. 7 or 8 years ago, they were fairly easy to come upon if you walked the fields on Success Road at Colliers Mills, but then they pretty much disappeared. My theory was that all the hunting dogs running through their training in those fields made for unpleasant times for the sparrows and they stopped coming. (I don't begrudge the hunters and their dogs those fields--that's what the place is really for, and the hunters pay the tab for the WMA. We birders are the freeloaders.)

Yesterday, I went up to the Manasquan River WMA in Brick to see if I could locate the sparrow that was reported there, but I had no luck. I have had success (pun unintended) at Colliers if I go on a weekday morning, early, when there are no hunters and before the police start banging away at the firing range. That's what I did today, slowly walking along Success listening really hard. Grasshopper Sparrows, with their thin buzzy song, are pretty much out of my hearing range, so when Merlin picked one up, I had to take it on faith. Even playing back the recording, I couldn't hear the sparrow. Sometimes Merlin hallucinates (it once picked up a Prothonotary Warbler in our backyard and last week it heard an owl when two trees rubbed together in the wind), but I took a look and there, maybe 50 yards out, on a twig, was a sparrow that I was certain was a Grasshopper. Taking pictures kind of confirmed it--enlarging the photo in the viewfinder just up to the point where the image became pixelated showed me an eye ring. When the bird flew it flew like a little helicopter, as they do. I saw another sparrow closer to me, but I didn't know if it was another Grasshopper, or just a Field or Chipping Sparrow, both of which were around. I played the Grasshopper "song" by mistake (I meant to record) and suddenly, 10 feet in front of me, on another twig, was a singing Grasshopper Sparrow--at least its mouth was open, because I still couldn't hear the song. So perhaps there were two in the field.  You only need one. 

After that everything was gravy, but there were a few special birds along the long circuit around Turnmill and the Borden's Branch wetland--Acadian Flycatcher ("Pizza"), Worm-eating Warbler, 3 Hooded Warblers in the usual spot just off Hawkin Road, a couple of Scarlet Tanagers, and the Red-headed Woodpecker I heard giving the "queer" calls while I was walking through the field, creeping up on the Grasshopper Sparrow. 

In all 55 species for the day:

Canada Goose  6     Field
Mallard  2     Borden's Branch wetlands
Mourning Dove  1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  2
Killdeer  3     One by police range, two in wetland
Spotted Sandpiper  1     Turnmill
Green Heron  1     Turnmill
Great Blue Heron  1     Flyover Turnmill
Turkey Vulture  3     Roosting in field on Success
Red-tailed Hawk  1     Flyover Success
Red-headed Woodpecker  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Hairy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  5
Acadian Flycatcher  1     Pizza!
Eastern Phoebe  1     By derelict house
Great Crested Flycatcher  7
Eastern Kingbird  3
White-eyed Vireo  2
Eastern Warbling Vireo  3
Red-eyed Vireo  6
Blue Jay  3
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  4
Tree Swallow  3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  2     Borden’s Branch wetland
Barn Swallow  10
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Gray Catbird  11
Brown Thrasher  2
Northern Mockingbird  3
Eastern Bluebird  1
Veery  1     Heard call
Wood Thrush  3
American Robin  12
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  1
Grasshopper Sparrow  1
Chipping Sparrow  2
Field Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  9
Baltimore Oriole  1     Parking lot
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Ovenbird  10
Worm-eating Warbler  1
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  8
Hooded Warbler  3
American Redstart  1     Heard
Magnolia Warbler  1     Heard
Prairie Warbler  3
Scarlet Tanager  2
Northern Cardinal  1
Blue Grosbeak  1

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

Forsythe-Barnegat | Great Bay Blvd | Backyard 5/7--Wilson's Phalarope, Stilt Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Saltmarsh Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

There aren't a whole lot of birds I'm inclined to chase these days, but a county lifer qualifies. When I noticed that a Wilson's Phalarope was found yesterday afternoon down at the Forsythe-Barnegat viewing platform I decided I'd go down there first thing in the morning. If this phalarope had the same habits as the ones that show up at Brig, I thought there was a pretty good chance of it sticking around. Finding it, of course, was another story.

Of late that impoundment has been full of both flavors of yellowlegs, so I knew I'd have to pick through the feeding flock which was spread out about 180 degrees. Going early had the advantage that I beat the rush--I've been on that platform searching for a rarity rubbing shoulders with a crowd of birders and didn't enjoy it. On the other hand, someone to help would be appreciated. Just as I was about to give up, having scanned back and forth twice, that someone showed up, a good (in both senses) birder I know, who had seen the bird yesterday. Almost immediately he picked out the female phalarope, way in the back--here's my excuse: when I was looking for it was behind a dead cedar. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Funnily enough, just this weekend I was talking to Scott about how I'd never seen a Wilson's Phalarope in the county; neither had he. And now it turns up. Eerie. The phalarope was #332 for the county. Why that seems important to me remains an enduring mystery. 

What I don't have an excuse for missing, other than focusing on find the rarity, was to miss the Stilt Sandpiper that was close to the platform, feeding with the yellowlegs. Of course, the good birder pointed it out. 

After that I was on my own. I drove down to Great Bay Blvd in Tuckerton, which was my original plan for the day. I was just setting up the scope at Tuckerton Cove when I got a text from Shari with this picture:

Arghh! We annually get Rose-breasted Grosbeak in our backyard, but they usually only stay for the day. I had to hope that the safflower seeds were enticing enough to keep around until I got back home. 

The marshes were full of shorebirds and in contrast to Forsythe where the yellowlegs predominated, most of the sandpipers were Short-billed Dowitchers. But picking through them I did find a few Semipalmated Sandpipers, new for the year. I was also building up the state and county list with birds I'd already seen in Mexico, like Semipalmated Plover & Gull-billed Tern.

Down at the end of the road on the beach, I was hoping for Red Knots but it is probably a little early for them. I did, however, see my first Saltmarsh Sparrows of the year. As always, they flushed up as I was walking in the marsh grass. I got great looks but neither one posed for me. It reminded me of last summer when my friend Lon was here and needed both Seaside Sparrow and Saltmarsh Sparrow to complete his photographic collection of the Norther American sparrows. We tried Tuckerton, we tried Brig, we even tried Bombay Hook, but it wasn't until we went to Cattus Island (where, I told, even I could get pictures of those sparrows) that he successfully added both to his collection. Hey kids, collect 'em all!

Indigo Bunting

I came off the beach and was walking to my car when I found the most unexpected bird of the day (save for the phalarope) --an Indigo Bunting feeding on the gravel. I spent most of yesterday at Colliers Mills looking for one and then went over to the Emson Preserve where they're usually easy to find with no success. But of course, when I'm not looking for one, there it is. That may be a new Law of Birding.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak female

When I got home, I took a look out the side window, figuring I'd start my vigil for the grosbeak. And there it was. Except it wasn't the male Shari saw. I had a female. That's the first time we've ever had two Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in our yard. About a half hour later I looked out again, and the male was scarfing down the safflower seeds. So, a pretty good day.

For Great Bay Blvd I had 42 species: 

Brant  5
Canada Goose  2
American Black Duck  1
Mourning Dove  2
Clapper Rail  8
American Oystercatcher  2
Black-bellied Plover  40
Semipalmated Plover  11
Short-billed Dowitcher  230
Spotted Sandpiper  2
Willet  20
Greater Yellowlegs  7
Ruddy Turnstone  8
Dunlin  100
Least Sandpiper  12
Semipalmated Sandpiper  5
Laughing Gull  25
American Herring Gull  15
Black Skimmer  3
Gull-billed Tern  1
Forster's Tern  25
Common Loon  1
White Ibis  1     Immature
Glossy Ibis  2
Black-crowned Night Heron  11
Little Blue Heron  1
Snowy Egret  30
Great Egret  25
Osprey  6
Bald Eagle  1
Fish Crow  1
Tree Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  10
Gray Catbird  7
Seaside Sparrow  4
Saltmarsh Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  4
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Boat-tailed Grackle  40
Common Yellowthroat  4
Northern Cardinal  1
Indigo Bunting  1

Colliers Mills 5/6--Eastern Wood-Pewee, Eastern Warbling Vireo, Veery, Baltimore Oriole, Blue Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak, male and female

I went over to Colliers Mills in the early A.M. to look for some of the birds still not on the list for either the year or the county. Warbling Vireo--I'm sorry, Eastern Warbling Vireo, is usually singing at the parking lot, but not this morning. It took me until I had circled Turnmill Pond--I'm sorry Turnmill Lake--and was in the field on Success Road until I heard one (you hardly ever see them and truth be told, they're not much to look at anyway). There's a mnemonic for their song that the late Pete Bacinski tried to teach me; something like "If I sees you I will seize you till I squeeze you...." I forget the rest. As I used to say to Pete, "I need a mnemonic for the mnemonic." 

I'd already heard Eastern Wood-Pewee on Hawkin Road and had successfully called out Hooded Warbler in its usual spot (which Scott discovered a few years ago) behind a patch of Mountain Laurel on the road off Hawkin that leads to the Borden's Branch wetlands. I was so intent on getting the Hooded Warbler that it didn't register with me until I walked away that I'd also heard a Veery there (Veeer!), along with a Wood Thrush. Wood Thrush is expected; Veery is infrequent there. 

I'd also heard the tick of a Blue Grosbeak in along the edge of the police shooting range field, but I wanted more than that for that species and I was able to see one walking up the east side of Colliers Mills Lake. I also heard and briefly saw two Baltimore Orioles, so overall, it was a good morning. I also went back to the woods north of Success Road just to see how many Red-headed Woodpeckers I could find there--three was the number and it only takes three to break the eBird filter.  I suspect the reviewer keeps the filter tight to eliminate those birders who, either through fat finger or just plain ignorance, list Red-bellied Woodpeckers as RHWO. 

In terms of breeding, the Canada Geese have goslings, and I saw a couple of juvenile Killdeer on the sand strip that runs along the shooting range field. 

Canada Geese with goslings.

Juvenile Killdeer, near police shooting range. 

For the hike around Turnmill the Borden's Branch wetlands and along the length of Colliers Mills Lake into the woods I had 45 species:

Canada Goose  14
Mallard  2
Mourning Dove  2
Killdeer  6
Laughing Gull  30     Flyover
Turkey Vulture  4
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Red-headed Woodpecker  3     
Red-bellied Woodpecker  4
Northern Flicker  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  6
Eastern Kingbird  2
White-eyed Vireo  4
Eastern Warbling Vireo  2
Red-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  6
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  3
Tree Swallow  3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  5
Carolina Wren  1
European Starling  5
Gray Catbird  10
Brown Thrasher  3
Northern Mockingbird  2
Eastern Bluebird  1
Veery  1    
Wood Thrush  1
American Robin  15
Chipping Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  10
Baltimore Oriole  2
Red-winged Blackbird  20
Brown-headed Cowbird  4
Ovenbird  10
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  10
Hooded Warbler  1     
Pine Warbler  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Prairie Warbler  7
Northern Cardinal  3
Blue Grosbeak  3