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

Cloverdale Farm | Forsythe-Barnegat 5/2--Short-billed Dowitcher, Eastern Screech-Owl, Scarlet Tanager

Normally, I hate it when a non-birder, seeing my binoculars, wants to direct me to a bird she's seen. Usually, it turns out to be a big, charismatic bird I don't care much about--a Red-tailed Hawk, or egrets, or, if the -non-birder drives a pickup, an eagle. I don't know how many times I've had to tell someone that a Great Blue Heron wasn't a crane. So, this morning at Cloverdale Farm, when a walker approached me with the obvious intent of relaying some avian information, I inwardly groaned. "Here it comes," I said to myself. But what came was that she thought she'd seen a screech-owl sticking its head out of a box "in that pond" 

I thanked her and walked over to the pond. I haven't been to Cloverdale in quite a while and hadn't noticed the box, which is new, along with the clearing of a lot of vegetation from the area. The box looked pretty big to me, and being in the water, like it was for nesting Wood Ducks. But just because a box is meant for one species, doesn't mean another won't appropriate it--I'm looking at you House Wren.

In any event, no bird was sunning itself. I stood around and waited for a while, trying different angles, even walking up the side of the pond to look at the box from another direction, doing a bad imitation of screech-owl whinnies. Nothing.  

Then, just after I had determined there was no other way to look at the box and I was walking back to the parking lot, I looked one more time and there was an Eastern Screech-Owl with its head out of the box. The overhang of the box created a shadow, so I wasn't able to get great pictures. 

Photos are problematical anyhow. It's one thing to report an owl that you hear, but owl roosts are supposed to be kept on the down low. I consulted a friend of mine, and he told me just to list the bird without any more information. (It isn't flagged rare, so I don't have to elaborate on it). This way, dastardly photographers who lurk on eBird, looking for sightings, can't antagonize the bird. 

But you, gentle reader, you wouldn't rush off to bother the bird, would you?  Which is why I feel only slight discomfort adding the one, highly cropped photo of the owl to illustrate this entry. 

I was already feeling pretty good, since I had earlier seen my first Scarlet Tanager of the year, singing very high in the trees, flitting from pine to dead tree. I heard it first--why its song is described as a "robin with a cold" eludes me--and then managed to get eyes on it. A Scarlet Tanager is a bird I want to see. 

I left Cloverdale and drove down to the Barnegat section of Forsythe. I was looking for shorebirds, and found a large flock of Dunlin, molting into their breeding plumage, and among them were both yellowlegs and only one Short-billed Dowitcher. I was hoping for more--not dowitchers (I only need one), but new shorebirds.  

Back at Cloverdale, I had an amusing moment with bird songs. I've noticed lately that after using eBird, a splash screen comes up warning me that Merlin, their bird song app, is not 100% reliable--like duh, I figured that out when it "heard" a Prothonotary Warbler in my backyard. But I still use the app when there's a lot of singing going on, just to get a quick list of what's around. While I was using it today, it "suggested" Worm-eating Warbler as one of the songs it was "hearing." I was dubious. Merlin is notorious for not being able to separate Worm-eating Warbler from Chipping Sparrow from Pine Warbler. I was pretty certain it was picking up Chipping Sparrow, which were all over the place, but on the off-chance that it was correct, I played a recording of Worm-eating Warbler. Apparently, Chipping Sparrows can't tell the difference either because as soon as I played Worm-eating Warbler a chippie popped up on a branch, looking around for the interloper! I mean, if the birds can't tell the difference, what chance do we have? 

Odds & Ends & My 10,000th (Complete) List

 Lost time is not found again

                                                --Bob Dylan

White-eyed Vireo, Manahawkin WMA

After 10 days of Mexican birds, it seemed imperative--and simultaneously a little silly--to get out and try to find the new birds that had arrived here during our absence. As the late Pete Bacinski once said to me after I reeled off some of the birds we'd seen in Trinidad, "Yeah, but those aren't New Jersey birds." 

The obvious place to start, it seemed to me, was Island Beach SP, but it was not an auspicious beginning. Despite walking every bayside trail and surveying the beach and ocean from a couple of different spots I was only able to add Forster's Tern and Common Yellowthroat to the year list and the yellowthroat was a single "heard only" on Reed's Road. This is not an atypical experience for me at Island Beach. Half the time I'm there I feel like I should be somewhere else where the action is and half the time I'm not there I feel like I should be. 

The next day I tried Double Trouble SP where I was minimally more successful adding 5 new species: Prairie Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, White-eyed Vireo, Purple Martin, and Broad-winged Hawk, the hawk being the only species that isn't a gimme in the county. Yellowthroats were singing everywhere and yet I still hadn't seen a one. 

Friday I figured I'd go somewhere that I just like to be--the Ocean County side of Whitesbog and while I walked around the bogs and woods with my friend and his dog, I didn't add a new species to the list, though I did finally get some looks at yellowthroats. It wasn't until I was home that afternoon, reading on the patio when I heard a familiar buzz. Out of the corner of my eye something zipped past. It took a few minutes, but, just before the lawn guy started to roll onto the grass with his noisy machine, I saw our first Ruby-throated Hummingbird. Of the two feeders we had out, one was dry and the other half-filled, so I quickly made up some sugar water and filled one of the feeders. Today Shari put out the full complement. 

Today I put on my permethrin pants and socks and gave Manahawkin WMA a try, parking the car on Stafford and walking in with the scope to view the impoundments. The very first bird I saw was a Willet so I was thinking that perhaps my luck had turned. It had, to a degree, but the target bird I'd come for--Blue-winged Teal--was not present that I could see, despite looking at every member of a huge flock of Green-winged Teal. There was also a flock of Dunlin with the teals (they're almost the same size) and the one smaller sandpiper in with the Dunlins was a Least Sandpiper. 

While I was walking around, I got a text from Steve telling me that an American White Pelican, which been in Manahawkin last week while I was gone, had been seen flying over the Barnegat impoundments. Since I wasn't very far away from there, I decided to give it shot, knowing it was unlikely that I'd find the bird. I pulled into Meadowedge Park when I saw the birders who'd reported it and they told me that it flown south. I gave the bay at the municipal dock a quick look, thinking that it might have plunked down in there somewhere, then drove over to the impoundments. They had told me they'd seen a couple of Short-billed Dowitchers there and after some peering through the phragmites (the path into the impoundments is sadly long-gone) I spotted them. There was a third bird with them that I couldn't quite grasp, feeding with an up and down motion but smaller than the dowitchers. Then I recalled that a Stilt Sandpiper had been reported off and on there for the last few days and, after convincing myself that this bird was not a Dunlin (especially after I actually saw a Dunlin for comparison), I listed the Stilt Sandpiper. Completely unexpected because that's a hard bird to get, especially in spring, but satisfying to list. 

My Manahawkin list today was the 10,000th complete checklist on eBird. I had thought about making it a Whitesbog list, since, aside from my backyard, I have the most lists there, but the timing just didn't work out. 10,000 lists and that doesn't include the 2580 "incidental" lists I've made which, since eBird doesn't consider them "complete" don't go into their statistics, as I understand their protocols. 10,000 lists and do I get a congratulatory email, a shower of virtual confetti, a free bird? Apparently not. 10,000 lists--I don't know if I should be proud or embarrassed. But here is list #10,000:

44 species
Canada Goose  2
Mute Swan  7
Mallard  6
American Black Duck  5
Green-winged Teal  72
Mourning Dove  3
Dunlin  18
Least Sandpiper  1
Greater Yellowlegs  6
Willet  2
Herring Gull  10
Forster's Tern  8
Great Blue Heron  1
Great Egret  4
Snowy Egret  3
Tricolored Heron  1
Glossy Ibis  3
Osprey  2
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  2
Hairy Woodpecker  1     Heard
Northern Flicker  2
White-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1     Heard
Fish Crow  2
Carolina Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  2     Heard
Tree Swallow  50
Barn Swallow  3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Carolina Wren  1     Heard
Gray Catbird  1
Brown Thrasher  1
American Robin  10
American Goldfinch  1
White-throated Sparrow  3
Song Sparrow  4
Eastern Towhee  3
Red-winged Blackbird  30
Brown-headed Cowbird  6
Common Yellowthroat  15
Yellow Warbler  1     Heard
Northern Cardinal  1     Heard

Barnegat Municipal Dock 3/20--Laughing Gull

I had the Year Bird Jones today. Yesterday, I spent my birding time at Colliers Mills looking, for probably the 15th time this year, for Red-headed Woodpecker. The absence of a post here about that species tells you the result. Today, I figured I may as well look at my other supposedly reliable spot, South Park Road in Tabernacle. This is usually a good place for Red-headed Woodpeckers; I believe I have a higher "hit rate" for them there than I do at Colliers Mills, but a back forth walk of 1.9 miles on the gravel and dirt road turned up none of the birds today. Plenty of other birds, including the first Wood Ducks I've ever seen there and a Pine Warbler every 100 feet, but the target bird remains elusive. 

And I still wanted a year bird.  So, I did something I rarely do. Usually, after a long walk, I'm pretty much done birding. As I've said, I bird every day, but I don't bird all day. And I'm especially averse to taking a long drive from one spot to the other but that's what I did this morning, driving 28 miles from South Park Road up 70, across 72, down Bay Avenue, to the Barnegat Municipal Dock parking lot. Because that parking lot is always full of gulls and I figured it would be the obvious spot for Laughing Gull, despite my earlier vow to just let that bird come to me. 

When I got there, it was full of gulls, but just Herring and Ring-bill Gulls, it seemed. Then a few gulls shuffled about and revealed my FOY Laughing Gull. A couple of minutes later a second one appeared at another spot in the lot and was quickly joined by a third. And there, along with decent pictures, is my accomplishment of the day. 

A quick scan of the bay turned up a pair of Horned Grebes and then a couple of American Oystercatchers on an island, both flagged as "Infrequent" on eBird. The "Infrequent" designation is a little mysterious. It could just be that the area isn't birded as much as it might be and thus the reports are sparse, or it really could be that the species doesn't turn up there much. For the most part when I encounter this flag, I assume the former. 

A couple of more stops on the way back home turned up semi-interesting birds: Greater Yellowlegs off the observation platform at the Barnegat Impoundments (hadn't seen them this month) and a Pied-billed Grebe in a channel along Bay Parkway in Waretown (again, "Infrequent," and maybe so, because it is the first time I've seen one there).

2021--4 Life Birds in New Jersey

Black-bellied Whistling Duck
Glossy Ibis, Brig

I suppose, at least birding-wise, it was a good year. Four life birds in New Jersey is remarkable for me; and since it doesn't look like I'm traveling anytime soon (the Steller's Eagle in Maine, 11 hours away, is not tempting), I'll have to resign myself to only incremental additions to the life list, while adding state and county birds will continue to be an ambivalent obsession if such a thing is possible. 

The first life bird of the year, DOVEKIE, was by far the highlight of the year. Never did I think I'd see a Dovekie from land and, as anyone who even cursorily read this blog know, Larry don't do no pelagics. So when Steve texted me in February and told me that the ongoing Dovekie incursion was ongoing right off the shore at Island Beach, I raced over there. It didn't take long to get a couple in the scope. It has been a long time since I jumped up and down in excitement over a life bird (or anything else for that matter) but I did that day. 

The second lifer was not nearly as exciting, though it was another species that is rare from shore. In May, another seabird irruption occurred, this time of SOOTY SHEARWATERS, and a walk along the extreme southern end of Island Beach yielded distant looks at 3 of them. Not exactly something to jump up and down about.

HEERMAN'S GULL, Cape May

Finally, two life birds in one day down at Cape May. Shari had to persuade me to make the trip to see the first recorded HEERMAN'S GULL in New Jersey. I thought it was a low probability chase and chase we did, as we kept missing the birds as it traveled northward along the bayshore. We finally tracked it down, again thanks to texts from Steve, way up in North Cape May. 

The other lifer that day I thought was going to be the consolation prize. For the past few years a SWAINSON'S WARBLER has been singing, and very rarely seen, from the same spot at Higbee Beach. Each year I haven't bothered to chase but since we were in the neighborhood and striking out on the rare gull, we gave it a shot and immediately heard the bird and of course, did not see it. 

Curlew Sandpiper, Brig

There were some cool rarities in the spring especially the ones in Ocean County like the Ruff, down at Barnegat, and the amazing Pacific Golden-Plover that hung around Tuckerton for about a week. Then there was the Curlew Sandpiper at Brig that I missed the day it was found, having joked to Bob Auster that among all those Dunlin there could be a rarity and I'd never find it, and of course, I have only  recently recovered from travails with the Western Kingbird(s) at Tip Seaman and Tuckerton. 

Which leads to the distinction I have come to make in the two types of birding I seem to do. All of the above falls into the category of "Pressure Birding" while meandering around a spot like Whitesbog, Reeve's Bogs, Colliers Mills, or any of my regular spots going under the rubric of "Pleasure Birding." Obviously, pleasure is better than pressure, so why do I put myself under pressure to get a new bird or add one to the county list, the state list? I dunno. If I take a step back from it, it seems like a silly thing to do, but I've found if I take a step back from almost anything, it seems like a silly thing to do...why does walking around a bog looking at whatever birds are there give me pleasure? I dunno. It seems like a silly thing to do but I gotta do something. 

I spent the morning of the last day of year on foggy Long Beach Island. I'd considered going to Island Beach, but the thought of all those photographers chasing after Snowy Owls made me queasy. As it happened, looking across the inlet from Barnegat Light I could see a mass of them all pointing cameras in one direction and even though I had only binoculars (figuring what good would a scope do with the fog, which had by then cleared up) I could see one of the owls atop atop a snow fence. Not great looks, but I knew it was there and I, at least, got a guilt free look, though, any species that can spend a winter on an ice floe in the arctic subsisting on eiders probably isn't as fragile as some would make out. 

For the year I had 289 species, ahead of last year.s pandemic constrained birding, but nowhere near where I have been in years that we traveled. Perhaps next year I'll make a concerted effort to list 300 species. It seems like a silly thing to do, but I gotta do something.

Species                        First Sighting
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck  Brig
Snow Goose  Brig
Brant  Sandy Hook
Cackling Goose  Meadowedge Park
Canada Goose  Sandy Hook
Mute Swan  Riverfront Landing
Trumpeter Swan  Assunpink WMA
Tundra Swan  Bamber Lake
Wood Duck  Brig
Blue-winged Teal  Bombay Hook
Northern Shoveler  Brig
Gadwall  Mud City
Eurasian Wigeon  Silver Lake
American Wigeon  Brig
Mallard  Pond on Schoolhouse Rd
American Black Duck  Sandy Hook
Northern Pintail  Brig
Green-winged Teal  Brig
Canvasback  Brig
Redhead  Knoll Crest Av
Ring-necked Duck  Pond on Schoolhouse Rd
Greater Scaup  East Bay Av
Lesser Scaup  Riverfront Landing
King Eider  Sandy Hook
Common Eider  Sandy Hook
Harlequin Duck  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter  Sandy Hook
White-winged Scoter  Sandy Hook
Black Scoter  Sandy Hook
Long-tailed Duck  Sandy Hook
Bufflehead  Sandy Hook
Common Goldeneye  Sandy Hook
Hooded Merganser  Crestwood Village
Common Merganser  East Bay Av
Red-breasted Merganser  Sandy Hook
Ruddy Duck  Riverfront Landing
 
Northern Bobwhite  Bombay Hook
Wild Turkey   Pinewald Keswick Rd
Ring-necked Pheasant  Manahawkin WMA
 
Pied-billed Grebe  Lake Como
Horned Grebe  Sandy Hook
 
Rock Pigeon  Wawa South Toms River
Mourning Dove  Island Beach SP
 
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  Whitesbog
Black-billed Cuckoo  Whitesbog
 
Common Nighthawk  35 Sunset Rd
Chuck-will's-widow  Collinstown Road
Eastern Whip-poor-will  35 Sunset Rd
 
Chimney Swift  Brig
 
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  Wells Mills Park
 
King Rail  Brig
Clapper Rail  Prime Hook NWR
Virginia Rail  Cattus Island County Park
Sora  Bombay Hook
Common Gallinule  Bombay Hook
American Coot  Lake Como
 
Sandhill Crane  Pedricktown Marsh
 
Black-necked Stilt  Bombay Hook
American Avocet  Bombay Hook
American Oystercatcher  Great Bay Blvd
Black-bellied Plover  Bombay Hook
American Golden-Plover  Whitesbog
Pacific Golden-Plover  Great Bay Blvd
Semipalmated Plover  Brig
Piping Plover  Island Beach SP
Killdeer  Shelter Cove Park
Upland Sandpiper  BC Fairgrounds
Whimbrel  Brig
Hudsonian Godwit  Bombay Hook
Marbled Godwit  Bombay Hook
Ruddy Turnstone  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Red Knot  Brig
Ruff  Forsythe-Barnegat
Stilt Sandpiper  Forsythe-Barnegat
Curlew Sandpiper  Brig
Sanderling  Sandy Hook
Dunlin  Brig
Purple Sandpiper  Shark River Inlet
Baird's Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Least Sandpiper  Whitesbog
White-rumped Sandpiper  Brig
Buff-breasted Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Pectoral Sandpiper  Mannington Marsh
Semipalmated Sandpiper  Brig
Western Sandpiper  Forsythe-Barnegat
Short-billed Dowitcher  Brig
Long-billed Dowitcher  Brig
American Woodcock  Crestwood Community Gardens
Wilson's Snipe  Cloverdale Farm
Wilson's Phalarope  Brig
Red-necked Phalarope  Brig
Spotted Sandpiper  Cedar Bonnet Island
Solitary Sandpiper  Cloverdale Farm
Greater Yellowlegs  Brig
Willet  Brig
Lesser Yellowlegs  Eno’s Pond
 
DOVEKIE  Island Beach SP
Razorbill  Island Beach SP
 
Bonaparte's Gull  Sandy Hook
Black-headed Gull  Manasquan Inlet
Laughing Gull  Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
HEERMANN'S GULL  North Cape May
Ring-billed Gull  Sandy Hook
Herring Gull  Sandy Hook
Iceland Gull  Raritan Bay Waterfront Park
Lesser Black-backed Gull  Shark River Inlet
Great Black-backed Gull  Sandy Hook
Least Tern  Brig
Gull-billed Tern  Brig
Caspian Tern  Brig
Common Tern  Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern  Bombay Hook
Royal Tern  Island Beach SP
Black Skimmer  Brig
 
Red-throated Loon  Sandy Hook
Common Loon  Sandy Hook
 
Wilson's Storm-Petrel  Manasquan Inlet
SOOTY SHEARWATER  Island Beach SP
 
Wood Stork  Sandy Hook
 
Brown Booby  Surf City
Northern Gannet  Island Beach SP
Great Cormorant  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant  Manahawkin WMA
American White Pelican  Brig
Brown Pelican  Island Beach SP
 
American Bittern  Island Beach SP
Least Bittern  Brig
Great Blue Heron  Crestwood Village
Great Egret  Brig
Snowy Egret  Bombay Hook
Little Blue Heron  Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron  Bayview Ave Marina
Cattle Egret  Meadowedge Park
Green Heron  The Wetlands Institute
Black-crowned Night-Heron  Bayview Ave Park
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  Great Bay Blvd
White Ibis  Ocean City Welcome Center
Glossy Ibis  Island Beach SP
Roseate Spoonbill  Manahawkin WMA
 
Black Vulture  New Egypt
Turkey Vulture  Sandy Hook
Osprey  Pedricktown Marsh
Northern Harrier  Sandy Hook
Sharp-shinned Hawk  Bayview Ave Park
Cooper's Hawk  Sandy Hook
Bald Eagle  35 Sunset Rd
Red-shouldered Hawk  Sandy Hook
Broad-winged Hawk  Manasquan River WMA
Red-tailed Hawk  Holly Lake
Rough-legged Hawk  BC Fairgrounds
 
Eastern Screech-Owl  Whitesbog
Great Horned Owl  35 Sunset Rd
Snowy Owl  Holgate
Short-eared Owl  BC Fairgrounds
 
Belted Kingfisher  Crestwood Village
 
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  35 Sunset Rd
Red-headed Woodpecker  Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker  Sandy Hook
Downy Woodpecker  Sandy Hook
Hairy Woodpecker  Etra Lake Park
Pileated Woodpecker  Etra Lake Park
Northern Flicker  Etra Lake Park
 
American Kestrel  BC Fairgrounds
Merlin  Tip Seaman CP
Peregrine Falcon  Great Bay Blvd
 
Olive-sided Flycatcher  Double Trouble State Park
Eastern Wood-Pewee  Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher  Whitesbog
Acadian Flycatcher  Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Willow Flycatcher  Manahawkin WMA
Least Flycatcher  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Eastern Phoebe  Colliers Mills WMA
Great Crested Flycatcher  Whitesbog
Western Kingbird  Great Bay Blvd
Eastern Kingbird  Whitesbog
 
White-eyed Vireo  Brig
Yellow-throated Vireo  35 Sunset Rd
Blue-headed Vireo  Manasquan River WMA
Warbling Vireo  Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo  Manasquan River WMA
Northern Shrike  Franklin Parker Preserve
 
Blue Jay  35 Sunset Rd
American Crow  35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow  Etra Lake Park
Common Raven  Sandy Hook
 
Carolina Chickadee  35 Sunset Rd
Black-capped Chickadee  Malverne
Tufted Titmouse  35 Sunset Rd
 
Horned Lark  Sandy Hook
 
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  Salem River WMA
Purple Martin  Bombay Hook
Tree Swallow  Reeves Bogs
Bank Swallow  Stafford Preserve
Barn Swallow  Great Bay Blvd
Cliff Swallow  Wesley Lake
 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  Assunpink WMA
Golden-crowned Kinglet  Stafford
 
Red-breasted Nuthatch  Ocean Acres Park
White-breasted Nuthatch  Pond on Schoolhouse Rd
Brown-headed Nuthatch  Cape Henlopen State Park
 
Brown Creeper  35 Sunset Rd
 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  Forest Resource Education Center
 
House Wren  35 Sunset Rd
Winter Wren  Brig
Marsh Wren  Great Bay Blvd
Carolina Wren  Sandy Hook
 
European Starling  35 Sunset Rd
 
Gray Catbird  Sandy Hook
Brown Thrasher  Manahawkin WMA
Northern Mockingbird  Sandy Hook
 
Eastern Bluebird  Stafford
Veery  Double Trouble State Park
Gray-cheeked Thrush  Reeves Bogs
Swainson's Thrush  Bombay Hook
Hermit Thrush  Whitesbog
Wood Thrush  Manahawkin WMA
American Robin  Sandy Hook
 
Cedar Waxwing  Brig
 
House Sparrow  Riverfront Landing
 
American Pipit  Tip Seaman CP
 
House Finch  Shelter Cove Park
Purple Finch  Brig
Common Redpoll  Island Beach SP
Red Crossbill  Tip Seaman CP
Pine Siskin  35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch  Assunpink WMA
 
Snow Bunting  Sandy Hook
 
Grasshopper Sparrow  Bombay Hook
Chipping Sparrow  Colliers Mills WMA
Clay-colored Sparrow  Island Beach SP
Field Sparrow  Sandy Hook
American Tree Sparrow  Sandy Hook
Fox Sparrow  Manahawkin WMA
Dark-eyed Junco  35 Sunset Rd
White-crowned Sparrow  Cedar Bonnet Island
White-throated Sparrow  Sandy Hook
Seaside Sparrow  Brig
Nelson's Sparrow  Great Bay Blvd
Saltmarsh Sparrow  Great Bay Blvd
Savannah Sparrow  Bridge to Nowhere
Song Sparrow  Sandy Hook
Swamp Sparrow  Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Towhee  Colliers Mills WMA
 
Yellow-breasted Chat  Brig
Bobolink  Whitesbog
Eastern Meadowlark  BC Fairgrounds
Orchard Oriole  Manasquan River WMA
Baltimore Oriole  Colliers Mills WMA
Red-winged Blackbird  Mud City
Brown-headed Cowbird  New Egypt
Rusty Blackbird  New Egypt
Common Grackle  Stafford
Boat-tailed Grackle  Great Bay Blvd
 
Ovenbird  Whitesbog
Northern Waterthrush  Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue-winged Warbler  Manasquan River WMA
Black-and-white Warbler  Whitesbog
Prothonotary Warbler  Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
SWAINSON'S WARBLER  Higbee Beach WMA
Tennessee Warbler  Cedar Bonnet Island
Orange-crowned Warbler  Sandy Hook
Connecticut Warbler  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Common Yellowthroat  Whitesbog
Hooded Warbler  Whitesbog
American Redstart  Manasquan River WMA
Cape May Warbler  Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Parula  Colliers Mills WMA
Magnolia Warbler  Colliers Mills WMA
Bay-breasted Warbler  Island Beach SP
Blackburnian Warbler  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Yellow Warbler  Brig
Chestnut-sided Warbler  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Blackpoll Warbler  Whitesbog
Black-throated Blue Warbler  Colliers Mills WMA
Palm Warbler  Whitesbog
Pine Warbler  Franklin Parker Preserve
Yellow-throated Warbler  Prime Hook NWR
Prairie Warbler  Whitesbog
Black-throated Green Warbler  Manasquan River WMA
Canada Warbler  Palmyra Cove Nature Park
Wilson's Warbler  Island Beach SP
 
Summer Tanager  Colliers Mills WMA
Scarlet Tanager  Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Cardinal  35 Sunset Rd
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  Double Trouble State Park
Blue Grosbeak  Manasquan River WMA
Indigo Bunting  Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Dickcissel  Pinelands Preservation Alliance Headquarters

Dickcissel, Pineland Preservation Alliance 

Cedar Bonnet Island 5/4--Spotted Sandpiper, White-crowned Sparrow, Northern Waterthrush, Tennessee Warbler

Luckily for me, I (to use a Newarkism of my mother) bunked into a couple of faster, sharper birders than me at Cedar Bonnet Island early this morning, otherwise I doubt I'd have caught sight of the Tennessee Warbler high up in a tree and I certainly wouldn't have heard the Northern Waterthrush at the corner of the two trails. And it took me a while to hear it and it took a longer while for me to hear it twice so I could count it. It is becoming apparent to me that 35 years of listening to the roar of printing presses and the staccato bang bang bang of folding machines is finally taking its toll on my hearing. Of course, I only notice this when I with younger people with better hearing. Most of the time I don't know what I'm missing. 

The two other year birds of the day I found on my own, more or less. The White-crowned Sparrow was in the same spot as where I later heard the waterthrush. I was alone then, and for all I know, the waterthrush was singing then. I was starting to think I wasn't going to find WCSP this year since they seem to have disappeared from their spots at Assunpink and the New Egypt fields. Cedar Bonnet seems like an odd place to find one, but I'll take it. I saw my first Spotted Sandpiper standing with another birder I "bunked into" who said he'd seen them in the area and as we were talking about them we saw one coming toward us with its distinctive flight, its wings never lifting above the horizontal. That's probably the only shorebird I can identify by its flight pattern. Later, I walked down to the shore line of the channel where I flushed three more spotties. Thus, no photos: one skittish warbler, one heard only warbler, one sparrow that flew away before the camera came off my shoulder, 3 flushed sandpipers is how the score stands. 

Gull-billed Tern, Sands Pt, Bay Parkway

I made a stop at Manahawkin but it was already late in the morning and things were slowing down. A stop at suddenly busy Forsythe-Barnegat yielded two county birds at least--Semipalmated Plover and Semipalmated Sandpiper. But the most interesting new county bird today was my final stop at Bay Parkway, normally a winter spot for me, but I was curious if the marsh would have anything in it. The first bird I saw there was a Gull-billed Tern standing on a sand spit looking off into the bay. Gull-billed Tern is not common in that spot; it is the first one I've ever seen there and according to eBird, it is the first one recorded there too. 

The longest list was the first at Cedar Bonnet, thus appended:

44 species

Brant  4     Flyover

Canada Goose  8

Mallard  6

American Black Duck  2

Mourning Dove  8

Clapper Rail  4     heard

Least Sandpiper  50

Spotted Sandpiper  4

Greater Yellowlegs  1

Willet  1

Herring Gull  20

Great Black-backed Gull  2

Forster's Tern  4

Double-crested Cormorant  30

Great Blue Heron  1

Great Egret  3

Snowy Egret  1

Little Blue Heron  1

Glossy Ibis  30

Osprey  2

Peregrine Falcon  1

White-eyed Vireo  1     Heard

American Crow  1

Tree Swallow  2

Carolina Wren  1

European Starling  2

Gray Catbird  15

American Robin  20

House Finch  2

American Goldfinch  2

White-crowned Sparrow  1

White-throated Sparrow  1

Seaside Sparrow  1     Heard

Song Sparrow  8

Baltimore Oriole  2

Red-winged Blackbird  50

Brown-headed Cowbird  1

Boat-tailed Grackle  20

Northern Waterthrush  1     Heard

Tennessee Warbler  1     Greenish plain warbler with eye stripe

Common Yellowthroat  10

Yellow Warbler  5

Northern Cardinal  1

Indigo Bunting  1     Female

Manasquan River WMA | Forsythe-Barnegat 5/1--Ruff, Broad-winged Hawk, Blue-headed Vireo, Blue Grosbeak

Ruff, on right, Forsythe-Barnegat

Suddenly, after years of being a bird-free zone, the viewing platform at Forsythe-Barnegat is HOT. Last month a Stilt Sandpiper, this morning, a Ruff (which is probably a female, thus Reeve). I had decided to head down there after a long, semi-successful morning at Manasquan River WMA where migrating birds seem to have skipped over today. I was happy to see 3 new species: Broad-winged Hawk, Blue-headed Vireo, and, especially Blue Grosbeak, but I thought there would be a lot more species of warblers than I found and all the ones I found were already on the list for the year. So, checking the eBird alerts, I saw that a lot of sandpipers were being seen again off the observation deck, including a couple of species I wanted for my county list. 

Driving down the Parkway, I got a text from Steve: 

                        Are you aware of the Ruff at Barnegat?

If I was a subscriber to rare bird text alerts I would have been, but since I'm not, I have to rely on eBird, luck, and good friends like Steve to get me to the next rarity. But what a coincidence that I was on my way there anyway.

It took a little over a half hour to arrive in Barnegat, and of course, a half dozen birders were trying to refind the bird, not an easy task when there are 200 yellowlegs, both greater and lesser, shuffling along the mud flats, skittering into the air, then landing, inevitably, where the light is worst. 

Someone had the bird from a vantage point on Edison Street, so we all transferred our optics there, but, after giving brief, unsatisfying looks through twigs and reeds blocking the scope, the bird moved out of sight. A few of us went back to the platform, where another birder was set up. He had the Ruff, about as far out on the flats as it could be, but with a scope you could differentiate it easily from all the yellowlegs. Pictures, of course, were problematical. 

=========================================================================

April was not the cruelest month. Migration madness started in earnest and I added 34 year birds, Interestingly, to me, four of the new birds were from my own backyard--whippoorwill, hummingbird, House Wren,  &Yellow-throated Vireo (#99 for the yard). Most of new warblers came from Whitesbog (not a warbler hotspot) and most of the new shorebirds came from Brig (not surprisingly). Looking through my month list I'm startled to see that while I made it down to Salem once again, I didn't set foot in Monmouth County all month. I may have developed a slight Sandy Hook aversion. 

Counties Birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Ocean, Salem

140 species: 

Species                  First Sighting

Snow Goose   Brig

Brant   Waretown

Canada Goose   Manchester Dump

Mute Swan   Manahawkin WMA

Wood Duck   Whitesbog

Blue-winged Teal   Island Beach SP

Northern Shoveler   Brig

Gadwall   Brig

Mallard   Whitesbog

American Black Duck   Whitesbog

Northern Pintail   Forsythe-Barnegat

Green-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA

Ring-necked Duck   Double Trouble State Park

Black Scoter   Island Beach SP

Bufflehead   Barnegat Municipal Dock

Red-breasted Merganser   Waretown

Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd

Horned Grebe   Island Beach SP

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Wells Mills Park

Clapper Rail   Great Bay Blvd

American Coot   Mannington Marsh

American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP

Black-bellied Plover   Island Beach SP

Piping Plover   Island Beach SP

Killdeer   Compromise Rd.

Whimbrel   Brig

Red Knot   Brig

Stilt Sandpiper   Forsythe-Barnegat

Sanderling   Island Beach SP

Dunlin   Great Bay Blvd

Least Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Pectoral Sandpiper   Mannington Marsh

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig

Wilson's Snipe   Salem River WMA

Solitary Sandpiper   Cloverdale Farm

Greater Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA

Willet   Brig

Lesser Yellowlegs   Great Bay Blvd

Bonaparte's Gull   Mathis Veteran's Memorial Park

Laughing Gull   Barnegat Municipal Dock

Ring-billed Gull   Manahawkin Lake

Herring Gull   35 Sunset Rd

Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP

Great Black-backed Gull   Barnegat Municipal Dock

Gull-billed Tern   Brig

Caspian Tern   Brig

Forster's Tern   Island Beach SP

Red-throated Loon   Mannington Marsh

Common Loon   Waretown

Northern Gannet   Island Beach SP

Great Cormorant   Island Beach SP

Double-crested Cormorant   Island Beach SP

American White Pelican   Brig

Least Bittern   Brig

Great Blue Heron   Double Trouble State Park

Great Egret   E. Bay Ave, Barnegat

Snowy Egret   Waretown

Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP

Tricolored Heron   Island Beach SP

Cattle Egret   Meadowedge Park

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Blvd

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Blvd

Glossy Ibis   Island Beach SP

Black Vulture   Salem River WMA

Turkey Vulture   Pond on Schoolhouse Road

Osprey   Nessie Bog

Northern Harrier   Double Trouble State Park

Sharp-shinned Hawk   Great Bay Blvd

Cooper's Hawk   Double Trouble State Park

Bald Eagle   Double Trouble State Park

Red-shouldered Hawk   Brig

Red-tailed Hawk   Eno’s Pond

Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog

Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Downy Woodpecker   Double Trouble State Park

Hairy Woodpecker   Cloverdale Farm

Northern Flicker   Whitesbog

American Kestrel   Compromise Rd.

Merlin   Whiting WMA

Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP

Eastern Phoebe   35 Sunset Rd

Great Crested Flycatcher   Whitesbog

Eastern Kingbird   Whitesbog

White-eyed Vireo   Brig

Yellow-throated Vireo   35 Sunset Rd

Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA

Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd

American Crow   Pond on Schoolhouse Road, Whiting

Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Common Raven   Double Trouble State Park

Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Salem River WMA

Purple Martin   Whitesbog

Tree Swallow   Whitesbog

Barn Swallow   Great Bay Blvd

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Island Beach SP

Red-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper   Island Beach SP

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Double Trouble State Park

House Wren   35 Sunset Rd

Marsh Wren   Brig

Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd

European Starling   35 Sunset Rd

Gray Catbird   Whitesbog

Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP

Northern Mockingbird   Double Trouble State Park

Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog

Hermit Thrush   Island Beach SP

American Robin   35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow   Tip Seaman County Park

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

Purple Finch   35 Sunset Rd

Red Crossbill   Double Trouble State Park

Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Field Sparrow   Cloverdale Farm

Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd

White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Seaside Sparrow   Brig

Savannah Sparrow   Whitesbog

Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog

Eastern Towhee   Whitesbog

Eastern Meadowlark   Compromise Rd.

Red-winged Blackbird   Whitesbog

Brown-headed Cowbird   Whitesbog

Common Grackle   Waretown

Boat-tailed Grackle   Eno’s Pond

Ovenbird   Whitesbog

Black-and-white Warbler   Whitesbog

Common Yellowthroat   Whitesbog

Hooded Warbler   Whitesbog

Yellow Warbler   Brig

Palm Warbler   Whitesbog

Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Whitesbog

Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog

Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd Prairie Warbler, Manasquan River WMA