Whitesbog 2/7--Sandhill Cranes

 Where were you when I needed you?

                                                                                                    --The Grass Roots

I went to Whitesbog this morning for the first time since the PWBC. With the warmer weather of late, I was hoping for more waterfowl and the 75 Canada Geese on Rome Pond gave me some hope. And I was heartened to find 32 Tundra Swans on Union Pond, by far the highest number I've had there this winter. As to ducks, I only had Mallards and couple of flocks of American Black Ducks. But it was when I walked behind Union Pond into Ditch Meadow (don't ask me how these spots got their names, they're artefacts of Whitesbog's former geography) that I recalled the epigraph to this entry. Two big birds leaped out of the middle pond. At first my reaction was herons, but then I look at them as they flew overhead by me, I got excited because I saw that not only were they much larger than herons or egrets, but that they're necks were fully extended, not pulled into an S-shape as you'll typically see on those waders. They were...Sandhill Cranes! If only I had seen them on Sunday, what a great bird for the winter census. I watched the cranes as they flew back over Union Pond, then swing around and fly off in the direction of Fort Dix (where I suspect they roost and possibly breed). 

And that is why I frequent these out-of-the way spots at Whitesbog, because every 100 times or so, I find something spectacular. Suffice it to say that I've never had Sandhill Cranes at Whitesbog. In fact, they've never been listed there, though my informant (who doesn't list on eBird) has seen them there and even once called me to tell they were standing in Rome Pond--unfortunately, I was in Tuckerton at the time. And then, just to cinch the i.d., I flushed up a Great Blue Heron from the reeds and watched its ungainly flight from one spot on old pond to another. The birds in the air were definitely not herons.  And thinking about it, I've never seen herons fly together, either. Doesn't mean they don't, but I've never witnessed it. 

Tundra Swans on Union Pond

I walked back to Union Pond on the off chance that they had circled back and settled down there and I walked back to the hidden pond off the landing strip, hoping I'd find them there, but only black ducks were mucking about in the mud. 

So, in terms of quantity, I did slightly better today than Sunday--25 species against 22 (and in a lot less time) but in terms of quality one species made a huge difference. 

Canada Goose  75
Tundra Swan  32
Mallard  4
American Black Duck  18
Mourning Dove  2
Sandhill Crane  2  
Great Blue Heron  1     
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Downy Woodpecker  1     Village
Hairy Woodpecker  1     Heard
Blue Jay  1     Heard
American Crow  2
Carolina Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  3
White-breasted Nuthatch  3
European Starling  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
Eastern Bluebird  4
American Robin  6
House Finch  2
American Goldfinch  6
Dark-eyed Junco  14
Swamp Sparrow  1     Heard entrance field
Northern Cardinal  6

Cardinal in the village

Double Trouble SP 2/3--Northern Pintail, Lesser Scaup

Lesser Scaup

After yesterday's PWBC, a relatively short walk at Double Trouble SP seemed like the thing to do. I made my way up to the Mill Pond Reservoir in the hopes that the recent thaw would have worked on the ice, and I was happy to see immediately find ducks on the water. At first it looked like just two Hooded Mergansers, but scanning with my bins I could see lots of ducks along the western edge. The two big flocks appeared to be American Black Ducks and Ring-necked Ducks, but I within the flock of Ring-necks I saw white flanks on a couple of ducks. I walked across the dry spillway and along the trail to get  closer look. Those different ducks were Lesser Scaup. After all these years, I'm still not good with scaup but I know that Lesser prefer lakes and ponds (check) and that they're heads are peaked at the back. I took some photos and enlarged them on the view screen--check. That was a year bird I wasn't expecting. 

Northern Pintail

I continued along the path to get better looks and a decent count of the black ducks. There were a few Mallards mixed in with them, but I didn't "care" about them. What interested me were the dabbling ducks with their butts up in the air--they were lighter than the black ducks and the Mallards. Finally, one came up for air and I was pretty certain that it was Northern Pintail, not a duck you often find at Double Trouble, but open water is scarce around here. A long-range photo confirmed my i.d.  I should have been able to tell just by the pintails sticking up in the air, but they were too far away for that field mark to show up against background. There was a year-duck I certainly wasn't expecting to find today.

After 8 waterfowl on the reservoir, the rest of the walk was slow birding. My two highlights were on the back bogs where the Sweetwater Reservoir is located. There I found a Swamp Sparrow in the overgrown bog and a Northern Harrier making sweeps over the two abandoned bogs. 

In all, 17 species for my walk through another former cranberry bog. Two year birds made me incrementally happy.

Canada Goose  34
Mallard  8
American Black Duck  54
Northern Pintail  4
Ring-necked Duck  22
Lesser Scaup  2
Bufflehead  2
Hooded Merganser  2
Mourning Dove  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Northern Harrier  1     Back bogs
Blue Jay  3
Tufted Titmouse  2
American Goldfinch  8
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Song Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1     Back bogs

PWBC 2/2--American Kestrel

Tundra Swans, pre-dawn, Union Pond

Yesterday, after scouting Whitesbog in preparation for today's 10th (!) Annual Pinelands Winter Bird Census, I told Shari I'd be lucky if I got half the species I did last year. What water there is in Whitesbog is frozen and what water there isn't is frozen mud, so not attractive to either waterfowl or passerines that might pick in the muck for worms or seeds. Of course, last year I also had the company of experts in Scott and Debra while this year I went it alone, as I usually do. But I guess I was lucky because I had more like 3/4 of last year's species instead of half. 

As always, I started off way before dawn, on Whitesbog Road, playing owl calls at 5 AM and not hearing any. I then drove into Whitesbog and started playing screech owl calls at spot near the Triangle Field. What I got in response was a very distant Great Horned Owl. I then drove out through the village to the bogs and played screech owl in another usually reliable spot. Great Horned Owl again. And again, distant. 

I drove to the double-laned road and walked to the other side of the bogs and played both owls again. I was disappointed to hear nothing until I was halfway back to the car when I heard and Eastern Screech-Owl whinnying behind me and then another responding in front of me. They were probably about an 1/8 of a mile apart and I was getting them in stereo. So, I was one bird ahead of last year and it was only 6 o'clock. 

I drove to the "landing strip" behind Union Pond, hoping for more owls as the sky was turning from black to mauve. I walked toward Union Pond and heard whooping. As I had hoped, there were 8 Tundra Swans standing on the ice. I had just enough time to walk back to the car, get the camera, walk to the pond edge and take a couple of photos before they took off to where there might be some open water. 

I walked all around Union Pond and found no birds, walked back through Ditch Meadow and found no birds, walked around Union Pond again and finally had a Sharp-shinned Hawk buzz over me. I could see that the bogs were not going to be very productive, so I drove back to the edge of the Triangle Field and things began to pick up just a little bit. A Cooper's Hawk flew into a tree and posed, chickadees, titmice, and nuthatches called, and a Hermit Thrush chucked in the tangles. 

Fox Sparrow

Yesterday I filled the feeders near the General Store in the village and that paid off with juncos, House Finches, Blue Jays, cardinals, and best of all, a Fox Sparrow. I walked through the village, then through the fields on the entrance road, then out onto the bogs and really found very little. I drove over to Rome Pond and of course, it too was frozen and had nothing standing on the ice. Even though I suspected it would be fruitless based on yesterday's foray, I drove all around the Ocean County side of Whitesbog and had ZERO birds, which was two less than I had yesterday

With about 5 hours spent at Whitesbog, I was pretty sure was in the diminishing returns phase, so I left there and walked Whitesbog Road from Rt 530 to Rt 70. The happy find there was Red-breasted Nuthatch calling within a flock of chickadees, titmice and White-breasted Nuthatches. I never could locate the bird in the pines but recorded it. Red-breasted Nuthatches are flagged as rare in Burlington County, while in my backyard, 9 miles away, they're feeder birds. Go figure. 

American Kestrel, Pasadena Road

Last year, when we birded the JJ White bogs on Pasadena Road, Deb found an American Kestrel atop one of the pump houses, so when I drove the road today, I looked at the roof of each pumping station and sure enough, there was a kestrel on a roof peak. My only year bird for the day. 

Finally, I drove over to Country Lake Estates, a development where I don't expect to find much but have to give it a look because of its artificial lake. Half of it was ice, but surprisingly, half of it was open. I supposed the big flock of geese there have managed to act as bubblers and keep the water moving. Those were my only geese of the day, along with my only Mallards, my only Ring-necked Duck, and my only Ring-billed Gulls, which were standing on the ice. The Ring-necked was #30 on the day and as it was about 1 o'clock, I felt that 8 hours of solid birding was enough. I've never kept track of my numbers for the census year over year, but I suspect that 30 is just slightly below average. 

Species               First Sighting
Canada Goose   Country Lake Estates
Tundra Swan   Whitesbog
Mallard   Country Lake Estates
Ring-necked Duck   Country Lake Estates
Mourning Dove   Whitesbog
Ring-billed Gull   Country Lake Estates
American Herring Gull   Whitesbog
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Whitesbog
Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog
Eastern Screech-Owl   Whitesbog
Great Horned Owl   Whitesbog
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
American Kestrel   Pasadena Road
Blue Jay   Whitesbog
American Crow   Whitesbog
Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse   Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog Road
Carolina Wren   Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird   Whitesbog
Hermit Thrush   Whitesbog
American Robin   Whitesbog
House Finch   Whitesbog
American Goldfinch   Whitesbog
Fox Sparrow   Whitesbog
Dark-eyed Junco   Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal   Whitesbog

Tundra Swans about to take flight.

Reeves Bogs 2/11--Wood Duck

Reeves Bogs, 6:45 AM

I made my first trip of the year to Reeves Bogs this morning, arriving just before dawn. I would write "sunrise" but the sun never showed today. In the gloaming as I was parking in the clearing by the big dead tree, I could see many white lumps in the big front bog--38 Tundra Swans I eventually counted, my high for the year, even more than the 33 I saw the other day at Whitesbog. A week ago, I only saw 8 on the PWBC.  At this point in the season, these must be returning swans, making their northwester diagonal migration. 

There were a number of possibilities for year birds at Reeves--I was probably a little late for screech-owl and I couldn't get a Virginia Rail to call from the maple swamp as they sometimes will. But the most likely of the birds I did get--7 Wood Ducks flew out of the swamp and into the front bog as I started my walk up the south side of the bog and 7 Wood Ducks flew out 10 minutes later, just as I was getting to where they had landed near the breach in that bog. 

Tundra Swans

Since I hadn't been there in almost two months, I didn't know what to expect in terms of the so-called trails. I just resigned myself that I might have to do some backtracking depending on how high the water was in some crossing spots, and I did have to--between the beavers and the all the rain, getting around there is an adventure. But I'm glad I had to turn around because I saw my informant and his dog coming up toward me--the dog, having seen my car, knew I was there and started tracking me. Luckily for my informant, I wasn't too far into the bogs--I have seen a disgusted face on him when his dog has insisted on finding me way over in the Cedar Restoration Area, a spot he doesn't normally walk to. I told him it was no go on that path, and we walked around the bog the other way, crossing one of his "bridges" which are not for the faint of heart. 

Aside from the woodies and the swans, there were more waterfowl than I often see there--geese and Mallards, of course, but also about 60 Ring-necked Ducks (another species probably staging for a northward migration), Hooded Mergansers, 2 American Black Ducks, and 2 Buffleheads (infrequent) in Milton's Reservoir. 

Old well

The great thing about walking with my informant is that I always learn something new, whether it be botany, herpetology, or local history and geography.  Today is was history. We were in the field to the east of the parking area that had just undergone a prescribed burn--only partially successful because of the dampness. But instead of knee-high weeds, you could see the ground. "There used to be houses here you know," said my informant. Reeves was once a thriving cranberry operation--on the other side of the parking area you can see the foundation of the packing house. Hard to imagine, since where we were walking was nothing but trees, mostly dead, and abandoned fox dens, but soon we came to an old well head, which could be a real ankle breaker if one was walking around there when the grass was high. You learn something new every day and most of it not worth knowing but this strikes me as an exception. 

A typical Pine Barrens winter walk--only 20 species but the cool bird requirement (Wood Ducks are easily my favorite waterfowl) was fulfilled.

Canada Goose  35
Tundra Swan  38
Wood Duck  7     
American Black Duck  2
Ring-necked Duck  60
Bufflehead  2     
Hooded Merganser  6
Red-shouldered Hawk  1     Back bogs
Belted Kingfisher  1     Bear Hole, heard
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  2
Winter Wren  1     Heard
Eastern Bluebird  5
American Robin  20
American Goldfinch  1
Dark-eyed Junco  15
Red-winged Blackbird  6

PWBC 2/4--Great Horned Owl

Because most of the Pine Barrens lie outside any Christmas Bird Count circles, for the last 9 years Jim Schill has organized a Pinelands Winter Bird Census the week before the Super Bowl. Twice in the last week I was at Whitesbog scouting my territory for the census, both times starting way before daybreak, listening for owls in all my usual spots: Behind the Barrel Factory, the Triangle Field, at the entrance to the bogs from the Village, at the parking spot by the Middle Bog, and at the double-laned road. Both times I heard nothing, despite repeatedly playing various hoots, trills, and whinnies through a blue tooth speaker. This morning I got there even earlier than the previous two times and decided to try different spots. Driving in on the road along Rome Pond I stopped and played some hoots--and was rewarded at 5:19 by the responding hoots of a Great Horned Owl. At 5:30 I stopped at the double-laned road which is the de facto border between Burlington and Ocean Counties. I intended to try for owls in Ocean but played some hoots and whinnies. Two minutes later the hoots got another GHOW calling back. Whether it was in Burlington or Ocean I couldn't tell, but since eBird is a survey of where your feet are, not where the bird may be, I was able to list it for both counties by walking 50 feet to my east. A crescent moon lit my way. 

I then drove into the Ocean County portion of Whitesbog, hoping to get Eastern Screech Owl and Barred Owl to call. Barred Owl was a long shot--once, many years ago, I heard one there, but my informant there once told me that they nested behind Big Tank, so I drove up there and played "Who cooks for you?" a number of times and got no response. That didn't surprise me or really even disappoint me. Not getting any screech owls did disappoint me. I had to remind myself that most of the time on the census, I would get one or the other of the owls--only once, maybe twice, have I heard both. 

By 6:30 it was getting light, though sunrise was a little more than a half hour away. I futilely tried the Triangle Field for screech before driving into the Village with a zip-loc bag of seeds that I used to replenish the feeders there, figuring I would come back later and pick up the easy birds. On a census, every bird is equally important (though there is an Orwellian sense that some birds are equally more important).

25% of the Tundra Swans counted today

I then drove out to the bogs to survey the waterfowl. That didn't take long because I can count to 8 pretty fast. That's how many Tundra Swans were on Union Pond. Time was, Sonny, that it was nothing for this old-timer to get 30, 40, even 80 Tundra Swans on Union and the 3 adjacent bogs, not mention birds on the Upper Reservoir. But the last couple of years have seen their numbers plummet. 8 is about as small a number as I can remember--even yesterday I had 11. There were lots of geese, a few Mallards, and some Ring-neck Ducks.  Even the Hooded Mergansers I had been seeing lately had disappeared. 

Reinforcements arrived around 8:30 in the persons of Scott and Deb. Last year, when I couldn't do the census because it fell on Shari's significant birthday, Scott filled in for me, and I was happy to have their company and their eyes and ears. I probably would have missed the siskins zipping overhead and Deb found cowbirds at the feeders when I was looking elsewhere. And where I might have had one Hermit Thrush, with Scott we had 5. 

We walked a goodly amount in Whitebog on both sides of the borderline, picking up dribs of black ducks in Ditch Meadow and drabs of Buffleheads over on the Ocean County side. After we'd exhausted Whitesbog, we drove over to Pasadena Road which runs along J.J. White's property and it was there than we finally had our first raptor (not counting Turkey Vultures) of the day, a Red-tailed Hawk. It was there also that we finally got a Carolina Wren and most of our sparrows, including 9 Field Sparrows. The last new bird of the day was an American Kestrel Deb found on the roof of a shed as we were driving out. 

I drove over to Country Lake Estates to look at the eponymous lake--bupkus--a vulture and two geese. This I took as a signal from the birding gods to give it up, go home, and drink a beer. 

For the day 42 species, which is actually a little more, I think, than I normally tally:

Species                First Sighting
Canada Goose   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Tundra Swan   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Mallard   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
American Black Duck   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Ring-necked Duck   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Bufflehead   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Mourning Dove   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Herring Gull   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Red-tailed Hawk   Pasadena Road
Great Horned Owl   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
American Kestrel   Pasadena Road
Blue Jay   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
American Crow   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Common Raven   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Tufted Titmouse   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
White-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Carolina Wren   Pasadena Road
European Starling   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Northern Mockingbird   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Hermit Thrush   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
American Robin   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
House Finch   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Pine Siskin   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
American Goldfinch   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Field Sparrow   Pasadena Road
Fox Sparrow   Pasadena Road
Dark-eyed Junco   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
White-throated Sparrow   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Song Sparrow   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Red-winged Blackbird   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Brown-headed Cowbird   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Northern Cardinal   Whitesbog (Burlington County)

PWBC 2/6--Eastern Screech-Owl

Tundra Swans at dawn

After a week's weather delay, today was the 7th (I believe) Pinelands Winter Bird Census and I, as usual, did my section which centers on Whitesbog and takes in some surrounding bogs, roads, and Country Lakes Estates. This count, Jim Schill's idea, is done because great swaths of the Pinelands--oh please, "Pinelands" is a real estate euphemism--because great swaths of the Pine Barrens lay outside any Christmas Count circles, so a bunch of us run around the bogs, farm fields, ponds and forests of Burlington County (with a tiny slice of Ocean included because of Whitesbog) counting birds. I do my area solo, even though it is pretty large. That's why I scout beforehand, so I'll have an idea where the birds are and where I don't have to waste my time.

The highlights of the day were done by just after dawn. I started at 5 AM listening for owls. I wasn't too optimistic because in January I'd gone there a few times pre-dawn and never heard a hoot or a whinny. I took along Shari's Bluetooth speaker on the theory that my phone wasn't loud enough to attract an owl's attention but, as it turned out it, I didn't really need it. As soon as I got out of the car in the village parking lot, I heard two Great Horned Owls duetting without any prompting from me. Then I drove over to one of my owl spots in the Triangle Field and played an ESO call. I heard two more GHOs calling to each other, then, on the other side of the field, an Eastern Screech-Owl whinnied. At the entrance to the bogs, just as you come out of the village, another reliable spot, I heard another screech-owl. So maybe I wasn't getting there early enough, or maybe I just got lucky. 

I drove back through the Triangle Field hoping to flush a woodcock in the false dawn but was unsuccessful. Then I drove out to Union Pond, just as the sky was lightening. I could see the 5 Tundra Swans on the ice. There is a small area of open water on the pond where yesterday there were quite a few ducks were concentrated, but today, only the swans, and a very small number at that. Even though the "flock" built up to 9 by mid-day, it is a very disconcerting number. I used to get swans in the dozens there, now I can count them on two hands. On the bright side, 9 Tundra Swans is 9 more than I got last year, when I was completely skunked on the swans. 

After that it was drive to a previous hot spot and walk around. Some places where birds were yesterday were barren, some spots were very active. The tweety birds were in the village, one immature Bald Eagle flew over Union Pond at dawn while another was atop the water tower where the vultures usually rest. 

Digiscoped Northern Harrier

A drive around the Ocean County section of Whitesbog was almost a complete washout--4 lousy juncos that I could find. Then I drove over to Pasadena Road along the bogs and was surprised to see one Herring Gull. I lost it in the bogs then drove along and thought I saw it fly up and land farther out. However, that bird, while gray, didn't strike me as the gull. With the scope the bird turned out to be a gray ghost Northern Harrier with prey between its talons that it was tearing apart with its beak. Don't think I've ever seen a gray ghost on the ground and eating. 

A stop at Country Lake Estates got me my only ducks of the day--Mallard and Hooded Merganser. And a solitary Ring-billed Gull. I ate lunch at Whitesbog in the village and I could tell that things had quieted down substantially. My last list came from Whitesbog Road and it didn't have much on it. 

For the day I tallied 35 species, 8 more than last year. I'll be curious to see the final numbers for the whole group. 

Canada Goose  Whitesbog
Tundra Swan  Whitesbog
Mallard  Country Lake Estates
Hooded Merganser  Country Lake Estates
Mourning Dove  Whitesbog
Ring-billed Gull  Country Lake Estates
Herring Gull  Pasadena Road
Great Blue Heron  Whitesbog
Turkey Vulture  Whitesbog
Northern Harrier  Pasadena Road
Bald Eagle  Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk  Whitesbog
Eastern Screech-Owl  Whitesbog
Great Horned Owl  Whitesbog
Red-bellied Woodpecker  Whitesbog
Downy Woodpecker  Whitesbog
Hairy Woodpecker  Whitesbog
American Crow  Whitesbog
Carolina Chickadee  Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse  Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch  Whitesbog Road
Carolina Wren  Whitesbog
European Starling  Whitesbog
Eastern Bluebird  Whitesbog
Hermit Thrush  Whitesbog
American Robin  Whitesbog
House Sparrow  Country Lake Estates
House Finch  Whitesbog
American Goldfinch  Whitesbog
Dark-eyed Junco  Whitesbog
White-throated Sparrow  Whitesbog
Song Sparrow  Whitesbog
Swamp Sparrow  Whitesbog Road
Yellow-rumped Warbler  Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal  Whitesbog