South Park Road | Juliustown-Georgetown Road 6/14--Summer Tanager, Dickcissel

Summer Tanager

 As I often do, another Sunday morning in Burlco. Since Reeves Bog has now become impassable in three spots due to flooding and breaches, I went a little farther and walked along South Park Road in Tabernacle. This late in the season, I didn't expect much. It's usually a reliable spot for Red-headed Woodpecker, but today I couldn't find any--it didn't bother me since I've seen them any number of times this year. South Park runs along a field that once was a farm and bisects a typical Pine Barrens woods, both owned by a private hunting club, so you have to stick to the gravel road itself. I was hearing more birds than I was seeing when I came to the right turn in the road where I had decided to turn around. I heard a call that didn't sound like the usual warblers or vireos that would be in that habitat, so I turned on Merlin and Summer Tanager immediately popped up. I was a little skeptical until I looked up and right in front of me in an oak was the tanager. All red, no black wings, eliminating Scarlet Tanager (which I had seen back by the old farm), and a hefty beak. I got my bins on it for a little big and then it flew off to be replaced by a female--drab yellow, same beak. I was trying to get a picture of the female, which I couldn't, when the male came back and I switched my attentions to him. Finally, I was able to get decent pictures for eBird documentation, along with a recording of the calls. If both male and female were there, could they be nesting? There are records of Summer Tanager nesting in the Pine Barrens, so it is possible. 

Unfortunately for my year list, Summer Tanager wasn't a new addition--I'd heard one last month at the Manasquan River WMA, but seeing one is so much better. But for my next year bird, I did have to settle for "heard only." After stopping at the Thompson-Wright Preserve, which lately has been incorporated as part of the Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve, and walking back to the sand quarry to visit the nesting Bank Swallows, I was of a mind to try find some of the many Dickcissels that have shown up in the county. I knew that they had been heard in fields of Pemberton MUA but having already walked 5 miles, the idea of trudging around fields wasn't all that attractive. I checked the rare bird alerts and saw that a couple had been heard along a road in Columbus, which was only about 20 minutes from where I was at Burrs Mills Brook. They have been singing in the field for a week. I figured if they were there for a week, and had been heard 90 minutes before, there was a decent chance I could get them too. I was half right. After driving along a lot of hyphenated roads and making a left onto Odd Fellows Road, I finally ended up at the pin on Juliustown-Georgetown Road. And there was even a place to pull off the road. Immediately I heard a buzzy call, but it didn't sound like a Dickcissel as I remembered them. Granted, it has been a while since I saw one so I pulled out my semi-trusty Merlin and it instantly returned Dickcissel. The bird was very loud and sound close by across the road. Of course, after standing there for twenty minutes, I still couldn't put eyes on the bird and since the field is private property, I couldn't walk through it to the little stand of trees where the bird sounded like it was singing. I only heard one bird, not the two that had been listed, but that was probably because I was stationery and not traveling up the road listening every quarter mile. I know one Burlco birder had 6 Dickcissels last week along one of the hyphenated roads, but I'm not going for the record, and you only need 1 (Laws of Birding #6).

For the 3 sites, 41 species:

Species            First Sighting
Wild Turkey    South Park Road
Mourning Dove    South Park Road
Turkey Vulture    South Park Road
Red-bellied Woodpecker    South Park Road
Hairy Woodpecker    South Park Road
Northern Flicker    South Park Road
Eastern Wood-Pewee    South Park Road
Eastern Phoebe    South Park Road
Great Crested Flycatcher    South Park Road
Eastern Kingbird    South Park Road
White-eyed Vireo    South Park Road
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Juliustown-Georgetown Road
Red-eyed Vireo    South Park Road
Blue Jay    South Park Road
Carolina Chickadee    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Tufted Titmouse    South Park Road
Bank Swallow    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Tree Swallow    Juliustown-Georgetown Road
White-breasted Nuthatch    South Park Road
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    South Park Road
Carolina Wren    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Gray Catbird    South Park Road
Northern Mockingbird    South Park Road
Wood Thrush    Thompson-Wright Preserve
American Robin    South Park Road
House Finch    South Park Road
Chipping Sparrow    South Park Road
Field Sparrow    South Park Road
Song Sparrow    Juliustown-Georgetown Road
Eastern Towhee    South Park Road
Baltimore Oriole    South Park Road
Red-winged Blackbird    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Ovenbird    South Park Road
Common Yellowthroat    South Park Road
Pine Warbler    South Park Road
Prairie Warbler    South Park Road
Summer Tanager    South Park Road
Scarlet Tanager    South Park Road
Northern Cardinal    South Park Road
Blue Grosbeak    South Park Road
Dickcissel    Juliustown-Georgetown Road

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

Manahawkin WMA | Barnegat 4/28--Lesser Yellowlegs, Purple Martin, Northern Parula, Worm-eating Warbler

 I parked high up on Stafford Avenue this morning, on the northern edge of the Manahawkin WMA and walked down about a mile, ear birding for the most part. The most intriguing bird I heard was a Worm-eating Warbler.I'd seen that Worm-eating had been reported there the day before, but I was skeptical.  Manahawkin isn't a place I'd expect to find one, but the zinging call was pretty loud. Merlin is notorious for mixing up Pine Warbler (also there), Chipping Sparrow, and Worm-eating. Their calls are very similar, and Merlin is far from perfect. In order to convince myself that it wasn't a Chipping Sparrow I was hearing, I played back the so-called song of the Worm-eating. It got an immediate response, and that was good enough for me.

I also heard another warbler I wouldn't be looking for there--a Blue-winged Warbler was obvious with its "Buzz-kill" "song." This was a bonus bird for me since I'd spent yesterday morning circling the back field at the Manasquan River WMA looking unsuccessfully for one. Farther down the road I heard my FOY Northern Parula. Ovenbirds and Common Yellowthroats were background noise. Of all the warblers I heard along that stretch of road, the only one I saw was Black-and-white Warbler. 

After that I drove down to the marsh and parked by the trail that runs between the impoundments. The DEP had recently hired a contractor to rehabilitate the water control system, putting in new sluice gates and culverts and they did a wonderful job clearing the trail and widening it at the "T" so that mowers can now run down the full length of the berm. They're supposedly doing it so that it will be better habitat for shorebirds, but the water was high today and the only shorebirds I saw were 3 Greater Yellowlegs. But it's early.

Lesser Yellowlegs with Dunlin

Speaking of yellowlegs, after I made a quick stop at Woodmansee Blvd to check out the Purple Martin houses (a spot that we used to check when I did the World Series of Birding with Pete and Mike), I thought I'd look at the impoundment at Forsythe-Barnegat from the observation platform. Most of the time there's very little to see there, but today, as was the case last year, the shallow water was loaded with Lesser Yellowlegs. I estimated a filter-busting 100, but there were probably more. Unfortunately, they were not mixing with the Greater Yellowlegs that were there, so I didn't get any good comparison photos. There was also a big flock of Dunlin, most of them half-way into their alternate plumage. Again, Merlin came in handy, since recording the flock proved they were Lesser Yellowlegs. A lot of softer "do-do's" instead of the louder, more insistent "do-do-do" of the Greater. 

for the three spots this morning I had 50 species. The Manahawkin list is the one of interest.

44 species
Canada Goose  2
Mute Swan  5
Mallard  1
Mourning Dove  1
Willet  1
Greater Yellowlegs  3
Laughing Gull  2
American Herring Gull  3
Forster's Tern  6
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Glossy Ibis  15
Tricolored Heron  1
Snowy Egret  2
Great Egret  4
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Hairy Woodpecker  1     Heard Stafford
Northern Flicker  3
Great Crested Flycatcher  3
White-eyed Vireo  4
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  2
Tree Swallow  12
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Gray Catbird  4
Wood Thrush  5
American Robin  4
American Goldfinch  2
White-throated Sparrow  1
Seaside Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  40
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
Ovenbird  25
Worm-eating Warbler  1
Blue-winged Warbler  1     
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  30
Northern Parula  1
Northern Yellow Warbler  3
Pine Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  1

Manasquan River WMA 5/1--Red-eyed Vireo, Wood Thrush, Blue-winged Warbler, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Blue-winged Warbler

For me, Blue-winged Warbler ranks very high on the Warbler Frustration Scale, right up there with Blackpoll Warbler (which I can't hear), and Tennessee Warbler (which can go years between sightings for me). My problem with Blue-wings is that they're so-called song is nothing more than an insect-like buzz and they have a tendency to flit high up in the treetops, making them even more elusive. The best place I know to see them is the Manasquan River WMA in Brick, in the big field toward the back, which is where I went this morning. It's a pretty good spot during migration and it is May. 

I'd already added two birds, by ear, by the time I entered the field--Red-eyed Vireo and Wood Thrush. Quite a contrast in songs with the vireo's annoying, insistent, incessant "Here I am, where are you" and the ethereal song of the thrush. I don't know if it's birder's superstition or if there is a micro-habitat that attracts Blue-wings there, but I always look in the same place in the field, and if I'm going to find them, I find them there. Today, on my way to the spot, I heard a Prairie Warbler, which I took as a good omen, because I remembered that last year I saw Prairie Warblers and Blue-wings squabbling over territory. When I got to my place, I pished and buzzed and eventually one bird came in, predictably high up in tree just starting to leaf out. I couldn't get a picture. Another one came by around 25 feet away but disappeared almost as soon as I identified it. I looped the field and came back about 20 minutes later, pishing and buzzing and this time one of the warblers landed on a branch and stayed stationary while it sang long enough for me to get some pictures of it, bisected by a twig. 

At the start of my second loop around the field I heard my first Northern Parula of the year, another buzzy song. It is my observation that warblers, in general don't warble, and that no one would admire them as songsters. But maybe that's because we're comparing them to thrushes, tanagers, and grosbeaks at the same time. Speaking of grosbeaks, when I ducked into one of the trails off the field, I heard my first Rose-breasted Grosbeak. The song of this bird is often described as a "robin with a cold." Or is that the Scarlet Tanager? In any case, I don't know what a robin with a cold would sound like so as mnemonic it is useless to me. But I do know the grosbeak's loud song when I hear it. Its call, which supposedly sounds like a sneaker rubbing on a wood floor (think basketball playoffs) does sorta kinda sound like that, but today I got the full song instead. 

Finally, I took the back trail that leads toward the county line (Manasquan River WMA, like Whitesbog, overlaps two counties--here, the northern section is in Monmouth). I sometimes get Hooded Warbler back there, but not today. Instead, my final year-bird of the morning was a singing Black-throated Blue Warbler. While I'm not a big fan of birding by ear, I know that eventually I will see all these birds--it took me until today to see my first Ovenbird after hearing probably 100 in April. I have a sentimental attachment to the Black-throated Blue, because BT BLUE was the license plate of two birders I knew, on in NJ, one in NY, both of them sadly gone. 

For the morning, I had 46 species to start the month. 

Canada Goose  2
Mourning Dove  2
Turkey Vulture  4
Cooper's Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  4
Downy Woodpecker  2
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1     Heard
Great Crested Flycatcher  3
Eastern Kingbird  2
White-eyed Vireo  12
Red-eyed Vireo  5
Blue Jay  5
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  3
Tree Swallow  4
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
Northern House Wren  3
Carolina Wren  2
Gray Catbird  13
Eastern Bluebird  1
Wood Thrush  3
American Robin  6
House Sparrow  1
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  5
White-throated Sparrow  1     Heard
Savannah Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  3
Red-winged Blackbird  1
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Ovenbird  15
Blue-winged Warbler  2
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  10
Northern Parula  3
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1
Pine Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Prairie Warbler  3
Northern Cardinal  7
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1

April Recap--Migration Begins

Common Yellowthroat, Double Trouble SP

 I thought my last new bird for the year this month was going to be the Blue-winged Warbler (chased by a very territorial Prairie Warbler) that I saw this morning at the Manasquan River WMA (where they are the house specialty), but this afternoon Shari called me to come outside and finally I saw a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which she has been seeing, periodically, for the last two weeks. That made 135 for the cruelest month, and 36 year birds.

Judging from the reports the last couple of days from the migration traps like Reed's Road on Island Beach and Cedar Bonnet Island, migration has begun in earnest. I think I'm doing pretty good with 40+ species in my favorite spots and then I see friends of mine tallying numbers in the 80's. It recalls the Third Law of Birding:

    Wherever you are, you should be someplace else.

In our backyard we have had Pine Siskins at the tube feeders every day, and every day I list them--up until today they were flagged as "infrequent" on eBird (meaning that in a 3 week window--2 back, 1 forward--they aren't listed much), but today they popped up as "rare." Considering that most years we go without seeing any siskins, having them in the spring is kind of treat. The whip-poor-will is a constant presence, and the other day I went into the kitchen to find a turkey standing on the stoop, looking through the screen door, waiting to be fed. Shari got so annoyed with me feeding them that she went out and bought "cheap" seed for them. When I think of how much money we spend feeding these birds, it goes dark behind my eyes. 

Counties birded: Burlington, Cape May, Ocean
Species        First Sighting
Brant   Island Beach SP
Canada Goose   Double Trouble SP
Mute Swan   Golden Drive
Wood Duck   Cranberry Bogs
Northern Shoveler   Great Bay Bvld
Mallard   Cranberry Bogs
American Black Duck   Cranberry Bogs
Northern Pintail   Island Beach SP
Green-winged Teal   Island Beach SP
Ring-necked Duck   Cranberry Bogs
Greater Scaup   Island Beach SP
Lesser Scaup   Island Beach SP
Long-tailed Duck   Island Beach SP
Bufflehead   Cranberry Bogs
Hooded Merganser   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-breasted Merganser   Island Beach SP
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Pied-billed Grebe   Cranberry Bogs
Horned Grebe   Island Beach SP
Rock Pigeon   South Toms River
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Cranberry Bogs
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Ocean City Welcome Center
Sora   Whitesbog
American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP
Black-bellied Plover   Island Beach SP
Killdeer   Cranberry Bogs
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs
Solitary Sandpiper   Colliers Mills WMA
Lesser Yellowlegs   Double Trouble SP
Willet   Cedar Bonnet Island
Greater Yellowlegs   Double Trouble SP
Dunlin   Island Beach SP
Laughing Gull   Mathis Veteran's Memorial Park
Ring-billed Gull   Mathis Veteran's Memorial Park
Herring Gull   Double Trouble SP
Great Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Caspian Tern   Great Bay Bvld
Forster's Tern   Island Beach SP
Common Loon   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Mathis Veteran's Memorial Park
Yellow-crowned Night Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
Black-crowned Night Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron   Cattus Island County Park
Snowy Egret   Cattus Island County Park
Green Heron   Reeves Bogs
Great Egret   Cranberry Bogs
Great Blue Heron   Colliers Mills WMA
White Ibis   Island Beach SP
Glossy Ibis   Island Beach SP
Black Vulture   Cranberry Bogs
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog
Osprey   Shelter Cove Park
Northern Harrier   Whitesbog
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Cedar Bonnet Island
Cooper's Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Bald Eagle   Jumping Brook Preserve
Red-shouldered Hawk   Jumping Brook Preserve
Red-tailed Hawk   Cranberry Bogs
Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Double Trouble SP
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Double Trouble SP
Northern Flicker   Cranberry Bogs
American Kestrel   Colliers Mills WMA
Merlin   Cranberry Bogs
Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe   Cranberry Bogs
Great Crested Flycatcher   Reeves Bogs
Eastern Kingbird   Cranberry Bogs
White-eyed Vireo   Island Beach SP
Blue-headed Vireo   Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-eyed Vireo   Island Beach SP
Blue Jay   Cranberry Bogs
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven   Double Trouble SP
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Tree Swallow   Cranberry Bogs
Purple Martin   Jumping Brook Preserve
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Cranberry Bogs
Barn Swallow   Cranberry Bogs
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Cranberry Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch   Double Trouble SP
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Double Trouble SP
House Wren   Cranberry Bogs
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   35 Sunset Rd
Gray Catbird   Island Beach SP
Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird   Shelter Cove Park
Eastern Bluebird   35 Sunset Rd
Hermit Thrush   Island Beach SP
Wood Thrush   Colliers Mills WMA
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing   Island Beach SP
House Sparrow   Mathis Veteran's Memorial Park
House Finch   Cranberry Bogs
Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Fox Sparrow   Double Trouble SP
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Seaside Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld
Savannah Sparrow   Shelter Cove Park
Song Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Swamp Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Towhee   Colliers Mills WMA
Baltimore Oriole   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-winged Blackbird   Cranberry Bogs
Brown-headed Cowbird   Double Trouble SP
Common Grackle   Whitesbog
Boat-tailed Grackle   Island Beach SP
Ovenbird   Double Trouble SP
Worm-eating Warbler   Double Trouble SP
Blue-winged Warbler   Manasquan River WMA
Black-and-white Warbler   Jumping Brook Preserve
Common Yellowthroat   Whitesbog
Hooded Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Parula   Manasquan River WMA
Yellow Warbler   Whitesbog
Palm Warbler   Jumping Brook Preserve
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Cranberry Bogs
Prairie Warbler   Double Trouble SP
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd
Rose-breasted Grosbeak   35 Sunset Rd

Palm Warbler, Island Beach SP

Manasquan River WMA 5/3--Solitary Sandpiper, Great Crested Flycatcher, Veery, Blue-winged Warbler, Blue Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

It was a question of where I felt like going opposed to where I thought I should go, and last night, my friend Bob Auster made my decision for me asking me if I knew anything about a (very) rare bird at Island Beach. I didn't. I didn't even know about, since I don't follow social media. But I thought that everyone would be rushing to the park this morning, and the idea of dealing with hordes of birders, on narrow trails, of stuffed parking lots, and the ongoing one-way roads due to the seemingly endless trench project along the main road made me ill, so I went where I felt like going in the first place, Manasquan River WMA. (As it happened, I was wrong, apparently, about the frenzy I expected, but I'm still happy to have gone to Brick instead of Island Beach.)

The main reason to go to Manasquan River is to find Blue-winged Warbler, not an easy bird to find but usually reliable in that WMA. It took me a hell of a long time to finally track one down, but I eventually heard one buzzing away in the usual spot in the back field, and even briefly saw it. Another reliable bird there is Blue Grosbeak and I managed to find one of those too, at the top of a tree in the same back field. 

Chukar

The unusual bird there was Solitary Sandpiper, a patch bird for me. Despite the name, there isn't a lot of water in the Manasquan River WMA (the river is inaccessible), and the only little pond there was too deep to have a sandpiper feeding in it. There was a vernal pond in the middle of the back field that I trudged my way toward, but it didn't have a solitary either. I'd given up on the idea when I came to a spot that is usually very wet, which it was, just as I had completed my first circuit of the field, and there, picking in the mud, was the Solitary--which gave a call when I turned on my camera and flew away. Two FOY birds that I only heard were Great Crested Flycatcher, when I first arrived, and a Veery way in the back at almost the Ocean/Monmouth County line. 

The most amusing bird of the day I can't count. I was walking on the trail that goes to the parking lot when I saw a lump in the middle of it. My first thought was "groundhog" but binoculars revealed it to be a Chukar, no doubt a survivor of a release during the hunting season. I've seen Chukars there before, only they were headless, decapitated, I was told by hunters, by Great Horned Owls. It ain't an easy life being a game bird. 

38 species including the Chukar

Chukar  1     
Mourning Dove  2
Solitary Sandpiper  1     
Laughing Gull  2
Black Vulture  1
Turkey Vulture  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  1     Heard
Northern Flicker  1     Heard
Great Crested Flycatcher  1     Heard
White-eyed Vireo  4
Blue Jay  1     Heard
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  2     Heard
Tree Swallow  4
White-breasted Nuthatch  1     Heard
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2
House Wren  1     Heard
Carolina Wren  5     Heard
Gray Catbird  10
Brown Thrasher  1     Front field
Eastern Bluebird  1
Veery  1     Heard
Wood Thrush  5     Heard
American Robin  1     Heard
American Goldfinch  2     Heard
Field Sparrow  15
White-throated Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  4
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
Ovenbird  25     Heard
Blue-winged Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  25
Yellow Warbler  1     Heard
Prairie Warbler  5     Heard
Northern Cardinal  1     Heard
Blue Grosbeak  1

October Wrap-up--Uneventful Edition

Gray-cheeked Thrush, Island Beach SP

That there was not a single entry this month was due to two factors (well, maybe three if I include chronic laziness): The birding was unspectacular this month and my camera broke. 

It wasn't for lack of effort that I only added two year-birds this month--Dickcissel (a couple of flyovers) and Clay-colored Sparrow seen briefly in a parking lot on Island Beach.  I was at Island Beach, that supposed migrant trap, 4 or 5 times this month, I spent the first 5 rainy days of the month at Whitesbog where the shorebirding was terrific and the lighting terrible, tried for something interesting at places like the Manasquan River WMA, Cedar Bonnet Island, Manahawkin WMA und so wieter, but all I came up with was those two birds, so even had my camera been working, I wouldn't have anything to show in this blog.

I have to say that for the two weeks I had no camera (it was under warranty and the company sent me a new one to my surprise, since I was in the middle of trying to get proof of delivery from the ever-more incompetent Post Office) I enjoyed not carrying one. I've always said you can't take pictures and bird at the same time. One always gets in the way of the other. But on the rare occasions I do find something of interest, I do like to prove it. 

Interesting birds abounded: a random selection included Gray-cheeked Thrush, Red Knot, Rusty Blackbird, Brown Pelican, Wilson's Snipe...and I was finding birds in unexpected places, like the drained bogs on the Ocean County side of Whitesbog (which, in the 11 years I've been birding there had never been drawn down) and Forty Acre Pond in the extreme southern section of Colliers Mills. But I didn't find it blog-worthy.

For the month I listed 150 species which seems pretty good to me. Particularly when I realize, as I just did now, that I only birded two counties, Ocean & Burlington.

Northern Flicker, Colliers Mills

Species  First Sighting
Brant  Cedar Bonnet Island
Canada Goose  Colliers Mills WMA
Mute Swan  Lake of the Lilies
Wood Duck  Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal  Island Beach SP
Gadwall  Holly Lake
American Wigeon  Lake of the Lilies
Mallard  Whitesbog
American Black Duck  Whitesbog
Northern Pintail  Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal  Whitesbog
Ring-necked Duck  Bamber Lake
Lesser Scaup  Colliers Mills WMA
Surf Scoter  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
White-winged Scoter  Island Beach SP
Black Scoter  Island Beach SP
Hooded Merganser  Pond on Schoolhouse Road
Ruddy Duck  Lake of the Lilies
Wild Turkey  35 Sunset Rd
Pied-billed Grebe  Colliers Mills WMA
Rock Pigeon  Wrangle Brook
Mourning Dove  35 Sunset Rd
Virginia Rail  Island Beach SP
American Coot  Lake of the Lilies
American Oystercatcher  Great Bay Blvd
Black-bellied Plover  Island Beach SP
American Golden-Plover  Holgate
Semipalmated Plover  Whitesbog
Killdeer  Whitesbog
Ruddy Turnstone  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Red Knot  Island Beach SP
Sanderling  Island Beach SP
Dunlin  Holgate
Purple Sandpiper  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Least Sandpiper  Whitesbog
White-rumped Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Pectoral Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Semipalmated Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Western Sandpiper  Island Beach SP
Wilson's Snipe  Manahawkin WMA
Spotted Sandpiper  Colliers Mills WMA
Solitary Sandpiper  Whitesbog
Greater Yellowlegs  Whitesbog
Lesser Yellowlegs  Whitesbog
Laughing Gull  Crestwood Village
Ring-billed Gull  Island Beach SP
Herring Gull  Whitesbog
Lesser Black-backed Gull  Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull  Island Beach SP
Caspian Tern  Holly Lake
Common Tern  Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern  Island Beach SP
Royal Tern  Island Beach SP
Red-throated Loon  Island Beach SP
Common Loon  Island Beach SP
Northern Gannet  Island Beach SP
Great Cormorant  Bay Pkwy
Double-crested Cormorant  Whitesbog
Brown Pelican  Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron  Whitesbog
Great Egret  Whitesbog
Snowy Egret  Island Beach SP
Little Blue Heron  Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron  Island Beach SP
Black-crowned Night-Heron  Great Bay Blvd
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron  Great Bay Blvd
Black Vulture  Whitesbog
Turkey Vulture  Pond on Schoolhouse Road
Osprey  Island Beach SP
Northern Harrier  Island Beach SP
Sharp-shinned Hawk  Colliers Mills WMA
Cooper's Hawk  Colliers Mills WMA
Bald Eagle  Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk  Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk  Manasquan River WMA
Belted Kingfisher  Whitesbog
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  Island Beach SP
Red-bellied Woodpecker  35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker  Whitesbog
Hairy Woodpecker  Whitesbog
Northern Flicker  Whitesbog
American Kestrel  Whitesbog
Merlin  Whitesbog
Peregrine Falcon  Island Beach SP
Eastern Wood-Pewee  Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe  Whitesbog
Blue-headed Vireo  Whitesbog
Red-eyed Vireo  Colliers Mills WMA
Blue Jay  Whitesbog
American Crow  Pond on Schoolhouse Road
Fish Crow  Manasquan Inlet
Common Raven  Colliers Mills WMA
Carolina Chickadee  Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse  35 Sunset Rd
Tree Swallow  Island Beach SP
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  Colliers Mills WMA
Golden-crowned Kinglet  Whitesbog
Red-breasted Nuthatch  35 Sunset Rd
White-breasted Nuthatch  Whitesbog
Brown Creeper  Island Beach SP
House Wren  Island Beach SP
Winter Wren  Horicon Lake
Carolina Wren  35 Sunset Rd
European Starling  Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird  Whitesbog
Brown Thrasher  Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Mockingbird  Island Beach SP
Eastern Bluebird  35 Sunset Rd
Gray-cheeked Thrush  Island Beach SP
Hermit Thrush  Island Beach SP
American Robin  Whitesbog
Cedar Waxwing  Island Beach SP
House Sparrow  Island Beach SP
House Finch  35 Sunset Rd
Purple Finch  Island Beach SP
American Goldfinch  Whitesbog
Chipping Sparrow  Crestwood Village
Clay-colored Sparrow  Island Beach SP
Field Sparrow  Island Beach SP
Dark-eyed Junco  Whitesbog
White-crowned Sparrow  Island Beach SP
White-throated Sparrow  Whitesbog
Seaside Sparrow  Great Bay Blvd
Savannah Sparrow  Whitesbog
Song Sparrow  Whitesbog
Lincoln's Sparrow  Whitesbog
Swamp Sparrow  Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee  Whitesbog
Eastern Meadowlark  Great Bay Blvd
Red-winged Blackbird  Island Beach SP
Rusty Blackbird  Whitesbog
Common Grackle  Manasquan River WMA
Boat-tailed Grackle  Island Beach SP
Black-and-white Warbler  Horicon Lake
Nashville Warbler  Island Beach SP
Common Yellowthroat  Whitesbog
American Redstart  Great Bay Blvd
Cape May Warbler  Island Beach SP
Northern Parula  Colliers Mills WMA
Magnolia Warbler  Island Beach SP
Black-throated Blue Warbler  Island Beach SP
Palm Warbler  Whitesbog
Pine Warbler  35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler  Whitesbog
Prairie Warbler  Manasquan River WMA
Scarlet Tanager  Island Beach SP
Northern Cardinal  Crestwood Village
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  Island Beach SP
Blue Grosbeak  Island Beach SP
Dickcissel  Whitesbog

Manasquan River WMA 5/9--Blue-winged Warbler

Blue-winged Warbler

My psyche had skidded past disgust and was about to crash into self-loathing. For the 3rd time in a week I had spent hours circling the fields at Manasquan River WMA without even the hint of a Blue-winged Warbler.  This is supposed to be the place to get that warbler; any other bird you might come across there I have other, closer spots to check. And yet I couldn't find one. I played the song on my phone to get to get it fresh in my mind. "I'll never hear that," I told myself, "I can barely hear it on the phone." 

So there I stood in the far corner of the far field, head down, stymied, seething, giving up, ready to go home and watch deGrom pitch. And then I heard "Bzz bzz." I looked up, amazed I could hear such a soft sibilant sound. And upon looking up, I saw movement, and upon raising my binocular, I saw the bird, and it even stayed still for a moment for a half-assed photo. And thus, another demonstration of Zirlin's Second Law of Birding, to wit:

You will not see the bird until you have truly given up.

Earlier in the morning I witnessed the most peculiar behavior by a Cooper's Hawk. Walking along the northern side of the far field, I flushed a Coop out of a tree's low branches. It flew about 100 feet ahead and landed in a leafless bush or sapling. It then hung upside down, wing (you'll forgive the conflicting species expression) spread-eagled. I thought it was caught in brambles; I once saw that happen at Brig. I approached cautiously and the bird flapped around, seemingly helpless, but then, as if to demonstrate that the show was over, it simply let go of the branch with one claw and stood on the ground, staring balefully at me. I have no idea what was going on with the hawk and, as Wittgenstein said, if it could talk, I wouldn't understand it. 

A couple of other birders there had warblers and flycatchers I would have liked to have seen and/or heard, but I was happy to finally get what is supposed to be an "easy" bird. 

41 species

Ruby-throated Hummingbird  2

Great Egret  1     Flyover

Turkey Vulture  9

Osprey  1

Cooper's Hawk  1       

Red-bellied Woodpecker  5

Great Crested Flycatcher  2     Heard

Eastern Kingbird  8

White-eyed Vireo  5

Red-eyed Vireo  3

Blue Jay  9

American Crow  6

Carolina Chickadee  6

Tufted Titmouse  1     Heard

Tree Swallow  10

White-breasted Nuthatch  1     Heard

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1

House Wren  1

Gray Catbird  40

Brown Thrasher  1

Eastern Bluebird  2

Wood Thrush  4     Heard

American Robin  3

American Goldfinch  6

Chipping Sparrow  1

Field Sparrow  12

White-throated Sparrow  2

Eastern Towhee  1     Heard

Brown-headed Cowbird  7

Common Grackle  3

Ovenbird  15     Heard

Blue-winged Warbler  1

Common Yellowthroat  15

American Redstart  2

Magnolia Warbler  1

Black-throated Blue Warbler  1

Prairie Warbler  4

Black-throated Green Warbler  1

Northern Cardinal  6

Blue Grosbeak  1

Indigo Bunting  7

Manasquan River WMA 5/5--Red-eyed Vireo, Orchard Oriole, American Redstart, Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Could the light be any crappier? I suppose 10 o'clock on a moonless night might have afforded lower visibility, but for daylight hours, no, the milky cloud that hung over the fields at Manasquan River WMA and wrapped the tree tops in a gauzy light made it very difficult for these old eyes to find the birds that have abounded there of late. The WMA is the go to place for Blue-winged Warbler and I have gone to it twice this week and come up empty both times. I did see a lot of flitting warblers obscured by mist and budding leaves high in the tree tops and a couple of times was tempted to call them blue-winged but in all honesty they could have been any warbler--or vireo for that matter. 

That said, I did manage to add 4 species. Red-eyed Vireos were singing though not visible but two new warblers (out of the 10 species I listed there) were new and one them I mirabile dictu even photographed. Of the icterids, Orchard Oriole was a new addition. The odd icterid was an Eastern Meadowlark, a new species for me for that patch. Lowering skies kept the raptors down on their roosts. I was there for just under 4 hours; when the raindrops on my binocular lenses became too annoying to look through, I left with 45 species in the fields and woods. 

Canada Goose  3     Heard flyover and near river

Mourning Dove  1

Herring Gull  2

Great Blue Heron  2

Red-bellied Woodpecker  4

Downy Woodpecker  1

Northern Flicker  1     Heard

Great Crested Flycatcher  4     Heard

Eastern Kingbird  9

White-eyed Vireo  2     Heard

Red-eyed Vireo  4     Heard

Blue Jay  3

American Crow  2     Heard

Carolina Chickadee  2

Tufted Titmouse  3

Tree Swallow  8

Carolina Wren  1     Heard

Gray Catbird  17

Wood Thrush  2     Heard

American Robin  6

American Goldfinch  7

Chipping Sparrow  1

Field Sparrow  10

White-throated Sparrow  2

Song Sparrow  1

Swamp Sparrow  1

Eastern Towhee  2     Heard

Eastern Meadowlark  1

Orchard Oriole  1

Baltimore Oriole  4

Red-winged Blackbird  1

Brown-headed Cowbird  1

Ovenbird  25

Black-and-white Warbler  2

Common Yellowthroat  20

American Redstart  1

Northern Parula  1

Yellow Warbler  1     Heard

Black-throated Blue Warbler  2

Yellow-rumped Warbler  2

Prairie Warbler  4     Heard

Black-throated Green Warbler  1

Northern Cardinal  5

Blue Grosbeak  1

Indigo Bunting  1