Dr. John Birding 11/13

I was in the right place, but it must've been the wrong time

                                                                                                                                 --Dr. John

This morning, before I met up with Mike, I saw a report from Cape May of Franklin's Gull, a rarity from the west, flying by offshore. "Yeah, well, a Cape May fly by does me no good," I said to myself. 

Then, just as I got to Mike's place I saw an alert for a Franklin's Gull down at Brig. That immediately determined our destination for the day. The alert came at 9:52. By 10:52 we were hitting the dikes. And saw no gull we could even consider was a Franklin's. There were perhaps 6 Ring-billed Gulls floating way off the dike where the Franklin's had been reported. In fact, there was a dearth of birds in the impoundments. It was more like a February day when all the water is frozen than a mid-autumnal windy morning. We were working hard to dig out species. By the time we were 3/4 around we had approximately 25 species, half what we'd normally have. 

Then another alert came in: Franklin's Gull on Lake of the Lilies in Pt. Pleasant. In Ocean County, no less. Our theory was that the gull was working it's way north up the coast. That theory was soon exploded when Mike started to read more reports off his phone: 8 off Holgate, again in Ocean County; 2 more in Ocean County; one at Sandy Hook; 180 down at Cape May; 5 in Hunterdon County. Another in Mercer. Morris County. Middlesex County. Franklin's Gulls on the Hudson River. I even saw reports, when I got home of Franklin's Gulls off the shores of Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island.  In essence, there were Franklin's Gull everywhere but where we were. Some storm in the mid-west, which brought us 1/10 of an inch of rain yesterday, had swept up a big flock of rare gulls and dumped them off the mid-Atlantic coast.

So there we were, in one of the premiere birding locations in NJ, which had really very little interesting, where the one exciting bird had apparently used it's wings, while all around the state one of the great gull irruptions of all time was occurring. As Mike would say, "That's just not right." 

We soldiered on at Brig, making a 2nd loop as well as walking the Leed's trail. Toward the end of our 2nd go-round, near the exit ponds we found a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, always a good bird and Mike's first one of the year, so that was a reward for persistence. The last species we saw was Mourning Dove, breaking our remarkable streak of not seeing a MODO at Brig in the last 7 trips. In all we managed to pull out an even 50 species. But there is a big, frustrating hole in the day list. 

Brant (Atlantic)  75
Canada Goose  125
Mute Swan  1
Tundra Swan  10
Wood Duck  2
Gadwall  20
American Wigeon  50
American Black Duck  500
Mallard  25
Blue-winged Teal  1
Northern Shoveler  20
Northern Pintail  500
Green-winged Teal  25
Bufflehead  50
Red-breasted Merganser  3     Turtle Cove
Pied-billed Grebe  2
Double-crested Cormorant  10
Great Blue Heron  4
Great Egret  10
Snowy Egret  1
Turkey Vulture  2
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  2
American Coot  10
Black-bellied Plover  2
Greater Yellowlegs  6
Dunlin  50
Ring-billed Gull  20
Herring Gull  25
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Mourning Dove  3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1     Near exit ponds
Downy Woodpecker  1     Upland
Blue Jay  4
American Crow  5
Carolina Chickadee  2
Carolina Wren  3     Heard
American Robin  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  35
White-throated Sparrow  2
Vesper Sparrow  1
Savannah Sparrow  6
Song Sparrow  2
Swamp Sparrow  2     Heard, Leeds Eco-trail
Eastern Towhee  4
Northern Cardinal  2
Eastern Meadowlark  1
Rusty Blackbird  3
Common Grackle  1
American Goldfinch  1     Heard, Experimental Pool

Brig 11/3--KING RAIL

Mike & I were walking down the road to the Gull Pond at Brig this unseasonably warm morning, when we heard, distinctly, coming from the edge of the pond "Kidik-kidik-kidik" multiple times. Virginia Rail, a very nice bird to get and my first one in New Jersey this year. Of course, we couldn't actually find the bird in the reeds (where do you think the phrase "thin as a rail" comes from?) but there were no mistaking the bird. So we were feeling pretty good about that find when, walking a little farther, and just after noting a pond pig (Mute Swan) in the channel on the other side of the road, we heard, loud and fairly slow, "Kek-kek-kek-kek." We knew it wasn't the swan, and it didn't sound like a Clapper Rail, which all seem to have fled in the wake of the storm we had in October. The habitat was right (fresh water). We had heard a KING RAIL, a life bird for me. Earlier this year I thought I had one for the life list but the habitat was wrong and possibility of Clapper Rail was too strong so that I was forced, in good conscience, to take it off my list. But this one I'm counting.

The ducks, of course, are returning to Brig--that's what it was built for--but we also had a surprising number of shorebirds there today, including a massive flock of Dunlins, a couple of late White-rumped Sandpipers, as well as out of season Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers. In all, for our almost 5 hours exploring the refuge, I picked up 56 species, but I could have had only the King Rail and been happy.
Snow Goose  50
Brant  20
Canada Goose  100
Mute Swan  3
Gadwall  5
American Wigeon  1     From north dike, with Gadwalls and pintails
American Black Duck  50
Mallard  100
Northern Shoveler  5
Northern Pintail  200
Green-winged Teal  10
Bufflehead  1     From south dike, before observation tower
Common Loon  1
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Double-crested Cormorant  10
Great Blue Heron  4
Great Egret  15
Snowy Egret  2
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1     South dike
Turkey Vulture  6
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  7
KING RAIL  1    Heard, road to Gull Pond
Virginia Rail  1     Heard, road to Gull Pond
American Coot  3
Black-bellied Plover  4
Greater Yellowlegs  10
Dunlin  5000
Least Sandpiper  2     From north dike, small brown shorebirds with yellow legs
White-rumped Sandpiper  2     
Semipalmated Sandpiper  5     from north dike, gray birds with finer bills than WESA.
Western Sandpiper  1
Ring-billed Gull  10
Herring Gull  20
Great Black-backed Gull  2
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3     Heard
Northern Flicker  1     Heard, entrance road
Peregrine Falcon  2
Blue Jay  10
American Crow  5
Carolina Chickadee  3     Heard
Carolina Wren  2     Heard
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1     Heard, trail behind parking lot
American Robin  1     Heard, exit ponds
Gray Catbird  1     Heard, road to Gull Pond
Yellow-rumped Warbler  50
Seaside Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  2
Savannah Sparrow  12
Song Sparrow  10
Swamp Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  5
Northern Cardinal  1     Heard
Boat-tailed Grackle  10
House Finch  2

Avalon Sea Watch

We started the day south of Brig, at the relocated Avalon Sea Watch. We were treated to a huge flight of Northern Gannets, a couple of flyby Red-necked Grebes (rare) and watched as a Parasitic Jaeger stole a fish from a hapless Forster's Tern. The jaeger and the tern were very close in, fighting just over the jetty. Finally, I got to see a jaeger that was more than a shape out over the water. Instead of reporting that the bird was there, I can report that I saw the bird with satisfaction. 

I wanted to show Mike the path to through maritime forest through the dunes to the beach down at 48th street, so after a while we headed down there. For whatever reason, shorebirds gather in this area in pretty good numbers--we had Red Knots (which were all gray) Black-bellied Plovers (known at "Grey Plovers" in Europe, Dunlins (gray), Sanderlings (white and light gray), and a couple of Ruddy Turnstones (brown & gray). This is why you have to pick out your shorebirds by shape, size and behavior, because color isn't much help. 

We also had another Red-necked Grebe (perhaps one of the birds we had seen earlier) and a Common Loon on the water, as well as few more plunge-diving gannets. For the two spots we listed 30 species + a couple of incidental birds that I felt duty-bound to count:

Species     Location

Brant     Avalon Seawatch

Wood Duck     Avalon Seawatch

Surf Scoter     Avalon Seawatch

Black Scoter     Avalon Seawatch

Common Loon     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Red-necked Grebe     Avalon Seawatch

Northern Gannet     Avalon Seawatch

Double-crested Cormorant     Avalon Seawatch

American Oystercatcher     Avalon Seawatch

Black-bellied Plover     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Ruddy Turnstone     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Red Knot     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Sanderling     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Dunlin     Avalon Seawatch

Parasitic Jaeger     Avalon Seawatch

Laughing Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Ring-billed Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Herring Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Great Black-backed Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Forster's Tern     Avalon Seawatch

Royal Tern     Avalon Seawatch

Rock Pigeon     Avalon

Downy Woodpecker     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Northern Flicker     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Carolina Chickadee     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Song Sparrow     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Northern Cardinal     Avalon 48th St Beach Entrance

Brown-headed Cowbird     Avalon

House Finch     Avalon Seawatch

American Goldfinch     Avalon Seawatch

House Sparrow     Avalon Seawatch

October's Birds

Eurasian Wigeon with American Wigeons, Lighthouse Pond
Cape May

We ended the month with a trip to Cape May, meeting up with our buddy Bob Auster. Highlights were the beautiful drake Eurasian Wigeon on Lighthouse Pond, a juvenile White-faced Ibis at the meadows (any ibis is rare this time of year, let alone WFIB), and the many raptors picked out of the sky by the eagle-eyed Mr. Auster.

During the month I only added 4 new species for the  year, the rarest being the storm-tossed Red Phalarope in Mercer County, the most satisfying being the Nelson's Sparrow which I finally found for Ocean County and the least satisfying being the Parasitic Jaegers which zipped by both the

White-faced Ibis, Cape May

Avalon Seawatch and yesterday's aggressive specks far out on the sea.

Everyone seemed to complain that migration was pretty much a bust this year, so I'm not willing to wholly ascribe the dearth of warblers on my list to my incompetence. I think that, despite what we all read practically daily--that the populations of many species are declining rapidly--none of us wants to believe it even when we don't see the birds we think should be around.

For the month I managed 149 species, mostly in NJ with one foray to my old, beloved habitat of Prospect Park in Brooklyn.

Counties birded:
New Jersey: Atlantic, Cape May, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean
New York: Kings

Species            First Sighting

Snow Goose     Brig

Brant     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Canada Goose     Mercer Corporate Park

Mute Swan     Assunpink WMA

Wood Duck     Whitesbog

Gadwall     Brig

Eurasian Wigeon     Marshall's Pond

American Wigeon     Marshall's Pond

American Black Duck     Grounds for Sculpture

Mallard     Grounds for Sculpture

Blue-winged Teal     Brig

Northern Shoveler     Prospect Park

Northern Pintail     Marshall's Pond

Green-winged Teal     Brig

Redhead     Marshall's Pond

Ring-necked Duck     Brig

Lesser Scaup     Whitesbog

Surf Scoter     Avalon Seawatch

Black Scoter     Avalon Seawatch

Bufflehead     Crestwood Village

Ruddy Duck     Assunpink WMA

Wild Turkey     35 Sunset Rd

Red-throated Loon     Avalon Seawatch

Pied-billed Grebe     Colliers Mills WMA

Northern Gannet     Cape May Point SP

Double-crested Cormorant     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Brown Pelican     Island Beach SP

American Bittern     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Great Blue Heron     Assunpink WMA

Great Egret     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Snowy Egret     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Little Blue Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Tricolored Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Green Heron     Assunpink WMA

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     Great Bay Blvd WMA

White-faced Ibis     Cape May Meadows

Black Vulture     Forked River

Turkey Vulture     35 Sunset Rd

Northern Harrier     Assunpink WMA

Sharp-shinned Hawk     35 Sunset Rd

Cooper's Hawk     Marshall's Pond

Bald Eagle     Brig

Red-shouldered Hawk     Cape May Point SP

Broad-winged Hawk     Brig

Red-tailed Hawk     Whitesbog

Common Gallinule     Brig

American Coot     Prospect Park

American Oystercatcher     Wetlands Institute

Black-bellied Plover     Great Bay Blvd WMA

American Golden-Plover     Brig

Semipalmated Plover     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Killdeer     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Spotted Sandpiper     Brig

Greater Yellowlegs     Whitesbog

Willet     Wetlands Institute

Lesser Yellowlegs     Mercer Corporate Park

Ruddy Turnstone     Avalon 48th St Beach

Red Knot     Avalon 48th St Beach

Sanderling     Island Beach SP

Dunlin     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Least Sandpiper     Mercer Corporate Park

Pectoral Sandpiper     Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Brig

Western Sandpiper     Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher     Wetlands Institute

Long-billed Dowitcher     Brig

Red Phalarope     Mercer Corporate Park

Parasitic Jaeger     Avalon Seawatch

Laughing Gull     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Ring-billed Gull     Island Beach SP

Herring Gull     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Great Black-backed Gull     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Forster's Tern     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Royal Tern     Island Beach SP

Rock Pigeon     Grounds for Sculpture

Mourning Dove     35 Sunset Rd

Black-billed Cuckoo     Brig

Chimney Swift     Assunpink WMA

Belted Kingfisher     Whitesbog

Red-headed Woodpecker     Colliers Mills WMA

Red-bellied Woodpecker     35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     35 Sunset Rd

Downy Woodpecker     35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker     Colliers Mills WMA

Northern Flicker     Colliers Mills WMA

Merlin     Whitesbog

Peregrine Falcon     Brig

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Prospect Park

Eastern Phoebe     Whitesbog

White-eyed Vireo     Brig

Blue-headed Vireo     Union Transportation Trail

Blue Jay     35 Sunset Rd

American Crow     35 Sunset Rd

Fish Crow     Grounds for Sculpture

Common Raven     35 Sunset Rd

Tree Swallow     Mercer Corporate Park

Barn Swallow     Brig

Carolina Chickadee     35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse     35 Sunset Rd

White-breasted Nuthatch     35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper     Horicon Lake

House Wren     Whitesbog

Carolina Wren     Assunpink WMA

Golden-crowned Kinglet     Double Trouble State Park

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Whitesbog

Eastern Bluebird     Assunpink WMA

Swainson's Thrush     Prospect Park

Hermit Thrush     Prospect Park

American Robin     35 Sunset Rd

Gray Catbird     Colliers Mills WMA

Northern Mockingbird     Assunpink WMA

European Starling     35 Sunset Rd

Cedar Waxwing     Double Trouble State Park

Black-and-white Warbler     Assunpink WMA

Common Yellowthroat     Whitesbog

Black-throated Blue Warbler     Assunpink WMA

Palm Warbler     Assunpink WMA

Pine Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Prairie Warbler     Prospect Park

Black-throated Green Warbler     Assunpink WMA

Nelson's Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Saltmarsh Sparrow     Brig

Seaside Sparrow     Brig

Chipping Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd

Clay-colored Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Field Sparrow     Assunpink WMA

Lark Sparrow     Brig

Dark-eyed Junco     Whitesbog

White-crowned Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

White-throated Sparrow     Assunpink WMA

Vesper Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Savannah Sparrow     Double Trouble State Park

Song Sparrow     Whitesbog

Swamp Sparrow     Whitesbog

Eastern Towhee     35 Sunset Rd

Northern Cardinal     35 Sunset Rd

Indigo Bunting     Union Transportation Trail

Red-winged Blackbird     Assunpink WMA

Rusty Blackbird     Brig

Common Grackle     Union Transportation Trail

Boat-tailed Grackle     Great Bay Blvd WMA

Brown-headed Cowbird     New Egypt

Baltimore Oriole     Prospect Park

House Finch     35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch     35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow     Lakewood

Tri-colored Heron in salicornia (salt wort) Great Bay Blvd

Avalon Seawatch 10/24--Parasitic Jaeger

Shari & I decided to do a little sea watching today, and the best place for that is down at the Avalon Seawatch in north Cape May County. The seawatch has recently been relocated 2 blocks south onto the beach, with a neat little blind built for the seawatcher to protect him (her) from inclement weather. It also affords a much wider view of the ocean than the old location. The weather was perfect with virtually no wind and bright skies. But, much like hawk watching, sea watching can be very frustrating if you don't do it a lot. We have a little pamphlet called Ducks at a Distance, and I always think of it when I see a long skein of ducks whipping south, and the sea watcher is calling out the different ducks in the flock when I'm only able to identify perhaps half of them. It isn't just my i.d. skills that hamper me; my eyesight isn't as sharp as I'd like it to be and I can't hone my skills for very long because even standing on a beach, looking at the ocean through a scope makes me seasick.

The highlight of the day was seeing--at a distance--two Parasitic Jaegers flying low along the waves. The absolute low light of the day was watching a loon fly by (I was using binoculars) and other than knowing it was a loon, getting absolutely no field marks on it, only to hear the sea watcher call it out as Pacific Loon (a nice rarity for the east coast) after I'd lost it in the sky. So, while I can say I saw a Pacific Loon, I can't, in good conscience, count it because if I was asked to describe the sighting, all I could say was that I knew it was some kind of loon.

After almost 2 hours I was pretty dizzy, so we left for lunch. We'd planned to go the Wetlands Institute a few miles south after eating but I'd heard someone at the sea watch talking about the 48th Street maritime forest, so we detoured there and were very happily surprised to find, after walking a short distance through the forested dunes, a plethora of shorebirds that were impervious to the disruptions of beach strollers. In one enormous flock we had Dunlins, Red Knots, Sanderlings, a few Semipalmated Sandpipers and Black-bellied Plovers and one Ruddy Turnstone, as well as a trio of Royal Terns sitting at the water's edge.

Then we drove to the Wetlands Institute where a large flock of shorebirds was wading in the eastern marsh.  We walked to end of the trail and made the day an official success when I found for Shari a couple of American Oystercatchers pressed up against the reedy shore. The day became a social success when on the way back we ran into Pete Bacinski and Joanne Hall. Of course, Pete picked out some Short-billed Dowitchers that I'd like to think had just flown in but that I probably had just overlooked.

I also, unexpectedly, was able to add to my Wawa collection. Shari found an oddball Wawa in Avalon--I don't know the story behind it, but it looks like the Wawa that time forgot, with a logo that is a complete outlier to any of the other standard logos that Wawa uses. There was a time in my life when I could tell you the name of this typeface, but it didn't take long for me to empty my brain of that sort of thing after I left the printing biz. I was inordinately pleased to stop there and buy a big cup of coffee and put the store on my Wawa life list.


For our meandering day we managed 38 species. Respectable for mid-day birding.

Species               First Sighting

Brant     Avalon Seawatch

American Black Duck     Wetlands Institute

Green-winged Teal     Avalon Seawatch

Surf Scoter     Avalon Seawatch

Black Scoter     Avalon Seawatch

Red-throated Loon     Avalon Seawatch

Double-crested Cormorant     Avalon Seawatch

Great Blue Heron     Wetlands Institute

Great Egret     Wetlands Institute

Snowy Egret     Wetlands Institute

Little Blue Heron     Wetlands Institute

Northern Harrier     Wetlands Institute

Bald Eagle     Wetlands Institute

American Oystercatcher     Wetlands Institute

Black-bellied Plover     Avalon Beach

Greater Yellowlegs     Wetlands Institute

Willet     Wetlands Institute

Lesser Yellowlegs     Wetlands Institute

Ruddy Turnstone     Avalon Beach

Red Knot     Avalon Beach

Sanderling     Avalon Seawatch

Dunlin     Avalon Beach

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Avalon Beach

Short-billed Dowitcher     Wetlands Institute

Parasitic Jaeger     Avalon Seawatch

Laughing Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Ring-billed Gull     Wetlands Institute

Herring Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Great Black-backed Gull     Avalon Seawatch

Forster's Tern     Avalon Seawatch

Royal Tern     Avalon Seawatch

Mourning Dove     Wetlands Institute

Northern Mockingbird     Wetlands Institute

Palm Warbler     Avalon Seawatch

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Avalon Beach

Song Sparrow     Wetlands Institute

Red-winged Blackbird     Avalon Beach

House Finch     Wetlands Institute

Great Bay Blvd WMA 10/23--Nelson's Sparrow, Clay-colored Sparrow

A walk along Great Bay Blvd WMA (aka: the Boulevard of Broken Asphalt) from the inlet to the middle of the 2nd bridge yielded 12 sparrow species, including Nelson's Sparrow (my Ocean County nemesis bird), Clay-colored Sparrow (in the same spot I found one last year) and Vesper Sparrow (another county bird). I emphasize walk, because birding by car, looking for these sparrows would be impossible since they flush and hide so readily. It is difficult enough walking along the road to see them before they dive for cover.

The Nelson's was at the inlet. I finally managed to see one (possibly two or the same one twice) posted up in the reeds long enough to give a me a look at it's bluish bill and blurry breast streaks. A few Saltmarsh Sparrows helped with the comparison.

At the old concrete boat launch before the last bridge there were a number of different species, including junco, song, field and one sparrow that stood out, for a few moments before it was lost in the underbrush, a Clay-colored Sparrow. This is the same spot that I saw one last year. I first mistook it for Field but it didn't feel right for that sparrow and once I consulted Sibley's I knew I had the more desirable bird.

Vesper Sparrow

The areas right before the wooden bridges are the best places to seek out the sparrows--there is enough gravel and sand for them to feed while you scope from a discrete distance. At the foot of the first wooden bridge I came across another small flock, mostly juncos, white-throated, and song, but on the bridge itself I saw a Vesper Sparrow, with an eye-ring like a whitewall tire and white outer tail feathers. It flew off and behind me before I could attempt a picture, but, happily, on my way back down the road I found it again, feeding on the side of the road. The sun was directly behind the bird so my photos are not great, but the eye-ring is clearly apparent, as is white malar streak that wraps around to form a sort of "U."

Brant have returned

I didn't see any night-herons of either persuasion at the usual roost by the first wooden bridge. Perhaps it too late in the season. Only Great Egrets were in the marsh and not in the great numbers that were there earlier in the year. Surprising not to find any Great Blue Herons. Finally, Brant have returned. A big flock was off the sand bar in the bay as well as a smaller flock close to the beach.

For the walk and drive I managed 36 species, so  one third of what I saw belonged to the sparrow family.


The list:
Brant  240
Mute Swan  2
American Black Duck  2
Double-crested Cormorant  4
Great Egret  20
Northern Harrier  2
Black-bellied Plover  7
Killdeer  1
Greater Yellowlegs  45
Dunlin  26
Ring-billed Gull  2
Herring Gull  40
Great Black-backed Gull  15
Royal Tern  1
Mourning Dove  9
American Crow  4
Golden-crowned Kinglet  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  2
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  1     Heard, inlet
European Starling  100
Yellow-rumped Warbler  30
Nelson's Sparrow  1
Saltmarsh Sparrow  3
Seaside Sparrow  1
Chipping Sparrow  3
Clay-colored Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  2
Dark-eyed Junco  8
White-throated Sparrow  3
Vesper Sparrow  1
Savannah Sparrow  3
Song Sparrow  10
Swamp Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  1     South end of first wooden bridge
Boat-tailed Grackle  35

Killdeer

A Universal Law of Birding: Lark Sparrow

I have mentioned a number of times on this blog one my my crack-brained theories (read superstitions) about birding. Today I decided to upgrade it to a universal law of birding.

Yesterday, I went on an NJ Audubon trip to Brig with Mike. He & I arrived early and looked around the Gull Pond and other areas before the others in the group arrived. I heard bluebirds by the martin house field and wandered over there to see if I could find them. Sparrows were abundant yesterday and one, right in front of me, struck me as very unusual.

I was pretty sure I knew what it was, but I called Mike over to see what he thought. Immediately he confirmed my suspicion: Lark Sparrow, a relatively rare sparrow for New Jersey, and a great way to start the birding day. There was an Atlantic County Audubon walk nearby and Mike texted someone we knew on the walk and they hurried back up the road and all got great looks at this surprisingly cooperative bird.

Today I returned to Brig with Shari and our friend Christine. I didn't really expect to find the sparrow again, but while they went into the visitor's center, I looked around the area where the bird was yesterday and came up empty. However, when I went to the other side of the parking lot, behind the picnic tables, among the 100 or so Yellow-rumped Warblers, I saw the Lark Sparrow again in the bare branches of a tree. I tried to follow it as it flitted from one tree to the other, but by the time Shari & Christine found me, the bird was lost. We looked around the picnic area for a while but gave up and went around the Wildlife Drive where we saw a goodly number of birds, including some neat ones like Common Gallinule and American Golden-Plover. Before we left Shari & Christine looked around the same area again; they'd heard from another bird that a half-hour before the bird had been spotted. After a while Shari said, "Oh well, let's go." I was consoling her with the notion that she'd seen a couple this year in Ohio and Nevada, that she'd seen them before in New Jersey and since she doesn't care about county counting, didn't care if she saw one in Atlantic County when she said she thought she saw the bird near some tall grasses on the edge of the lot. I looked and saw Song Sparrows. "Oh well," she said again. Then, having officially given up on seeing the bird, it appeared at our feet! Both Shari and Christine got the field guide looks at the bird and we got in car very satisfied with the day list.

So, it is now a universal law of birding:

You will not find the rare bird you are looking for until you sincerely give up the idea of finding it.

Mercer Corporate Park 10/3--Red Phalarope

Two storms, one of them Hurricane Joaquin, have kept the East Coast socked in with rain and wind and have kept me indoors. Even though the hurricane is not going to hit us directly, it still creates excitement regarding "storm birds." Intrepid birders head out to the beaches of Cape May, the Avalon Seawatch, points on the Delaware Bay, etc, looking to find rarities blown off course by the storm. I, not liking rain and wind very much, am not one of those birders. Plus, my skills and eyesight also are not conducive to identifying some fast-flying tern or tubenose in the mist, in the distance.

So, I was sulking in front of the tv, watching a meaningless Mets game when, between innings, I saw a post on Jerseybirds that a Red Phalarope was at Mercer Corporate Park. I was out the door as if shot from a cannon. Red Phalaropes are mostly seen way off shore and for someone like me, who does't do pelagics, they are exceedingly difficult to see. I have seen, before today, exactly one, years ago, off a jetty at Shinnecock, Long Island, and it was an event. So, for one to be inland, in a nearby (40 minutes) pond was too good an opportunity to pass up. The rain had tapered off to drizzle when I left the house and had stopped when I pulled onto the corporate park's drive. Quite a number of birder's were already there. The bird was right across the pond, swimming near the opposite shore. I saw it well through the scope and got a documentary photo:

The thicker bill was the best field mark, and the rufous coloring told me that it was probably a juvenile bird. I hung around for around 40 minutes, chatting with Mary (who found it) and Vince (whose post I'd seen) and Steve, then made a quick spin around the other pond, finding nothing else.

As I was pulling out, I saw Steve photographing at the end of the pond. I stopped, scanned the water and couldn't find the bird. I couldn't find it because it was practically at our feet so I was able to get some decent photos of a bird that I will likely never get this close to again: