At the Water Hole this Morning

Photos: Shari Zirlin

 

Backyard 1/15--Cedar Waxwing

I was on the road at dawn on the way to New Egypt, but Rt 539 was closed, as it often is, probably another crash. Since there is no practical way of getting to New Egypt other than by 539, I turned around and went to my comfort zone of Whitesbog. With the temperature at 14 and a feels like at 0, I walked my four miles, but birds were at a premium. The most entertainment I got was stopping to watch a Downy Woodpecker chisel away at little tree bordering the Upper Reservoir. It was low on the trunk and the wood chips were flying. Every now and again I'd see something amber at the tip of its beak, whether they were insect eggs or sap I don't know, but it was amazing to see how fast one can strip away the bark. And how little food it gets for its efforts. 

Cedar Waxwing, Hermit Thrush
photo: Shari Zirlin

It hadn't warmed up much by the time I got back to the car, so I just went home. And saw a lot more birds at our heated bird bath than I did walking around the bogs and reservoirs. Shari told me that all morning the bath was busy and the first birds I saw on the rim were three Eastern Bluebirds. We see bluebirds sometimes in the dead trees near the house, but we can't recall ever having them come to the water. Then, a few minutes later, our FOY Cedar Waxwing came to the bath, chasing away a couple of finches. Again, waxwing is an occasional backyard bird, usually in the spring when there is fruit on the weeping cherry next door. Never seen one drinking water. 

And later Shari called me to come right away to the kitchen window, she saw the back of a thrush and wanted to know what it was. It flew off but I went outside and found a Hermit Thrush in the white pine. Hermit Thrush is a very infrequent visitor to our yard. Looking up my records, I see that this only the 5th one we've had and the first in almost 7 years. Shari was sitting at the storm door taking photos of the birds at the bath with her phone. Pretty good shots too considering that they're taken through glass with a phone. I heard her yelp and exclaim, "I got them," and there, in her photo was both the waxwing and the thrush on the rim. I guess we were the only open water source around today, because all the birds were fighting for a spot, doves, chickadees, titmice, robins, finches, yellow-rumps, even starlings and House Sparrows which are not very common in our backyard. I only wish today were a FeederWatch day; what a list I would have had!

Riverfront Landing 1/14--Canvasback

Canvasbacks & Ruddy Ducks

Well, now it's getting to be a joke. I swung by Riverfront Landing this afternoon on my way home, hoping to finally see the Canvasbacks that historically frequent that wide part of the mighty Toms River. Other birders have been reporting them from across the way in Mathis Park, but I know, from years past, that they like to hang around the marina near Riverfront, slipping in between the docks and piers. Rumor has it that they like that spot because the marina owner feeds them. 

Anyway, I missed them yesterday from both parks, but today, I found them right away, just a little bit up the block on Water Street. And of course, the looks were lousy with tremendous sun glare couple with my inability to get closer because I'd have to trespass on a private parking lot to do so, which I know the owners frown upon. Plus, those big ducks had their heads tucked in. So, I got them on the list, but once again, circumstances were against me. Oh, where is that perfect winter light where the birds stand out brilliantly and where is that perfect viewing spot where you can get close enough to see the birds in detail instead of just "knowing" those are the birds because you've studied the pamphlet Ducks At A Distance? 

Cropped

Franklin Parker Preserve 1/13--Northern Shrike

That little gray & white pimple at the top of the tree is the Northern Shrike

The Year of Lousy Looks continues. This time, laziness was a factor. No matter where I stood as I circled the old cranberry bog where the long-staying and presumably returning Northern Shrike has been for the last couple of months, the shrike was always too far away to get a good look at it with binoculars. Had I lugged my scope out there I probably would have been able to see it more clearly. But that's a long haul on a cold morning. Fortunately, after I spotted a gray and white bird perched on a dead tree in the middle of the bog, it turned its head a few times letting me see its black mask, so I was able to rule out mockingbird. But again, had this been a life bird, it would have been a disappointing sighting. As it was, I was pleased that I found it on my own. Last time, 3 circuits of the bog were fruitless until a friend walked out there with me and spotted it right away. 

There were two species that actually were more interesting to me this morning than the shrike; one was the adult Bald Eagle with a ton of sticks in its talons, indicating a nearby nest and the other were the two Wilson's Snipes that flushed out of the frozen bog as I made my way around. Non-shore shorebirds are always a treat. 

Of course, lousy looks are better than no looks, which is how the rest of my day went. After lunch I had decided to go over to Toms River to see if I could spot the Canvasbacks there but just as I got in the car I received a text that a Common Gallinule had been spotted in Holly Lake in Tuckerton, so I drove down there first. 45 minutes later I was looking at a single American Coot diving beneath a dock, the only open water on the pond. I'm sure the gallinule was somewhere in the vicinity, hard up against the shore where I couldn't get an angle on it. A wise birder once told me you should stay in a place at least as long as it took you get there, but after 45 minutes I still only had the coot along with ducks, swans, and gulls...and a muskrat. 

So, back to plan A, a drive up to Toms River but by the time I got there, what with the fishermen on a sandy spit and paddleboarder making his way around the ice floes, the ducks on the water didn't seem happy and none of the unhappy ducks were Canvasbacks. Had you traced my path at both Mathis and Riverfront you would have thought I was executing a problem in trigonometry as I set up the scope at various points in both places. Big birds, hard to miss, but I missed them. Wonder where they went? 

BC Fairgrounds 1/11--Rough-legged Hawk

This seems to be the Year of Lousy Looks. The Trumpeter Swans at Stone Tavern Lake were far off in a corner, The Eurasian Wigeon was a prime example of Ducks at a Distance, and yesterday's Long-billed Dowitchers made a determined effort not to be on the side of the lake where I was. Today's Rough-legged Hawk at the BC Fairgrounds extended the pattern.  

The old sod farm grounds beyond the Fairgrounds parking lot is an historical location for Rough-legged Hawk. (Aside: not "traditional." Birds have histories, they don't have traditions). It where Shari and I got our life Rough-legged and every year since then I think I have returned to find one in the winter. 

Today was bitterly cold, but I walked the Ocean County side of Whitesbog despite the frigid temperatures. I didn't have much to show for my efforts, so I decided to see if I could find the hawk at the Fairgrounds, with the luck from inside my warm car. 

Northern Harrier, digiscoped

The first bird I saw was a beautiful Gray Ghost Northern Harrier sweeping low along the grass. A couple of others were sitting at the back edge of the field and I found another perched up on a tree closer to 206. A couple of Bald Eagles were playing/fighting with each, one an adult, one immature, and an unidentified falcon was getting into the act too. But the dark morph Rough-legged wasn't apparent. 

A photographer told me he'd seen it on the left side of the pond roosting in a tree. It was only about 500 feet away from where I'd parked so I walked over there. He drove and by the time I was halfway there he told me it had flown. Then he told me about how he'd photographed it yesterday and that it was around, I just had to "put in the time." Oh, thanks loads for the advice, why didn't you tell me you saw it earlier when you saw my scope? 

The wind was whipping in the open lot and I wasn't feeling happy. I saw another birder back by the 206 side; I had notion of who it was and when I got closer it turned out I did know him. Of course, he was looking for the Rough-legged too. Maybe his eyes weren't tearing as much from the wind as much as mine were, but he spotted a hawk in a far-off tree but once we got it in the scope it turned out to be just a Red-Tailed Hawk. I could tell from the belly band. Then he saw another hawk fly into the tree next to the Red-tail's, at about the same level. I couldn't spot it at first until it moved out of the denser branches. Putting the scope on it proved it to be our target, with just enough field marks to make the case, but if this had been a life bird I would have to think carefully about counting it. As it is, it is just another bird on the list. As Mike sometimes says, "It isn't amazing that we can identify birds from so far away now," I always reply, "Yes, but it isn't any fun." 

Deer Head Lake 1/10--Long-billed Dowitcher

The pleasures and frustrations of chasing all in one moment. This morning I finally got around to going to Deer Head Lake in Lacey, where since late December a quartet of Long-billed Dowitchers have been feeding on the mud flats (the lake is drawn down in winter).  LB Dowitchers are always a good bird in NJ and especially in Ocean County. And winter dowitchers eliminates the angst over whether they're the Short-billed on Long-billed species. Short-bills just aren't around after summer. 

Usually, I bird from the west side of the lake where there's a big culvert platform to stand on, but today, driving there I noticed an opening on the east side of the lake and saw a big flock of geese there, so I parked, found a path, and set up the scope on the edge of the mud. Immediately I found a couple of Killdeer (new for the year) and then was slightly surprised to see a Greater Yellowlegs fly by. Promising. I scanned the flats near me, then started on the flats across the lake. More Killdeer, and lots of Green-winged Teal and Hooded Mergansers mixed in with the geese, but no target species. From my angle I was blocked from the northwest part of the lake, so I packed up the scope and drove the 3/4 of a mile to the other side. There I set up again and scanned. More yellowlegs flew in from who knows where and the flock was up to 8. I shifted my perspective and looked more northerly, but still no dowitchers. After another look through the exposed stumps and shallow puddles I was ready to give up. It was cold. I had the scope on my shoulder when I saw some movement on a little island. I said to myself, "One more look," and I was trying to remember if "One more look" ever worked when I saw three shorebirds fly to my right with big white streaks up their backs. So apparently "One more look" does work. (If you find what you're looking for it will be in the last place you looked.) 

The birds landed right on the edge of the shore moving in and out between the much larger geese. And where were they? Right where I had been, on the east side of the lake. So, no possibility of getting photos. I thought about driving back to the east side, but I could already see the dowitchers getting up and flying off as I approached so I didn't let a win turn into a loss. Looking through the subsequent eBird reports for the day, only the trio has been reported. Where did #4 go? 

Deer Head Lake is one of those spots that is under-birded. A few years ago, I went there for the first time only because a birder I know who works nearby would find good birds on her lunch hour. Almost the first bird I saw that day was a Ross's Goose! Cackling Goose has been there a few times if one is inclined to sort through the hundreds of geese that frequent the lake. And now the dowitchers. Fortunately, a few good birders live nearby and give it regular coverage. 

Eastern Bluebird, Dark-eyed Junco, Meadowedge Park

I'd started the day at Bamber Lake (another under-birded spot) and came away with my first Red-breasted Nuthatch of the year. After Deer Head, I drove over to Bay Parkway in Waretown then down to Barnegat. Meadowedge Park didn't have anything unusual, but it did have some pretty bluebirds. I made my last stop Cloverdale Farm; again, nothing exciting. All that wandering around produced 38 species for the day, with the dowitchers and nuthatch being the highlights.

Northern Mockingbird, Cloverdale Park

Paean to the Brown Creeper

I saw my first Brown Creepers of the year yesterday, one at the pond on Schoolhouse Rd, the other poking at the bark of a skinny pitch pine in our backyard. Then again today, inspecting the nooks and crannies of the dead oak that serves as our feeder station. I love the Brown Creeper; it might be my favorite winter bird. First of all, it's always a treat to just find one. Not that they're rare, they're just really hard to see being the color of bark and moving fast to another tree just at the moment you've spotted one peripherally. Me getting a photo of one is a miracle. Only recently have I been made aware of its thin, high-pitched call. Doesn't matter really to me; it would have to be on my shoulder before I'd hear it. 

Secondly, they're unique in North America, the only representative of the creeper family Certhiidae. 

And finally, watching them forage for food intrigues me. I know all winter birds are amazing survivalists, but the chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, sparrows, all subsist mostly on seeds (which we put out in abundance). Even the woodpeckers glom onto the suet and peanuts to supplement their diet.  The creeper is an insectivore. It never eats seeds and never comes to the feeder. I always wondered, on a day like today, well below freezing, what insects is it getting? A modicum of research showed me that my notion of what the bird was feeding on was just slightly off. 

In the winter, it isn't insects per se that the creeper is searching for when it sticks it long decurved bill beneath a bit of raised bark. It is insect eggs and pupae that it is trying to find. What a life! What a job! Compare the chickadee, which has to eat constantly, but has 5 lbs of seed hanging from a tree right in front of it. Even in the woods the seeds of plants and grasses are dispersed everywhere. The creeper, though, has to methodically climb a tree, picking out an egg here, a chrysalis there, then fly to the bottom of the next tree and start all over again. Prospecting for the tiniest packages of calories. 

One of the saddest birding sights I ever saw was a few years ago on Great Bay Blvd. It was mid-October and big push of birds were migrating through. Suddenly, on the road, was a Brown Creeper, apparently so exhausted that it couldn't make it to the stand of cedars 25 feet away. It is the only time I have ever seen a creeper on the ground. 

But aside from that incident, all the other 200 times (according to eBird) that I've seen the creeper has brought a smile to my face.