Iselin, NJ

Although my parents have lived in Iselin for 46 years, I'm surprisingly unfamiliar with much of the town. I had no curiosity about the place the few years I lived here as a teenager. But being stuck here for the last couple of weeks, I've done some walking around the development and found, to my delight, some woods not a half a mile from the house. They escaped the bulldozer, I think, because of a stream that runs through them and often floods. And this little parcel of nature is full of birds! Nothing amazing, nothing especially rare, but birds to hear and birds to find. On my walks from Aberdeen Avenue to the end of Winding Road where the woods begin I've found 20 species of birds--pretty good diversity for what I think of as a dreary suburb.
ISELIN, NJ
Canada Goose  X
Mallard    4
Turkey Vulture    1
Mourning Dove    4
Red-bellied Woodpecker    1
Downy Woodpecker    1
Northern Flicker    1
Blue Jay    12
American Crow    1
Tufted Titmouse    3
Carolina Wren    2
American Robin    5
Northern Mockingbird    2
European Starling    3
Song Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow    2
Dark-eyed Junco    5
Northern Cardinal    1
Common Grackle    12
House Sparrow    5

Heard While Sitting in the Waiting Room Outside the ICU

A CNN report on the high cost of printing dollar bills due to the soaring costs of cotton:

Bubblehead Anchor to  Bubblehead Correspondent: So, are dollar coins a viable alternative?
Bubblehead Correspondent: Yes, they're a viable alternative but experts doubt the American public will accept them.

Did they think using the word "viable" would make them seem intelligent? 

Watching the Feeder

Still stuck in Jersey.

I filled up the feeder today (it is astonishing to me that the birds have gone through 80 pounds of seed since the end of January) then went away for a couple of hours. When I looked again there was a tremendous amount  of seed on the patio. I assumed the wind had blown the feeder around and dumped seed onto the tiles. As I watch a little from the dining room window, pleased to see a downy and a titmouse come (one for the suet, one for the seed), I noticed that one house  sparrow was on the ledge of the feeder kicking out copious amounts of seed to his fellow sparrows on the patio floor. It was as if they had designated one of their number to distribute the seed in a more convenient place, rather than have them all fight for a spot on the feeder. I'm sure there are all sorts of Darwinian/Dawkinsian explanations for the altruism of that one sparrow, but I just thought it was funny to watch.

Only 8 species today,  but,  surprisingly, the downy is the first one I've seen on the feeder. There really isn't much habitat for them on these suburban streets--years ago, when there were fields across the street instead of an adult luxury community,  they were more  prevalent.

Mourning Dove    6
Downy Woodpecker    1
Tufted Titmouse    1
European Starling    1
Dark-eyed Junco    5
Northern Cardinal    1
Common Grackle    20
House Sparrow    25

JBWR 3/5

We made our first excursion to Jamaica Bay today. I was happy just not to be in New Jersey for a day. But it was much windier than I expected, which A) kept the passerines hidden and B) it discouraged me from trying to identify whether the thousand or so scaup on the West Pond were lesser or greater--I don't pick out details like the shape of the head or the size of the "nail" in the bill when there's a biting wind in face and my eyes are tearing up and my nose is running the 50 yard dash.

Highlight of the day was certainly finding the resident Barn Owl in its box on Big John's Pond. Lowlight of the day was searching fruitlessly for a Long-eared Owl that one of the rangers told us had been photographed in the North Garden. We looked with him for about a half hour with no luck. Crows were screaming overhead which made me believe the owl was somewhere nearby and had flown off to escape its mobbers. It just seemed odd to us that the owl had been photographed in the bare branches of a tree, according to the ranger. Our limited experience of Long-ears is that they like to press themselves very closely to the trunks of fir trees, making them almost perfectly camouflaged. It would have really been nice to see that bird. 

A somewhat disappointing 24 species today mostly due to the dearth of land birds.
West Pond
Number of species:    20
Snow Goose    2000    Mostly in the marsh, at least 3 blue morphs seen
Brant    50
Canada Goose    100
American Black Duck    25
Mallard    4
Northern Shoveler    30
Northern Pintail    1
Green-winged Teal    35
Greater/Lesser Scaup    1000
Bufflehead    1
Red-breasted Merganser    3
Ruddy Duck    500
Ring-billed Gull    X
Herring Gull    X
Great Black-backed Gull    3
American Crow    7
European Starling    1
Red-winged Blackbird    4
House Finch    1    Tree near visitor center
American Goldfinch    2    Tree near visitor center
House Sparrow    1    Bushes at entrance.
East Pond
Number of species:    11
Mute Swan    12
American Black Duck    4
Mallard    2
Lesser Scaup    50
Greater/Lesser Scaup    500
Bufflehead    1
Hooded Merganser    2
Ruddy Duck    500
Ring-billed Gull    X
Herring Gull    X
Barn Owl    1  Big John's Pond
American Crow    1

Backyard Birds

I've been spending more time at the ancestral home in NJ than I'd like taking care of family matters. My only positive distraction there (there are lots of negatives ones) is the bird feeder Shari put up when she knew we'd be there a lot.

We get the usual assortment of feeder birds--mostly sparrows, doves, cardinals, the occasional nuthatch. Lately, the grackles have been around, and yesterday we had a Hitchkockian scene in the backyard when a flock of about 200 grackles descended from the trees and skies. Mixed in with them was one Red-winged Blackbird and my first Brown-headed Cowbird of the year. I think the grackles were just passing through. If not, the neighbors may get a little annoyed with our feeder.

12 species counted yesterday at the feeders or above:
Canada Goose    16
Mourning Dove    4
Blue Jay    1
American Crow    1
European Starling    2
White-throated Sparrow    1
Dark-eyed Junco    5
Northern Cardinal    2
Red-winged Blackbird    1
Common Grackle    200
Brown-headed Cowbird    1
House Sparrow    15

February Wrap-up

Winter birding is tough. Weather is a problem for me and the birds. The cold doesn't bother them so much, but it bother me. When its windy they hide--and so do I.

So, naturally, we went to Berkshire County in Massachusetts this month, where it was both really cold and 1 day, really windy. And naturally, we found our best birds there: COMMON REDPOLL (a lifer for us) and Bohemian Waxwing, a rarity even up there and a species we'd only seen once before, a few years ago at Sandy Hook. That was a single bird. This was a flock.

Ironically, the weekend we traveled up to MA to seek out redpolls, they irrupted down here in NY. Reports from all over, including the feeders at Prospect Park, Jones Beach, Sandy Hook, Seven Presidents...all the places we like to bird. And yet, had we not gone to MA and chased them down here, I'm certain we'd have heard, "Oh, you just missed them, they were here 10 minutes ago."

I did a little better this month than last--72 species compared to 63. I don't consider it a successful month unless I see a minimum of 100.
Counties birded in February:
New York: Kings, Richmond.
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth.
Massachusetts: Berkshire

Snow Goose  E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Brant          E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Canada Goose E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Mute Swan   Prospect Park Tundra Swan E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Gadwall         E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive American Wigeon Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One American Black Duck  E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Mallard                 Iselin Northern Shoveler E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Northern Pintail E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Green-winged Teal Mount Loretto Unique Area Ring-necked Duck Batsto Village White-winged Scoter Sandy Hook Long-tailed Duck  Sandy Hook Bufflehead E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Hooded Merganser E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Common Merganser E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Red-breasted Merganser Sandy Hook Ruddy Duck E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Red-throated Loon Sandy Hook Common Loon  Seven Presidents Park Pied-billed Grebe   Batsto Village Horned Grebe Sandy Hook Double-crested Cormorant Brooklyn Bridge Park--between Piers 3 & 4 Great Blue Heron E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Turkey Vulture Iselin Bald Eagle County Rd 542 Northern Harrier E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Cooper's Hawk Gurley Ave Red-tailed Hawk  Iselin Merlin Marine Park--West Peregrine Falcon   E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive American Coot Prospect Park Sanderling Seven Presidents Park Ring-billed Gull E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Herring Gull   E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Great Black-backed Gull E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Rock Pigeon    Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One Mourning Dove 18 Aberdeen Avenue Monk Parakeet Marine Park--West Barred Owl E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Red-bellied Woodpecker 18 Aberdeen Avenue Downy Woodpecker Prospect Park--Feeders Hairy Woodpecker Prospect Park--Feeders Blue Jay    18 Aberdeen Avenue American Crow E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Carolina Chickadee E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Black-capped Chickadee Prospect Park Tufted Titmouse E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive Red-breasted Nuthatch Batsto Village White-breasted Nuthatch    Prospect Park--Feeders Carolina Wren Prospect Park Ruby-crowned Kinglet Prospect Park American Robin Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One Northern Mockingbird Prospect Park European Starling 18 Aberdeen Avenue Bohemian Waxwing Windsor -- North Street Yellow-rumped Warbler E. B. Forsythe NWR--Wildlife Drive American Tree Sparrow Prospect Park Fox Sparrow Prospect Park--Feeders Song Sparrow Brooklyn Bridge Park--Pier One White-throated Sparrow 18 Aberdeen Avenue Dark-eyed Junco 18 Aberdeen Avenue Northern Cardinal 18 Aberdeen Avenue Red-winged Blackbird Prospect Park--Feeders Common Grackle             Prospect Park House Finch Prospect Park--Feeders COMMON REDPOLL            Coles Brook Farm Pine Siskin Prospect Park--Feeders American Goldfinch Prospect Park--Feeders House Sparrow 18 Aberdeen Avenue

Marine Park--West 2/27

Now that the snow has melted I decided to visit Marine Park--West* for the first time this year. I saw some good birds and took some poor photos of them. As was the case yesterday, most of the birds were in the water. 

Red-breasted Mergansers

But I wasn't there 5 minutes when I heard the familiar screech of Monk Parakeets and found them landing in the top of a tree.

I wandered around the paths for a couple of hours or more finding a few birds here and there. At one point there was a lot of activity, mostly chickadees and a Downy Woodpecker flitting about. Looking a little deeper into the trees I found what may have been the cause of their excitement: It's been a good weekend for Cooper's Hawks. 

I arrived at 9:37 A.M. and low tide was scheduled for 9:38, so I was able to walk way out on the beach, far off the beaten down marsh grass paths. I've already documented the many abandoned cars I've found along the paths http://tinyurl.com/63qgaf8--and happily most of those have been removed.  But low tide uncovered a virtual abandoned car parking lot. 

Whatever this vehicle once was, it now serves as mussel bed.

The thought occurs to me that perhaps all those cars I thought were removed were only moved underwater. It would take a lot of comparison to figure it out and isn't worth the bother. 

But remember: This is a city park. Someone is responsible for its maintenance. Someone is doing a really lousy job. Or maybe it's an attempt to form an artificial reef. Seems to work for the mussels. 

My list for the day: 

Number of species:    26
Brant    150
Canada Goose    42
American Wigeon    9
American Black Duck    14
Mallard    4
Northern Shoveler    86
Bufflehead    26
Red-breasted Merganser    10
Ruddy Duck    42
Pied-billed Grebe    2
Cooper's Hawk    1
Merlin    1
Ring-billed Gull    200
Herring Gull    100
Great Black-backed Gull    2
Rock Pigeon    6
Monk Parakeet    2
Downy Woodpecker    1
Blue Jay    1
American Crow    3
Black-capped Chickadee    8
European Starling    1
Yellow-rumped Warbler    2
American Tree Sparrow    2
Song Sparrow    1
Northern Cardinal    1


*This is eBird's new designation of what they were formerly calling Salt Marsh Nature Center-West. It is west of the Salt Marsh Nature Center, but if anything, it is southwest of Marine Park. And do I feel like changing all my tags? No.