Whitesbog 5/6--Green Heron, Blackpoll Warbler

Green Heron

 A late-night Mets game in Arizona and early morning rain combined for a delayed start this morning, and as the weather looked iffy along the coast, I just drove over to Whitesbog. This time of year, I usually park at the county line and then decide which way I want to go--this morning it into Burlco to start. Union Pond is low enough to have some mud and said along the edges and close to the road and while I was driving in I saw shorebirds flying about. Walking back to it, I saw 3 Least Sandpipers working the little bit of exposed mud. It's early for them at Whitesbog but I see them as a harbinger of summer if the bogs get drained. I also had a Killdeer fly over and saw at the back of the pond, a Spotted Sandpiper fly from one mud flat to the other. 

Then I went into Ditch Meadow, but unfortunately, the beavers have been at work and the trail requires high rubber boots. I walked around Union Pond to the other entrance to Ditch Meadow, and still didn't see much until I did--my first Green Heron of the year flew right in front of me and posed in a tree. I didn't feel like going into the village, so I stuck to the bogs, working my way back to the county line, and crossing over into Ocean County where I hoped I could find another Green Heron to add to my county list. I searched in most of the likely places without going back to the Antrim Bogs and didn't have any luck. But I did add one more bird to year list.

Normally, I use the Merlin app to confirm what I think I'm hearing because ever since the app "heard" a Prothonotary Warbler in my backyard, I haven't completely trusted its reliability. Today, on the cross dike, I thought I heard the high buzz of a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (amazingly, I can hear that bird) but only for a second, so I opened up Merlin and let it listen. It confirmed the gnatcatcher, and then a lot of easy birds started popping up--Common Yellowthroat, Red-winged Blackbird, Gray Catbird...Blackpoll Warbler! Whenever Merlin records a mimid, I tend to not take any of the birds it hears seriously--a couple of weeks ago on Island Beach it "heard" a Tufted Titmouse that a Brown Thrasher was doing an excellent imitation of and there are no titmice on Island Beach. I laugh and groan whenever I see someone's eBird list with the notation "Confirmed by Merlin." 

Not that Blackpoll Warbler is rare per se but since it is out of my hearing range, it a very difficult warbler for me to track down. I played the recording back and even when the sonogram indicated that it was playing the warbler's song, I couldn't hear it. So just as I was shrugging my shoulders, a bird flew into the top of a cedar. I got my bins on it and Holy Smokes it was a Blackpoll. Not the first one I've had there, but you can now count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've listed it at that patch. 

Still didn't get the Green Heron for the county though. 

For both sides of the line, 40 species:

Canada Goose
Wood Duck
Mallard
American Black Duck
Mourning Dove
Killdeer
Spotted Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Green Heron
Turkey Vulture
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
Fish Crow
Carolina Chickadee
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Carolina Wren
Gray Catbird
Wood Thrush
American Robin
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Eastern Towhee
Orchard Oriole
Red-winged Blackbird
Brown-headed Cowbird
Common Grackle
Ovenbird
Black-and-white Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Blackpoll Warbler
Pine Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Northern Cardinal

Pine Dust on Big Tank

Manahawkin WMA 5/4--White-faced Ibis

White-faced Ibis, fifth from left

 A hard bird to distinguish, I was lucky today to be with two good birders while surveying a flock of about 175 Glossy Ibis in the first impoundment at Manahawkin. The ibises were very skittish, flying in and out of the pool, going over the road to the Forsythe property where they would bury themselves in the reeds. Eventually though, and fairly close in, D. found a White-faced Ibis, one of the two that had been reported there yesterday. And unlike most White-faced Ibis, this one was obvious, with red legs, a big red eyeball, and significant white around the face. Last year, when there were four of these birds in the same impoundment, I spent a couple of hours with J. (who was also there), looking through the ibis flock up against the reeds on the opposite shore and finally was able to convince myself that one of them was a White-faced Ibis. Today I had no qualms. It is a pretty amazing turnabout that now, White-faced Ibis is rarer in New Jersey than White Ibis. Years ago, I found one White Ibis at Manahawkin and the birders came a-running. Today, they'd just shrug and say, "Yeah, I saw 15 of them at Spizzle Creek." 

Enlarged & cropped

It was a blustery March day on Star Wars Day (May the Fourth etc.), cloudy, windy, cold, and then, after I started to walk up to Hilliard, it started to rain, so I had to turn around before I could complete my route. Thus, a short list. But the "one cool bird a day" requirement was fulfilled. 

29 species
Mute Swan  2
Mallard  3
Green-winged Teal  2     Back impoundment
Solitary Sandpiper  2
Lesser Yellowlegs  30     Close estimate. Most in back impoundment
Willet  2
Greater Yellowlegs  5
Least Sandpiper  10
American Herring Gull  5
Forster's Tern  10
Glossy Ibis  175
White-faced Ibis  1     
Little Blue Heron  1
Tricolored Heron  4
Snowy Egret  5
Great Egret  10
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
White-eyed Vireo  1
Gray Catbird  1
American Robin  1
Seaside Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  3
Orchard Oriole  2
Red-winged Blackbird  30
Common Yellowthroat  3

Yellow Warbler  2 

Colliers Mills | Emson Preserve 5/3--Spotted Sandpiper, Orchard Oriole, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting

Blue Grosbeak

I got my two target birds this morning plus two bonus birds. Of the four, only one was really a surprise and it was a disturbing example of my sketchy memory. 

At this time of year, Colliers Mills is a good place for grassland birds--it used to be better when the Grasshopper Sparrows nested there, but it's been years since they've been there--too many dogs, I suppose. But you can be fairly certain of finding Blue Grosbeaks in the fields along Success Road and today I found four of them--two in the fields and two by the police firing range.  

Orchard Oriole

Moving on from the firing range area, I was on the berm that forms the southern edge of Turnmill Pond, when I heard a garbled song and saw my first Orchard Oriole of the year, a first-year male, with a black throat and yellow chest. I didn't remember seeing Orchard Oriole at Colliers Mills. I thought it might be a patch bird. When I got home and checked my eBird records, I found it was not a patch bird. I'd seen it there before. Forty-one times before! Why do I even bother birding when the experience is obviously evanescent? I guess in the moment I enjoy it; I just don't recall it all that well. 

Solitary Sandpiper

From there I walked back to the pond that's fed by Borden's Mill Branch. There, I suspected, I would find a Spotted Sandpiper on the mud and eventually I did find one in stiff-winged flight, landing too far out to be photographed, unlike the more cooperative Solitary Sandpiper, closer in. I also heard, closer to Hawkin Road, in the usual spot by the mountain laurels, a Hooded Warbler and finally was able to see this striking bird. Previously, walking through the woods, I saw something new to me--an Ovenbird carrying nesting material. Pete used to say that Ovenbird was the most common nesting warbler in NJ. Judging from the singing birds all along my route, they're pretty ensconced in Colliers Mills. 

Ovenbird

I was still missing one target bird, but I was fairly confident I could rectify that with a five-minute drive to the Emson Preserve. There, in the tree line that runs up the driveway to the parking lot, I was able to see and hear two Indigo Buntings. If I can't find them at Colliers, Emson is my fallback spot. 

Now a digression regarding "indigo." To begin, I don't know why these birds have "indigo" as their modifier. If you look at the color I've used for Indigo Bunting, it is more a purple than the deep blue the bird actually is. In short, Indigo Buntings are not indigo. Which is find because, as a color, indigo is a problem.

In my former life in the printing biz, I had to deal with color a lot. I know color theory. (And believe me, it is really a theory, not a law.) Many of you, in grade school, learned that the colors of the rainbow were ROY G. BIV--red orange yellow green blue indigo violet. That's how Newton described the colors he saw when he separated white light with a prism. There's only one flaw. Indigo doesn't exist in the rainbow. Newton only put it in there because he thought the colors had to have symmetry with the musical notes--there are seven musical notes, thus there had to be seven colors. Genius. 

Let me show you why indigo doesn't exist, using a box of Crayolas. If you put ROY G. BIV on a wheel, you will see that RED & YELLOW yield ORANGE, YELLOW & BLUE yield GREEN, BLUE & RED yield VIOLET. There is no room for indigo on the color wheel. While I love the Indigo Bunting, I hate the name. Let's not even get into the fact that it isn't truly a bunting either!

The Colliers Mills list of 42 species.

Canada Goose  6
Mallard  6
Mourning Dove  2
Chimney Swift  1     Lake
Killdeer  3
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Solitary Sandpiper  1
Laughing Gull  20     Flyover
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Eastern Wood-Pewee  4
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  5
White-eyed Vireo  3
Warbling Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  3
Blue Jay  6
Tufted Titmouse  2
Barn Swallow  4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Carolina Wren  2
Gray Catbird  10
Northern Mockingbird  1
Wood Thrush  3
American Robin  7
Chipping Sparrow  3
Field Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  6
Orchard Oriole  1
Baltimore Oriole  1
Red-winged Blackbird  20
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Ovenbird  10
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  7
Hooded Warbler  1    
Pine Warbler  3
Prairie Warbler  3
Blue Grosbeak  4

Island Beach SP 5/2--Least Sandpiper, Blue-headed Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

I started on Reed's Road today and met up with Steve. Of course, since I was there, the birding was slow. I'm beginning to think I'm a Jonah when it comes to migration at Reed's. However, we walked up to the bowl and there, as I was hoping, we came across my first Black-throated Green Warbler of the year. For some reason, I don't see many of these warblers, and for some reason, when I do, it's usually in the bowl. A couple of minutes later, Steve spotted a Blue-headed Vireo in a tree, another year bird for me, so slow going or not, I was happy. Then I found another Black-throated Green and this one paused long enough and close enough for me to document it. 

Steve had other stuff to do, so I continued south, making my next stop at A15, the Kayak Access trail. Lately, there has been a lot of exposed eelgrass there--I don't know if this is from winter storms or if I just happen to have low tide 3 times in a row--and on the eelgrass shorebirds have been feeding. Today there was a flock of Least Sandpipers picking away at the reeking eelgrass--I know this stuff used to be used as insulation, but how they got the smell out is a mystery. Or maybe people weren't so finicky back then when it came to stuffing insulation in your attic and between walls. But it was also used in upholstery!

My next two stops didn't yield anything new, but I did get all the waders I could reasonably expect and at Spizzle Creek, just before I was leaving, I heard a Baltimore Oriole singing at the "T", but I couldn't find it despite looking in every cedar. The oriole was my first for the county this year. 

Least Sandpiper

Slow birding: 45 species.

Brant   Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Mallard   Reed’s Road
Mourning Dove   Reed’s Road
Willet   Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Greater Yellowlegs   Kayak access
Least Sandpiper   Kayak access
Laughing Gull   Reed’s Road
American Herring Gull   Reed’s Road
Great Black-backed Gull   Kayak access
Forster's Tern   Reed’s Road
Double-crested Cormorant   Reed’s Road
Glossy Ibis   Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Little Blue Heron   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Tricolored Heron   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Snowy Egret   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Great Egret   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Great Blue Heron   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Osprey   Kayak access
Belted Kingfisher   Reed’s Road
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Reed’s Road
Great Crested Flycatcher   Reed’s Road
Eastern Kingbird   Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
White-eyed Vireo   Reed’s Road
Blue-headed Vireo   Reed’s Road
Carolina Chickadee   Reed’s Road
Tree Swallow   Reed’s Road
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Reed’s Road
Gray Catbird   Reed’s Road
Northern Mockingbird   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
American Robin   Reed’s Road
House Finch   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
American Goldfinch   Reed’s Road
Field Sparrow   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Song Sparrow   Kayak access
Eastern Towhee   Reed’s Road
Baltimore Oriole   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Red-winged Blackbird   Reed’s Road
Brown-headed Cowbird   Reed’s Road
Boat-tailed Grackle   Reed’s Road
Common Yellowthroat   Reed’s Road
Northern Parula   Reed’s Road
Yellow Warbler   Reed’s Road
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Reed’s Road
Black-throated Green Warbler   Reed’s Road
Northern Cardinal   Reed’s Road
Rose-breasted Grosbeak   Reed’s Road

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

Manahawkin WMA 4/30--Black-necked Stilt, Semipalmated Plover, Eastern Wood-Pewee and April Recap

Black-necked Stilt

It was starting to become my nemesis bird of the year. I had already made two trips to Brig and 4 loops of the Wildlife Drive with no luck. Yesterday, after our excursion to the Ocean City rookery, Shari & I stopped at Manahawkin to look for the Black-necked Stilt that had been seen in the front impoundment. It wasn't in the front impoundment. I suspected that it was in the back impoundment, but to get there you have to walk about a thousand feet through tick-infested tall grass and neither of us was dressed for that kind of trek, so we dipped. 

This morning, I was there at seven, wearing permethrin pants, sprayed and wiped with repellent, with my socks tucked into my pants. Again, the front impoundment was empty of anything I cared about but walking back with my scope to where I suspected the bird might be (and where I had seen one about 12 years ago) I quickly found the bird with the bubblegum pink legs feeding alongside both species of yellowlegs. Nemesis no more. 

I did add two more species there--Eastern Wood-Pewee in the upland section and saw a small flock of Semipalmated Plovers whizzing around the back impoundment, to bring the year bird total up to 40 for the month. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to track down the Yellow-breasted Chat that another birder had just heard "around the corner" and has subsequently been reported since I was there. I seem to be taking it personally that a bird that makes such a demented racket refused to sing while I was there. Ah well...

For the month I had 139 species. Already other birders are complaining to me about the warblers being late and migration being slow. I would have like to lived in those halcyon days when the birds flew over your head in waves but instead I'm here and my motto is "See 'em while you can." 

Counties birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Ocean

Species             First Sighting
Snow Goose   Brig
Brant   Brig
Canada Goose   Whitesbog
Mute Swan   Brig
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal   Brig
Northern Shoveler   Brig
Gadwall   Brig
Mallard   Whitesbog
American Black Duck   Cranberry Bogs
Northern Pintail   Brig
Green-winged Teal   Brig
Ring-necked Duck   Cranberry Bogs
Greater Scaup   Island Beach SP
Surf Scoter   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black Scoter   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Bufflehead   Whitesbog
Red-breasted Merganser   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ruddy Duck   Brig
Wild Turkey   Crestwood Village
Rock Pigeon   South Toms River
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Whitesbog
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-necked Stilt   Manahawkin WMA
American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Killdeer   Cranberry Bogs
Semipalmated Plover   Manahawkin WMA
Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Long-billed Dowitcher   Forsythe-Barnegat
Wilson's Snipe   Brig
Solitary Sandpiper   Colliers Mills WMA
Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig
Willet   Cedar Bonnet Island
Greater Yellowlegs   Brig
Sanderling   Island Beach SP
Dunlin   Brig
Bonaparte's Gull   Brig
Laughing Gull   Island Beach SP
Ring-billed Gull   35 Sunset Rd
American Herring Gull   Brig
Great Black-backed Gull   Brig
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Caspian Tern   Holly Lake
Forster's Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Pied-billed Grebe   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-throated Loon   Island Beach SP
Common Loon   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Northern Gannet   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Brig
White Ibis   Island Beach SP
Glossy Ibis   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Yellow-crowned Night Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
Black-crowned Night Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Snowy Egret   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Great Egret   Cranberry Bogs
Great Blue Heron   Whitesbog
Black Vulture   Whitesbog
Turkey Vulture   Manchester Dump
Osprey   Cranberry Bogs
Northern Harrier   Whitesbog
Bald Eagle   Cranberry Bogs
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Manchester Dump
Belted Kingfisher   Double Trouble SP
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Northern Flicker   Manchester Dump
American Kestrel   Colliers Mills WMA
Merlin   Island Beach SP
Peregrine Falcon   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Eastern Wood-Pewee   Manahawkin WMA
Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher   Lakehurst Railroad Tracks
Eastern Kingbird   Cloverdale Farm
White-eyed Vireo   Manahawkin WMA
Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue Jay   Manchester Dump
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   Whitesbog
Common Raven   Cranberry Bogs
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Tree Swallow   Whitesbog
Purple Martin   Jakes Branch County Park
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Double Trouble SP
Barn Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Cranberry Bogs
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Whitesbog
Northern House Wren   Island Beach SP
Winter Wren   Double Trouble SP
Marsh Wren   Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird   Berkeley Island County Park
Eastern Bluebird   35 Sunset Rd
Hermit Thrush   Double Trouble SP
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Whitesbog
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Seaside Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park
Savannah Sparrow   Brig
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee   35 Sunset Rd
Baltimore Oriole   Whitesbog
Red-winged Blackbird   Manchester Dump
Brown-headed Cowbird   Whitesbog
Common Grackle   Whitesbog
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ovenbird   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Worm-eating Warbler   Evert Memorial Nature Trail
Louisiana Waterthrush   Double Trouble SP
Black-and-white Warbler   Double Trouble SP
Prothonotary Warbler   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Common Yellowthroat   Manahawkin WMA
Hooded Warbler   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Yellow Warbler   Cattus Island County Park
Palm Warbler   Whitesbog
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Double Trouble SP
Prairie Warbler   Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Oops! I accidentally took a photo of an Osprey (Cattus Island)

Whitesbog | Ocean City Welcome Center 4/29--Chimney Swift, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Baltimore Oriole

Yellow-crowned Night-Herons

Before Shari & I took our annual jaunt down to the Ocean City Welcome Center to view the rookery, I took my morning walk in Whitesbog on both sides of the county line, where I was happy to meet up with my informant, whom I hadn't seen in more than a couple of months.  In Ditch Meadow, on the Burlington side, I heard a Baltimore Oriole, but couldn't see it because the trail down to where it was singing was flooded and I wasn't wearing waders, and on the Ocean County side, over one of the former, now-flooded, blueberry fields I saw my first Chimney Swift of the year, but no pictures because, well, they're swift. 

White Ibis with eggs
Photo: Shari Zirlin

The rookery on the Ocean City causeway is always entertaining and a photographer's delight. The first time we ever went there was on July 4th weekend, battling the traffic into Ocean City, because a White Ibis was there and it was an event. Fast forward 10 years and there are anywhere from 75 to 200 White Ibis in the rookery, with many nests being sat upon and many eggs tended. This bird is moving its range north, possibly because of habitat destruction down south. And the downside is that where there used to be perhaps a few dozen Yellow-crowned Night Herons nesting there, they have been pushed out by the White Ibises, and today I was only able to find perhaps 5 of them on the margins of the rookery. Fortunately, the White Ibises haven't displaced the Great Egrets, of which there were at least 100 in the trees and probably 50 or 60 nest. Throw in a few Snowy Egrets, Little Blue Herons and 15 or so Glossy Ibises (who'd ever think I'd see more White Ibises than Glossy Ibises in NJ?) and you have quite a show. With a scope and lot of patience (I'm patting myself on the back) I was able to find two American Oystercatchers for Shari far out on a sandbar. Altogether, a very successful excursion. 

For the day I had exactly 50 species, not counting our backyard turkeys and whip-poor-wills. 

Species          Location
Brant   Ocean City Welcome Center
Canada Goose   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Mallard   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
American Black Duck   Ocean City Welcome Center
Rock Pigeon   Ocean City Welcome Center
Chimney Swift   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Clapper Rail   Ocean City Welcome Center
American Oystercatcher   Ocean City Welcome Center
Solitary Sandpiper   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Greater Yellowlegs   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Laughing Gull   Ocean City Welcome Center
American Herring Gull   Ocean City Welcome Center
Forster's Tern   Ocean City Welcome Center
Common Loon   Ocean City Welcome Center
Double-crested Cormorant   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
White Ibis   Ocean City Welcome Center
Glossy Ibis   Ocean City Welcome Center
Yellow-crowned Night Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
Black-crowned Night Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
Little Blue Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
Snowy Egret   Ocean City Welcome Center
Great Egret   Ocean City Welcome Center
Osprey   Ocean City Welcome Center
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Eastern Kingbird   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Blue Jay   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Fish Crow   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Tufted Titmouse   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Tree Swallow   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Barn Swallow   Ocean City Welcome Center
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Gray Catbird   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Hermit Thrush   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Song Sparrow   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Eastern Towhee   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Baltimore Oriole   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Red-winged Blackbird   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Brown-headed Cowbird   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Boat-tailed Grackle   Ocean City Welcome Center
Ovenbird   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Black-and-white Warbler   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Common Yellowthroat   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Yellow Warbler   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Pine Warbler   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Whitesbog (Ocean Co.)
Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog (Burlington County)
Northern Cardinal   Whitesbog (Burlington County)

Great Egrets in abundance