Or, I Could Just Open the Envelope

 

1. Receive envelope.
2. Notice QR code.
3. Get phone.
4. Open camera.
5. Scan code.
6. Visit website.
7. Read about contents.

Versus:

1. I open the envelope
2. Throw contents into recycling bin.

First Question: Do I Fix This Sign?

 Lake Carasaljo, Lakewood

Sandy Hook 10/6--Western Kingbird, Lincoln's Sparrow, Tennessee Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler

Western Kingbird

On Sunday Scott announced a "flash" field trip at Sandy Hook for today, the winds from the northwest apparently being favorable for a good migration day. I have to admit that I pay zero attention to these forecasts since the direction of the winds never makes much sense to me and the all the radar sites show you birds in the air, not on the ground--meaning the mysterious winds might be good for them, but not necessarily good for you.  Still, Sandy Hook is a migrant trap, so I drove on up there this morning. 

Because we were all able-bodied, Scott decided that we'd walk up to the famous "bug light" (don't ask me why it's called that) on the northern tip, which is the hot spot on the Hook for migrating warblers. It's a fairly long hike through sand with a maritime forest on both sides of the path. We didn't find much until we got to the very end of the trail where other birders were scanning the trees. The first year bird I got was a Tennessee Warbler, not an especially easy bird to find and not an especially interesting looking bird--and from what I could tell, no drabber in autumn than in spring. The second year warbler was close by--a Blackburnian Warbler, looking like a washed-out version of the spring exemplar. There were a lot of other warblers and tweety birds there, but only one or two individuals of each. Walking back, another birder told us that right around the bend of the path there was a Western Kingbird. Now that would be something to see so we hustled a couple of hundred feet and found 4 birders who pointed out the bird flying away down to a stand of trees close to the beach. Picking our way through the detritus thrown up from the bay by the recent nor'easter, we found the kingbird actively hunting from tree to tree, flying down into the brush, then coming up again to perch. My first observation of the bird was an "if you say so" look, but as we approached and got closer it became a more satisfying checkmark for the day. We chased and watched the bird for 15 minutes or so, then made the long trudge back to M lot. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

After lunch, we drove down to the Road to Nowhere hoping for some thrushes, which did not show, but we did have a good look at a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, and in the brush and weeds my first Lincoln's Sparrow of the year, hanging next to a Song Sparrow to give a good comparison. All this time, Scott kept veering off into the underbrush trying to kick up a Connecticut Warbler, with no luck. It seems that it's gotten late early for them. 

With four year birds and a rarity (plus two county life birds, the kingbird and the Blackburnian), I was feeling pretty happy and glad I'd made the long drive north. The bonus bird of the day came at the very end at the last stop, Lot B, which is also where we began the day. This morning, almost the first thing Scott said to me was that he & Carole had heard a Lapland Longspur fly overhead--it is much too early for Snow Buntings but only a bit early for Longspurs. At the end of the trip, we were all standing on the steps near the restrooms looking at the ocean, when Carole saw a little bird fly by, but too fast to i.d., though she thought "Longspur." I was ready to go so I went back to the car, took off my bins, took off my gaiters, and stuck the camera in my backpack. I went back just to say goodbye to everyone when they were all yelling at me to hurry up, look, look, overhead--there was the longspur. It came to rest atop the roof of the pavilion and stayed perched there for what seemed like 5 minutes. Scott lent me his bins so I could get a non-naked eye look at it, a much better look than I had January 2 this year on the Kick Off trip at the Hook.

With that cool bird for the day, I finally left, with 56 species on my list--a lot less than others, but I didn't strain for every warbler or vireo called out.

Canada Goose  35
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1
Black-bellied Plover  1
Semipalmated Plover  4
Laughing Gull  5
American Herring Gull  10
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Royal Tern  10
Double-crested Cormorant  10
Great Egret  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Black Vulture  3
Turkey Vulture  1
Osprey  1
Northern Harrier  2
Bald Eagle  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  10
Merlin  2
Eastern Phoebe  5
Western Kingbird  1     
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Common Raven  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  8
Golden-crowned Kinglet  4
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2
Brown Creeper  2
European Starling  3
Gray Catbird  2
Northern Mockingbird  12
Cedar Waxwing  15
House Finch  4
American Goldfinch  2
Lapland Longspur  1     
Field Sparrow  1
White-crowned Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Lincoln's Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  4
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Tennessee Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  1
Cape May Warbler  1
Northern Parula  2
Blackburnian Warbler  1     
Blackpoll Warbler  1
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1
Palm Warbler  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler  20
Black-throated Green Warbler  1

Cedar Bonnet Island 9/30--Last Day Best Day--Peregrine Falcon, Bobolink, Mourning Warbler, Cape May Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler

Bobolink

 On the last day of the month, I went to Cedar Bonnet Island and had my best day birding in a long time. I haven't had 5 year birds in one day since we were in Mexico. I met a couple of birders I know, as I will inevitably to there, and they started rattling off all the warblers they'd seen in the half hour they were there before I arrived. Out of them all, I was only interested in one and while they said there were quite a few Cape May Warblers, I was able to find one of them pointed it out to me atop a tall cedar. You only need one and I had managed to miss this warbler during the spring, so now was my rebound chance. 

Cape May Warbler

We two then walked out to the big field in the middle of the island. While I had seen a half dozen Bobolinks ("plink!) fly over, I really wanted to get decent looks and that field, in the fall, is an attractor. It didn't take long to find a few. Getting decent pictures, as they flew around and dove down into the brush took longer. 

She had to go to work so we split up as I looked into the marsh. When I got back to the entrance alley there were a couple of more birders I knew and while we caught up, the activity really picked up. There were a couple of Yellow-billed Cuckoos skulking around in the trees, and between 3 and 6 (depending on who was counting) Scarlet Tanagers, along with a very late Blue Grosbeak (call only). Then, what I assumed was going to be the bird of the day was spotted--a Yellow-throated Warbler giving good looks and posing briefly for those with better cameras than mine. Above us a flock of Common Ravens flew over. I counted 6. Which is a lot for around here, but that was only a small part of the flock, since another guy had 18 flying over the field. But, as one birder pointed out, not all those birds were ravens. There was a Peregrine Falcon flying against the grain of their flight. Then another showed up and they briefly locked claws, as eagles will sometimes do. When someone mentioned that the bird flu had had a devastating effect on the Peregrine Falcon population, I had the explanation of why it had taken me 9 months to finally see a couple. 

The Yellow-throated Warbler was not the bird of the day. The spot we had been standing in was not exactly random. The day before a Mourning Warbler had been seen in the understory there and there was an undercurrent of hope that it had stayed overnight. It had, because while everyone else was picking out the Scarlet Tanagers, the warbler popped up briefly, right in front of me on a bare branch--I saw all the field marks--eye ring, beak, olive back, yellow breast, a big warbler. While the guy next to me saw half the field marks he wasn't too concerned since he'd seen it yesterday. For me, though, it was not only a year bird, but a county bird, bringing my Ocean County total up to 333. And only the 8th one I've seen, ever, and only my third in New Jersey, and the last one I saw was 10 years ago at Sandy Hook. A damn difficult bird.

That capped off the day and month for me, and while I still had walking to do, nothing at Manahawkin WMA came close to matching what I'd seen on Cedar Bonnet. 

For September, 132 species with 12 year birds.

Counties Birded: Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean

Species                First Sighting
Canada Goose    Whitesbog
Mute Swan    Wrangle Brook
Wood Duck    Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal    Island Beach SP
Mallard    Whitesbog
American Black Duck    Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal    Island Beach SP
Wild Turkey    Schoolhouse Rd
Rock Pigeon    Waretown
Mourning Dove    Whitesbog
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    35 Sunset Rd
American Oystercatcher    Island Beach SP
Black-bellied Plover    Island Beach SP
American Golden-Plover    Reed Sod Farm
Killdeer    Reed Sod Farm
Semipalmated Plover    Island Beach SP
Hudsonian Whimbrel    Island Beach SP
Marbled Godwit    Island Beach SP
Short-billed Dowitcher    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Spotted Sandpiper    Whitesbog
Solitary Sandpiper    Colliers Mills WMA
Greater Yellowlegs    Whitesbog
Ruddy Turnstone    Island Beach SP
Buff-breasted Sandpiper    Reed Sod Farm
Sanderling    Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper    Colliers Mills WMA
Pectoral Sandpiper    Reed Sod Farm
Laughing Gull    Island Beach SP
Ring-billed Gull    Lake Carasaljo
American Herring Gull    Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull    Island Beach SP
Lesser Black-backed Gull    Island Beach SP
Black Skimmer    Island Beach SP
Caspian Tern    Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Common Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Royal Tern    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Pied-billed Grebe    Whitesbog
Double-crested Cormorant    Island Beach SP
White Ibis    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Glossy Ibis    Island Beach SP
Black-crowned Night Heron    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Little Blue Heron    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Tricolored Heron    Island Beach SP
Snowy Egret    Waretown
Green Heron    Whitesbog
Great Egret    Whitesbog
Great Blue Heron    Whitesbog
Brown Pelican    Island Beach SP
Black Vulture    Rt 9 Waretown
Turkey Vulture    Crestwood Village
Osprey    Island Beach SP
Cooper's Hawk    Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Northern Harrier    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Bald Eagle    Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk    Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk    Allentown
Belted Kingfisher    Island Beach SP
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Downy Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Northern Flicker    Whitesbog
American Kestrel    Colliers Mills WMA
Merlin    Island Beach SP
Peregrine Falcon    Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Whitesbog
Least Flycatcher    Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Phoebe    Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher    Whitesbog
White-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Yellow-throated Vireo    Meadowview Lane
Blue-headed Vireo    Cedar Bonnet Island
Philadelphia Vireo    Island Beach SP
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Lake Carasaljo
Red-eyed Vireo    Union Transportation Trail
Blue Jay    35 Sunset Rd
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow    Reed Sod Farm
Common Raven    35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Chickadee    Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse    Whitesbog
Horned Lark    Reed Sod Farm
Tree Swallow    Whitesbog
Barn Swallow    Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch    Whitesbog
Red-breasted Nuthatch    Island Beach SP
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Whitesbog
Northern House Wren    Whitesbog
Marsh Wren    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Carolina Wren    35 Sunset Rd
European Starling    Whitesbog
Gray Catbird    Whitesbog
Brown Thrasher    Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird    Reed Sod Farm
Eastern Bluebird    Colliers Mills WMA
Veery    Union Transportation Trail
American Robin    Colliers Mills WMA
Cedar Waxwing    Island Beach SP
House Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
House Finch    35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch    Whitesbog
Chipping Sparrow    Whitesbog
Lark Sparrow    Island Beach SP
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Savannah Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Song Sparrow    Whitesbog
Swamp Sparrow    Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee    Whitesbog
Bobolink    Cedar Bonnet Island
Baltimore Oriole    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-winged Blackbird    Union Transportation Trail
Common Grackle    Lake Carasaljo
Boat-tailed Grackle    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Northern Waterthrush    Island Beach SP
Mourning Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Yellowthroat    Whitesbog
American Redstart    Whitesbog
Cape May Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Parula    Island Beach SP
Northern Yellow Warbler    Island Beach SP
Palm Warbler    Island Beach SP
Pine Warbler    Whitesbog
Yellow-throated Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Prairie Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Scarlet Tanager    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Cardinal    Whitesbog
Rose-breasted Grosbeak    Island Beach SP
Blue Grosbeak    Cedar Bonnet Island
Dickcissel    Island Beach SP

Reed Sod Farm 9/24--Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Pectoral Sandpiper

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

For the second time this month I drove up to the Reed Sod farm on Herbert Road, even though I knew the conditions regarding traffic both getting there and along the road were not as pleasant as on a Sunday morning. But it was the only spot on my weather apps that appeared to be out of the winds have already begun as a precursor to this weekends supposed nor'easter. Over the weekend I had seen good reports from there, so despite my misgivings I went, taking the long detour around the horse farms where Rt 539 is closed. 

Horned Lark,
juvenile

I parked, as I usually do, in the Union Transportation Trail lot on Sharon Station Road. Parking is usually almost impossible on Herbert Road and now that the county is putting in new sewer grates, absolutely impossible. I was gladdened to see that the field that earlier in the month was four feet high in weeds had been chopped down and that the field was now barren. I saw a few birds flying low in there and when I scoped them, found that they were Horned Larks, flitting among the clods of mud and clay. That seemed fitting--Horned Larks love the crappiest ground around. While the larks weren't year birds, or even county birds, I'm always happy to see them. 

Then I started to walk along Herbert, stepping up onto the grass whenever there was an oncoming car and truck--considering the time of day, not that many, really. But by the time I got the house/office I could see trucks and machinery moving around. They were harvesting sod (shocker!) and that made me pessimistic about finding any grasspipers. But I shouldered on...literally with the scope on my shoulder until I got to the little psuedo-parking pull-out, now blocked by traffic cones.

Harvesting sod

I scoped past where they were stripping the sod off the ground to the bare earth and saw quite a few Killdeers there. That made me hopeful. What made me more hopeful were a couple of fleeting glimpses of birds that obviously were not Killdeers, but I needed a better angle. So I continued on until I was 3/4 of the way to Old York Road and plunked down the scope again. The first non-Killdeer I spotted was a Pectoral Sandpiper (new for the year). I often dither over whether a shorebird is a Pectoral or just a Least Sandpiper that looks big, but this one was a no-doubter--the bird was facing me, and the "vest" was prominent, dark and coming down to a sharp edge just below the breast.

And then I saw what I had really come for--a Buff-breasted Sandpiper mixed in with the Killdeers. Like all the other birds, it was beyond the sod on the harvested area. I was able to use pallets and folded sod piles as landmarks in order to aim my camera to get the poor photos it was able to take at such a distance. I was thinking that the buffie was moving around pretty well until I realized that there were actually two. 

Even in Upper Freehold the wind was blowing pretty well--I'd hate to think what it was like on the shore, so scoping eventually became tiresome as the lens shook. I had what I'd hoped for. Apparently, the shorebirds don't care about the machinery running back and forth or else they're farther away from the activity than it appears in the foreshortening scope. I turned back, put the scope in the car and took a walk on the UTT, where I saw and heard nothing I wouldn't expect. Still, two year birds at this late date is an accomplishment for me.  

Island Beach SP 9/19--Philadelphia Vireo, Lark Sparrow

I went to Island Beach on Wednesday to start a completely (in the spirit of the times) unscientific experiment: I wanted to compare my birding results on my own compared to the list I'd compile when Shari & I went on Scott's NJ Audubon trip today. Of course, this disregards weather, winds, different habitats, and time spent birding, but I just wanted to see.  On Wednesday I did piss poor--the only two interesting birds I saw were my FOS Red-breasted Nuthatch in the parking lot of Swimming Beach 1 and my FOY Marbled Godwit on a sand bar at the Winter Anchorage. I barely broke 30 species for the 3 plus hours I spent there. 

Today started out slow; our first stop, the Tidal Pond Trail, yielded very few birds, and half of those I missed. It confirmed what I already know--I pass by a lot of birds that someone with quicker eyes and ears can pick up. We looked at the beach from the Swimming Lot 1 but there was zilch there--which sort of made me feel better, since I a) hate standing in one spot looking at a blank ocean and b) the last time I did it on my own, the ocean was equally blank so it's not just me. 

However, during a walk around the edges of the parking lots I garnered my accomplishment for the day. In a thicket of bushes there were 3 birds. Two of them were House Finches, and not even good-looking males, but either drab juveniles or females. The third bird and couple of us were looking at was more problematic. It was hard to get a decent look at the bird through the leaves and twigs, but I was able to put it together in parts--building a bird, as a friend once described it. It had an eye ring, then I saw brown feathers on the back, and after another little hop, I saw yellow on the breast--Dickcissel. Not a year bird, but a county bird and a rarity in Ocean County. Unfortunately, not too many others got on the bird though I think everyone heard its flatulent call which confirmed the sighting.

Warblers were at a premium today--something about the winds being northeast, and of the warblers being called out, I probably missed half of them.  I did manage parula, Palm Warbler, yellow warbler, and redstart, but missed a lot of others--at least Shari also got Black-and-white Warbler and Magnolia Warbler on her list.  

One of the most entertaining moments came on the kayak access trail at A15. One of our number spotted a Baltimore Oriole and Rose-breasted Grosbeak right next to each other in the same dead tree. They moved around but kept to the dead branches of trees so all could see them, joined eventually by yet another oriole. I said that in all my time birding, this was the first time I'd ever seen an oriole and grosbeak in the same tree--my friend Bob scoffed but hey, I have a hard enough time seeing either of those species, never mind them associating. 

For some odd reason, we when go to the Visitor's Center to have lunch, the parking lot there usually yields up an interesting bird--once, on a trip I didn't attend, an Ash-throated Flycatcher was found, and they couldn't text me fast enough to gloat. Today, however, it was just a Philadelphia Vireo that popped up in a tree. I suspect that every Philadelphia Vireo I've seen in Ocean County has been at Island Beach. (I just checked: true.) 

We took a walk on the Johnnie Allen Cove trail, across the road from the Visitor's Center and again, the warblers and were darting in and out of the reeds and groundsel. The bay itself was empty, but on our way back Scott spotted by far the best bird of the trip--a Lark Sparrow smack dab in the middle of the trail. The problem with a trail like Johnnie Allen is that it is too narrow for everyone to line up abreast, so people have to work their way to the front and those who have seen the bird have to yield their spot. It can be frustrating if you're lagging behind in the back. Fortunately, both Shari & I were near the front and got good looks at the bird. I was particularly happy, because this is one of the few birds I actually chased this year (down at Brig) and failed to find.

We made the obligatory stop at Spizzle Creek and found most of our egrets and herons for the day. The final stop (for Shar & me at least) was the Winter Anchorage, where we scoped the sand bars, or what there was of them. If anyone can figure out the tides at Island Beach, there is a prize from the Oceanographic Society--it was supposed to be low tide by then but sure didn't seem like it. I set up our scope and immediately called out to Shari--"I've got oystercatchers." Oystercatchers are, as we all know, Shari's favorite bird. She was looking through the scope when one of the newer birders on the trip turned to me and said, "How do you know they're not clamming?" I didn't understand what he meant. "Say again." "How do you know they're not clamming?" and he pointed to some distant people out on the edge of the Sedge Islands. I was still perplexed but then suddenly the penny dropped--"An oystercatcher is a bird," I told him. He'd never seen one, so Shari put them in the scope and he looked. If you haven't seen one before, it seems like an unlikely bird. 

That concluded the entertainment portion of our program. 

For the day I managed 43 species-- better than Wednesday but not nearly as many as I have in the past on these trips, but everyone seems to agree that the pickings are slim of late. Still, two year birds and a county bird made it a good trip. 

44 species
Blue-winged Teal  2     Spizzle
Green-winged Teal  9     Johnnie Allen
Mourning Dove  3
American Oystercatcher  30
Black-bellied Plover  50
Semipalmated Plover  2
Short-billed Dowitcher  1     Winter anchorage
Greater Yellowlegs  1     Winter anchorage
Laughing Gull  75
American Herring Gull  50
Great Black-backed Gull  4
Lesser Black-backed Gull  1     Swim beach 1
Black Skimmer  100     Winter anchorage
Caspian Tern  2
Forster's Tern  1
Royal Tern  100
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Tricolored Heron  4
Snowy Egret  1
Great Egret  4
Great Blue Heron  11
Osprey  6
Northern Flicker  3
Merlin  4
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Philadelphia Vireo  1    
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Common Raven  2     Spizzle lot
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tree Swallow  2
Gray Catbird  2
Cedar Waxwing  1
House Sparrow  8
House Finch  7
Lark Sparrow  1     
Song Sparrow  2
Baltimore Oriole  2
American Redstart  3
Northern Parula  1
Northern Yellow Warbler  1     Johnnie Allen
Palm Warbler  5
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1
Dickcissel  1    

Reed Sod Farm 9/6--American Golden-Plover

A quiet Sunday morning seemed the perfect time to check out one of the sod farms in Monmouth County. I gravitate to the Reed property on Old York Road because it is adjacent to the Union Transportation Trail and it has the best viewing of any of the other sod farms in the area in terms of not getting your ass swiped off by a passing truck. And since I have spent more time there than any of the other farms, I have had more luck there than any of the other farms. 

But I was dismayed when I pulled into the UTT parking lot across the road from the farm and saw that the field was 5 feet high in weeds--no sod, no dirt. This didn't look promising, so instead of taking my scope, I just walked down Herbert Road, past the house, toward Old York Road. There, I could see, was sod and some harvested areas. But it wasn't until I got to the pull out about a quarter of a mile down the road that I saw any bird activity. 

Most of the activity, I was certain, was from Killdeers--because most of the birds there are always Killdeers and I could hear their little Penny Henny yips--but one bird, more of a moving lump from the distance it was from me, was intriguing--I could see more black on it than anything else. I turned around, went back to the car, drove to the pull out, plunked down the scope and scanned. After a while, besides the dozen or so Killdeers and a few Least Sandpipers, I found what I was looking for--the black on the moving lump was the behind of an American Golden-Plover--the black extends all the way up to the vent (nice euphemism) on this species. The pictures I was able to take from two football fields away are barely doc shots, but they'll do. I thought the bird would be flagged "rare," and I was thinking how I would describe the field marks, but at this time of year the species is no longer considered rare in Monmouth County. 

I walked closer to Old York Road, hoping for something else rare, but the only activity was in that one spot. Returning, I scoped again and was surprised to find the bird immediately. Then I found another. Then, scanning a bit more the east, another. Having seen 43 Golden-Plovers last year on a sod farm in Burlington, I didn't think much of this count until a count of "3" broke the eBird filter. I put down my snotty "exact count" (it's even snottier when the count is "2") to explain how I had arrived at such an outlandish number and let it go at that. 

After that I walked on the Union Transportation Trail for a couple of miles--nothing new, and the only really noteworthy bird was a very late Veery calling in the woods north of Assunpink Creek.