Double Trouble SP 5/19--Black-necked Stilt

Black-necked Stilts, Double Trouble

After spending the weekend walking back and forth, up and down a couple of migrant hot spots rubbing shoulders with many birders and photographers, a Garboesque feeling came over me on Monday--I want to be alone. The best idea I had for that notion yesterday was the Huber Preserve--another hot spot teeming with birders in pursuit of its warbler specialties, pretty much empty on a weekday. Besides, there were a few bird possibilities that I was hoping for. But hope is a thing without feathers. 

Prothonotary Warbler, Huber

I started off pretty well there with a very loud and insistent Yellow-throated Vireo singing. I eventually tracked it down to the very top of tree close to the entrance. Huber is a reliable spot for them and the entrance or Sooy Place Road is where you'll find them. But that was it for year birds there. Despite being assured that Barred Owl starts hooting around the bridge area mid-morning, there were no hoots for me. And Summer Tanager, a long-shot I know, but last year I had two birds in the area, was also a no-show. Still, a morning with Prothonotary, Hooded, and Blue-winged Warblers is not a bust.  

As I've mentioned before, I have found that if I don't feel like going to a certain spot, it's usually a good idea to override that feeling and go. Yesterday, after I'd done my walk at Huber I was considering driving down the road about 3/4 of a mile to where Burrs Mill Brook goes under Sooy Place Road and opens up to a swamp. Nah, I'm tired. Yeah, go, it's only 3 minutes away and there's no more walking involved. 

Red-headed Woodpecker,
Sooy Place Rd.

As I got out of the car, I was glad the positive birding angel on my shoulder was persuasive, because immediately I heard the loud, very loud, "Queer!" calls of a Red-headed Woodpecker. I can find Red-headed Woodpeckers anytime I want at Colliers Mills, but in Burlco, despite there being more places they frequent than in Ocean County, they are flagged as rare. Despite sounding like the bird was right on top of me, it took me a while before I located it high up the trunk of a very dead tree, banging away and then screaming. 

This morning, despite the BirdCast count of close to a million birds flying across Ocean County during the night, I was not tempted to go to Reed's Road or Cedar Bonnet Island. Instead, a long walk around Double Trouble SP suited my mood. As I almost always do, I started the walk from the parking lot west to Mill Pond. I was thinking that I have found some weird birds for the area there--Black Skimmer and Caspian Term immediately come to mind--and when I saw mud flats instead of open water I thought the potential for an oddity was high. As soon as I approached the spillway I saw 3 or 4 shorebirds in the back. "I don't know, those don't look like yellowlegs," I said to myself and putting up my binoculars it was obvious that I'd stumbled upon 4 Black-necked Stilts, rare for the area, rare for New Jersey, and just weird so far inland. They were half-way across the pond but I was able to get documentary photos. I texted the one person who I know birds Double Trouble as much as I do and lives nearby, but she couldn't get there this morning. I told her that they might hang around and no sooner had I sent the text than the birds upped and flew--perhaps to the back of the pond, perhaps to some inaccessible marsh. Talk about your lifeline intersecting with a bird's lifeline!

Today is our anniversary (19 blissful years) and we often go to Delaware to celebrate. We didn't this year, but Black-necked Stilts (one of the few shorebirds we target when we're there) are an appropriate find for the day. 

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Double Trouble

Walking around back to the Sweetwater Bogs, I was happy to see another oddity, though this one has been there at least a week--a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in the middle bog. Yellow-crowned Night-Herons had not been reported in the park until last week, but with the stilts today, that means it has had its bird list up by two in the last week or so. 

For my walk around Double Trouble, alone, I had 41 species.

Mallard  4
Mourning Dove  1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1
Black-necked Stilt  4     
Killdeer  1     Mill Pond
Greater Yellowlegs  1     Mill Pond
Least Sandpiper  3     Mill Pond
Laughing Gull  2
Glossy Ibis  3
Yellow-crowned Night Heron  1
Great Egret  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  2
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  3
Eastern Kingbird  2
White-eyed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  2
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Gray Catbird  10
Veery  1
American Robin  2
Cedar Waxwing  1
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  5
Red-winged Blackbird  12
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Common Grackle  1
Ovenbird  12
Black-and-white Warbler  4
Common Yellowthroat  5
Pine Warbler  5
Prairie Warbler  9

Island Beach SP 5/16--Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-throated Blue Warbler, Scarlet Tanager

Scarlet Tanager

According to Cornell's BirdCast site, 753,100 (the "100" is amusing) birds passed over Ocean County last night into dawn.  I don't usually pay much heed to BirdCast because I don't care what's passing over, I want to know what's landing, but with three-quarters of a million birds in flight, I figured some of them had to flutter down to spend a day in the county, so with that in mind, I was at Reed's Road as early as I was allowed into Island Beach SP. 

The trees weren't exactly dripping with birds, but there was enough action to keep me walking slowly. The two most interesting birds I saw on the quarter-mile trail to the bay were a Veery (usually just hear them) sitting on a fence rail and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, which only the other day I heard but did not see at Whitesbog. Cuckoos too are more often heard than seen, and even this bird was well hidden, such that I could see it's yellow bill and its brown tail, the middle of the bird was leaves. 

I walked north along the bay to the "bowl," and it was there that I notched my three year bird for the day. An oak tree was active with birds and one of them was a beauty of Black-throated Blue Warbler. Parulas, Ovenbirds, Yellow Warblers, and of course, Common Yellowthroats were scattered around. On a second circuit of the area I saw a brilliant red bird in a pin oak and that was my FOY Scarlet Tanager. A female was close by. As I was admiring the pair, out of the corner of my eye I saw a bird flitting in a low-hanging branch above my heard--a Chestnut-sided Warbler I could have picked with my hand. 

Since I almost always manage to hit Reed's Road on a slow day, I was pretty happy with my results. Walks along the trails of Spizzle Creek (where I heard in the parking lot my first New Jersey/Ocean County Royal Tern, first seen this year in Mexico) and Johnny Allen's Cove added a lot of waders and shorebirds to the day list, bringing it up to 61 which is a fair number for a morning on half the bayside trails. 

Brant    Johnny Allen's Cove Trail
Canada Goose    Johnny Allen's Cove Trail
Mallard    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Mourning Dove    Reed's Road
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Reed's Road
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    Reed’s Road
Clapper Rail    Johnny Allen's Cove Trail
American Oystercatcher    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Black-bellied Plover    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Short-billed Dowitcher    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Spotted Sandpiper    Reed's Road
Willet    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Greater Yellowlegs    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Ruddy Turnstone    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Dunlin    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Least Sandpiper    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Laughing Gull    Reed's Road
American Herring Gull    Reed's Road
Least Tern    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Forster's Tern    Reed's Road
Royal Tern    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Double-crested Cormorant    Reed's Road
White Ibis    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Glossy Ibis    Spizzle Creek Blind 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
Turkey Vulture    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Osprey    Reed's Road
Great Crested Flycatcher    Reed's Road
White-eyed Vireo    Reed's Road
Blue-headed Vireo    Reed's Road
Red-eyed Vireo    Reed's Road
American Crow    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Carolina Chickadee    Reed's Road
Barn Swallow    Johnny Allen's Cove Trail
Marsh Wren    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Carolina Wren    Johnny Allen's Cove Trail
Gray Catbird    Reed's Road
Northern Mockingbird    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Veery    Reed's Road
American Robin    Reed's Road
American Goldfinch    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Seaside Sparrow    Johnny Allen's Cove Trail
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Song Sparrow    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Eastern Towhee    Reed's Road
Red-winged Blackbird    Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Boat-tailed Grackle    Johnny Allen's Cove Trail
Ovenbird    Reed's Road
Black-and-white Warbler    Reed's Road
Common Yellowthroat    Reed's Road
American Redstart    Reed's Road
Northern Parula    Reed's Road
Magnolia Warbler    Reed's Road
Northern Yellow Warbler    Reed's Road
Chestnut-sided Warbler    Reed's Road
Black-throated Blue Warbler    Reed's Road
Scarlet Tanager    Reed's Road
Northern Cardinal    Reed's Road

Great Bay Blvd 5/12--Red Knot, Common Tern

Red Knots

Mid-May is the time to look for Red Knots, and you don't have to go to the Delaware Bayshore in Cape May to find this threatened species. It isn't the spectacle that you'll find there, but this time of year, the beach at Great Bay Inlet is a reliable spot to find a good flock of knots, and if you're a lister, you only need one. 

This morning I counted 38 birds jabbing at the mud during low tide. The controversy in Cape May is always about limiting the horseshoe crab harvest (their blood is used in medical tests and their bodies as bait), since the Knots depend on the crab eggs for their nutrition when they stop over on their long journey from South America to the Arctic. There are horseshoe crabs at Tuckerton, but not in great numbers so I have to suppose that the Knots were making do with the invertebrates that the Dunlins and turnstones were feeding on too. 

Terns were flying over the bay, but I'm very bad at distinguishing Forster's Terns from Common Terns on the wing, so I was happy when I was able to compare two pairs roosting on pilings by the Rutgers Research Center. The Common Terns have the redder bills, the shorter legs and this was clear in the scope. 

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

I was also happy to find my FOY United States Yellow-crowned Night-Heron on the way down to the inlet. It was in the night-heron roost at the first bridge along with a few Black-crowned Night-Herons. I'd seen a few at Rio Lagartos last month, but this was the one that really counts. 

And as a little bonus, from that same bridge I spied in the distance a Hudsonian Whimbrel in the marsh, a much more satisfactory look than the flyover trio at Cedar Bonnet Island on Sunday. 

Lots of shorebirds today:

44 species
Brant  9
Canada Goose  3
Mute Swan  1
Mallard  1
Mourning Dove  7
Clapper Rail  4
American Oystercatcher  1
Black-bellied Plover  6
Semipalmated Plover  8
Hudsonian Whimbrel  1
Short-billed Dowitcher  215
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Willet  12
Greater Yellowlegs  14
Ruddy Turnstone  25
Red Knot  38
Dunlin  80
Least Sandpiper  17
Semipalmated Sandpiper  7
Laughing Gull  45
American Herring Gull  20
Black Skimmer  10
Least Tern  3
Gull-billed Tern  2     Tuckerton Cove
Forster's Tern  25
Common Tern  2
Double-crested Cormorant  16
Yellow-crowned Night Heron  1
Black-crowned Night Heron  5
Snowy Egret  10
Great Egret  20
Osprey  7
Tree Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  25
Marsh Wren  2
Gray Catbird  5
Northern Mockingbird  1
Seaside Sparrow  9
Song Sparrow  7
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Boat-tailed Grackle  40
Common Yellowthroat  6
Northern Yellow Warbler  3
Northern Cardinal  1

Cedar Bonnet Island | Barnegat Lighthouse SP 5/11--Least Tern, Cedar Waxwing

Least Tern

I returned this morning to Cedar Bonnet Island despite the blustery weather. It's days like this, cool, windy, wet, that make the cliche about going directly from winter to summer without a spring inevitable. I didn't think much would be around and I was right, but I did, finally, break a 4-month 10-day streak of not seeing a Cedar Waxwing. A half dozen flew overhead and this time low enough for me to count them. Not the ideal look for what is my favorite bird, but after 130 days, I'll take it. 

A portion of the flock roosting on the beach

Cedar Bonnet was just a quick walk on the way to Barnegat Lighthouse SP. This time of year the pool area is stringed off for breeding Piping Plovers and Least Terns and I wanted to see the terns. Fortunately, the wind died down and so the supposed real feel of 41 degrees didn't seem too onerous. As I walked along the dunes down to the beach, I could hear the terns, but none of them seemed to be around until suddenly, about halfway down, they started making an appearance, first as one or two but by the time I reached the ocean, dozens upon dozens were roosting on the beach, their back turned toward the wind. I saw a count of 66 yesterday, and I thought, when I saw a flock take off from the beach, that there must be at least 100, but the eBird filter balks at more than fifty. This looks like it is going to be a major breeding colony, much larger than the one up by the Shark River inlet in Belmar. It's an impressive sight and a hopeful sign. I also saw a couple of the Piping Plovers and a half dozen American Oystercatchers which also take advantage of the protected area. Surprisingly, I only saw one Forster's Tern and no Common Terns, which I was also hoping for. Purple Sandpipers, a park specialty, are still hanging in; Harlequin Ducks long gone. 

The Barnegat Lighthouse list:

36 species
Brant  85
Mallard  2
American Black Duck  2     Pool
Black Scoter  20
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
American Oystercatcher  6
Semipalmated Plover  1
Piping Plover  2
Willet  1
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Ruddy Turnstone  6
Sanderling  25
Purple Sandpiper  20
Laughing Gull  10
American Herring Gull  15
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Lesser Black-backed Gull  1
Least Tern  50     50+
Forster's Tern  1
Common Loon  1
Double-crested Cormorant  20
Great Egret  1
Osprey  2
Fish Crow  1
Gray Catbird  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
American Robin  3
House Sparrow  4
House Finch  1
Song Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  5
Common Grackle  1
Boat-tailed Grackle  2
Common Yellowthroat  3
Northern Cardinal  1

Great Egret in full breeding plumage

Cedar Bonnet Island | Manahawkin WMA 5/10--Hudsonian Whimbrel, Acadian Flycatcher, Nashville Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler

 

Bay-breasted Warbler

A couple of years ago, one of the maintenance men from our village knocked on the door and said that there was a complaint that I was using a chain saw to illegally cut down trees in our yard.  It seems a neighbor had seen me carrying broken branches from a storm out to the curb while at the same time she heard a leaf blower and surmised that I was up to no good. I just laughed at the absurd notion of me using a chain saw, invited the guy to look around while we commiserated about the busybodies in the neighborhood. The only idea more unlikely than me using power tools is me getting a good photograph of a warbler. Case in point to the left. 

I didn't check to see if it was a good migration day or not, I just went to Cedar Bonnet Island early this morning, despite the foggy conditions.  I rationalized that maybe the fog would knock the birds down into the little alleyway of trees that leads to the restoration area.  Naturally, I wasn't the only one with this idea, and I quickly ran into a pod of birders I know (and thankfully, like) who quickly filled me in on the really cool warblers I'd already missed. And would continue to miss until I connected with a Nashville Warbler, high up in a tree. And then two more Nashville Warblers. I have gone a few years without seeing Nashville and now I'd seen three in three minutes. (I wish that Nashville Warblers hybridized with Tennessee Warblers to give us Nashville Tennessee Warblers, but there don't seem to be any records of this hybrid.)

Next up was an exhausted Bay-breasted Warbler that just sat on a branch, the only reason I was able to get the low-quality photo I did.  Warbler flitting from branch to branch, obscured to leaves give me no chance. Then someone heard Blackpoll Warbler. Since Blackpoll is way out of my hearing range, I had to see this bird in order to count it. Fortunately, I was able to find it in the canopy, and then, for good measure, another one came by. Finally, after whiffing a couple of times on Black-throated Green Warbler, I was able to get eyes on one practically on top of our heads, then two more, a male and female, in the more traditional "way up there."  There was also an big influx of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on the island--more than I've ever seen in one place. I counted 7 but I wouldn't be surprised if the count was twice that. 

That short alley is probably a tenth of mile long--I looked at the pedometer on my phone after being there much longer than I planned and saw that I had walked back and forth, craning my neck for over a mile. Having exhausted, I thought, the entertainment possibilities of that stretch, I walked with a couple of the guys around the larger part of the island. The new bird there, which I probably would have missed had I not been alerted by a sharper-eyed friend, was Hudsonian Whimbrel (it used to be just "Whimbrel" until it was split into a North American and European species), a trio flying over. It wasn't an ideal look, but whimbrel is a hard bird for Ocean County, so I'll take it. We also saw a red fox kit, very calmly sitting in the middle of the path. Unfortunately, it had an injured leg, so its adulthood prospects are low. 

Coming back to the alley we met up with the two guys who'd stayed behind. They were on a pair of Magnolia Warblers. I'd seen them in Mexico, but it was new for the state, new for the county. After 2 hours and 45 minutes, I decided to finish my walk on the mainland and drove over to Manahawkin WMA. Unlike the last time I was there, the impoundments were pretty busy with shorebirds, but nothing new, unlike this day last year when there were both a Black-necked Stilt and a continuing White-faced Ibis in the back impoundment. I walked up Stafford for about a mile and found a few passerines I hadn't had on Cedar Bonnet. Flycatcher were a topic of conversation while we were walking and we were reviewing the various calls of the birds that should be appearing soon--Fitz-bew, Fee-be-o, Quick-three-beers, and Pizza! And I heard Pizza! about halfway up the road, so my last year bird for the day turned out to be Acadian Flycatcher. Couldn't find it, of course. Have to go to Huber to get eyes on it, since they nest by the bridge. 

For the two spots I had 67 species. For me, an excellent count. 

Canada Goose    Cedar Bonnet Island
Mute Swan    Manahawkin WMA
Mallard    Manahawkin WMA
Mourning Dove    Cedar Bonnet Island
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Semipalmated Plover    Cedar Bonnet Island
Hudsonian Whimbrel    Cedar Bonnet Island
Short-billed Dowitcher    Cedar Bonnet Island
Lesser Yellowlegs    Manahawkin WMA
Willet    Cedar Bonnet Island
Greater Yellowlegs    Manahawkin WMA
Least Sandpiper    Cedar Bonnet Island
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Manahawkin WMA
Laughing Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Herring Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Black-backed Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
Forster's Tern    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Loon    Cedar Bonnet Island
Glossy Ibis    Cedar Bonnet Island
Little Blue Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Tricolored Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Snowy Egret    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Egret    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Blue Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Osprey    Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Manahawkin WMA
Northern Flicker    Manahawkin WMA
Acadian Flycatcher    Manahawkin WMA
Great Crested Flycatcher    Manahawkin WMA
White-eyed Vireo    Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-eyed Vireo    Manahawkin WMA
Blue Jay    Manahawkin WMA
American Crow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Carolina Chickadee    Manahawkin WMA
Tufted Titmouse    Manahawkin WMA
Tree Swallow    Manahawkin WMA
Barn Swallow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Manahawkin WMA
Northern House Wren    Cedar Bonnet Island
Marsh Wren    Manahawkin WMA
Carolina Wren    Cedar Bonnet Island
Gray Catbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Wood Thrush    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Robin    Cedar Bonnet Island
House Finch    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Goldfinch    Manahawkin WMA
Field Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Seaside Sparrow    Manahawkin WMA
Song Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Orchard Oriole    Manahawkin WMA
Red-winged Blackbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Boat-tailed Grackle    Cedar Bonnet Island
Ovenbird    Manahawkin WMA
Black-and-white Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Nashville Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Yellowthroat    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Parula    Cedar Bonnet Island
Magnolia Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Bay-breasted Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Yellow Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blackpoll Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Pine Warbler    Manahawkin WMA
Prairie Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Black-throated Green Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Cardinal    Cedar Bonnet Island
Rose-breasted Grosbeak    Cedar Bonnet Island
Indigo Bunting    Cedar Bonnet Island

Cattus Island 5/8--Marsh Wren

Marsh Wren

The thing about Marsh Wrens is that you can feel like you're right on top of them when they're singing away in the phragmites and still not be able to see them. That's what it was like on the boardwalk leading to Scout Island at Cattus Island CP this morning. I heard Marsh Wrens on either side of me, as if they were competing to see who could be louder and more elusive. Short of throwing a rock into the reeds (which, of course, I would never do, even if there was one laying around in the mud), there was no way they were going to be dislodged. So I took my camera, aimed it more or less in the direction of the liquid singing and took pictures of the common reed (phragmites) and damned if I didn't get lucky--the lens found a bird buried in the brown. 

That was the only year bird for the day. I was hoping that the southwest winds would drop some warblers down in the woods, but the only warblers I saw and heard were the expected and already listed regulars. For the morning, 46 species--a good count, but only the Marsh Wrens (which I should have seen by now, truth be told) were new for the year. 

Canada Goose  5
Mallard  1
Mourning Dove  4
Semipalmated Plover  1     Peninsula
Spotted Sandpiper  3
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Least Sandpiper  1     Peninsula
Laughing Gull  5
American Herring Gull  15
Forster's Tern  3
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Little Blue Heron  1     Flyover
Great Egret  3
Osprey  10
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Northern Flicker  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  10
Eastern Kingbird  5
White-eyed Vireo  1
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  2
Fish Crow  2
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  3
Tree Swallow  5
Barn Swallow  3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2
Northern House Wren  2
Marsh Wren  3
Gray Catbird  17
Northern Mockingbird  1
American Robin  1
American Goldfinch  4
Seaside Sparrow  4     Boardwalk, marsh, peninsula
Saltmarsh Sparrow  1     Peninsula
Song Sparrow  6
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Common Grackle  2
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  10
Northern Yellow Warbler  8
Pine Warbler  4
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  3

Forsythe-Barnegat | Great Bay Blvd | Backyard 5/7--Wilson's Phalarope, Stilt Sandpiper, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Saltmarsh Sparrow, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

There aren't a whole lot of birds I'm inclined to chase these days, but a county lifer qualifies. When I noticed that a Wilson's Phalarope was found yesterday afternoon down at the Forsythe-Barnegat viewing platform I decided I'd go down there first thing in the morning. If this phalarope had the same habits as the ones that show up at Brig, I thought there was a pretty good chance of it sticking around. Finding it, of course, was another story.

Of late that impoundment has been full of both flavors of yellowlegs, so I knew I'd have to pick through the feeding flock which was spread out about 180 degrees. Going early had the advantage that I beat the rush--I've been on that platform searching for a rarity rubbing shoulders with a crowd of birders and didn't enjoy it. On the other hand, someone to help would be appreciated. Just as I was about to give up, having scanned back and forth twice, that someone showed up, a good (in both senses) birder I know, who had seen the bird yesterday. Almost immediately he picked out the female phalarope, way in the back--here's my excuse: when I was looking for it was behind a dead cedar. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. Funnily enough, just this weekend I was talking to Scott about how I'd never seen a Wilson's Phalarope in the county; neither had he. And now it turns up. Eerie. The phalarope was #332 for the county. Why that seems important to me remains an enduring mystery. 

What I don't have an excuse for missing, other than focusing on find the rarity, was to miss the Stilt Sandpiper that was close to the platform, feeding with the yellowlegs. Of course, the good birder pointed it out. 

After that I was on my own. I drove down to Great Bay Blvd in Tuckerton, which was my original plan for the day. I was just setting up the scope at Tuckerton Cove when I got a text from Shari with this picture:

Arghh! We annually get Rose-breasted Grosbeak in our backyard, but they usually only stay for the day. I had to hope that the safflower seeds were enticing enough to keep around until I got back home. 

The marshes were full of shorebirds and in contrast to Forsythe where the yellowlegs predominated, most of the sandpipers were Short-billed Dowitchers. But picking through them I did find a few Semipalmated Sandpipers, new for the year. I was also building up the state and county list with birds I'd already seen in Mexico, like Semipalmated Plover & Gull-billed Tern.

Down at the end of the road on the beach, I was hoping for Red Knots but it is probably a little early for them. I did, however, see my first Saltmarsh Sparrows of the year. As always, they flushed up as I was walking in the marsh grass. I got great looks but neither one posed for me. It reminded me of last summer when my friend Lon was here and needed both Seaside Sparrow and Saltmarsh Sparrow to complete his photographic collection of the Norther American sparrows. We tried Tuckerton, we tried Brig, we even tried Bombay Hook, but it wasn't until we went to Cattus Island (where, I told, even I could get pictures of those sparrows) that he successfully added both to his collection. Hey kids, collect 'em all!

Indigo Bunting

I came off the beach and was walking to my car when I found the most unexpected bird of the day (save for the phalarope) --an Indigo Bunting feeding on the gravel. I spent most of yesterday at Colliers Mills looking for one and then went over to the Emson Preserve where they're usually easy to find with no success. But of course, when I'm not looking for one, there it is. That may be a new Law of Birding.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak female

When I got home, I took a look out the side window, figuring I'd start my vigil for the grosbeak. And there it was. Except it wasn't the male Shari saw. I had a female. That's the first time we've ever had two Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in our yard. About a half hour later I looked out again, and the male was scarfing down the safflower seeds. So, a pretty good day.

For Great Bay Blvd I had 42 species: 

Brant  5
Canada Goose  2
American Black Duck  1
Mourning Dove  2
Clapper Rail  8
American Oystercatcher  2
Black-bellied Plover  40
Semipalmated Plover  11
Short-billed Dowitcher  230
Spotted Sandpiper  2
Willet  20
Greater Yellowlegs  7
Ruddy Turnstone  8
Dunlin  100
Least Sandpiper  12
Semipalmated Sandpiper  5
Laughing Gull  25
American Herring Gull  15
Black Skimmer  3
Gull-billed Tern  1
Forster's Tern  25
Common Loon  1
White Ibis  1     Immature
Glossy Ibis  2
Black-crowned Night Heron  11
Little Blue Heron  1
Snowy Egret  30
Great Egret  25
Osprey  6
Bald Eagle  1
Fish Crow  1
Tree Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  10
Gray Catbird  7
Seaside Sparrow  4
Saltmarsh Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  4
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Boat-tailed Grackle  40
Common Yellowthroat  4
Northern Cardinal  1
Indigo Bunting  1