Lakehurst NAES 6/7--UPLAND SANDPIPER, GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, 2 FOY

A couple of times in June of every year, NJ Audubon runs a trip to the Lakehurst Naval Aviation Engineering Station (think: Hindenburg disaster--"Oh, the humanity!"). Since it is a military base (part of the vast Fort Dix-McGuire Airbase complex) this is about the only time a birder can get onto the grasslands there and see the rare breeders that are found on one of the few remaining habitats of this type in the state. Shari & I have always wanted to go, but when we lived in Brooklyn, the logistics never worked out. Now we live 15 minutes away from the base. Its blimps fly over our house. The logistics worked out just fine this morning.

About 20 birders caravanned through the base, escorted by the base naturalist and one of its foresters. They first led us to the the "drop circle" a huge expanse used for parachute practice. Almost immediately a GRASSHOPPER SPARROW was noted, sitting and singing on the branch of a tiny pine tree in the middle of the field. Grasshopper Sparrows are hard to find in NJ and this was the first lifer of the day for us. Soon, a few Horned Larks were spotted on the road that we had just come in on, and then, behind us, an Eastern Meadowlark was spotted in some low grass in the field.

Then we saw the bird we had really come for: UPLAND SANDPIPER was heard calling as it flew along the tree line. 2nd lifer. We got decent looks at it in flight and then another. Walking back toward where the Horned Larks were we all scanned the field and soon we found one standing up in the grass. We could see its tiny head and long, and when the light it just right, its yellow bill. Pete Bacinski, of NJ Audubon said that in NJ the only places that they breed were there in Lakehurst, Atlantic City Airport, another airport I forget and more than probably Newark Airport! Airports with their open necessary open spaces provide perfect habitat for this non-shore shorebird.

We got a treat when another naturalist on the base drove up with the task of banding juvenile Grasshopper Sparrows. She marched through the field to the previous marked nest and took 2 of 4 sparrows out of the nest, placed them in a sack and came back to the road to measure and band them. One weighed 14 1/2 grams, the other a pinch over 13 grams. You could mail both of them with a first class stamp!

While she was walking back, she accidentally came too close to another specie's nest and flush a Common Nighthawk, affording us just fantastic looks at the bird with it sweeping flight and tell-tale white spots in the middle of the wings. She carefully place an orange flag near the nest so she could come back and band the babies in that one too.

While we were in that area a couple of more "Uppies" flew by very close and we studied their distinct flight pattern, a sort of stuttering flapping followed by a glide.

The caravan continued along a road with forest on one side and an open field full of utility poles on the other. Pete knew that it was a good spot to find American Kestrel and sure enough, one flew on to the top of a pole and posed while we all broke out the scopes. Just to the right, on a guy wire, a good-looking Eastern Bluebird perched.

Our last stop was a pond with a bog nearby where we saw Least Tern flying over the bog (very rare this far inland, though I wasn't surprised considering that we were probably about 5 miles away from Horicon Lake where I've been seeing them this spring). In a tall tree near where we all parked there was the most vociferous, multi-song Northern Mockingbird I'd ever heard. You could practice ear birding just listening to that mocker. It even mimicked a catbird--that I'd never heard--one mimid impersonating another.

A truly great morning of birding and I look forward to going back next year.

Our day list:

23 species
Canada Goose  11
Wild Turkey  5
Great Blue Heron  1    f/o Cathedral of the Air parking lot
Turkey Vulture  4
Bald Eagle  1
American Kestrel  1
UPLAND SANDPIPER  5
Least Tern  1
Mourning Dove  2
Common Nighthawk  2
Eastern Kingbird  1
Horned Lark  5
Tree Swallow  5
Barn Swallow  4
Eastern Bluebird  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
Common Yellowthroat  1    Heard
Eastern Towhee  1    Heard
Chipping Sparrow  1    Heard
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW  5    Watched as 2 juveniles were banded
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Eastern Meadowlark  1
Common Grackle  1