Brig 7/4--Long-billed Dowitcher

Larry: Whaddya wanna do today?
Shari: I don't know. What do you want to today?
Larry: Duh, I don't know, whaddya you wanna do today?
Shari: We can always go to Brig.
Larry: That's a good idea.

And so we did, after we had explored some of the marshes of Bayville and come up with nothing of interest. Brigantine is always a good fall back, especially when it's hot and the car has air conditioning.

Happily, the killer greenhead flies (my brother says they're actually plain old horseflies) were kept at bay by insect repellent and a gentle breeze whenever we left the car to scope a flock of birds. There wasn't much to scope for about 3/4 of the way around the impoundments. There was a real paucity of birds aside from both white egrets and ibises. But just past the dogleg there was a large flock of mostly dowitchers near a sandbar where the skimmers like to hang out. As we were scanning, Pete Bacinski drove up and immediately the birding became better. When it comes to dowitchers on the coast, I assume they're all short-billed unless told otherwise by an expert. (Long-bills tend to use the flyway in the middle of the continent.) Pete is an expert and said there were a few Long-billed Dowitchers mixed in with the large flock of short-bills. I had thought there might be--some looked different, sort of hunchbacked, but without Pete's expertise, I'd never have called them. I was also embarrassed when Pete pointed out a Cattle Egret that was standing practically in front of us. Somehow I missed it while scanning the shorebirds--a forest for the trees problem. There were also a couple of Caspian Terns mixed in with some Gull-billed Terns, a couple of oystercatchers (making the day a success for Shari, not matter what else we saw) and both yellowlegs, so that was definitely the hot spot for the day, again, boosted by Pete's presence.

I looked for the Dickcissels that have been reported there but didn't turn up any (neither did Pete, so I felt okay about that) though I did locate a few Seaside Sparrows. The coolest passerine we saw was  on the upland portion of the trail--2 female Orchard Orioles in a bare tree just beyond the Experimental Pool.

42 species for our trip around the loop--not bad for a buggy hot summer day.
Canada Goose  125
Double-crested Cormorant  3
Great Egret  50
Snowy Egret  25
Cattle Egret  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Glossy Ibis  75
Osprey  5
Peregrine Falcon  1    f/o Experimental Pool
American Oystercatcher  3
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Willet  30
Lesser Yellowlegs  10
Short-billed Dowitcher  300
Long-billed Dowitcher  5
Laughing Gull  50
Herring Gull  20
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Gull-billed Tern  8
Caspian Tern  2
Forster's Tern  25
Black Skimmer  32
Mourning Dove  2
Eastern Kingbird  1    Field behind Visitor's Ctr
American Crow  2
Fish Crow  1    Gull Pond
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  3    Road to Gull Pond
Purple Martin  15    Visitor's Ctr
Tree Swallow  4
Barn Swallow  10
Carolina Wren  2    Heard
Eastern Bluebird  1    On roof of payment shelter
Gray Catbird  3
European Starling  20
Common Yellowthroat  2    Heard
Chipping Sparrow  1    Visitor's Ctr
Seaside Sparrow  4
Song Sparrow  1    Near Visitor's Ctr
Northern Cardinal  1    Exit Ponds
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Orchard Oriole  2    Upland trail
American Goldfinch  1    Heard, picnic tables