August Birding Results

Pectoral Sandpiper, Whitesbog

In the month of August I went to Whitesbog 23 times and made 8 excursions to Brig. That's where the birds were that were reasonably close, so that's where I went. I could have possibly added some species this month had I been willing to "sod farm" down in Salem & Cumberland counties but the drive down there just seemed too long for no guarantees.

With Mike I made a trip to Cape May which was fairly dead and with Shari & Bob I spent a weekend in Delaware which was productive. But I found Whitesbog pretty much irresistible this month. It's quiet. It's calm. There are birds in the bogs, there are birds along the trail and there are birds in out of the way places that only the hard-core birders go. More than 1/2 of the 144 species I listed this month I had at Whitesbog.

Bobolink, Great Bay Blvd

Today, I managed to tear myself away from the bogs and took my 2nd ride of the month down Great Bay Blvd. The first one was in search of a White Ibis (which I found, though White Ibis is becoming a common rarity if you'll forgive the oxymoron) and today's trip was a search for shorebirds, of which there were a fair amount, but none, aside from a Pectoral Sandpiper, that I wouldn't expect this time of year. However, at the end of the road, just as I had started walking north, I came across a bird that said "Dickcissel" to me. Had I not been able to get some photographs, I would have called it that but something didn't sit right with me about the bird, so I didn't immediately list it. The two birds, out of their breeding togs look devilishly close to one another despite being in different families. Looking more closely at my photos at home and looking at different guidebooks, I saw that what I had was not a rarity, but an alternate-plumaged Bobolink. With the Pec, that made 2 county birds for the year, bringing the Ocean County list up to 227. (The extraordinarily rare Reddish Egret  [thanks Greg!] brought my life county list up to 276.)

The full list for the month:

Species                      First Sighting

Canada Goose   Whitesbog

Mute Swan   Cape May Point SP

Wood Duck   Brig

American Black Duck   Whitesbog

Mallard   Whitesbog

Blue-winged Teal   Bombay Hook

Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook

Hooded Merganser   Whitesbog

Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd

Pied-billed Grebe   Bombay Hook

Double-crested Cormorant   Great Bay Bvld

Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP

Great Blue Heron   Whitesbog

Great Egret   Whitesbog

Snowy Egret   Great Bay Bvld

Little Blue Heron   Brig

Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Bvld

Reddish Egret   Island Beach SP

Green Heron   Whitesbog

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

White Ibis   Great Bay Bvld

Glossy Ibis   Whitesbog

Black Vulture   Bombay Hook

Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog

Osprey   Great Bay Bvld

Northern Harrier   Brig

Sharp-shinned Hawk   Drained Pond,  Schoolhouse Rd

Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog

Bald Eagle   Brig

Broad-winged Hawk   Whitesbog

Red-tailed Hawk   Lower Township

Clapper Rail   Brig

Black-necked Stilt   Bombay Hook

American Avocet   Brig

American Oystercatcher   Cape May Point SP

Black-bellied Plover   Brig

Semipalmated Plover   Whitesbog

Killdeer   Whitesbog

Whimbrel   Brig

Marbled Godwit   Bombay Hook

Ruddy Turnstone   Brig

Stilt Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Sanderling   Ted Harvey WMA

Dunlin   Bombay Hook

Baird's Sandpiper   Brig

Least Sandpiper   Whitesbog

White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig

Buff-breasted Sandpiper   Brig

Pectoral Sandpiper   Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Western Sandpiper   Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher   Great Bay Bvld

Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig

Spotted Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Solitary Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Greater Yellowlegs   Whitesbog

Willet   Great Bay Bvld

Lesser Yellowlegs   Whitesbog

Laughing Gull   Whitesbog

Ring-billed Gull   Brig

Herring Gull   Great Bay Bvld

Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Bvld

Least Tern   Great Bay Bvld

Gull-billed Tern   Whitesbog

Caspian Tern   Brig

Black Tern   Brig

Common Tern   Great Bay Bvld

Forster's Tern   Great Bay Bvld

Royal Tern   Cape May Point SP

Black Skimmer   Great Bay Bvld

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

Black-billed Cuckoo   Cloverdale Farm

Common Nighthawk   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog

Red-headed Woodpecker   Cloverdale Farm

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Northern Flicker   Whitesbog

Merlin   Whitesbog

Peregrine Falcon   Brig

Olive-sided Flycatcher   Cloverdale Farm

Eastern Wood-Pewee   Whitesbog

Willow Flycatcher   Great Bay Bvld

Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog

Great Crested Flycatcher   Whitesbog

Eastern Kingbird   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

White-eyed Vireo   Whitesbog

Red-eyed Vireo   Bombay Hook

Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd

American Crow   Whitesbog

Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Horned Lark   Leipsic

Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Purple Martin   Whitesbog

Tree Swallow   Whitesbog

Bank Swallow   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Barn Swallow   Whitesbog

Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

Red-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

House Wren   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Marsh Wren   Brig

Carolina Wren   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Whitesbog

Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog

American Robin   Whitesbog

Gray Catbird   Whitesbog

Brown Thrasher   Whitesbog

Northern Mockingbird   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

European Starling   35 Sunset Rd

Cedar Waxwing   Whitesbog

Ovenbird   Brig

Northern Waterthrush   Whitesbog

Black-and-white Warbler   Whitesbog

Common Yellowthroat   Whitesbog

American Redstart   Whitesbog

Yellow Warbler   Whitesbog

Pine Warbler   Whitesbog

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Whitesbog

Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog

Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld

Seaside Sparrow   Brig

Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Field Sparrow   Brig

Savannah Sparrow   Whitesbog

Song Sparrow   Whitesbog

Eastern Towhee   Whitesbog

Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Blue Grosbeak   Cranberry Bogs, Dover Rd

Indigo Bunting   Cape May Point SP

Bobolink   Great Bay Bvld

Red-winged Blackbird   Whitesbog

Eastern Meadowlark   Bombay Hook

Common Grackle   35 Sunset Rd

Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld

Brown-headed Cowbird   Bombay Hook

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   Whitesbog

House Sparrow   Wawa Rt 70 & CR 530