Brig 9/10--Yellow-headed Blackbird

The world's lousiest picture of a
Yellow-headed Blackbird, shot through my windshield

Annoyance. 
Frustration.
Aggravation.
Tempered happiness.

On Friday, Shari and I took a run down to Brig to do a little birding and maybe find the Yellow-headed Blackbirds that had been there for a couple of days. They were, as they usually are when they show up in NJ, associating with a flock of blackbirds and starlings. A roving flock of blackbirds and starlings as we were to discover. The flock would roost in the high reeds and grass on the side of the drive, with some dropping onto the ground to feed. Then a car would flush them and they'd go flying off to another stretch of the drive. Rinse and repeat. Shari caught a glimpse of one of the birds. I didn't. But since I had low expectations for the day we can just check off Annoyance.

Today I went back and today I really wanted the bird. I was prepared, as Adlai Stevenson said in another context, to wait until Hell froze over, to get the bird. I drove up along the south dike almost tot he area where they birds were being seen; I saw a couple of friends with their scopes out. This looked promising. But when I walked up, I heard the dreaded sentence, "It was here five minutes ago." If only I hadn't stopped to talk to that photographer! The flock was actively flying back and forth from the channel into the pool.  I got out my scope and prepared to settle in. What I wasn't prepared for, though, was the flock flying behind us on a one way road. I walked back a couple of hundred yards, but the birds kept moving farther away. I'd have to make a 2nd trip around if I wanted another chance. Frustration. 

American Avocet

I half-heartedly birded the rest of the drive, picking up the usual birds. On the 2nd trip I was creeping up the road, ready to stop and walk once I saw the flock. Of course, no one else was going to walk, so cars continually were flushing the flock and moving it around, but at least it stayed ahead of me. Another birder ahead of me said he'd just seen one of the birds but it had flown with the flock onto an island in the pool. He was putting together his scope while I was checking out the island. Beyond the island I saw a black and white shorebird. I knew from the pattern and size that it was an American Avocet, not considered rare in NJ this time of year, but you don't find a lot of them. My companion was excited; it was only the 2nd avocet he'd seen in NJ. I was amused that I'd found a bird I'd normally be a lot more excited about but now was only a distraction.

Just as we started the to scan, guess what? The flock upped and flew over to the east dike. Why? There weren't any vehicles driving in the impoundment that I could see. So we (another birder had joined us) all got back into our cars and drove around the corner onto the east dike where the flock had settled in. We parked and walked stealthily up the road. Some of the birds dropped out of the tall grass onto the road. We 3 were standing in the middle of the drive. A Jeep was behind us. The guy wasn't wearing binoculars. He was just out for a Sunday drive probably. And we were in his way. He drove through and the flock flew up and reshuffled. Aggravation. 

But perhaps he did us a kindness because then the bird was on the side of the road feeding with a few blackbirds and a starling. Its breast was dull yellow, its face was lighter than the surrounding blackbirds and wasn't streaked like a female or juvenile blackbird. We had our bird. By now there were four of us and the newest addition to our group ran back to her car to get her camera. At the same time she explained to the traffic behind us that basically, we weren't moving, tough. We got semi-decent looks at the bird and then, on their own they moved on up the road. We'd only held up traffic for a few minutes. Tempered Happiness. (Not a life bird, not a state bird, not even a county bird, just a year bird, and not a very pretty example of the species at that).

I drove up the east dike slowly and amazingly refound the bird, picking at the ground on the right side of the road. I took a few shots through my windshield, (above) possibly the worst pictures ever taken at Brig. But you can see enough of the yellow on the bird (probably a juvenile) to confirm the i.d.. At least I can.

The water in the pools is very high--good for ducks, but the ducks aren't back yet, not good for shorebirds, for which it is getting late. For the day I had 49 species plus some dowitchers that through a combination of distance and laziness I just let go.
Canada Goose 35
Mute Swan 3
Wood Duck 2 One in Gull Pond, one in exit pond
Northern Shoveler 9
Mallard 6
American Black Duck 5
Pied-billed Grebe 1 Exit Pond
Double-crested Cormorant 25
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 61
Snowy Egret 41
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 5 roosting in trees of Gull Pond
Glossy Ibis 11
Osprey 1
Bald Eagle 2 Adult at Gull Pond, imm f/o
Clapper Rail 1 Heard east dike
American Avocet 1 South Dike, near turn
Black-bellied Plover 20
Semipalmated Plover 2
Semipalmated Sandpiper 250
Short-billed/Long-billed Dowitcher 5
Spotted Sandpiper 1 East Dike
Greater Yellowlegs 11
Laughing Gull 300
Herring Gull 100
Caspian Tern 3
Forster's Tern 25
Black Skimmer 6
Mourning Dove 1 Heard
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Heard
Northern Flicker 3
Peregrine Falcon 1
Eastern Phoebe 1 Picnic tables
White-eyed Vireo 1 Heard
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 2
Fish Crow 1 Heard
Carolina Chickadee 7
Carolina Wren 1 Heard
Gray Catbird 4
European Starling 100
Magnolia Warbler 1 Exit of Jen's Trail
Pine Warbler 5
Chipping Sparrow 4 Parking lot
Song Sparrow 1 East Dike
Northern Cardinal 1 Heard exit ponds
Yellow-headed Blackbird 1
Red-winged Blackbird 140
Boat-tailed Grackle 1 North Dike
American Goldfinch 5 

Bald Eagle, Gull Pond