Cloverdale Farm 5/11--Solitary Sandpiper

Northern Waterthrush, Cloverdale Farm

Since the cat decided to start our day at 5 AM, I was at Cloverdale Farm very early this morning. It was an entertaining stroll around the bogs. The first bird of interest was a Northern Waterthrush bopping along the back edge of one of the bogs. Just by its tottering gait I knew what it was a waterthrush and since there was no moving water, most likely Northern and the buffy breast and no white throat confirmed the i.d. Believe me, I saw it better than this photograph shows. A county bird.

Moving along, about 5 minutes later I flushed a Solitary Sandpiper, one of the birds I was hoping to find there. It gave a couple of little cheeps and flew off over the trees toward the back reservoir. I saw it again (or another one) while walking back that way, but I saw the species best on my way back to the parking lot when I passed the reservoir in front of the visitor's center and found bird #2 (or #3), feeding in the shallows. Year bird.

Great Crested Flycatcher investigating nest box
at Cloverdale Farm

Yesterday, on Scott's trip, he mentioned that Great Crested Flycatcher are actually cavity nesters, like woodpeckers or chickadees. I filed that little fact away so it was hardly buried in memory when I saw a Great Crested poking around a nest box nailed to tree near the parking lot. I'd like to check back to see if the box actually gets used by the flycatcher.

I didn't walk through the woods out to Granpa's bog today--I've found that it usually isn't very productive and there were other places I wanted to hit today. My list was decent for the time spent.

35 species
Canada Goose 2
Mallard 1
Great Egret 1
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Solitary Sandpiper 2
Laughing Gull 3 f/o
Mourning Dove 8
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
Eastern Kingbird 4
Blue Jay 1
American Crow 1
Fish Crow 2
Tree Swallow 5
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
House Wren 1
Carolina Wren 2
Eastern Bluebird 4
Wood Thrush 1 Heard
American Robin 6
Gray Catbird 6
Brown Thrasher 1
Cedar Waxwing 12
Ovenbird 2 Heard
Northern Waterthrush 1
Chipping Sparrow 5
Song Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 1 Heard
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 25
Common Grackle 20
American Goldfinch 1

Wood Thrush, Taylor Lane

I went next to Taylor's Lane, a dirt road off Rt 9 in Barnegat that turns into a muddy path and runs through yet another section of Forsythe's patchy NWR. It is amazing how many seemingly random parcels of land they've pieced together up the coast from Galloway to Brick and I'm all for it. There were lots of warblers in the woods--redstarts, parulas, Black-throated Green Warbler, plus a gillion catbirds. I saw/heard at least 5 Wood Thrushes, most of them on either the road or feeding directly in front of me on the path. However, the bird I was hoping for, Acadian Flycatcher, was not present, or at least was not calling "Pit-za!"

My final stop was the Manahawkin WMA where there were loads of egrets, herons and ibis, plus a good mix of shorebirds. I also there, on a a narrow, overgrown trail I was hesitant to walk because I was carrying the scope, probably the best bird of the day, a very neat Wilson's Warbler, beady eye and black cap showing well, making up for the disappointing sighting from yesterday. I also took my only decent photograph of the day there, this very determined Spotted Sandpiper, one of the 5 or so that were feeding on the mud flats. (Click photos to enlarge)

Spotted Sandpiper, Manahawkin WMA

The paths at Manahawkin are getting overgrown and soon they'll be waist high. I think there may be one more trip possible there before the threat of ticks and chiggers outweighs the excitement of a possible rarity.
49 species
Canada Goose 2
Mute Swan 10 with cygnets, unfortunately
Wood Duck 1
Gadwall 2
Mallard 2
American Black Duck 12
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Egret 20
Snowy Egret 30
Little Blue Heron 2 One adult and one FY bird
Glossy Ibis 16
Turkey Vulture 6
Osprey 1
Semipalmated Plover 75
Least Sandpiper 30
Semipalmated Sandpiper 15
Spotted Sandpiper 5
Greater Yellowlegs 10
Willet 2
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Herring Gull 3
Forster's Tern 5
Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1 Heard
Northern Flicker 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 3 Heard
White-eyed Vireo 2
Fish Crow 1
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 2
Carolina Chickadee 2
Tufted Titmouse 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Wood Thrush 2
American Robin 6
Gray Catbird 16
Brown Thrasher 1
Ovenbird 4 Heard
Common Yellowthroat 7
Northern Parula 1 Heard
Yellow Warbler 10
Wilson's Warbler 1 Near parking lot on Hilliard Blvd side
Seaside Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 2
Eastern Towhee 4
Northern Cardinal 1 forested area
Red-winged Blackbird 30
Brown-headed Cowbird 3
House Finch 1 Back impoundment, singing on snag