William Warren CP 5/10--Pileated Woodpecker, Wilson's Warbler

Continuing the theme of what I can & can't hear: no surprise, I can't hear Blackpoll Warbler, so I missed that bird completely on Scott's trip at William Warren CP in Woodbridge. I can't hear Cedar Waxwings, but I can see them fly over. I can hear Bay-breasted Warbler, but so faintly that I'm not counting it because although most of our group got to see the bird, all I had of it was a back-lit silhouette--or was that the Cape May Warbler I'm not counting either? I can hear Nashville Warbler, so I'll count that. Now that I've learned Northern Parula's zippy little song I can hear that if I'm paying attention to background noise to which I don't like to pay attention.

I could hear the Wilson's Warbler Scott found, heard it multiple times, and I even saw its movement in the bushes, so I'll count that. More importantly, and what made me happiest today, I can certainly hear Pileated Woodpecker and even more importantly, after we heard it a couple of times I actually got very good looks at the bird. It's a little disappointing not to be able to add Bay-breasted or Cape May to my year list, but that's birding.

I tacked on enough birds to my Middlesex County life list today (9) that, if I really cared about my Middlesex County life list I'd be excited, but since it is not one of the four counties I concentrate on (Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth and, of course, Ocean) the additions are duly noted and that's it.

Even missing some of the birds, I have a decent list for the park, though I'd sure like to get the Kentucky Warbler that has shown up there 2 years in a row:
35 species
Herring Gull 1
Mourning Dove 1
Chimney Swift 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3
Downy Woodpecker 1 Heard
Hairy Woodpecker 1 Heard
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1 Heard
Eastern Phoebe 2 Heard
Great Crested Flycatcher 3
Eastern Kingbird 2
Red-eyed Vireo 3 Heard
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 1 Heard
Barn Swallow 1
Tufted Titmouse 1 Heard
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
House Wren 1 Heard
Carolina Wren 1 Heard
Swainson's Thrush 3
Wood Thrush 2
American Robin 25
Gray Catbird 1
Brown Thrasher 2
European Starling 2
Cedar Waxwing 7
Nashville Warbler 1 Heard
Northern Parula 1 Heard
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Wilson's Warbler 1 Heard saw brief movement
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Orchard Oriole 1
Baltimore Oriole 2
Common Grackle 8
House Sparrow 2

Immature Black-crowned Night-Heron
Oros Preserve

The 2nd part of the trip was about 3 miles away at the Oros Wildlife Preserve, a combination of pin oak forest and wetlands around Woodbridge Creek. It was surprising to me what birds I saw there  had until today eluded me in Middlesex, including Osprey, Black-crowned Night-Heron, and even Chipping Sparrow.

Scott also pointed out the partial song of a Willow Flycatcher. I haven't encountered this bird yet this year. Its "song" is a loud "fitz-bew" but this was a "lazy" bird and was only giving a half-hearted "fitz." Since I don't usually count birds by chip notes, I decided to let this one go--I'll add this bird to the list when I hear a clear two note song, or, even better, actually see one on a dead branch somewhere.

We spent a little over an hour at Oros and while the count wasn't as high as at Warren, the birds sighted and heard was more diverse.

30 species
Canada Goose 25
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 2
Green Heron 2
Black-crowned Night-Heron 1
Osprey 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Killdeer 1 Heard
Great Crested Flycatcher 1
Eastern Kingbird 1
Warbling Vireo 2
Blue Jay 1
Tree Swallow 15
Carolina Wren 1 Heard
Swainson's Thrush 1
Wood Thrush 1 Heard
American Robin 4
European Starling 1
Cedar Waxwing 5
Common Yellowthroat 1 wetlands
Yellow Warbler 2
Chipping Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 1 Heard
Northern Cardinal 1 Heard
Orchard Oriole 1 Wetlands
Baltimore Oriole 1
Red-winged Blackbird 8
Common Grackle 5
House Finch 1 Lawn
House Sparrow 1

Oros is only about a 15 minute drive away from my mother's house, so what I like to do is drive over there afterwards and take her out to lunch. As she often does, she had a little pile of stuff she wanted to give me as she slowly declutters the house. It's "Either take it or it goes in the garbage." In today's
miscellany was a copy of The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds by Bull and Farrand that I gave to my father probably sometime during the Reagan administration. A few years ago, when my father was still alive, I came across this book in a drawer and I remembered a list that was tucked into it and it was still in the book. It is my father's list of birds he'd observed at the feeder he kept in the backyard.

When I saw the list a few years ago I thought that "Carolina Chickadee" was dubious since Iselin is far enough into the northern part of NJ for Black-capped Chickadee, but who knows? I find his listing of "English Sparrow" utterly charming and I notice that he doesn't have Red-bellied Woodpecker on his list. I know he saw them, because I recall how difficult (read: impossible) it was to convince him that they weren't Red-headed Woodpeckers even if they had red heads and he couldn't see the red belly. "Does the woodpecker have a red head? Yes? Well, then..." 

And while my father had beautiful handwriting, I notice that his printing is startlingly similar to mine. 

I'm not a sentimental guy. Until today, I had nothing tangible of my father's. This is all I want.