High Point SP 6/2--Broad-winged Hawk, Black-capped Chickadee

High Point Monument as seen from Kuser Natural Area

How can you go this far into the year and not have Black-capped Chickadee on the year list? Well, you miss it a couple of times rushing through Central Park, you miss it at Sandy Hook where it is a common rarity, and, one of the few times you bird north of the Raritan River, you're informed that since it is breeding season, they get very quiet and hard to find, unlike the boisterous Carolina Chickadees of the Pine Barrens.

So, did I have to go the northernmost part of New Jersey to find one? Probably not, but that's where Mike and I went today in an attempt to add some new birds to the year list, which, after migration, gets harder and harder until migration reverses to the south and winter rolls around again, giving you a 2nd chance at what you missed.

Neither of us had ever birded the Kuser Natural Area in High Point SP, a 2 mile loop around a cedar swamp. We were hoping for some "exotic" birds that we don't get in South Jersey, like Mourning Warbler, or even a Ruffed Grouse, but we weren't lucky in that regard. Besides the chickadees, the other new bird for me for the year was Broad-winged Hawk which we saw flying over and calling a couple of times.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Going to High Point was like birding a different, unfamiliar state. You're never really sure what should be there and what's considered rare. We saw a Wood Thrush and heard a couple of others, which we didn't think much of, but then, talking to a local, he was quite surprised, saying that they were rare at that elevation. Mike had a Magnolia Warbler of which I only saw the flying silhouette. I didn't much care until I looked it up and found that it was "rare" up there in June.

 We saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, which would be a big surprise this time of year at home; up there, that's a "likely" bird. And a great one to see!

The forecast for today was spotty showers in that area, but aside from morning fog, the weather was fine if a little humid in the woods, until, after our 2nd loop around the trail, just as Mike was unlocking the car, a storm rolled in. Perfect timing.

It isn't a huge day list and a lot of the birds are common, but it was an unusual place for us to go. This time of year you start to consider where can I go to get a new species or should I just go somewhere I like to be. This was the former.

My day list:

Canada Goose

Mute Swan

Wild Turkey

Turkey Vulture

Red-shouldered Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Mourning Dove

Black-billed Cuckoo

Chimney Swift

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Eastern Phoebe

Great Crested Flycatcher

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

American Crow

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Veery

Hermit Thrush

Wood Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Ovenbird

Northern Waterthrush

Black-and-white Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

American Redstart

Yellow Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Chipping Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Eastern Towhee

Scarlet Tanager

Baltimore Oriole

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

American Goldfinch