Brig 9/3--Year Birds for Shari

Hudsonian Godwit (front) with Short-billed Dowitcher

Since Shari missed Saturday's spectacular field trip, the goal today was to go back to Brig with her and get her some year birds. We wound up recreating the trip in miniature, because at the observation tower on the south dike we ran into Scott, Linda, and Jason and tagged along with them.

Before that fortuitous meeting we had already seen four (up from three on Saturday) Wilson's Phalaropes at Marker 4, and had caught a brief glimpse of a Hudsonian Godwit flying at Marker 5. The godwit was a state year bird for us--we'd seen one in Delaware last month. But up at the observation tower cove there was another godwit giving much better views of itself and we lingered there for a bit with Linda and other birders we knew.

We then followed them up around the drive, intending to check out an ibis flock after the turn at the dogleg. But at the NE corner, a message on the South Jersey Birders GroupMe app appeared saying that a Swarovski scope had been left behind at the observation tower. I had a sinking feeling, looked in the back seat and realized I was the dope who'd pulled the classic bonehead move of abandoning thousands of dollars of optics on a dirt road. We had to wait while my friend, who'd put the message out, gathered up the scope and drove it up to me. Thanks be to the miracles of modern communication. But by this time Scott, Linda, and Jason were miles ahead of us.

White Ibis with Glossy Ibis and Snowy Egret

When we finally caught up with them, Linda was waving at us to hurry up. Not only did they have the adult White Ibis (year bird for Shari) that had been seen off and on for the last few days, but in with the 40 or so Glossy Ibis (which at this time of year ain't so glossy) there was a White-faced Ibis (yet another year bird for Shari) standing out from the other ibises with its red eye and facial skin--it was easy to locate as it was the only ibis there that was iridescent. As I said in the last post--wanna see good birds? Hang out with good birders.

On our second trip around (where again we saw the phalaropes and one of the godwits) we also had a single Tricolored Heron which somehow had eluded Shari's list until today. So, all targets were hit and the White-faced Ibis was a bonus bird.

Our list is shorter than Saturday's because the weather (and flies) weren't conducive to hanging out in one spot for long periods of time, picking through peeps and other difficult to identify birds. Still, it's a very satisfying day list.
50 species
Canada Goose 32
Mute Swan 35
Wood Duck 3
Blue-winged Teal 1
Northern Shoveler 9
Mallard 1
American Black Duck 5
Mourning Dove 1 Visitor's Ctr
Black-bellied Plover 1
Semipalmated Plover 100
Hudsonian Godwit 2
Stilt Sandpiper 1
Least Sandpiper 5
White-rumped Sandpiper 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 200
Western Sandpiper 6
Short-billed Dowitcher 10
Wilson's Phalarope 4
Greater Yellowlegs 10
Lesser Yellowlegs 5
Laughing Gull 300
Herring Gull 150
Least Tern 2
Gull-billed Tern 1 Big black bill. Juvenile
Caspian Tern 16
Forster's Tern 50
Black Skimmer 70
Double-crested Cormorant 215
Great Blue Heron 6
Great Egret 60
Snowy Egret 50
Tricolored Heron 1
Black-crowned Night-Heron 2
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron 1
White Ibis 1 Adult with large pink curved bill, after the turn at dogleg
Glossy Ibis 42
White-faced Ibis 1
Turkey Vulture 2
Osprey 9
Bald Eagle 1
American Crow 10
Fish Crow 1
Tree Swallow 525
Barn Swallow 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Heard parking lot
Gray Catbird 1 Heard Refuge Overlook
European Starling 125
Cedar Waxwing 4
American Goldfinch 8
Red-winged Blackbird 3