November Wrap-up

Trumpeter Swans, Stone Tavern lake

Seven new birds for the year in November, compared to the 300 something we had in Australia might seem like quite a comedown, but it didn't really feel that way. I was happy to be in New Jersey, semi-chasing birds I hadn't seen yet for the year in my favorite and familiar spots like Sandy Hook, Brig, and Cape May. You can't keep up that frantic pace we had in Australia all the time. Well, maybe you can, but I can't.

Although I will admit that as the weather gets colder, a kind of ennui sets in with me where I really have to motivate myself to go out and just bird. I have to convince myself that it isn't just about new birds, that birding in itself is the pleasure. But 30 mph winds off the ocean, or a "real feel" of single digits, or hunters precluding me from birding some areas, makes it harder each day to give myself that pep talk.

I find I need a goal. Today I had one, on the last day of the month. I saw that the Trumpeter Swans had returned to Monmouth County. For the last few years they have been on Assunpink Lake, but yesterday three were found on Stone Tavern Lake, which is very close by. So, even though I "have" them for the year, in the spirit of "go seek a cool bird," I drove up there early this morning and found two of them immediately. But even more pleasing to me was the lone Canvasback hen I found on the lake, especially since that was a bird I looked for yesterday at Riverfront Park in Toms River where a flock usually spends the winter. Canvasback is a "hard" bird for Monmouth County

For the longest time, Trumpeter Swans were not accepted as countable in NJ, because they were thought to be either escapees or vagrants from a NY flock that hadn't yet established itself a viable population, but somehow the thought has gotten around that these birds are legit, though how anyone can say for sure I don't know. It isn't like they're tagged. But there were 7 or 8 of them earlier this year at Assunpink, and a juvenile was with the two adults yesterday, so they seem to be breeding somewhere and wintering here.

The same thing use to happen with Barnacle Goose. For the longest time it was not accepted in NJ and then someone did a study and figured out that they actually do wander over from Greenland (or in the case of the one Shari & I saw years ago in the Bronx, which was banded, Scotland) and now it is a common rarity, if you'll accept that oxymoron, like Eurasian Wigeon (which I also finally managed to see this month).

In fact, all the new birds I added this month, with the exception of Pine Siskin, were rarities. Relatively easy rarities, true, but birds that are exciting to find.

Red-breasted Nuthatch

The two disappointments of the month have been that Pine Siskins are not showing up at our feeder and that I have had no luck running into either Red Crossbill or Evening Grosbeak, both of which seem to be having an irruption year all over the state except where I am at any particular moment.

In the winter I participate in FeederWatch so I spend more time than usual staring out the window. Our backyard has been very productive this month and some days that productivity coincides with the 2 days of the week I count birds at the feeders. We've had Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Brown Creeper, Fox Sparrow, and both Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawk along with the usual gang at the feeder. It is also an irruption year for Red-breasted Nuthatch and they, at least, have found our feeders--we had three at one time last week.

For the month I had 124 species.
Counties birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean

Species              First Sighting

Snow Goose   Brig

Brant   Cedar Bonnet Island

Barnacle Goose   Mercer Corporate Park

Canada Goose   Iselin

Mute Swan   Silver Lake

Trumpeter Swan   Stone Tavern Lake

Tundra Swan   Cape May Point SP

Wood Duck   Whitesbog

Northern Shoveler   Brig

Gadwall   Brig

Eurasian Wigeon   Cape May Point SP

American Wigeon   Silver Lake

Mallard   Silver Lake

American Black Duck   Silver Lake

Northern Pintail   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Cloverdale Farm

Canvasback   Stone Tavern Lake

Redhead   Marshall's Pond

Ring-necked Duck   Brig

Greater Scaup   Cattus Island County Park

Lesser Scaup   Lake of the Lilies

Common Eider   Island Beach SP

Harlequin Duck   Island Beach SP

Surf Scoter   Island Beach SP

White-winged Scoter   Island Beach SP

Black Scoter   Island Beach SP

Long-tailed Duck   Island Beach SP

Bufflehead   Cedar Bonnet Island

Hooded Merganser   Silver Lake

Red-breasted Merganser   Sands Point Preserve

Ruddy Duck   Silver Lake

Wild Turkey   Whiting WMA

Pied-billed Grebe   Brig

Horned Grebe   Island Beach SP

Rock Pigeon   Shark River Inlet

Mourning Dove   Shark River Inlet

American Coot   Brig

Black-bellied Plover   Whitesbog

Killdeer   Whitesbog

Ruddy Turnstone   Sunset Beach/Concrete Ship

Sanderling   Shark River Inlet

Dunlin   Whitesbog

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Greater Yellowlegs   Whitesbog

Laughing Gull   Silver Lake

Ring-billed Gull   Shark River Inlet

Herring Gull   Shark River Inlet

Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP

Great Black-backed Gull   Shark River Inlet

Royal Tern   Island Beach SP

Red-throated Loon   Island Beach SP

Common Loon   Cedar Bonnet Island

Northern Gannet   Shark River Inlet

Great Cormorant   Sandy Hook

Double-crested Cormorant   Silver Lake

Great Blue Heron   Whitesbog

Great Egret   Whitesbog

Snowy Egret   Manahawkin WMA

Little Blue Heron   Cattus Island County Park

Black Vulture   35 Sunset Rd

Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog

Northern Harrier   Cedar Bonnet Island

Sharp-shinned Hawk   Cape May Point SP

Cooper's Hawk   Cedar Bonnet Island

Bald Eagle   Whiting WMA

Red-tailed Hawk   Cedar Bonnet Island

Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   35 Sunset Rd

Red-headed Woodpecker   Cattus Island County Park

Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Downy Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Hairy Woodpecker   Assunpink WMA

Northern Flicker   Whitesbog

Merlin   Cedar Bonnet Island

Peregrine Falcon   Cedar Bonnet Island

Eastern Phoebe   Cedar Bonnet Island

Blue Jay   Wawa Rt 70 & CR 530

American Crow   Whitesbog

Common Raven   Whiting WMA

Tree Swallow   Whitesbog

Cave Swallow   Sandy Hook

Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog

Black-capped Chickadee   Sandy Hook

Tufted Titmouse   Whitesbog

Red-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper   35 Sunset Rd

Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd

Golden-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog

Eastern Bluebird   Brig

Hermit Thrush   Island Beach SP

American Robin   Cedar Bonnet Island

Gray Catbird   Whitesbog

Northern Mockingbird   Cedar Bonnet Island

European Starling   Iselin

Cedar Waxwing   Brig

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

Pine Siskin   Cape May Point SP

American Goldfinch   Whitesbog

Lapland Longspur   Brig

Snow Bunting   Sandy Hook

Chipping Sparrow   Cape May Point SP

Clay-colored Sparrow   Sandy Hook

Field Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island

Fox Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd

White-crowned Sparrow   Sandy Hook

White-throated Sparrow   Whitesbog

Savannah Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island

Song Sparrow   Whitesbog

Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog

Baltimore Oriole   Sandy Hook

Red-winged Blackbird   Cedar Bonnet Island

Common Grackle   Sandy Hook

Boat-tailed Grackle   Brig

Orange-crowned Warbler   Manahawkin WMA

Common Yellowthroat   Manahawkin WMA

Blackpoll Warbler   Cedar Bonnet Island

Palm Warbler   Whiting WMA

Pine Warbler   Cape May Point SP

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Shark River Inlet

Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow   Shark River Inlet