The Whitesbog 100 Challenge

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Last weekend, after having another excellent day at Whitesbog (Red-shouldered Hawk, Least Bittern, Bobolink ...), it occurred to me that I had a very good shot at reporting 100 species for the month there. A new game to play. The hawk was #94 for the month. Almost immediately I regretted missing the Stilt Sandpipers that made an appearance one rainy afternoon after I'd left. I regretted even more blowing off the Brown-headed Cowbird Jim saw in the Middle Bog early in the month. It didn't seem worth the effort to move my scope. But so long as the weather held and the bogs didn't miraculously fill up, enough birds were "due" to make an appearance for me to hit the century mark. 

Two rarities, Ruff and Western Sandpiper, were already on the list. White-rumped Sandpiper, a
"regular" rarity, was too. What helped last week, was to add 2 birds, Caspian Tern and Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, that I'd never seen before at Whitesbog. Then, on Wednesday, I got there pre-dawn and heard a Great Horned Owl out on the bogs, giving me 3 out of the "Nocturnal Four" (GHO, Screech Owl, nighthawk, whip-poor-will). I figured I was going to need screech to make the mark, but on Thursday, which started out dreary, I blasted through to 102 with a cowbird in the lower bog, two more "semi-regular" rarities in the American Golden-Plovers and the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 14 flyover Glossy Ibises, along with number 100, a Wilson's Snipe. Now greed set in. Yesterday's surprise addition was Blue-winged Teal and today I met Jim pre-dawn for owls and we heard two Eastern Screech Owls, as well as seeing a Great Horned Owl hooting atop a tree. Before the remnants of Hurricane Laura (hey, a hurricane I can pronounce!) dropped a torrential downpour on us, an early Northern Harrier flew in from Ocean County for #105. 

To paraphrase Newton: If I have seen 105 species this month it only because I stood on the shoulders of giants, so I'd like to thank all the better birders who went around with me on the bogs, especially Jim. Together we probably walked a cumulative 50 miles this month around Whitesbog's dikes, Union Pond, Ditch Meadow, the village, Rome Pond Road and more and have the chigger bites to prove it. Persistence also pays: Aside from one day I went down to Tuckerton and one day I had a tooth extracted, I have visited there every day in August. 

Spotted Sandpiper

Tomorrow, I am going to give the place a rest. If I go back Monday, I may have a chance to add to the list (Little Blue Heron has not shown up yet this year), but once I got the screech-owl at 5:15 this morning, the game was over. 

The Whitesbog 100 (+5):

Key: Year bird; rarity

Canada Goose

Wood Duck

Blue-winged Teal

Mallard

American Black Duck

Green-winged Teal

Wild Turkey

Mourning Dove

Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Common Nighthawk

Eastern Whip-poor-will

Chimney Swift

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Black-bellied Plover

American Golden-Plover

Semipalmated Plover

Killdeer

Ruff

Least Sandpiper

White-rumped Sandpiper

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Pectoral Sandpiper

Semipalmated Sandpiper

Western Sandpiper

Short-billed Dowitcher

Wilson's Snipe

Spotted Sandpiper

Solitary Sandpiper

Greater Yellowlegs

Lesser Yellowlegs

Laughing Gull

Ring-billed Gull

Herring Gull

Caspian Tern

Double-crested Cormorant

Least Bittern

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Snowy Egret

Green Heron

Glossy Ibis

Black Vulture

Turkey Vulture

Northern Harrier

Cooper's Hawk

Bald Eagle

Red-shouldered Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk

Eastern Screech-Owl

Great Horned Owl

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

Hairy Woodpecker

Northern Flicker

Merlin

Peregrine Falcon

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Willow Flycatcher

Eastern Phoebe

Great Crested Flycatcher

Eastern Kingbird

White-eyed Vireo

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

American Crow

Fish Crow

Carolina Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

Purple Martin

Tree Swallow

Bank Swallow

Barn Swallow

Cliff Swallow

White-breasted Nuthatch

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

House Wren

Carolina Wren

European Starling

Gray Catbird

Brown Thrasher

Northern Mockingbird

Eastern Bluebird

American Robin

Cedar Waxwing

House Finch

American Goldfinch

Chipping Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Swamp Sparrow

Eastern Towhee

Bobolink

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

Common Grackle

Ovenbird

Black-and-white Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

American Redstart

Pine Warbler

Prairie Warbler Northern Cardinal Blue Grosbeak

Solitary Sandpiper