Brig 5/24--Curlew Sandpiper, Wilson's Phalarope, Red-necked Phalarope, Yellow-breasted Chat

Curlew Sandpiper

One rare sandpiper at Brig wasn't enough to induce me to go down there. The thought of looking through 2000 Dunlins made me queasy. Two rare sandpipers wasn't enough to induce me either.  We spent 3 days in Delaware looking at thousands of shorebirds--all that shimmer, all that glare. But three rare sandpipers at Brig--okay, I'll give it a shot. 

Red-necked Phalaropes

And I did get three rare sandpipers at Brig just not the one that tipped the balance. Even though I'd just seen Black-necked Stilts 3 days running in Delaware, one in NJ would have been a little ornament on the state year list. Yet it wasn't there today. I didn't make much of an attempt to look for the long staying rarity because of the aforementioned flocks of Dunlins. So, Goose Markers 4, 5, & 7 having produced nothing but some extremely attractive Ruddy Turnstones, it was on to the dogleg where I hoped to score at least one new bird for the year. I got out my scope and looked through the various sandpipers. Lots of Greater Yellowlegs, lots of peeps which, by that point, I'd stopped tallying. I moved my position a few dozen yards up the road and began another scan and then I found one Red-necked Phalarope. There were supposedly two, but I only need one to make me "happy."  I drove around to the north side of the pool and set up shop again. Another birder there said he had found the 2nd phalarope and after a bit so did I. 

Now that I had one new bird on the list and didn't feel like a total failure, I drove up the road to Jen's Trail and took my walk. I walked Jen's Trail and then down to the Overlook Pond and along the road almost to the exit, cut across on the old rail bed trail and walked to the Gull Pond. On my way back I met a fellow birder and we talked about what was and wasn't there. He hadn't started his loop around the drive yet. I walked back to the car and in the cleared field in front of the Overlook I heard, three times, the chatter and babble of a Yellow-breasted Chat. I couldn't find it. I suspect it was buried in one of the few big trees left standing but as that is an historical spot for chats and no other bird sounds quite like it, I was certain of my i.d.

I was back at the car with 4 miles of endorphins pinging around in my brain and two year birds for the day. A quick lunch and then a drive to the end so I could start a 2nd loop. And glad I am that I did instead of just bolting for home. The Black-necked Stilt wasn't there but just before the observation tower I saw my acquaintance again and the "Don't Look for Bird, Look for the Birders" Law kicked in. He was tapping away at his phone and when he saw me smiled and pointed down. Right in front of us, without having to separate it from a thousand distant Dunlins, was the Curlew Sandpiper that was found two weeks ago. And then he mentioned that there was a Wilson's Phalarope at the dogleg. "You mean Red-necked," I said. "No, Wilson's and Red-necked." 

Wilson's Phalarope (center) with Greater Yellowlegs & Snowy Egret

I'd seen one or two reports of Wilson's the last few days but dismissed them as errors. Maybe they were, but this one wasn't. I tootled along to the dogleg again and set up my scope. A birder to my left was describing the Wilson's to his friend. I scanned around and found the two Red-necked Phalaropes and right between them--the Wilson's.  So what if the birding gods were playing bait and switch with me--I'll take a year bird for a state bird every time. 

76 species

Canada Goose  125

Mute Swan  18

Mallard  12

American Black Duck  2

Mourning Dove  6

Clapper Rail  1     Heard

Black-bellied Plover  50

Semipalmated Plover  400

Whimbrel  5

Ruddy Turnstone  100

Red Knot  1

Curlew Sandpiper  1    

Dunlin  2000

Least Sandpiper  20

Semipalmated Sandpiper  1000

Short-billed Dowitcher  100

Wilson's Phalarope  1     GM14

Red-necked Phalarope  2     Females at GM 14.

Greater Yellowlegs  15

Willet  12

Laughing Gull  125

Herring Gull  20

Great Black-backed Gull  4

Gull-billed Tern  5

Caspian Tern  2

Common Tern  2

Forster's Tern  10

Black Skimmer  50

Double-crested Cormorant  20

Great Blue Heron  3

Great Egret  17

Snowy Egret  2

Green Heron  1     Flyover Gull pond road

Glossy Ibis  4

Turkey Vulture  4

Osprey  5

Eastern Wood-Pewee  1     Heard upland

Willow Flycatcher  1     Heard Gull pond

Eastern Phoebe  1     Heard upland

Great Crested Flycatcher  2

Eastern Kingbird  1

White-eyed Vireo  2

Red-eyed Vireo  1     Heard Jen’s Trail

Blue Jay  2

American Crow  10

Fish Crow  1

Carolina Chickadee  2

Tufted Titmouse  1     Heard upland

Purple Martin  20

Tree Swallow  15

Barn Swallow  2

White-breasted Nuthatch  1     Heard

Marsh Wren  5     Heard

Carolina Wren  4

European Starling  2

Gray Catbird  20

Eastern Bluebird  1

American Robin  3

House Finch  1     Heard

American Goldfinch  1

Chipping Sparrow  3

Field Sparrow  2     Heard upland

Seaside Sparrow  3     Heard

Song Sparrow  2

Eastern Towhee  2

Yellow-breasted Chat  1     Heard open field in front of overlook

Orchard Oriole  1

Red-winged Blackbird  115

Boat-tailed Grackle  1

Ovenbird  2     Heard upland

Common Yellowthroat  5

Yellow Warbler  3

Pine Warbler  1     Heard upland

Yellow-rumped Warbler  1     On rail bed trail   Dull. Probably female.

Northern Cardinal  3

Indigo Bunting  2

A couple of decent photographs of birds instead of doc shots:

Ruddy Turnstone

The dreaded Dunlin