Brig 6/5--Gull-billed Tern

Gull-billed Tern

Perhaps if I paid more attention to the rare bird alerts that pour into my inbox, I would have gone to Brig yesterday and seen the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher that was putting on a show in the field across from Jen's Trail. But I only heard about yesterday when I was walking in Double Trouble and ran into a birder I know who'd gone to see it the previous day. Because today, despite checking the field 5 times, I came up empty. June tends to be a dull month, so I was willing to drive down there for the diversion, and, as it happens, Jen's Trail is my turnaround point when I do my early morning walk there from the Gull Pond, so it was all fitting together, except for the not finding the bird. (And then, of course, when I got home this afternoon, I saw two reports from people who did see the bird today, but both were scope looks of the flycatcher flying along the distant tree line and that didn't seem very satisfactory.) 

After the third check of the field, my attention then turned to finding something, anything, new for the year. There were easily a thousand Semipalmated Sandpipers spread out on the flats and had I patience enough, I'm certain I could have scoped them and picked out a White-rumped Sandpiper or 5, but that resembles work, so I looked for something easier. At Goose Marker 5 there is usually a sandbar that attracts terns and skimmers and today there were a few on it but nothing to add to the year list. I walked over the inlet side and checked out the Ruddy Turnstones and when I went back to the car, gave another look at the sandbar and saw that in the last 2 minutes, a Gull-billed Tern had miraculously risen out of the sand and was posing for me. 

And that was it. I found two more Gull-billed Terns at the northeast corner, where the Common Terns hang out, and nothing new. I check out the Scissor-tail field driving around and then again on my second loop. It was full of birds--Killdeer, Eastern Kingbird, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting, even a displaying Wild Turkey tom, but not the bird I wanted. It was far out along the tree line and I never thought to scope.

63 species
Canada Goose  75
Mute Swan  2
Mallard  4
Ruddy Duck  21     Exact count GM 6
Wild Turkey  1     
Mourning Dove  4
Clapper Rail  3
Killdeer  2
Semipalmated Plover  1
Short-billed Dowitcher  4
Willet  25
Ruddy Turnstone  15
Least Sandpiper  2
Semipalmated Sandpiper  1000
Laughing Gull  150
American Herring Gull  10
Great Black-backed Gull  4
Black Skimmer  11
Least Tern  8
Gull-billed Tern  3     
Forster's Tern  10
Common Tern  1
Double-crested Cormorant  12
Glossy Ibis  10
Snowy Egret  4
Great Egret  8
Great Blue Heron  3
Osprey  10
Bald Eagle  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Willow Flycatcher  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  4
Eastern Kingbird  5
White-eyed Vireo  3
American Crow  5
Fish Crow  1
Common Raven  1     Upland. Seen & heard
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tufted Titmouse  1
Tree Swallow  5
Purple Martin  30
Barn Swallow  1
Northern House Wren  2
Marsh Wren  3
Carolina Wren  2
Gray Catbird  12
American Robin  5
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  3
Field Sparrow  2
Seaside Sparrow  3
Song Sparrow  6
Eastern Towhee  2
Orchard Oriole  1
Red-winged Blackbird  75
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Ovenbird  1
Common Yellowthroat  7
Yellow Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  2
Blue Grosbeak  3
Indigo Bunting  5

Wilmington, NC 5/27-5/31--Royal Tern, Anhinga, Brown Pelican, Pileated Woodpecker, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Painted Bunting

Pileated Woodpecker, Snow's Cut Trail

A non-birding trip to visit our friends who recently moved to Wilmington, NC produced six year-birds, only one of which was on a back-of-my-mind wish list. We were only there for three full days; each morning Rick & I would go out to one of the nearby marshes or woods and do a couple hours of walking and birding. Wilmington is on the northern part of a peninsula that tapers down to a little point where the Cape Fear River meets the Atlantic. To the east is the Intracoastal Waterway which runs between the "mainland" and barrier beaches. The habitat looks a lot like New Jersey or, for that matter, any coastal habitat on the east coast. Instead of pitch pines and jack oak, as we have in the Pine Barrens, or loblolly pines in Delaware, they have huge stands of long leaf pines and turkey oaks, but the tree function pretty much the same in attracting birds. 

The first place Rick took me was Fort Fisher SRA--it looked and felt a lot like Island Beach. When we were in Kure Beach, on our way to Fort Fisher, I looked out the front windshield and saw two Brown Pelicans lazily drifting south along the ocean. Since I had deliberately not done any research on what birds I might fight down there since I didn't want to be tormented, I was surprised to see them. Of course, there, they're common and in the three days we saw dozens of them, but the first ones are always sweet. 

When we started our walk on Fort Fisher Basin Trail the first bird we heard was unfamiliar to me. I opened up Merlin and it returned Painted Bunting. I played the song to confirm that that was what we were hearing, and it was, but finding it in the dense foliage was impossible--hard to believe with a red, blue, and green bird but we were able to rectify that later in the day when all four of us went to Airlie Gardens in Wilmington proper. There we again heard Painted Buntings, but it wasn't until Shari spotted one in a bald cypress that we were able to get eyes on one. 

Painted Bunting, Airlie Gardens

The trail took us out to a marsh and an estuary, and it was full of birds--especially Clapper Rails and White Ibises. White Ibises, from what I could glean, are more prevalent there than Glossy Ibis, and from my very limited experience I can confirm that, having seen lots of White Ibis (this morning three of them even flew over as Rick and I were walking the dog) and I only saw one Glossy in the three days of birding. I also heard the familiar, raspy call of the Royal Tern and then found a few hunting the water along with Black Skimmers, egrets, and pelicans. 

Brown-headed Nuthatch, Carolina Beach State Park

The next day Rick & I went to Carolina Beach State Park which features a 3 mile sandy trail through a maritime forest of the aforementioned long leaf pines and turkey oak. It started out very quiet with very few birds of any sort in attendance but after about a mile we started hearing some songs and one of them stopped me in my tracks. It was the unmentioned wish list bird--Brown-headed Nuthatch. I've seen them in Delaware, which is about the northernmost part of their range, but they're hard to track down there usually high up in loblolly pines. Here in one relatively short tree, we had four of them, one with an ant in its mouth, so there must have been a nest nearby. Unfortunately, they were backlit when I photographed them. We heard more as we continued our walk, and I think we finished up with a count of 6 which was probably an undercount. 

On Friday we took a quick walk along a trail that ran along Snow's Cut, which I think is man-made to connect two bodies of water for boating. I heard a rapid, repeating call that I first mistook for a cuckoo and then quickly realized was the long call of a Pileated Woodpecker. It sounded like it was right on top of us--and it was. Rick spotted it in a hole of a dead tree. It was in its nest, popping its head in and out. This was by far the best look I've ever had of a Pileated and the first look for Rick. We also heard another Painted Bunting and spotted it singing atop a dead snag. 

Later in the day the four of us took a walk along the Wilmington Waterfront. Wilmington dates back to colonial times and many of the buildings are still standing. For a lark, we took a one-hour boat tour that ran up and down the Cape Fear River between two bridges (I refrained from humming the Gilligan's Island theme song). I didn't bring my binoculars since it is geeky to be scanning birds while you're supposed to be socializing, but while we were on the river I looked up and saw a bird with a long thin neck flying over. A flying broom. "That ain't no cormorant," I said to myself. When it flew over the starboard side, I could tell it was an Anhinga. I was already composing the rare bird description in my head when I listed it on eBird, only to find that Anhinga is expected in that part of North Carolina. Later, when I told Shari about it, she started looking and found three roosting on a rotting pier in the river. 

Of the six year-birds 4 would have been rare treats in New Jersey. Only the pelican and tern do I expect to see relatively soon. For the 5 days we were in NC I had 65 species, starting with a Wild Turkey on the side of I-40 and ending with a couple of European Starling at a pit stop at Dunkin Donuts in Goldsboro. 

Species            First Sighting
Canada Goose    Carolina Beach Rd
Wild Turkey    I-40 E
Rock Pigeon    Wilmington Riverwalk
Mourning Dove    Wilmington
Clapper Rail    Fort Fisher SRA
American Oystercatcher    Fort Fisher SRA
Black-bellied Plover    Fort Fisher SRA
Willet    Fort Fisher SRA
Ruddy Turnstone    Fort Fisher SRA
Laughing Gull    Fort Fisher SRA
Black Skimmer    Fort Fisher SRA
Least Tern    Airlie Gardens
Forster's Tern    Fort Fisher SRA
Royal Tern    Fort Fisher SRA
Anhinga    Cape Fear River
Double-crested Cormorant    Fort Fisher SRA
White Ibis    Fort Fisher SRA
Glossy Ibis    Carolina Beach State Park
Black-crowned Night Heron    Fort Fisher SRA
Little Blue Heron    Carolina Beach State Park
Tricolored Heron    Carolina Beach State Park
Snowy Egret    Cape Fear River
Green Heron    Airlie Gardens
Great Egret    Fort Fisher SRA
Great Blue Heron    Fort Fisher SRA
Brown Pelican    Kure Beach
Black Vulture    Capeside Dr
Turkey Vulture    Airlie Gardens
Osprey    Fort Fisher SRA
Red-shouldered Hawk    Carolina Beach State Park
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Carolina Beach State Park
Pileated Woodpecker    Snow’s Cut Trail
Eastern Phoebe    Fort Fisher SRA
Great Crested Flycatcher    Snow’s Cut Trail
Red-eyed Vireo    Carolina Beach State Park
Blue Jay    Airlie Gardens
American Crow    Wilmington
Fish Crow    Wilmington
Carolina Chickadee    Wilmington
Tufted Titmouse    Wilmington
Bank Swallow    Snow’s Cut Trail
Tree Swallow    Cape Fear River
Barn Swallow    Fort Fisher SRA
Brown-headed Nuthatch    Carolina Beach State Park
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Airlie Gardens
Carolina Wren    Wilmington
European Starling    US-117 N
Gray Catbird    Fort Fisher SRA
Brown Thrasher    Wilmington
Northern Mockingbird    Fort Fisher SRA
House Sparrow    Wilmington Riverwalk
House Finch    Wilmington
Chipping Sparrow    Carolina Beach State Park
Seaside Sparrow    Fort Fisher SRA
Eastern Towhee    Carolina Beach State Park
Red-winged Blackbird    Fort Fisher SRA
Brown-headed Cowbird    Carolina Beach State Park
Boat-tailed Grackle    Fort Fisher SRA
Common Yellowthroat    Fort Fisher SRA
Northern Parula    Airlie Gardens
Pine Warbler    Carolina Beach State Park
Northern Cardinal    Wilmington
Blue Grosbeak    Carolina Beach State Park
Indigo Bunting    Carolina Beach State Park
Painted Bunting    Fort Fisher SRA

Painted Bunting, Snow's Cut Trail

Cranberry Bogs 5/26--Olive-sided Flycatcher

It's Memorial Day and not feeling like dealing with traffic, I went to the Cranberry Bogs on Dover Road; they're close and there's usually no one there and if there is, I know her.  I got there very early and spent about an hour investigating the area where the buildings once stood. I had 30 species just kicking around there, including a Wood Duck in a tree, but the exotic flycatcher I was hoping to find, which was reported yesterday, was not among the 30. 

I walked out on to the sand trails around the bogs, which are all flooded now, at least the ones I'm willing to go to, since the high grass is a haven for ticks. In one bog there was a little mud and on that mud was a Glossy Ibis and 6 Least Sandpipers. Tree Swallows were buzzing around and there were a lot of Chimney Swifts, the first time this year I've seen more than one at a time. 

I was surprised to see someone else wandering around out there. He turned out to be a birder whose name I've seen on eBird, but this was our first meeting. We talked for a moment and then I went on, but we ran into each other again in a spot I didn't think anyone else went to. We were walking along the large reservoir in the back when we saw a flycatcher sitting atop a dead tree. We both immediately thought it was an Olive-sided Flycatcher, the bird that had been reported yesterday at the demolished buildings site. It was pretty distant, but we could see the "vest" and chunky appearance, and the clincher, for me, when I looked at my photos in the viewfinder, was the white patch on the side--diagnostic as we birders like to say. 

For the morning, 48 species. 

Canada Goose  2
Wood Duck  1     
Mallard  4
Mourning Dove  5
Chimney Swift  5
Least Sandpiper  6     
Laughing Gull  3
American Herring Gull  1
Glossy Ibis  8
Green Heron  1     Chased by blackbird
Great Egret  6
Black Vulture  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Osprey  1     Flyover
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Olive-sided Flycatcher  1    
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Willow Flycatcher  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Eastern Kingbird  4
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  2
Carolina Chickadee  2
Tree Swallow  12
Barn Swallow  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
Northern House Wren  2
Gray Catbird  4
Brown Thrasher  1     Old building site
Cedar Waxwing  20
House Finch  3
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  5
Field Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  2
Orchard Oriole  2
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
Common Grackle  2
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  10
Blackpoll Warbler  2
Prairie Warbler  6
Northern Cardinal  

Showing white patch

Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve 5/25--Yellow-throated Vireo

Red-headed Woodpecker

I was due to meet my friend Peter at 8 at the Huber Preserve, but since I wake up at 5 these days, I was way early, so I drove down Sooy Place Road about a half mile to the new parcel that Huber has acquired which is a swamp that feeds into Burrs Mill Brook. I stood there for a little over a half hour--not my usual kind of birding but since I had so much time to kill I didn't really mind. In that time I came up with two rarities for the county--Red-headed Woodpecker and Yellow-throated Vireo. The vireo was a year bird. 

I heard the woodpecker in the woods to west of the swamp. I didn't expect to get eyes on it, as it sounded fairly distant, but then, looking atop a dead tree, I saw another (I could still hear the first one calling). This is a striking woodpecker, and I'm always happy to see one. I've probably mentioned this before, but I can think of 4 or 5 places in Burlington County where you can expect to find Red-headed Woodpecker (where it is flagged as "rare") and only two places (Colliers Mills and Cloverdale Farm) in Ocean County where you can find them (easy at Colliers, more sporadic at Cloverdale) and yet in Ocean they're "expected." You figure it out. 

The Yellow-throated Vireo I only heard; it was somewhere over the brook "singing" Three Eight! I was looking for it when I got distracted by a trio of Cedar Waxwings. I'll take waxwings over vireos any day. I did manage to record the vireo for proof of my rarity listing. 

I then drove back to the parking area by the Huber entrance. There was a car there parked sideways taking up a lot of room, which immediately set off my irritation reaction, but when I got out of the car, the driver told me that they weren't sure if they were in the right place. They were looking for the Huber Preserve. I told them they'd found it. Since they'd never been there before, and they quickly perceived I had, they asked a lot questions, which I, having stifled myself, answered--like where the bridge was (White Trail about 3/4 of mile), where the Red-headed Woodpeckers were (Gum Spring), where the Hooded Warblers were (all over). They set off and I hung around the entrance, waiting for Peter. Another car pulled in. The driver got out and said, "I'm lost." What are you looking for? I asked. "The Huber Preserve." This is it, so you're not lost. He was very relieved, having come all the way from Pennsylvania. His GPS was giving him weird directions, not that unusual when looking for the Preserve. The first time I tried to go there, Google sent me up a dirt road that led to a sand quarry. 

He then asked me the same questions. I felt like I should have an "INFORMATION" placard around my neck. I told him where the bridge was, where the woodpeckers were, and so on. Finally, Peter and his two friends arrived. I know Peter a long time, from when I lived in Brooklyn and birded Prospect Park where Peter works. This was officially a small field trip for the Brooklyn Bird Club. Peter had written me months ago, asking where he could find Prothonotary Warbler and I told him Huber was the most reliable spot. I didn't understand what was so special about that warbler until he explained to me today that this year is his 50th as a birder so he is seeking out all the "golden" birds (goldeneye, golden plover, Golden Eagle...get it?). And an alternate name for Prothonotary Warbler is "Golden Swamp Warbler." This, I did not know. 

We proceeded up the White Trail to the bridge. Along the way we heard many Hooded Warblers and Prairie Warblers, but for them I made an effort to get bins on the birds. We were very successful with those warblers, as well as a Blue-winged Warbler later on. Usually, it is enough for me to hear them, but if you're coming from Brooklyn, I think it is more rewarding to actually see them. When we got to the bridge, it wasn't 10 seconds before I heard a "Golden Swamp Warbler," but again, I wanted them to see it. As much as I don't like doing this, I played the song, because pishing only works with yellowthroats. The bird came up out of the bushes of Burnt Bridge Brook and preened itself on branch over the water. Success! I was a bit nervous about getting them the bird since it was fairly late in the morning for warblers and I was afraid they just might be tending their nest in the understory. 

Fly Agaric

Peter was working a fairly tight schedule--he was meeting another friend at Brig around 11:30--so we didn't have time to walk up to Gum Spring for the woodpeckers, but since he'd gotten their target bird, he was very happy. A golden bonus came in a beautiful specimen of Fly Agaric, a mushroom you don't want to eat but one that looks like a ball of burnished gold. 

After we left, I still had some energy, so I drove up to Reeves Bogs and did a circuit around the bogs and the woods--nothing much of note there except for an American Black Duck, which is flagged as rare, even though they breed at nearby Whitesbog. 

For the day I had 51 species and a good reunion with an old friend. 

Canada Goose    17
American Black Duck    1
Wild Turkey    2
Mourning Dove    1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    2
Great Egret    1
Great Blue Heron    3
Turkey Vulture    2
Red-tailed Hawk    1
Red-headed Woodpecker    2
Red-bellied Woodpecker    1
Northern Flicker    1
Eastern Wood-Pewee    5
Acadian Flycatcher    1
Eastern Phoebe    2
Great Crested Flycatcher    4
Eastern Kingbird    2
White-eyed Vireo    3
Yellow-throated Vireo    1
Red-eyed Vireo    2
Blue Jay    1
Fish Crow    1
Carolina Chickadee    3
Tufted Titmouse    3
Tree Swallow    15
Northern Rough-winged Swallow    1
Barn Swallow    1
White-breasted Nuthatch    2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    2
Gray Catbird    1
Wood Thrush    3
American Robin    1
Cedar Waxwing    3
American Goldfinch    2
Chipping Sparrow    2
Field Sparrow    1
Eastern Towhee    3
Red-winged Blackbird    7
Brown-headed Cowbird    2
Common Grackle    2
Ovenbird    10
Blue-winged Warbler    1
Black-and-white Warbler    3
Prothonotary Warbler    2
Common Yellowthroat    7
Hooded Warbler    10
American Redstart    1
Yellow Warbler    1
Pine Warbler    6
Prairie Warbler    14
Northern Cardinal   1

Double Trouble SP 5/20--Swainson's Thrush, Blackburnian Warbler

Scarlet Tanager

I had a lot of sugar to walk off this morning and since "only" 50,000 birds, according to BirdCast, passed over the county during the night, walking 15 times up and down Reed's Road didn't appeal, so I drove over to Double Trouble where I can get in 4 miles without passing the same tree twice. It was the usual birds there when I started my walk up to Mill Pond. It wasn't until I started back that I heard a thrush that didn't sound familiar--sort of like a Veery but not as ethereal. It turned out to be my first Swainson's Thrush of the year. Locate it I could not, despite walking around the grassy area next to the spillway. Still, it's on the list for the first time in a couple of years. 

I was walking along Parkway Access Road (where there is no Parkway access, happily, though the roar of the Parkway is only about 100 feet away), when it occurred to me that this was the kind of day when it might be worth exploring a section of the park that I hadn't been to in years--the Yellow Trail, known as the Sworden's Pond Trail. I remembered that the last time I had gone there it was a confusion of firebreaks and that the puddle I found deep in the woods might have been Sworden's Pond, but I couldn't be sure. 

Since that time, the trail has been improved with blazes clearly marking the way. Unlike other parts of the park where cedars and pine predominate, this section seems to be mostly oaks, and I thought it might yield up some different birds. For the first 20 minutes or so, I was wrong, but then I heard a faint whisper that could have been any number of warblers that are normally out of my hearing range. I couldn't place it and then I got distracted as first a female and then a bright male Scarlet Tanager landed on a branch just above my head. Unlike Sunday's tanagers, these were easy to see and close to the camera. The male was chasing the females, so perhaps nesting is in the offing. While I was watching the two tanagers, the whispering warbler made a fleeting appearance--Blackburnian Warbler. And then, as I was hoping, I heard the "gowp gowp gowp" of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. In that spot I had a year bird and two county birds. 

Greater Yellowlegs (note illegible bands)

I moved on, still wondering where the water was when a glance through the trees revealed a small pond. I could see a couple of Mallards and a Greater Yellowlegs on the water, so I moved stealthily to the edge of the pond in case there were any more birds there--there weren't but an immature Bald Eagle flew down to take a look at them, so low that I instinctively ducked my head. I couldn't see any streams feeding the pond, so I'm thinking that it may be what is called in the Pine Barrens a "spung." You won't find that word in the dictionary, but a spung is like a permanent vernal pond--it is a place where, as I understand it, the water table is so high that it reaches the surface and forms a wetland. I was completely wrong. It is just the opposite. A spung sits on impermeable ground like clay so that the water cannot soak into the water table. Thus, it is completely dependent on the amount of snowfall and rainfall throughout the year. This may explain why, the last time I was there, I saw only a big puddle. 

I completed the loop without getting lost, though a couple of times the yellow blazes were far apart and decided that every once in a while, assuming it doesn't get too buggy, Sworden's Pond will be a place to check out. 

Pretty good day, 52 species. I wouldn't do much better at Reed's Road. You probably would, but I wouldn't. 

Canada Goose  4
Mallard  2
Mourning Dove  1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1
Greater Yellowlegs  1    Banded but can't read bands.
Laughing Gull  3
Green Heron  2     Sweetwater bogs flyover
Great Egret  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Bald Eagle  1     
Belted Kingfisher  1     Mud Dam Road reservoir
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  5
Eastern Kingbird  3
White-eyed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  3
Blue Jay  2
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  1
Tree Swallow  2
Barn Swallow  1
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Gray Catbird  10
Veery  1
Swainson's Thrush  1     
Wood Thrush  1
American Robin  7
Cedar Waxwing  1
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  5
Field Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  15
Orchard Oriole  1     Sweetwater Bogs
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
Common Grackle  1
Ovenbird  20
Black-and-white Warbler  5
Common Yellowthroat  15
Hooded Warbler  1
American Redstart  3
Magnolia Warbler  1
Blackburnian Warbler  1    
Pine Warbler  5
Prairie Warbler  4
Scarlet Tanager  2
Northern Cardinal  1

Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve | Burrs Mill Brook 5/18--Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher, Bank Swallow, Summer Tanager, Scarlet Tanager

Scarlet Tanager

I scouted the Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve this morning, because I have an old friend coming down next week leading a trip for the Brooklyn Bird Club and they want to see Prothonotary Warbler. As the Huber Preserve is the best and easiest place to search for one, I suggested we meet there. My records show that I've had PROW there multiple times in late May, and in April I had a couple, but you never know. 

I arrived at 6:06 and before I swung my feet out of the car I heard a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, so I was off to a good start. Walking up the entrance trail I also heard my first Scarlet Tanager of the year, but I couldn't find that one. Along the way all the usual warblers were singing: Hooded, Black-and-white, Prairie (natch), yellowthroats, Ovenbirds...The good news is that the Prothonotary Warblers are still there. They nest in the bushes along the stream. The bad news is that it took some work to get one to come out. 

Red-headed Woodpecker

I met again a birder I know from Whitesbog and he told me that the dreaded Yellow Trail, where I once picked up 28 ticks on my shoes, had been cleared and widened, so after we split up, I took a walk on it and came out apparently unscathed and with an Acadian Flycatcher added to the year list. The Yellow Trail is an horseshoe that begins and ends on the White Trail. It dumps you out just before Gum Spring which flows over the White Trail. Before turning back to the entrance, I figured I might as well look in the swamp that the spring flows into. Immediately I heard a Red-headed Woodpecker and with some patience was able to get one to fly toward me and land on a dead tree. Red-headed Woodpeckers are flagged as rare in Burlco, though I can think of more places there to find one than I can in Ocean County where they are "expected." Another RHWO was calling, and it too soon flew in. Since this is one of the few woodpeckers that is not sexually dimorphic, I don't know if it was a pair or a couple of males vying for territory. As a bonus, as I was leaving the swamp, I heard and finally saw a Scarlet Tanager. For a big, bright, red bird, they can be very difficult to see, high up and hiding in the foliage. Hence the rather unsatisfactory photo at top. 

Summer Tanager

Just before I reached the parking area, I heard a call that was new to me. I opened up Merlin and returned Summer Tanager. Not a completely outlandish identification (I've actually had them there before), but you have to be Reaganesque with Merlin: Trust But Verify. I walked off the path a few feet and happily, this section of the woods hadn't completely leafed out, so I was able to see a pale-yellow bird with a heavy beak flying around. It was a female Summer Tanager and very active. Hence, more unsatisfactory photos. 

As it was still early, I decided to drive back a few miles to Burrs Mill Brook, where I go once a year to find the Bank Swallows that nest in a sand quarry about a mile in from Burrs Mill Road. As I was walking the trail along the brook I heard a tanager-like song that didn't sound like a Scarlet. I saw the bird fly by for a second and once again, Merlin returned Summer Tanager! This one was a singing male. I thought that was pretty amazing to find two Summer Tanagers in the same day, but looking at eBird, I see lots of sightings today and yesterday all over Burlington County. Either there is an influx of this species, or it isn't really rare. 

Bank Swallow flying along the sand quarry cliff

I was wondering if it was too early for the Bank Swallows, since I didn't see any flying over the open parts of the brook, and when I got to the edge of the quarry (I stand just outside the property line), I at first didn't see any activity. But a little persistence (like 3 minutes) yielded first one, then four, then six, then eight Bank Swallows flying along the far face of the quarry, going in and out of holes. 

That made 5 year birds for the day and that was enough for me. 

The Huber List--Bank Swallows and a couple of Baltimore Orioles were the only birds I saw at Burrs Mill that I didn't see at the Prairie Warbler Preserve. 

41 species
Canada Goose  2
Mourning Dove  2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Laughing Gull  1
Red-headed Woodpecker  2     
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Eastern Wood-Pewee  3
Acadian Flycatcher  1
Eastern Phoebe  2     Bridge
Great Crested Flycatcher  6
White-eyed Vireo  4
Red-eyed Vireo  2
Blue Jay  1
Common Raven  2     Croaking corvids
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tufted Titmouse  2
White-breasted Nuthatch  2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
Carolina Wren  1
Gray Catbird  2
Wood Thrush  3
American Goldfinch  1
Field Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  6
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Ovenbird  15
Blue-winged Warbler  1
Black-and-white Warbler  2
Prothonotary Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
Hooded Warbler  9     9+
American Redstart  2
Magnolia Warbler  1
Yellow Warbler  1
Pine Warbler  3
Prairie Warbler  15
Summer Tanager  1     
Scarlet Tanager  4
Northern Cardinal  2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Cedar Bonnet Island 5/17--Willow Flycatcher, Northern Waterthrush, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler

Willow Flycatcher

 According to BirdCast, 903,500 birds passed over Ocean County during the night, quite a contrast from the 500 it recorded the night before. Of course, this information doesn't relay how many birds actually landed in Ocean County, but it seemed a good bet that a decent number alighted in county, so just after sunrise I was at Cedar Bonnet Island, walking back and forth on the entrance trail which is an allée of oaks and evergreens. 

At first, I only found the most common of birds there--yellowthroats, Yellow Warblers, catbirds, blackbirds...once again I felt like a walking bird-freeze zone. There was one other birder there and I could tell from his body language that he wasn't finding much either but that was no consolation. Walking back to the start of the trail I started seeing activity. Two Chestnut-sided Warblers were chasing each other in an oak and then a couple of Magnolia Warblers were in the same tree, a little lower down. Another birder came up and she saw a Bay-breasted Warbler, but I couldn't find it. And thus started warbler frustration. As more people arrived with the cameras and conversation, I started getting antsy and decided to walk around the open areas of marsh and grass. I heard a sharp call that I had to stop and think about for a moment until I realized it was a Willow Flycatcher, a bird, with warblers on my mind, that I had forgotten about.  I was finally able to track it down and get a photo--I don't even try with the flitty flighty warblers. 

As I ran into more people I knew, I heard more reports of warblers I didn't see--Canada, Tennessee, Cape May--it was like a geography lesson. Going back to the entrance groves a third time I heard a bird I couldn't identify. Another birding acquaintance identified it as a Northern Waterthrush, a warbler I'd given up on this spring and one whose song is not in memory because I usually see them and because my memory is shot. By now, after 4 walks up and down the trail it was getting way too crowded for me--I don't enjoy being in a crowd of cross-talking birders all calling out birds they might be seeing or else talking about birds other birders have seen, so I took my four year birds and went to Manahawkin WMA. 

I didn't expect to see anything new, though I sort of hoped that the Ruff from last week was still around, or at least a Stilt Sandpiper. Instead, I found that the Black-necked Stilt population had tripled since my last visit. Coming up to the back impoundment with my scope, I immediately flushed one from the bank. I'd never heard one call before, and that shouldn't have given me a hint that it wasn't alone. Later, walking back after depositing my scope in the car, I found two in the same spot--I recalled that two had been reported last week. Then I looked to my left and found a third. One more stilt and I think that qualifies as a flock. All three seemed skittish as they flew to the middle of the impoundment next to where a large flock of Lesser Yellowlegs was feeding. Safety in numbers. It was there that I was able to get the doc shot of the trio. I believe that it the largest number of stilts I have seen in NJ. 

The other (ahem) interesting sight was of two Forster's Terns in the front impoundment. As far as I know, Forster's Terns don't nest in Ocean County, and certainly not in Manahawkin, but that didn't seem to stop one of the terns from standing on the back of the other (which had been calling that harsh rattling cry) and...ahem. 

My list for Cedar Bonnet Island. I actually had more birds at Manahawkin, but there was a lot of overlap as you would expect. 

41 species
Brant  1     Channel
Canada Goose  1
Mallard  2
Mourning Dove  9
Clapper Rail  3
Semipalmated Plover  1
Short-billed Dowitcher  30
Willet  2
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Least Sandpiper  4
Semipalmated Sandpiper  6
Laughing Gull  2
Forster's Tern  2
Glossy Ibis  6
Green Heron  2     Flyover channel
Osprey  2
Belted Kingfisher  1     Flyover
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Willow Flycatcher  2
Eastern Kingbird  2
Red-eyed Vireo  3
American Crow  1
Barn Swallow  1
Carolina Wren  1
Gray Catbird  3
American Robin  8
Cedar Waxwing  4
House Finch  4
Seaside Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  6
Red-winged Blackbird  20
Common Grackle  1
Boat-tailed Grackle  6
Northern Waterthrush  1     Heard
Common Yellowthroat  6
American Redstart  1
Magnolia Warbler  2
Yellow Warbler  4
Chestnut-sided Warbler  2     Entrance
Black-throated Green Warbler  2     Entrance
Northern Cardinal  4

Great Bird Names

One of the ancillary pleasures of birding is the common names of birds. I've spent hours scrolling through the species list on eBird, finding funny, weird names of birds. Some of them are highly, one might say, overly descriptive, some are opaque. Below is a list, in no special order (except for the cisticolas) of some of my favorites:

Perplexing Scrubwren
Mysterious Starling (Extinct)
Monotonous Lark
Elusive Antpitta
Inaccessible Island Finch
Inaccessible Island Rail (If the island is inaccessible, how do they know about the birds?)
Invisible Rail (sightings: 0)
 
Cisticolas: (Birds with check marks are one I have seen)

Bubbling

Chattering

Chirping

Churring

üCroaking   

Foxy

Piping

üRattling

Siffling

Singing

Tinkling

Trilling

Wailing

Whistling

Winding

üWing-snapping

üZitting

 
 
Happy Wren
Strange Weaver
Obscure Berrypecker
Twite (Banding code: TWIT)
Aberrant Bush-Warbler
Leaf-love
Melancholy Woodpecker
Monotonous Lark
Fearful Owl
Supertramp Fantail
Cinderella Waxbill
Exclamatory Paradise-Whydah
Vampire Ground-Finch 

Graveling Point | Great Bay Blvd 5/11--Red Knot, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Black Skimmer, Least Tern, Common Tern, Saltmarsh Sparrow

Saltmarsh Sparrow

I was in the mood for mud flats, so I headed down to Tuckerton. I thought I'd see what Graveling Point was like in warm weather--on the few occasions I've birded there, it has been mostly for ducks in the winter.  Graveling Point, at the end of Radio Road, is yet another piece of Forsythe NWR. During the winter, when the vegetation is brown, you can walk easily toward the middle of the peninsula or come around the back of the pond that is fed by a mosquito ditch, but today I was forced to walk the edges of the point, which was fine, because I was flushing up shorebirds at a rapid rate. Short-billed Dowitchers were the most common, but I kicked up at least 7 Spotted Sandpipers (according to eBird a new species for the site), along with a bunch of Least Sandpipers and Dunlins. I also had my first Least Tern of the year, a quick flyby, and most amusing to me, my first Green Heron in Ocean County this year. The pond was empty today except for a lone Mallard, or so it seemed, because when I got back to the parking lot, I thought, "Eh, let just look in here for a minute, and there, in the reeds, was the heron. All the usual places I've looked so far this year I couldn't find one, but here, where I wasn't looking for one, I of course find one. 

Green Heron, Graveling Point

I then drove up and around and got onto Great Bay Blvd. I wasn't going to stop at Tuckerton Cove but then I thought of finding the Green Heron in an unlikely spot and it occurred to me that when I've seen Black Skimmers in Tuckerton they've always been roosting in the northern parts of the WMA, so I pulled over, walked through the vegetal entanglements and had barely put up my binoculars when I had 5 skimmers loafing on a sandbar. They got up and flew and they were the only 5 I saw today. 

Red Knots

Ruddy Turnstone

Every stop I made today along the road I had big, mixed flocks of shorebirds, mostly dowitchers and Least Sandpipers. I kept scoping the flocks of leasts concentrating on their legs, but it wasn't until I was more than halfway down that I finally found a sandpiper with black legs that weren't just mud--bigger and grayer too--a single Semipalmated Sandpiper. I was disappointed that neither of the night-herons were roosting in the cedar stands or feeding in the marshes--in fact, the only waders I saw were both white egrets. I got down to the end of the road and went onto the mud flats of Great Bay. I was looking for Red Knots and after walking as far out on the mud flats as I've ever gone, I scoped two of them. Very unsatisfactory--I could list them but, as they're an endangered (sub)species, I'd prefer to get better views while I can. I turned around and walk to the other side of the flats, toward the Rutgers facility. On the pilings terns were roosting--a couple of Least Terns, and my first Common Terns of the year. I went about as far as I could on the mud flat without trespassing onto the Rutgers property. In a shallow there was a small flock of knots, along with more Dunlins and some Ruddy Turnstones. Now I had good looks at these robust sandpipers. 

Least Tern, Great Bay

I then turned my attention to the spartina grass behind me. I was seeing a lot of sparrows flying up and diving down into the grass, but every time I glassed them, they'd turn out to be Song Sparrows. I just knew that Saltmarsh Sparrow was there somewhere, but since its "song" is more of a buzzy whisper, I didn't have much chance of following the sound. So I cheated. I played a recording and bang! one came out to pose for me. In a few months I'll have to do the same thing for Nelson's Sparrow.  Since they stick close to the ground and run around like mice, whether it's better to try for them during high tide or low tide is a debate. Low tide and there is more area to search. High tide and there is less search area but you'll probably get your feet wet stepping into a mud puddle you didn't see while pursuing a fleeting bird. 

45 species on the day:

Brant
Canada Goose
Mallard
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Clapper Rail
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Short-billed Dowitcher
Spotted Sandpiper
Lesser Yellowlegs
Willet
Greater Yellowlegs
Ruddy Turnstone
Red Knot
Dunlin
Least Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Laughing Gull
American Herring Gull
Black Skimmer
Least Tern
Forster's Tern
Common Tern
Double-crested Cormorant

Black-crowned Night Heron
Snowy Egret
Green HeronGreat Egret
Osprey
Fish Crow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Northern House Wren
Marsh Wren
Carolina Wren
Gray Catbird
Seaside Sparrow
Saltmarsh Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Yellowthroat
Yellow Warbler
Northern Cardinal

Northern House Wren, Great Bay Blvd