Instructions That Will Never Be Followed

 

Forked River 8/4--Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbills with Great Egret

The probability of a Roseate Spoonbill turning up in New Jersey is low, but with at least 15 past sightings, not that remarkable. Narrow it down to Ocean County and the odds get longer, but it has happened a few times--Island Beach and Manahawkin stand out in my memory. But the odds of three Roseate Spoonbills turning up in Forked River in the lagoon just off Spoonbill Court? Astronomical.  And yet, for the last couple of weeks or more, that has been the place to go to put this species on your year list--if you can time the tide right. Which the first three times I went to this obscure section of Barnegat Bay I wasn't able to do and left frustrated. 

But today, after I passed Albatross, Egret, Grebe, Plover, Penguin, Skimmer, and Gannet Courts and arrived at Spoonbill, there they were, with the customary M.obs facing west as they fed just at the edge of the reeds to where, when the tide gets higher, they apparently retreat. 

Immature Roseate Spoonbills are known to widely disperse, perhaps pushed out by adults who don't want them impinging on their territories, so these birds were not as pink as the adults would be, but still amusing birds to observe. For 15 minutes. I have a wise birding friend who has (or had, I don't know if he still keeps it) a rule that he had to stay at a spot at least as long as it took to drive there, and since I had come down from Double Trouble SP I only shaved off a few minutes from that edict. I don't like standing around a private neighborhood with a large group of birders, no matter how well-behaved they are; I really feel like I'm intruding. So, I took some photos, listed the obvious birds around the spoonbills and had my one cool species for the day

July Wrap-up--Bombay Hook Saves the Month

Double-crested Cormorants, Lighthouse Center

What was threatening to be an incredibly dull month with only one new year bird on the list (a very poorly seen but clearly heard Eastern Meadowlark at the local airport) was rescued by a trip to Bombay Hook the last two days of the month. We were meeting our friends from Minnesota there who had never visited the NWR (in fact, had never been in Delaware despite being adventurous world travelers), and it was there, the glary impoundments that three year birds jumped onto the list: Pectoral Sandpiper, White-rumped Sandpiper, & Stilt Sandpiper. All relatively difficult birds to find and identify, but all three were fairly close in on the mud. 

The two most amusing birds of the month were also there. On the first day, Shari & I made a quick go round of the impoundments and as we were returning on the far side of Bear Swamp Pool we saw two huge birds fly across the road. At first, seeing only black with white patches, I mistook them for Black Vultures, but Shari, of course, quickly set me straight as to their actual identity--Pileated Woodpeckers. We watched them fly from tree to tree in the dense woods, but they weren't about to pose for any pictures.  

The next day, as we were going around with Lon & Peg, we stopped to scope Shearness Pool which instead of all the sandpipers in the previous pool (Raymond) was full of boring Canada Geese, Mallards, and Mute Swans. But sharp-eyed Peg, using only bins, asked "What's the big black bird at the back by the shore?" I scoped the bird was surprised to find a Black Swan. Obviously, this is not a countable bird in the U.S. but as the four of us had made a trip to Australia together, where we saw huge numbers of these birds (or should I say "events"), it seemed an appropriate candidate for weirdest sighting of the day. 

Of course, American Avocets were present in large numbers in Raymond Pool, some in bright rufous breeding plumage, some already fading to black and white. Year bird for Shari 

Tricolored Heron, immature White Ibis, Snowy Egret, Lighthouse Center

As to the rest of the month for me, it was spent mostly in the abandoned cranberry bogs without much to show for it. I did finally go to a new hot spot in the county--the Lighthouse Center for blah blah blah which is located in Waretown. I liked it there and can see that it might be productive, but the main trail is only 3/8 of a mile long down to the bay so it isn't a place for me to get my walks in. I don't know if it is
open in the winter, but it looked like a good place to scope for bay ducks. Almost the first bird I saw there was an immature Bald Eagle sitting in the middle of the trail. It must have been a first year bird because it didn't seem to understand that I was a human approaching it until I got within 20 feet of it. I was a bit trepidatious about it actually playing possum in order to attack me, but it eventually figured out that both of us shouldn't be on the trail. 

Bald Eagle (imm)

For the month 129 species, about typical, for me, for July.

 Counties birded:

New Jersey: Burlington, Ocean

Delaware: Kent

Species    First Sighting
Brant    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Canada Goose    Meadowedge Park
Mute Swan    Holly Lake
Wood Duck    Cranberry Bogs
Mallard    Cloverdale Farm
American Black Duck    Manahawkin WMA
Common Eider    Island Beach SP
Surf Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Wild Turkey    35 Sunset Rd
Mourning Dove    Cloverdale Farm
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Whitesbog
Common Nighthawk    Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift    Robert J. Miller Air Park
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    Cloverdale Farm
Clapper Rail    Waretown
American Avocet    Bombay Hook
American Oystercatcher    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-bellied Plover    Bombay Hook
Killdeer    Whitesbog
Semipalmated Plover    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Piping Plover    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Short-billed Dowitcher    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Spotted Sandpiper    Colliers Mills WMA
Solitary Sandpiper    Whitesbog
Lesser Yellowlegs    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Willet    Waretown
Greater Yellowlegs    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Stilt Sandpiper    Bombay Hook
Sanderling    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
White-rumped Sandpiper    Bombay Hook
Least Sandpiper    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Pectoral Sandpiper    Bombay Hook
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Bonaparte's Gull    Bombay Hook
Laughing Gull    Cloverdale Farm
American Herring Gull    Barnegat Municipal Dock
Great Black-backed Gull    Barnegat Municipal Dock
Black Skimmer    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Least Tern    Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Barnegat
Gull-billed Tern    Whitesbog
Caspian Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Forster's Tern    Barnegat Municipal Dock
Common Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Common Loon    Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant    Barnegat Municipal Dock
White Ibis    Waretown
Glossy Ibis    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Yellow-crowned Night Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-crowned Night Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Little Blue Heron    Waretown
Tricolored Heron    Joe Torg Nature Preserve
Snowy Egret    Forsythe--Barnegat
Green Heron    Cloverdale Farm
Great Egret    Cloverdale Farm
Great Blue Heron    Cloverdale Farm
Brown Pelican    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Vulture    School House Road Crestwood Village I
Turkey Vulture    Cloverdale Farm
Osprey    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Bald Eagle    Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher    Horicon Lake
Red-headed Woodpecker    Cloverdale Farm
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Cloverdale Farm
Downy Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Hairy Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Pileated Woodpecker    Bombay Hook
Northern Flicker    Cloverdale Farm
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Cloverdale Farm
Acadian Flycatcher    Cedar Bridge Tavern County Park
Willow Flycatcher    Manahawkin WMA
Eastern Phoebe    Cloverdale Farm
Great Crested Flycatcher    Cloverdale Farm
Eastern Kingbird    Cloverdale Farm
White-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Red-eyed Vireo    Horicon Lake
Blue Jay    35 Sunset Rd
American Crow    Cloverdale Farm
Fish Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Chickadee    Cloverdale Farm
Tufted Titmouse    Cloverdale Farm
Horned Lark    Robert J. Miller Air Park
Tree Swallow    Cloverdale Farm
Purple Martin    Whitesbog
Northern Rough-winged Swallow    Stafford Forge WMA
Barn Swallow    Barnegat Municipal Dock
White-breasted Nuthatch    Cloverdale Farm
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Cloverdale Farm
Northern House Wren    Cloverdale Farm
Marsh Wren    Meadowedge Park
Carolina Wren    Whitesbog
European Starling    Cloverdale Farm
Gray Catbird    35 Sunset Rd
Brown Thrasher    Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird    Meadowedge Park
Eastern Bluebird    Cloverdale Farm
Veery    Double Trouble SP
Wood Thrush    Whitesbog
American Robin    Cloverdale Farm
Cedar Waxwing    Cranberry Bogs
House Sparrow    Waretown
House Finch    Cloverdale Farm
American Goldfinch    35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow    Cloverdale Farm
Field Sparrow    Stafford Forge WMA
Seaside Sparrow    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Song Sparrow    Cloverdale Farm
Swamp Sparrow    Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee    Whitesbog
Eastern Meadowlark    Robert J. Miller Air Park
Orchard Oriole    Stafford Forge WMA
Red-winged Blackbird    Cloverdale Farm
Brown-headed Cowbird    Cloverdale Farm
Common Grackle    Meadowedge Park
Boat-tailed Grackle    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ovenbird    Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler    Whitesbog
Common Yellowthroat    Meadowedge Park
Hooded Warbler    Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow Warbler    Cattus Island County Park
Pine Warbler    Cloverdale Farm
Prairie Warbler    Whitesbog
Scarlet Tanager    Cedar Bridge Tavern County Park
Northern Cardinal    Cloverdale Farm
Blue Grosbeak    Cloverdale Farm
Indigo Bunting    Colliers Mills WMA

Gull-billed Terns in Burlco

Gull-billed Terns on Union Pond

Yesterday, while I was eating lunch, one of my Burlco buddies texted me that there were Gull-billed Terns at Whitesbog. Gull-billed Terns aren't rare, but they are unusual in Burlington County. Normally, they show up for a few days in August if the bogs have been drawn down, feasting on frogs, but, like a lot of species nowadays, they're early. The bogs aren't going to be drawn down this year for various reasons, but Union Pond is losing water on its own accord, and that's where 4 terns were when I got over there, sitting on a grassy mud patch in the center of the pond. There had also been a Bonaparte's Gull, which is rare in the county this time of year, but it had left before I arrived. 

This morning, I went to Reeve's Bogs and I was surprised to find two Gull-billed Terns hunting the front impoundment. I was pretty certain they were patch birds for me, but I was happy to find out that they were the first Gull-billed Terns listed at Reeve's, bringing its total up to 167 species. I went over to Whitesbog afterwards and found two of the four Gull-bills still on the same grassy spot in the middle of Union Pond. So, they're around. 

My favorite story about them is from my informant who has been birding Whitesbog and Reeve's for more than 50 years. Back before eBird, or social media, or even telephone hotlines, he used to send in his bird sightings by mail to a regional reviewer. I think he did it quarterly. Every summer he would send in reports of Gull-billed Terns at Whitesbog, and every time his reports would be ignored, because everyone knew that Gull-billed Terns were along the coast and were not to be found in the middle of the Pine Barrens. This went on for years until someone else sent in a report of Gull-billed Terns in Burlco and the regional reviewer got curious and ventured out to Whitesbog. Sure enough, Gull-billed Terns. And then he told my informant the surprising news, which wasn't, of course, very surprising to him. "I've been telling you for ten years, but you didn't believe me." It isn't a wonder that my informant is indifferent to eBird or any other form of public listing. I'm fortunate he tells me when he finds an interesting species. (Don't even get some of the Burlco guys started on the Brown Pelican he once found and didn't tell anyone about)

The moral of this story is: Birds have wings. 

June Wrap-up--Winter Waterfowl Edition

 

Common Eider, Barnegat Light

Most of the interesting days of June--the trip to Bermuda, the great day at Brig, the Yellow-breasted Chat, etc., have been chronicled already and there's no reason to go back over them--you can follow the links if you haven't been assiduously keeping up with me. The surprising sightings of June were the number of winter waterfowl that I came across. It started early in the month when I stopped at the Bay Parkway marsh in Waretown. Across the little inlet, sitting on a stony peninsula, was a Red-breasted Merganser. Obviously rare for the month, but nothing to write about. Okay, a lingering duck. But then, on my first trip of the month to Brig, I came across a flock of Ruddy Ducks.  Not flagged as rare, per se, but the number of them was out of the ordinary. On one of the walks to the north jetty at Island Beach I came across a flock of Common Eiders (definitely rare) a pair of Black Scoters, and a Surf Scoter. Over at Barnegat Light, when I went to hunt for the Roseate Tern, there were two Brants on the beach side of the jetty. Not to mention the Common Loon I saw the other day in the inlet at Island Beach, or the Green-winged Teal yesterday at Brig. Like a very warm February. 

Red-breasted Merganser, Waretown

It was because of these oddball sightings that I was able to pad the list up to 141 species for the month (13 year birds, including 4 on Bermuda), since June is a notoriously slow month--the warblers and the shorebirds have passed through to the north and a lot of what is resident is nesting and therefor quiet and out of sight. I didn't range very far in New Jersey in June, but Bermuda does lend an international tang to the list.

Species          First Sighting
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck   Port Royal GC #17 Pond
Brant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Canada Goose   Colliers Mills WMA
Mute Swan   Brig
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal   Brig
Mallard   Colliers Mills WMA
American Black Duck   Whitesbog
Green-winged Teal   Brig
Common Eider   Island Beach SP
Surf Scoter   Island Beach SP
Black Scoter   Island Beach SP
Red-breasted Merganser   Waretown
Ruddy Duck   Brig
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon   Wawa Forked River
Mourning Dove   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Double Trouble SP
Common Nighthawk   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Whitesbog
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Island Beach SP
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Blvd
Common Gallinule   Spittal Pond NR
American Coot   Airport Pond
American Avocet   Brig
American Oystercatcher   Great Bay Blvd
Black-bellied Plover   Brig
American Golden-Plover   Brig
Killdeer   Whitesbog
Semipalmated Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Piping Plover   Island Beach SP
Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig
Willet   Great Bay Blvd
Greater Yellowlegs   Brig
Ruddy Turnstone   Great Bay Blvd
Sanderling   Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd
Laughing Gull   Wawa Rt 70 & CR 530
American Herring Gull   Great Bay Blvd
Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Blvd
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Port Royal GC #17 Pond
Black Skimmer   Great Bay Blvd
Least Tern   Great Bay Blvd
Gull-billed Tern   Brig
Caspian Tern   Brig
Forster's Tern   Holly Lake
Common Tern   Great Bay Blvd
Roseate Tern   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Royal Tern   Island Beach SP
White-tailed Tropicbird   Dockyard
Common Loon   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Great Bay Blvd
White Ibis   Waretown
Glossy Ibis   Great Bay Blvd
Least Bittern   Brig
Yellow-crowned Night Heron   Front Street, Hamilton BM
Black-crowned Night Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron   Island Beach SP
Snowy Egret   Holly Lake
Green Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Great Egret   Colliers Mills WMA
Great Blue Heron   Colliers Mills WMA
American White Pelican   Brig
Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog
Osprey   Great Bay Blvd
Bald Eagle   Brig
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Northern Flicker   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Wood-Pewee   Colliers Mills WMA
Acadian Flycatcher   Beach Ave
Willow Flycatcher   Great Bay Blvd
Eastern Phoebe   Double Trouble SP
Great Crested Flycatcher   Colliers Mills WMA
Great Kiskadee   Dockyard
Eastern Kingbird   Colliers Mills WMA
White-eyed Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven   Brig
Carolina Chickadee   Colliers Mills WMA
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Bank Swallow   Reeves Bogs
Tree Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
Purple Martin   Whitesbog
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Double Trouble SP
Barn Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern House Wren   35 Sunset Rd
Marsh Wren   Brig
Carolina Wren   Colliers Mills WMA
European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown Thrasher   Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Bluebird   Colliers Mills WMA
Veery   Double Trouble SP
Wood Thrush   Whitesbog
American Robin   Colliers Mills WMA
Cedar Waxwing   Colliers Mills WMA
House Sparrow   Waretown
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   Colliers Mills WMA
Grasshopper Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Chipping Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Field Sparrow   Brig
Seaside Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Brig
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Towhee   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow-breasted Chat   Cranberry Bogs
Orchard Oriole   Colliers Mills WMA
Baltimore Oriole   Cranberry Bogs
Red-winged Blackbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown-headed Cowbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Grackle   Holly Lake
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Blvd
Ovenbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Black-and-white Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Yellowthroat   Colliers Mills WMA
Hooded Warbler   Double Trouble SP
American Redstart   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Pine Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog
Scarlet Tanager   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd
Blue Grosbeak   Brig
Indigo Bunting   Brig

Brig 6/30--American Avocet, American Golden-Plover, Least Bittern, American White Pelican

American White Pelican with Double-crested Cormorants

All I needed was a little impetus, which was provided by a text last night from Bob, asking me if I wanted to go to Brig this morning. "Why not?" I thought, knowing there were a couple of interesting birds possibly to be seen. Another walk around a cranberry bog fending off deer flies didn't seem so appealing. Why not take a couple of spins around the Wildlife Drive with Bob and fend off greenhead flies instead? 

The whippoorwill woke me at 4:30 this morning, so I was on the road by 6, despite the thunderstorms that were moving through Galloway. The forecast looked like they'd be gone by the time I got there and at 6:45 the weather was cloudy, humid, hazy, and hot, perfect conditions...if you're a greenhead fly. Bob wasn't due to arrive until a little after 8, but as it happened, at the entrance pond I ran into one of the regular Brig birders and we wound up hanging out at the Gull Pond tower together. With a scope and some direction, I was able to pick out the American White Pelican that has been in residence for about a week--that was the bird that I needed a kick to go see--and even though it was about a mile away, white pelicans are so big (they make Brown Pelicans look like doves by comparison) I could easily see it hanging out with flock of egrets. 

But a more elusive bird was in the offing. Behind us, in the marsh, we could hear a soft cooing. If you were in the woods, you might suspect a Black-billed Cuckoo (which I still "need" for the year), but habitat dictates that the "coo-coo-coo, coo-coo-coo" was instead a Least Bittern. This was a particularly vocal specimen, but like most bitterns, it determinedly would not show itself. Bitterns, like nightjars, rails, and owls, are more heard than seen. 

I drove up to the parking lot just as Bob was arriving and we scurried back to the Gull Pond in the hopes of getting him the two birds above. Our informant was still there and with a little bit of scoping I was able to relocate the pelican in one of the pools and then, as if on cue, the bittern started to coo again and just kept going. I doubt I've ever heard one call for so extended a period. 

American Golden-Plover

Bob and I then started our first loop around the drive. We were doing pretty well considering that the end of the June is pretty much dead in terms of shorebirds; until we got to the dogleg about 2/3 of the way around, we only seen Killdeer, both varieties of yellowlegs, and one Black-bellied Plover. Just after we saw our only--Black-crowned Night-Heron fly by, our informant pulled up. We expected him to tell us of all the cool birds we'd missed but aside from a Spotted Sandpiper, we'd all three had similar sightings. However, when he started to search, the birds began to pop up. Bob and I had noted a flock of Ruddy Ducks (it's been a good month for winter ducks), but farther out on a sandbar there were 5 Caspian Terns, but before we could even look at them, he found 3 American Avocets which had been reported on Sunday. Since neither of us has been to Bombay Hook yet this year, those were year birds. Our magic birder drove off only to stop about a thousand feet up the road and summon us over--there, in the mud on the edge of the pool at GM 14 was a slim, long-winged plover with a white supercilium which, with a little rumination was determined to be an American Golden-Plover, extremely rare this early in the year--they're more of September bird, returning from the breeding grounds. American White Pelican, American Avocet, American Golden-Plover--a very patriotic list this 4th of July week.  

We did a second loop without, as usual adding much, though Blue Grosbeak was a good find, and we padded the list with some forest birds like Pine Warbler and Eastern Towhee. In all, we had 75 species for our travels--just to compare, our friend had 95, and looking at his list I see he neglected to include the Green-winged Teal he pointed out to us at the Gull Pond. 

My list: (Bob had a robin that I missed, but I the Willow Flycatcher was at the entrance ponds before he got there)

Canada Goose  100
Mute Swan  10
Wood Duck  4
Blue-winged Teal  2     Gull Pond
Mallard  10
Green-winged Teal  4    
Ruddy Duck  21     Exact Count. 
Mourning Dove  3
Clapper Rail  2
American Avocet  3     
American Oystercatcher  4
Black-bellied Plover  1
American Golden-Plover  1     
Killdeer  2
Short-billed Dowitcher  55
Lesser Yellowlegs  2
Willet  20
Greater Yellowlegs  6
Semipalmated Sandpiper  1
Laughing Gull  75
American Herring Gull  25
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Black Skimmer  10
Least Tern  7
Gull-billed Tern  1     #15
Caspian Tern  10
Forster's Tern  20
Common Tern  1
Double-crested Cormorant  55
Glossy Ibis  14
Least Bittern  1     
Black-crowned Night Heron  1
Snowy Egret  10
Great Egret  50
Great Blue Heron  8
American White Pelican  1     
Turkey Vulture  5
Osprey  12
Bald Eagle  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Willow Flycatcher  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  2
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tree Swallow  4
Purple Martin  20
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  2
Barn Swallow  1
Northern House Wren  1
Marsh Wren  6
Carolina Wren  2
Gray Catbird  4
Eastern Bluebird  2
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  15
Chipping Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  2
Seaside Sparrow  4
Saltmarsh Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  1
Orchard Oriole  1
Red-winged Blackbird  75
Brown-headed Cowbird  1
Common Yellowthroat  20
Yellow Warbler  1
Pine Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  3
Blue Grosbeak  3
Indigo Bunting  1

Cranberry Bogs 6/21--Yellow-breasted Chat

Unexpected rarity, unexpected year bird.  On summer weekends, I misanthropically try to go to places where there aren't dog walkers, fishermen, beach lollers, children, strollers, hikers, runners...places like the cranberry bogs in South Toms River where only the occasional moron on an ATV or dirt bike can be found (and that's late in the morning since they're lazy bums too), where I can see and hear the birds undisturbed. As I got out of the car, I heard a Blue Grosbeak singing, so I had the notion it might be a good morning. When I got over the hill, I could hear it singing loud and I determined that I wanted to track it down. It took about 5 minutes, and I had to descend into the borrow pit, but I eventually found it atop a pine tree. 

Then, as I usually do, I walked over to the site where buildings stood until a year ago when they were torn down. It was a cacophony of bird song--House Wren, cardinal, Blue Jay, Pine Warbler, Prairie Warbler, Mourning Doves cooing, but in that mélange of sound I heard a discordant "Blatt, blatt, blatt!" I opened up Merlin to check if I was hearing right, but I didn't really need to, because those noises were followed by more churrs, chips, and shrieks, and Merlin "confirmed" that there was a Yellow-breasted Chat in the vicinity. Chats are notorious skulkers. Usually, you're satisfied if you hear one and perhaps catch a glimpse of it buried deep in a bush. I didn't have much hope for locating it, but I did have the recording for proof. Still, I looked around in the low foliage and didn't find it. Looking up, though, in a dead tree, there it was, against type, calling (you can't really say "singing") from a branch. Amazingly, it stayed in one place so I could take photographs. More astounding, it stayed in one place long enough for me to walk around to the other side of the tree to get it at a better angle. 

Finding this bird made disproportionately happy in relation to its rarity. I remember many walks around the FAA Beacon field at Assunpink trying to track one down. It has usually been a bird I go searching for, stopping along the road at the upland portion of Brig to hear one, or walking through the Sandy Restoration site at Double Trouble where they have been off and on. To stumble upon one...that's a gift from the birding gods. 

I continued out to the bogs and then, following the trail that runs along the large reservoir, out to the power line cut. There I came across a guy walking with a three-pronged stick. I had no idea what he was doing. He haled me and said we'd met before, asking me how the birds were. I asked him what he was doing, and when he told me a herpetological survey, I recognized him as a guy I hadn't seen in years. And his three-pronged stick made sense. We talked about some people we knew in common and I told him what reptiles and amphibians I'd seen (painted turtle, snapping turtle, Fowler's toad,) and we went back to our surveys. I'd walked 2 1/2 miles out there before I saw another person. As we were parting, he told me to enjoy every day. It seemed like good advice. It seemed like a blessing. 

My Cranberry Bogs day list:

36 species
Wood Duck  5     Bogs + drake on large reservoir. 4 in Basic plumage
Mourning Dove  9
Green Heron  1     Bogs
Great Egret  6
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  4
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  2
Blue Jay  2
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tree Swallow  8
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Northern House Wren  2
Gray Catbird  2
Brown Thrasher  1
American Robin  4
Cedar Waxwing  1
House Finch  6
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  3
Yellow-breasted Chat  1     
Orchard Oriole  2
Baltimore Oriole  1     Heard
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Common Grackle  5
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  5
Pine Warbler  2
Prairie Warbler  5
Northern Cardinal  2
Blue Grosbeak  1

Barnegat Lighthouse SP 6/18--Roseate Tern

Roseate Tern

The weather didn't look promising this morning, but I'd already decided to go to Barnegat Lighthouse SP where some interesting terns have been reported the last few days. The park can be a little difficult to bird once it has been cordoned off for the nesting birds (skimmers, oystercatchers, Piping Plovers, Least Terns) because the pool beyond the strings is only visible through breaks in the dunes. Walking the narrow corridor between the jetty and dunes I did see the Piping Plovers scurrying around and the oystercatchers running along the beach, but the pool itself didn't seem to hold much beyond gulls. 

Brants

I did find a rarity though--2 summering Brants were loafing near the jetty. As someone who doesn't like to travel, my sympathy was with them. I can just imagine one saying to the other, "Do you really want to fly all the way up to the Arctic, stay a few weeks, and then come all the way back here? For what? The hell with propagating our genes, let's stay here and eat eelgrass." 

Meanwhile, the air was getting milkier as I got closer to the ocean. I'd already given up on finding the rare terns and was just hoping that I'd see a pelican before the air got too tense. Using my scope, I could barely make out a big flock of Black Scoters beyond the old 8th Street jetty--a few Black Scoters in summer is not unusual, but this big a flock broke, around 25, broke the eBird filter. Turning around, I saw some gulls sitting on the beach and just beyond them the first stationary terns of the day--lots had been flying around, including some aggressive Least Terns. Turning my scope to them I immediately saw the tern I'd come for--a Roseate Tern with 6 or 7 Common Terns and a couple of Least Terns. Roseate Tern is a hard bird for me to find--this is only my third sighting. I've probably overlooked them lots of times, since they're so similar to Common Terns--their roseate blush is subtle to say the least. In my photos I can see a hint of it, but through the scope it didn't show. What alerted me to the possibility was an unfamiliar tern call. I played the call and thought that it might match what I'd heard from a bird flying overhead, but I certainly wasn't about to list a bird on that basis. There have been as many as 7 Roseate Terns reported there the last couple of days, and in the now dense fog, I thought I might have seen a second, but I dast not approach any closer, less I flush them. As it was, after a few minutes and a few photos through the scrim, they flew off toward the ocean. Which I could no longer see. Nor could I see the jetty from where I stood, nor could I see more than about 50 feet south of me. I looked at my scope and just laughed. 

Black Skimmer

Fortunately, as I walked away from the water, visibility improved. I never did see a pelican but logged 39 species in the gloaming. 

Brant  2     
Mallard  2
Black Scoter  25     
Mourning Dove  3
American Oystercatcher  7
Piping Plover  5
Willet  3
Semipalmated Sandpiper  1     Stringed off area
Laughing Gull  30
American Herring Gull  25
Great Black-backed Gull  10
Black Skimmer  2
Least Tern  7
Common Tern  25
Roseate Tern  1     
Double-crested Cormorant  11
Glossy Ibis  1
Black-crowned Night Heron  1
Snowy Egret  1
Osprey  1
Willow Flycatcher  1     Heard dunes
Eastern Kingbird  1
White-eyed Vireo  1     Heard parking lot
Fish Crow  3
Carolina Chickadee  1     Heard parking lot
Barn Swallow  2
Carolina Wren  1
European Starling  1
Northern Mockingbird  1
American Robin  1
House Sparrow  15
House Finch  4
Song Sparrow  5
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Boat-tailed Grackle  4
Common Yellowthroat  2
Yellow Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  3

Bermuda 6/11-6/13--Black-bellied Whistling-Duck, Common Gallinule, WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD, Great Kiskadee

WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRDS

 Given that

            I hate airports and airplanes

And given that

           Shari wants to go on vacation

We took a cruise to Bermuda that left out of Bayonne. I had a friend whose theory was that anyplace can be interesting for three days, and that's how many days we had on Bermuda. I knew going in that it wasn't a very birdy island--my brother told me that Bermuda has a "depauperate flora and fauna"--but there was one life bird in the offing, and it seemed we were going at the right season to see it. (The endemic Bermuda Petrel [Cahow], of which there are only about 500, is mainly crepuscular and nocturnal and is rarely seen from land.) We did, however, arrange one day of birding with a local guide. 

I was hoping that during the days at sea I might see shearwaters, petrels, and the like, but the two days on the North Atlantic Ocean going out were devoid of any avian activity. It was the longest time since I've been paying attention that I've gone without seeing a bird and quite possibly the longest time since I was an infant. 

There isn't a lot for me to do on a ship--the weather was fine yet windy and chilly so I wasn't inclined to sunbathe or use the pool--but our balcony (the company called it a "verandah") was protected from the wind and there was a certain mesmerizing quality to just sitting there staring at the "wide, wide sea," which was the name of the book I read on the trip, a history of Captain Cook's third and fatal voyage. 

My parents used to take a lot of cruises and now I can see why my father always came back 20 pounds heavier. Food is everywhere and constant ("Anyone for Midnight Pizza?") and looking at my fellow passengers I can see why GLP-1 drugs are such a thing now. I would estimate the avoirdupois of the 3000 paying customers equaled the tonnage of the ship itself.  

On Wednesday morning, as we were entering the old Royal Dockyard, I went up on deck and scanned the sky for birds and the first ones I saw had long streamer tails and just like that I had my life bird, the WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD. I texted Shari down in the stateroom and she saw them from a different vantage point. They weren't hard to find. During the three days we were there they were a constant presence overhead anytime you were near water, and since Bermuda is, at its widest point, a mile and a half across, we were always near water.

Great Kiskadee, Spittal Pond

We disembarked and headed directly to the old English fort, hewn from limestone. As we were walking there, we heard call we were familiar with from Texas and Mexico. There on one of the ramparts of the fort was a Great Kiskadee. Kiskadees are not native to the island. They were brought there to control the three types of anoles that were brought to Bermuda, two by accident, one deliberately to control the fruit fly population but then became a pest, like the other two lizards. The kiskadees were successful in their efforts but now have turned their attention to the endemic Bermuda Skink, which they are also successfully eradicating. You'd think that the lesson would be learned. You'd think that, but you'd be wrong.

We stopped into the museum inside the fort and got a general overview of Bermuda's history--it had no indigenous population before it was colonized in 1609 after it was discovered by shipwrecked sailors who thought there was plenty to eat there, if you like Cahows. And now you know why the Bermuda Petrel's population is either the second or third smallest avian population. 

Walking up a ramp we could walk around the top of the walls of the fort and looking down into the crevices between the huge limestone blocks we saw a tropicbird enter a nest. There are, according to a plaque, 20 nests in those walls. Also atop the wall were Killdeer. They were the only shorebird species we were to see there and of course they are shorebirds in name only. What we didn't know about Bermuda is that Red Junglefowl (chickens) run loose everywhere. Unfortunately, unlike Key West where eBird lists them as "provisional" they are not countable in Bermuda. But they are amusing. 

Yellow-crowned Night Heron

That evening we took a ferry across the harbor to Hamilton where there was a street festival going on featuring a troupe of gombeys, traditional Bermuda dancers and drummers. Skulking along the edge of the harbor wall was a Yellow-crowned Night Heron which was not in the least intimidated by the crowds, the noise, or the flashing lights. In fact, when we got back on the boat, the heron was standing on the roof, eating popcorn that was thrown up to it. 

Common Gallinule, Spittal Pond

The next day was our birding day. We met our guide and 9 AM and she took us a 40 minute drive to what is probably the main and best birding spot on the island, Spittal Pond, which is a brackish pond near the ocean on the south side of the island. It encompasses five of the six Bermudian habitats, with only "beach" being absent. In the pond we saw Snowy Egrets, Green Heron, Mallards (another "naturalized" bird) and our first Common Gallinules of the year. Climbing up a rather steep path through the woods we came out to limestone cliffs overlooking the ocean, an area called "the checkerboard" because of the deep, straight horizontal and vertical fissures in the rocks that have been carved by eons of waves washing over them. Here again we were treated to 20 or 25 tropicbirds whizzing by and visiting their nests in the openings between the rocks. They make a screech reminiscent of the Common Tern. 

We drove around to the northern end of the island to the airport where there is a retention pond that reminded Shari of Marshall's Pond in Toms River. It was a little smaller and not full of bottles and effluvia, but the comparison was apt. Here we added American Coot and Great Egret to our Bermuda list. 

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck

Our guide, Lynn, is friendly with the manager of the Port Royal Golf Club, which is one of eight on the island and the only public one. We drove there because for the last week or so a rarity was being seen, on and off. She called her friend after we gave a cursory look and he said he'd take a drive down to let her know. When we got to the parking lot above the 17th hole, he drove up in his golf cart and confirmed that 9 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were in the pond there. He offered us a ride, which Shari, having climbed up and over rocks and cliffs during the day took him up on, while Lynn & I walked, trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. I can't ever remember birding a golf course--they have a reputation for being bird-free zones due to their manicuring and heavy pesticide use, but this golf club seemed to be a bit more natural than others I have seen. The grass in places was scraggly, the grounds were rolling hills, and there were big stands of trees all around. The 17th hole pond, as promised did have the 9 goofy whistling ducks, as well as about 50 Mallards, a chicken, a Yellow-crowned Night-heron, and, the only gull we saw in Bermuda, a Lesser Black-backed Gull, standing on the green. According to Lynn, they don't see very many gulls, the water there being relatively nutrient free, which is why it is so clear, thus nothing for smaller prey to eat, thus nothing for gulls to eat. The ban on fast food franchises also limits the dietary choices of gulls. 

The third day we didn't do any birding, though White-tailed Tropicbirds were a constant. Instead, we took a 5-hour tour of the island, top to bottom. For our little sojourn, we had only 21 species, but a lifer and whistling ducks were certainly worth the trip. 

Species    First Sighting
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck    Port Royal GC #17 Pond
Mallard    Spittal Pond NR
Rock Pigeon    Dockyard
Mourning Dove    Dockyard
Common Gallinule    Spittal Pond NR
American Coot    Airport Pond
Killdeer    Dockyard
Lesser Black-backed Gull    Port Royal GC #17 Pond
WHITE-TAILED TROPICBIRD    Dockyard
Yellow-crowned Night Heron    Front Street, Hamilton 
Snowy Egret    Spittal Pond NR
Green Heron    Spittal Pond NR
Great Egret    Spittal Pond NR
Great Kiskadee    Dockyard
White-eyed Vireo    Spittal Pond NR
American Crow    Spittal Pond NR
Barn Swallow    Spittal Pond NR
European Starling    Dockyard
Gray Catbird    Spittal Pond NR
House Sparrow    Dockyard
Northern Cardinal    Spittal Pond NR

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