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