Island Beach SP 5/2--Least Sandpiper, Blue-headed Vireo, Black-throated Green Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

I started on Reed's Road today and met up with Steve. Of course, since I was there, the birding was slow. I'm beginning to think I'm a Jonah when it comes to migration at Reed's. However, we walked up to the bowl and there, as I was hoping, we came across my first Black-throated Green Warbler of the year. For some reason, I don't see many of these warblers, and for some reason, when I do, it's usually in the bowl. A couple of minutes later, Steve spotted a Blue-headed Vireo in a tree, another year bird for me, so slow going or not, I was happy. Then I found another Black-throated Green and this one paused long enough and close enough for me to document it. 

Steve had other stuff to do, so I continued south, making my next stop at A15, the Kayak Access trail. Lately, there has been a lot of exposed eelgrass there--I don't know if this is from winter storms or if I just happen to have low tide 3 times in a row--and on the eelgrass shorebirds have been feeding. Today there was a flock of Least Sandpipers picking away at the reeking eelgrass--I know this stuff used to be used as insulation, but how they got the smell out is a mystery. Or maybe people weren't so finicky back then when it came to stuffing insulation in your attic and between walls. But it was also used in upholstery!

My next two stops didn't yield anything new, but I did get all the waders I could reasonably expect and at Spizzle Creek, just before I was leaving, I heard a Baltimore Oriole singing at the "T", but I couldn't find it despite looking in every cedar. The oriole was my first for the county this year. 

Least Sandpiper

Slow birding: 45 species.

Brant   Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Mallard   Reed’s Road
Mourning Dove   Reed’s Road
Willet   Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Greater Yellowlegs   Kayak access
Least Sandpiper   Kayak access
Laughing Gull   Reed’s Road
American Herring Gull   Reed’s Road
Great Black-backed Gull   Kayak access
Forster's Tern   Reed’s Road
Double-crested Cormorant   Reed’s Road
Glossy Ibis   Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
Little Blue Heron   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Tricolored Heron   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Snowy Egret   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Great Egret   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Great Blue Heron   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Osprey   Kayak access
Belted Kingfisher   Reed’s Road
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Reed’s Road
Great Crested Flycatcher   Reed’s Road
Eastern Kingbird   Johnny Allen’s Cove Trail
White-eyed Vireo   Reed’s Road
Blue-headed Vireo   Reed’s Road
Carolina Chickadee   Reed’s Road
Tree Swallow   Reed’s Road
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Reed’s Road
Gray Catbird   Reed’s Road
Northern Mockingbird   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
American Robin   Reed’s Road
House Finch   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
American Goldfinch   Reed’s Road
Field Sparrow   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Song Sparrow   Kayak access
Eastern Towhee   Reed’s Road
Baltimore Oriole   Spizzle Creek Blind Trail
Red-winged Blackbird   Reed’s Road
Brown-headed Cowbird   Reed’s Road
Boat-tailed Grackle   Reed’s Road
Common Yellowthroat   Reed’s Road
Northern Parula   Reed’s Road
Yellow Warbler   Reed’s Road
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Reed’s Road
Black-throated Green Warbler   Reed’s Road
Northern Cardinal   Reed’s Road
Rose-breasted Grosbeak   Reed’s Road