Brig 8/16--American Avocet

American Avocets

I wasn't going to go two months without adding a year bird, was I? Since the local spots have had the same old same old and the weather was propitious, I drove down to Brig early this morning--there were possibilities there, only one of which I considered likely. 

I started the trip walking around the Visitor's Center, looking for the Lark Sparrow that has been hanging in the vicinity for a few days, but it wasn't around and when a couple of other birders showed up looking for it, I decided to bail and do some real birding. 

At the Gull Pond the light was terrible, but I did manage to pick out two Northern Shovelers in among the Mallards--mostly by size and behavior (they were "shoveling") but they did pick their bills out of the shallow water a couple of times to give me the clinching look--they were either hens or eclipsed drakes--too far, to glary, to tell and who cares?

Starting around the Wildlife Drive I was surprised at how little water was in the impoundments--great, desert-like stretches without a puddle. It is traditional to complain about the water levels at Brig but this seemed extreme--it made me regret even more missing the trip to Bombay Hook this year. And that is why I was at Brig--if I wasn't going to get one of my favorite shorebirds in Delaware, then I was hoping I could add it to list in Galloway. And just before the observation tower on the south dike, when I stopped to scan the shorebirds in one of the few decent expanses of water, there they were--6 American Avocets, and even in the lousy light I could see their buffy flanks. A couple had extremely turned up beaks, making them females. Six also was more than eBird thought proper. Luckily, they were all together and I could fit them in one photo frame. 

On the north dike, shorebirds were abundant--but they were much too distant to call them anything other than "peeps." The close-in mud flats had a decent flock of Semipalmated Plovers and a few scattered shorebirds, but if there were any phalaropes, Western Sandpipers, stints, or other rarities, they were among the specks a quarter mile away. Those birds that weren't specks were mostly Short-billed Dowitchers. I bet there was a Long-billed Dowitcher or two in with them, but again, distance was not my friend.

I parked my car at Jen's Trail and decided take my walk along the upland portion of the drive where the greenhead flies tend not to attack you--they pass that job onto the deer flies which are at least easier to kill.  While I was walking a truck pulled alongside me with a couple of birding friends. They'd also been looking for the Lark Sparrow with no luck. They had also missed the avocets, so I told them where they were if they wanted to make a second loop. They did, and on the way back to my car I saw them again. I was about 200 yards away from my car when my friend called me to say that the Lark Sparrow was back, sitting in a dead tree by the pay kiosk across from the Visitor's Center. I hoofed it to my car (my pedometer said I was walking 3.8 mph) and drove about the speed limit to get there, but of course, it was gone by the time I arrived. I spent the next 45 minutes or so walking around the area, looking for the bird, but it was really a half-hearted attempt on my part. The bird could be anywhere and anywhere includes lots of places I can't be. 

For the day, 58 species, a decent number. 

Canada Goose  15
Mute Swan  12
Wood Duck  2
Northern Shoveler  2     
Mallard  20
Mourning Dove  12
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Clapper Rail  2
American Avocet  6     
Black-bellied Plover  30
Killdeer  1
Semipalmated Plover  85
Short-billed Dowitcher  150
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Greater Yellowlegs  5
Ruddy Turnstone  1
Least Sandpiper  120
Semipalmated Sandpiper  30
peep sp.  2000     Too far out to identify
Laughing Gull  150
American Herring Gull  20
Black Skimmer  2
Least Tern  10
Caspian Tern  8
Forster's Tern  105
Double-crested Cormorant  175
White Ibis  16
Glossy Ibis  85
Black-crowned Night Heron  1
Tricolored Heron  1
Snowy Egret  50
Great Egret  80
Great Blue Heron  21
Osprey  3
Cooper's Hawk  1
Bald Eagle  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Eastern Kingbird  2
Blue Jay  3
American Crow  15
Carolina Chickadee  5
Tree Swallow  35
Barn Swallow  4
Northern House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  3
European Starling  50
Gray Catbird  10
Northern Mockingbird  1
House Sparrow  3
American Goldfinch  8
Chipping Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  1
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Common Yellowthroat  2
Northern Cardinal  2

Indigo Bunting  1 

Whitesbog 8/10--White Ibis

Immature White Ibis between Great Egrets

This used to be a big deal. Ten years ago, a White Ibis showing up in New Jersey brought throngs. Now they breed in the hundreds in the state (to the detriment, from what I can tell, of the Yellow-crowned Night-Herons at the Ocean City Visitor's Center rookery--there are only so many trees).  Yet, they're still flagged as rare in Burlington County, and it is only the second one I've seen there--the first one was 10 years ago--and it was a very big deal when Jim Schill found it in the Lower Bog.

Alas, the days of the drawing down the bogs are over, but the Fenwick Bogs--the original 19th century bogs--have been flooded for the last couple of years to rid the vines of girdle worm, and in summer they attract a lot of herons and egrets and even a few shorebirds. When I was walking around them, I saw a mixed flock of Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons dancing around on one of the dikes. There was another smaller, brown bird with them that I knew was going to be interesting. Truth be told, I was hoping for a Limpkin, but it "only" turned out to be an immature White Ibis. I was able to get close enough to get some photos without scaring away the birds, but soon, though the egrets and herons stayed on, the ibis flew off, so I didn't put it on the RBA for Burlco, since--nothing worse than "there was a cool bird here, but now it's gone." 

I'll keep working the bogs--there's no reason a Limpkin couldn't show up, or a Roseate Spoonbill, or a Western Reef-Heron, or...after all, birds have wings.

Birds have wings

Meanwhile, back in the real world, I had 28 species:

Canada Goose  9
Wood Duck  1
Mallard  2
Mourning Dove  5
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Least Sandpiper  7
White Ibis  1   
Green Heron  3
Great Egret  9
Great Blue Heron  8
Belted Kingfisher  1     Heard Rome Pond
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Eastern Kingbird  4
White-eyed Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1     Heard
American Crow  4
Common Raven  1     Heard Fenwick Bogs
Carolina Chickadee  2
Purple Martin  40
Barn Swallow  2
Gray Catbird  8
American Goldfinch  1
Field Sparrow  1     Heard entrance field
Song Sparrow  4
Eastern Towhee  3
Red-winged Blackbird  15
Common Yellowthroat  2

July Wrap-up--Zero Year Birds

Red-headed Woodpecker, Cloverdale Road

If June was a quiet month, then July, to make an oxymoronic statement, was deafeningly silent. Through all my wanderings during the month, I wasn't able to add one bird to the year list. True, I wasn't spending my time seawatching, where I might have lucked onto a storm-petrel or shearwater, but even if I had been of a mind to chase, there was nothing to chase. 

The month had its compensations in the places I birded. I spend a lot of time walking around Whitesbog with my informant where I learned the history, cultivation, and processing of the Elizabeth blueberry and got a refresher course on how to separate Virginia meadowbeauty from Maryland meadowbeauty. As the month progressed, we watched the bogs get discovered by Great Egrets, as they always do this time of year, only they are using the flooded Fenwick bogs instead of the 3 bogs to the east, which are no longer drawn down.   With a little luck and some evaporation, I'm hoping that we may get something of a shorebird season in those formerly working bogs (now under water for the last two years to kill girdle worm). So far, only Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpipers, and Semipalmated Plovers in low numbers have been found feeding in them. 

Turkey Vulture, Whitesbog

And I spent a pleasant morning down at Brig with my buddy Bob Auster. It was only my second trip to Brig this year, and while we dipped on most of the rarities that had been reported there (though we did get the Black-necked Stilts at the Gull Pond), there was a good variety of shorebirds, egrets, and terns to sort through and the greenhead flies were not too bad, with only one painful bite on my elbow. 

I trudged around Colliers Mills, I trudged around the cranberry bogs on Dover Road, I trudged around Double Trouble, I even trudged up and down the Union Transportation Trail by Sharon Station because that day I didn't feel like worrying about ticks. I always say that if the birding isn't productive, at least I got my exercise in. At least I got a lot of exercise in July.

For the month, 112 species in 4 counties: Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean.

Species                 First Sighting
Canada Goose    Colliers Mills WMA
Mute Swan    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Wood Duck    Whitesbog
Mallard    Whitesbog
American Black Duck    Brig
Wild Turkey    35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon    Union Transportation Trail
Mourning Dove    Whitesbog
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Whitesbog
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift    Brig
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail    Brig
Black-necked Stilt    Brig
American Oystercatcher    Brig
Black-bellied Plover    Brig
Killdeer    Double Trouble SP
Semipalmated Plover    Brig
Short-billed Dowitcher    Brig
Spotted Sandpiper    Horicon Lake
Willet    Waretown
Greater Yellowlegs    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Stilt Sandpiper    Brig
Least Sandpiper    Cattus Island County Park
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Brig
Laughing Gull    Whitesbog
American Herring Gull    Cattus Island County Park
Great Black-backed Gull    Brig
Black Skimmer    Brig
Least Tern    Brig
Gull-billed Tern    Whitesbog
Caspian Tern    Brig
Forster's Tern    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Common Tern    Brig
Double-crested Cormorant    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
White Ibis    Waretown
Glossy Ibis    Cranberry Bogs
Black-crowned Night Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Little Blue Heron    Cranberry Bogs
Tricolored Heron    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Snowy Egret    Cranberry Bogs
Green Heron    Whitesbog
Great Egret    Cranberry Bogs
Great Blue Heron    Whitesbog
Black Vulture    Crestwood Village
Turkey Vulture    Whitesbog
Osprey    Cattus Island County Park
Cooper's Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Bald Eagle    Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk    Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher    Cranberry Bogs
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker    Whitesbog
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Whitesbog
Willow Flycatcher    Cattus Island County Park
Eastern Phoebe    Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher    Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Kingbird    Whitesbog
White-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo    Double Trouble SP
Blue Jay    35 Sunset Rd
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow    Whitesbog
Common Raven    Cranberry Bogs
Carolina Chickadee    Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse    Double Trouble SP
Tree Swallow    Whitesbog
Purple Martin    Whitesbog
Northern Rough-winged Swallow    Cranberry Bogs
Barn Swallow    Cranberry Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch    Whitesbog
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Whitesbog
Northern House Wren    Whitesbog
Marsh Wren    Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren    35 Sunset Rd
European Starling    Whitesbog
Gray Catbird    Whitesbog
Brown Thrasher    Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird    Crestwood Village
Eastern Bluebird    Colliers Mills WMA
Veery    Double Trouble SP
Wood Thrush    Cranberry Bogs
American Robin    Whitesbog
Cedar Waxwing    Whitesbog
House Sparrow    Crestwood Village
House Finch    35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch    Whitesbog
Chipping Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow    Whitesbog
Seaside Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Song Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow    Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee    Whitesbog
Orchard Oriole    Whitesbog
Red-winged Blackbird    Whitesbog
Brown-headed Cowbird    Union Transportation Trail
Common Grackle    Whitesbog
Ovenbird    Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler    Whitesbog
Common Yellowthroat    Whitesbog
Northern Yellow Warbler    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Pine Warbler    Double Trouble SP
Prairie Warbler    Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal    35 Sunset Rd
Blue Grosbeak    Colliers Mills WMA
Indigo Bunting    Union Transportation Trail

Always Read the Directions

We just bought a new washing machine. It comes with a "Pet Pro" option, which, not having any pets, we don't need. However, for those who do have pets, the company's lawyers insisted that this note be appended to the directions:

 But if you missed those directions, I'm sure putting Fido in the microwave is a good way of drying him off.

June Wrap-up--Quiet

Green Heron, Whitesbog

Not even doing something wacky like breaking out of my two-county comfort zone and doing a loop at Brig could make June anything other than dull. Migration ended; the warblers are in the boreal forest, the shorebirds are in the arctic, and what we have left, we've pretty much seen. In the whole month I was able to add 4 birds to the year list, 3 of which have been chronicled in entries below. The fourth one was Common Nighthawk which we heard flying over the house a couple of evenings early in the month. All the rare birds--shearwaters, storm-petrels, and really rare birds (a White-tailed Tropicbird was just documented), have been seen from fishing boats and whale-watching trips on neither of which you will ever find me. I'd like to hear a Barred Owl, but not enough to get up a 4 AM or go down to Manahawkin at dusk to hear it. 

Cedar Waxwing, Cranberry Bogs

I spent most of my time at my personal Big Four: Whitesbog, Colliers Mills, Double Trouble, and the Cranberry Bogs on Dover Road. I'm always hoping for the rarities in the places I want to be, instead of chasing them at places I don't particularly want to travel to, and, as I said to Shari today, about 1 time in a 100 it works--like last month at Double Trouble when I found 4 Black-necked Stilts in the Mill Pond. But most of the time it's just like walking through a party attended by old familiar friends. 

For the month a mere 120 species. Because we had to make a trip into New York on June 1, a Blue Jay on Broadway, and a Great Egret in a marsh off the Turnpike were anomalies on the list. The New York trip also explains the entries for the Toms River Bus Station.

Common Name    First Sighting
Canada Goose    Whitesbog
Mute Swan    Waretown
Wood Duck    Cranberry Bogs
Mallard    Whitesbog
American Black Duck    Cranberry Bogs
Black Scoter    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Wild Turkey    35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon    South Toms River
Mourning Dove    35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Whitesbog
Black-billed Cuckoo    Whitesbog
Common Nighthawk    35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift    Whitesbog
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
American Oystercatcher    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black-bellied Plover    Brig
Killdeer    Whitesbog
Piping Plover    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Short-billed Dowitcher    Brig
Wilson's Phalarope    Brig
Spotted Sandpiper    Lighthouse Center
Solitary Sandpiper    Double Trouble SP
Lesser Yellowlegs    Brig
Willet    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Greater Yellowlegs    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Ruddy Turnstone    Island Beach SP
Dunlin    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Laughing Gull    Cattus Island County Park
American Herring Gull    Cattus Island County Park
Great Black-backed Gull    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Black Skimmer    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Least Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Caspian Tern    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Forster's Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Roseate Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Royal Tern    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Common Loon    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant    Whitesbog
White Ibis    Waretown
Glossy Ibis    Island Beach SP
Yellow-crowned Night Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-crowned Night Heron    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Little Blue Heron    Cattus Island County Park
Tricolored Heron    Cattus Island County Park
Snowy Egret    Cattus Island County Park
Green Heron    Whitesbog
Great Egret    New Jersey Turnpike N
Great Blue Heron    Whitesbog
Brown Pelican    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Turkey Vulture    Whitesbog
Osprey    Toms River bus station
Cooper's Hawk    Whitesbog
Bald Eagle    Double Trouble SP
Red-tailed Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Cattus Island County Park
Downy Woodpecker    Cattus Island County Park
Hairy Woodpecker    Whitesbog
Northern Flicker    Whitesbog
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Cattus Island County Park
Willow Flycatcher    Cattus Island County Park
Eastern Phoebe    Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher    Cattus Island County Park
Eastern Kingbird    Cattus Island County Park
White-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Yellow-throated Vireo    Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Blue Jay    2197 Broadway
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven    Island Beach SP
Carolina Chickadee    35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse    Double Trouble SP
Bank Swallow    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Tree Swallow    Cattus Island County Park
Purple Martin    Whitesbog
Northern Rough-winged Swallow    Whitesbog
Barn Swallow    Cattus Island County Park
White-breasted Nuthatch    35 Sunset Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Whitesbog
Northern House Wren    Cattus Island County Park
Marsh Wren    Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren    Colliers Mills WMA
European Starling    35 Sunset Rd
Gray Catbird    Toms River bus station
Brown Thrasher    Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Bluebird    35 Sunset Rd
Veery    Double Trouble SP
Wood Thrush    Double Trouble SP
American Robin    35 Sunset Rd
Cedar Waxwing    Cranberry Bogs
House Sparrow    Toms River bus station
House Finch    Toms River bus station
American Goldfinch    35 Sunset Rd
Grasshopper Sparrow    Colliers Mills WMA
Chipping Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow    Whitesbog
Seaside Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Song Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow    Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee    35 Sunset Rd
Orchard Oriole    Whitesbog
Baltimore Oriole    South Park Rd
Red-winged Blackbird    Cattus Island County Park
Brown-headed Cowbird    Colliers Mills WMA
Common Grackle    Whitesbog
Boat-tailed Grackle    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Ovenbird    Whitesbog
Blue-winged Warbler    Manasquan River WMA
Black-and-white Warbler    Whitesbog
Common Yellowthroat    Cattus Island County Park
Hooded Warbler    Double Trouble SP
American Redstart    Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Yellow Warbler    Cattus Island County Park
Pine Warbler    Whitesbog
Prairie Warbler    Whitesbog
Summer Tanager    South Park Rd
Scarlet Tanager    South Park Rd
Northern Cardinal    Toms River bus station
Blue Grosbeak    Whitesbog
Indigo Bunting    Colliers Mills WMA
Dickcissel    Juliustown-Georgetown Rd

Barnegat Light SP 6/21--Roseate Tern

Roseate Tern, Least Tern, Forster's Tern

When I awoke at 5:30 morning, I looked out the window and saw my brother sorting through his catch on the white tablecloth.  I joined him for a while and help disassemble the lights and cords. He took off for other places to look for butterflies and beetles, and I had to decide where to go for the day. Fighting off deer flies in the woods didn't hold much appeal, so I figured I'd go to Barnegat Light SP and hope for the best. 

This was either the 3rd of 4th expedition to find Roseate Tern in the county, and I promised myself while waiting at one of the stop lights on Central Avenue that if I didn't find one this time, I give up, no more slow-motion rides for 8 miles northward on LBI. When I finally arrived, just after the park was open, I shouldered my scope and ventured forth. Since the "bowl" is stringed off to protect the nesting Piping Plovers, oystercatchers, Least Terns, and skimmers, finding a decent vantage point is a challenge. There are a few gaps in the dunes that afford an obstructed view, and the first one is right where the water flows in from the inlet to feed the pond that was dug out a few years ago. I plunked down my scope, saying let the frustration begin, and boom--there was a Roseate Tern. Just luck, no skill, perhaps a dash of persistence. I swiveled the scope a little to the left and there were two more, breaking my all-time record for most Roseate Terns seen at one time but you only need one. 

Piping Plover

There were plenty of Piping Plovers scurrying about--they all looked grown up to me, and I saw two immature oystercatchers running to mama. There were a lot of Black Skimmers in the bowl and while the Least Tern colony wasn't overwhelming as it was a couple of weeks ago, there was still an impressive number there. 

I walked down to the ocean and south to the sunken mast. A few years ago, this mast of an old fishing boat was deep in the dunes and now it is about 20 feet off the beach which gives one an idea of how much erosion the island is undergoing. I saw 3 hen Black Scoters, which isn't remarkable for these normally winter waterfowl, but then, scanning farther out, I saw a huge flock of scoters--more than enough to break the eBird filter, but looking back at my list from a year ago I had a big flock in the same place then too. 

For the morning's walk 30 species. 

Mallard  3
Black Scoter  50     
Mourning Dove  1
American Oystercatcher  7
Piping Plover  8
Willet  1
Greater Yellowlegs  1     Bowl
Laughing Gull  10
American Herring Gull  30
Great Black-backed Gull  3
Black Skimmer  20
Least Tern  50
Caspian Tern  1     Bowl
Forster's Tern  15
Common Tern  5
Roseate Tern  3     
Common Loon  1     Near scoters
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Snowy Egret  1
Great Egret  4
Osprey  4
Fish Crow  1
European Starling  1
American Robin  1
House Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  2
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Boat-tailed Grackle  2
Common Yellowthroat  2
Northern Cardinal  1

Backyard Bugs

Diplotaxis varia

My brother came over yesterday evening to "light up" our yard in order to attract the beetles and moths he collects. It's a pretty simple set up: you throw a white sheet over the picnic table, turn on three strong lights, then sit back and wait for dozens, then dozens and dozens of insects to land on the sheet (and sometimes you) and pick through the ones you are interested in. The main beetle he was interested in was Diplotaxis varia, which are abundant this time of year in the Pine Barrens. He knows someone in Italy who for some reason is obsessed with these beetles and every once in a while Harry sends him a batch. The one to the left I collected early this month and kept in the freezer. At first, we thought this might be the only one he'd get, but by this morning, when he came back to see what had landed on (and under) the sheet, he'd collected so many that he was tossing them back into the woods. 

For the early part of the evening the insects landing on the sheet (and sometimes me) were mostly beetles. Harry kept up a running commentary as he sorted through the bugs on the sheet and this is some of what I picked up.

Scarab beetles

These are scarab beetles. What kind of scarab beetles? We don't know. The most expert entomologist in the world wouldn't know what species they were unless that expert dissected them and examined their genitalia. Obviously, we weren't going to do field surgery last night.

 

Grapevine pelidnota

This is a Grapevine pelidnota. Very common, my brother says, hardly worth collecting. They're all over our backyard and yet, until last night, I never knew it

Psuedo-scorpion

This one is not an insect, it is an arachnid, an example of one of the psuedo-scorpions. The photo is about five times larger than life size. This little guy rides on the inside of the wings of beetles, feeding on mites that live there. It is sort of the oxpecker of the arachnid world. 

Later in the evening, the moths began to be attracted to the lights. As Harry says, no one truly understands why moths are attracted to lights because as soon as they get there, they become stunned and thus potential food. Harry has seen raccoons, turkeys, and various birds eating moths off a wall he has lit up. But I find the moths a lot more interesting than the beetles--especially now that I know that some of the beetles also have the psuedo-scorpion under their wings. 

Hebrew moth

This one is a Hebrew moth.  It is called that because the wing markings supposedly look like Hebrew lettering. Perhaps to a romantic 18th century lepidopterist they did, but to me I at best see a little heart toward the bottom. 

Checkered apogeshina moth

These next two are just interesting moths, no fascinating facts about them.

The first is a Checkered apogeshina moth, while the one below is the Common lytrosis.

Common lytrosis

Finally, this last moth is one my brother got a little excited about: It is a Northern pine sphinx moth:

Can you see it? It blends in perfectly with the  bark of the pine tree, even aligning itself to the grain of the bark. Here's another picture. I was a foot away and could barely make it out:

I won't even speak of the crane flies, ladybugs (all invasive), and various unpronounceable beetles that landed on the sheet. Suffice it to say that more species of insects lurk in a Pine Barrens backyard than there are species of birds in New Jersey.

Hey kids, you too can find bugs in your backyard with this easy to do set up. Of course, you won't know what they are, but they're there!

WARN-DEP

About a month ago I was way back behind the large reservoir at the cranberry bogs on Dover Road when I heard singing. I rarely meet anyone else in this area except for one other birder who goes there often and the occasional jerk on an ATV. A young guy with a large box on his shoulder was coming toward me. I thought it was some kind of animal trap and asked what he was trying to catch, but he told me that it was actually a big battery and that he was living there in an "underground bunker." I left it at that--my mother taught me not to talk to strangers. I didn't know of any underground bunkers there, but I thought he might have found a trench somewhere.  What I did do was text my fellow birder to give her a heads up. She replied that a lot of odd things had been going on out there--including the disassembly of one of the old pump houses which I had noticed. 

The other day she texted me that in the one remaining pump house someone had obviously set up housekeeping, using parts of the wrecked one to cover up the exposed side of the shed. She called the DEP, who referred it to the park police--the cranberry bogs are officially part of Double Trouble SP (though few people realize this) and thus comes under their jurisdiction. 

That was Thursday. Today I went over there and when I came upon the pump house, I saw that it had clothes in baskets on the floor and a couple of shirts hanging on nails. At the entrance of the bogs, on Dover Road, there was a big cart with a garbage can (Property of Berkeley Township) and a half-filled gallon of water) so I wasn't clear on what was going on. I decided to call it in again. I knew that the number for the NJDEP is WARN-DEP and I assumed it was an 800 number, which I "dialed". Imagine my surprise when I was connected with "the hottest talk line in America." I immediately disconnected. My first thought was "Phone sex? There's still phone sex? How quaint!" 

Then I had to actually look up the DEP's number. In case you ever want to report something, it is an 877 prefix. Operator 113 took my information and phone number and said that he would report it to the park police and that I should expect a call. I was skeptical but 10 minutes later a Sgt Callaway called me, took down the particulars, then told me that that park maintenance had cleared out most of the crap from the shed, included a lounge chair and a cart, but that they had left some stuff which they supposedly were coming back for at noon today. The police were still looking for the occupant--they'd like to have a talk with him since nearby, in South Toms River, someone was threatened with a knife, and the descriptions of the perp could match the description of the guy I met a month ago. I was impressed with the response and even more impressed that they took this seriously. And before anyone gets all goo-goo about harassing the unhoused, I know it's a problem; I also know that the solution is not sleeping in a pump house. 

Osprey, large reservoir

Other than that excitement it was fairly quiet on the bogs and in the meadow (where the buildings used to be--which were torn down a few years ago, no doubt to remove temptation). Evaporation is lowering the water in a lot of the bogs, so waders were in abundance and an Osprey was hunting over the large reservoir--that is when it was not being chased by a clueless blackbird expending energy chasing a raptor with no interest in its nest or chicks. 

Cedar Waxwing, large reservoir

36 species
Wood Duck  4     Bogs
Mourning Dove  3
Glossy Ibis  2
Snowy Egret  2
Green Heron  2     Meadow Bog & outer bogs
Great Egret  12
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Osprey  1     
Northern Flicker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Eastern Kingbird  3
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  1
Tree Swallow  8
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  2     Meadow
Barn Swallow  2
Northern House Wren  2
Gray Catbird  5
American Robin  18
Cedar Waxwing  1
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  1
Chipping Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  4
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Common Grackle  8
Ovenbird  3
Common Yellowthroat  6
Pine Warbler  3

Great Bay Blvd 6/16--Caspian Tern

Caspian Terns

To paraphrase Pete Seeger: 

                There is a season tern tern tern. 

Because migration is over and most of the shorebirds are up north, I have spent an inordinate amount of time the last couple of weeks looking for terns missing from the year list, without, until today, much luck. Everybody and his uncle have managed to find Roseate Tern except for me and I there has even been a Sandwich Tern reported but despite walks on the beaches of Barnegat Light and Island Beach, the best I've come up with is a large number of Royal Terns. (This is starting to remind me of a former Jersey birder who used to catalog in her Listserv missives the birds she didn't see--I once kept a spreadsheet of her misses--it was impressive. So, onto what I did see.) 

I went down to Great Bay Blvd this morning. There is a spot about 1/2 mile north of the first bridge, that looks out onto Tuckerton Cove. I've been able to find Caspian Terns there for the past few years--and my luck held this morning. As soon as I crossed the road and put up my bins, I saw two loafing at the edge of the water. Scope views confirmed them not to be Royal Terns, and so the day had taken a tern for the better. 

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron

It's June so I didn't expect much from the rest of the Boulevard. The only shorebirds present were many vocal Willets. In one of cedar groves both flavors of night-herons were roosting (or were until they sensed my presence). Yellow-crowned Night-Heron can be a difficult bird to find but there were at least four of them in the grove today--3 immature and a very handsome adult. 

There were lots of fishermen on the beach, so that put the kibosh on any activity there aside from the many buzzing Seaside Sparrows. Walking and driving for 4+ miles of road and beach I managed 28 species for the day--not bad for a "shoulder month." 

Mourning Dove  8
Clapper Rail  1
Willet  14
Laughing Gull  70
American Herring Gull  10
Caspian Tern  2     
Forster's Tern  6
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Yellow-crowned Night Heron  4
Black-crowned Night Heron  8
Tricolored Heron  1
Snowy Egret  10
Great Egret  18
Osprey  2
Willow Flycatcher  3
Eastern Kingbird  1     Beginning of road
Fish Crow  1
Tree Swallow  2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1     Roadside
Barn Swallow  25
Marsh Wren  2
Gray Catbird  4
Seaside Sparrow  12
Song Sparrow  6
Red-winged Blackbird  35
Boat-tailed Grackle  15
Common Yellowthroat  5
Northern Yellow Warbler  1

South Park Road | Juliustown-Georgetown Road 6/14--Summer Tanager, Dickcissel

Summer Tanager

 As I often do, another Sunday morning in Burlco. Since Reeves Bog has now become impassable in three spots due to flooding and breaches, I went a little farther and walked along South Park Road in Tabernacle. This late in the season, I didn't expect much. It's usually a reliable spot for Red-headed Woodpecker, but today I couldn't find any--it didn't bother me since I've seen them any number of times this year. South Park runs along a field that once was a farm and bisects a typical Pine Barrens woods, both owned by a private hunting club, so you have to stick to the gravel road itself. I was hearing more birds than I was seeing when I came to the right turn in the road where I had decided to turn around. I heard a call that didn't sound like the usual warblers or vireos that would be in that habitat, so I turned on Merlin and Summer Tanager immediately popped up. I was a little skeptical until I looked up and right in front of me in an oak was the tanager. All red, no black wings, eliminating Scarlet Tanager (which I had seen back by the old farm), and a hefty beak. I got my bins on it for a little big and then it flew off to be replaced by a female--drab yellow, same beak. I was trying to get a picture of the female, which I couldn't, when the male came back and I switched my attentions to him. Finally, I was able to get decent pictures for eBird documentation, along with a recording of the calls. If both male and female were there, could they be nesting? There are records of Summer Tanager nesting in the Pine Barrens, so it is possible. 

Unfortunately for my year list, Summer Tanager wasn't a new addition--I'd heard one last month at the Manasquan River WMA, but seeing one is so much better. But for my next year bird, I did have to settle for "heard only." After stopping at the Thompson-Wright Preserve, which lately has been incorporated as part of the Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve, and walking back to the sand quarry to visit the nesting Bank Swallows, I was of a mind to try find some of the many Dickcissels that have shown up in the county. I knew that they had been heard in fields of Pemberton MUA but having already walked 5 miles, the idea of trudging around fields wasn't all that attractive. I checked the rare bird alerts and saw that a couple had been heard along a road in Columbus, which was only about 20 minutes from where I was at Burrs Mills Brook. They have been singing in the field for a week. I figured if they were there for a week, and had been heard 90 minutes before, there was a decent chance I could get them too. I was half right. After driving along a lot of hyphenated roads and making a left onto Odd Fellows Road, I finally ended up at the pin on Juliustown-Georgetown Road. And there was even a place to pull off the road. Immediately I heard a buzzy call, but it didn't sound like a Dickcissel as I remembered them. Granted, it has been a while since I saw one so I pulled out my semi-trusty Merlin and it instantly returned Dickcissel. The bird was very loud and sound close by across the road. Of course, after standing there for twenty minutes, I still couldn't put eyes on the bird and since the field is private property, I couldn't walk through it to the little stand of trees where the bird sounded like it was singing. I only heard one bird, not the two that had been listed, but that was probably because I was stationery and not traveling up the road listening every quarter mile. I know one Burlco birder had 6 Dickcissels last week along one of the hyphenated roads, but I'm not going for the record, and you only need 1 (Laws of Birding #6).

For the 3 sites, 41 species:

Species            First Sighting
Wild Turkey    South Park Road
Mourning Dove    South Park Road
Turkey Vulture    South Park Road
Red-bellied Woodpecker    South Park Road
Hairy Woodpecker    South Park Road
Northern Flicker    South Park Road
Eastern Wood-Pewee    South Park Road
Eastern Phoebe    South Park Road
Great Crested Flycatcher    South Park Road
Eastern Kingbird    South Park Road
White-eyed Vireo    South Park Road
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Juliustown-Georgetown Road
Red-eyed Vireo    South Park Road
Blue Jay    South Park Road
Carolina Chickadee    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Tufted Titmouse    South Park Road
Bank Swallow    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Tree Swallow    Juliustown-Georgetown Road
White-breasted Nuthatch    South Park Road
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    South Park Road
Carolina Wren    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Gray Catbird    South Park Road
Northern Mockingbird    South Park Road
Wood Thrush    Thompson-Wright Preserve
American Robin    South Park Road
House Finch    South Park Road
Chipping Sparrow    South Park Road
Field Sparrow    South Park Road
Song Sparrow    Juliustown-Georgetown Road
Eastern Towhee    South Park Road
Baltimore Oriole    South Park Road
Red-winged Blackbird    Thompson-Wright Preserve
Ovenbird    South Park Road
Common Yellowthroat    South Park Road
Pine Warbler    South Park Road
Prairie Warbler    South Park Road
Summer Tanager    South Park Road
Scarlet Tanager    South Park Road
Northern Cardinal    South Park Road
Blue Grosbeak    South Park Road
Dickcissel    Juliustown-Georgetown Road