Cedar Bonnet Island | Manahawkin WMA 5/10--Hudsonian Whimbrel, Acadian Flycatcher, Nashville Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler

 

Bay-breasted Warbler

A couple of years ago, one of the maintenance men from our village knocked on the door and said that there was a complaint that I was using a chain saw to illegally cut down trees in our yard.  It seems a neighbor had seen me carrying broken branches from a storm out to the curb while at the same time she heard a leaf blower and surmised that I was up to no good. I just laughed at the absurd notion of me using a chain saw, invited the guy to look around while we commiserated about the busybodies in the neighborhood. The only idea more unlikely than me using power tools is me getting a good photograph of a warbler. Case in point to the left. 

I didn't check to see if it was a good migration day or not, I just went to Cedar Bonnet Island early this morning, despite the foggy conditions.  I rationalized that maybe the fog would knock the birds down into the little alleyway of trees that leads to the restoration area.  Naturally, I wasn't the only one with this idea, and I quickly ran into a pod of birders I know (and thankfully, like) who quickly filled me in on the really cool warblers I'd already missed. And would continue to miss until I connected with a Nashville Warbler, high up in a tree. And then two more Nashville Warblers. I have gone a few years without seeing Nashville and now I'd seen three in three minutes. (I wish that Nashville Warblers hybridized with Tennessee Warblers to give us Nashville Tennessee Warblers, but there don't seem to be any records of this hybrid.)

Next up was an exhausted Bay-breasted Warbler that just sat on a branch, the only reason I was able to get the low-quality photo I did.  Warbler flitting from branch to branch, obscured to leaves give me no chance. Then someone heard Blackpoll Warbler. Since Blackpoll is way out of my hearing range, I had to see this bird in order to count it. Fortunately, I was able to find it in the canopy, and then, for good measure, another one came by. Finally, after whiffing a couple of times on Black-throated Green Warbler, I was able to get eyes on one practically on top of our heads, then two more, a male and female, in the more traditional "way up there."  There was also an big influx of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks on the island--more than I've ever seen in one place. I counted 7 but I wouldn't be surprised if the count was twice that. 

That short alley is probably a tenth of mile long--I looked at the pedometer on my phone after being there much longer than I planned and saw that I had walked back and forth, craning my neck for over a mile. Having exhausted, I thought, the entertainment possibilities of that stretch, I walked with a couple of the guys around the larger part of the island. The new bird there, which I probably would have missed had I not been alerted by a sharper-eyed friend, was Hudsonian Whimbrel (it used to be just "Whimbrel" until it was split into a North American and European species), a trio flying over. It wasn't an ideal look, but whimbrel is a hard bird for Ocean County, so I'll take it. We also saw a red fox kit, very calmly sitting in the middle of the path. Unfortunately, it had an injured leg, so its adulthood prospects are low. 

Coming back to the alley we met up with the two guys who'd stayed behind. They were on a pair of Magnolia Warblers. I'd seen them in Mexico, but it was new for the state, new for the county. After 2 hours and 45 minutes, I decided to finish my walk on the mainland and drove over to Manahawkin WMA. Unlike the last time I was there, the impoundments were pretty busy with shorebirds, but nothing new, unlike this day last year when there were both a Black-necked Stilt and a continuing White-faced Ibis in the back impoundment. I walked up Stafford for about a mile and found a few passerines I hadn't had on Cedar Bonnet. Flycatcher were a topic of conversation while we were walking and we were reviewing the various calls of the birds that should be appearing soon--Fitz-bew, Fee-be-o, Quick-three-beers, and Pizza! And I heard Pizza! about halfway up the road, so my last year bird for the day turned out to be Acadian Flycatcher. Couldn't find it, of course. Have to go to Huber to get eyes on it, since they nest by the bridge. 

For the two spots I had 67 species. For me, an excellent count. 

Canada Goose    Cedar Bonnet Island
Mute Swan    Manahawkin WMA
Mallard    Manahawkin WMA
Mourning Dove    Cedar Bonnet Island
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Semipalmated Plover    Cedar Bonnet Island
Hudsonian Whimbrel    Cedar Bonnet Island
Short-billed Dowitcher    Cedar Bonnet Island
Lesser Yellowlegs    Manahawkin WMA
Willet    Cedar Bonnet Island
Greater Yellowlegs    Manahawkin WMA
Least Sandpiper    Cedar Bonnet Island
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Manahawkin WMA
Laughing Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Herring Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Black-backed Gull    Cedar Bonnet Island
Forster's Tern    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Loon    Cedar Bonnet Island
Glossy Ibis    Cedar Bonnet Island
Little Blue Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Tricolored Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Snowy Egret    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Egret    Cedar Bonnet Island
Great Blue Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Osprey    Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Manahawkin WMA
Northern Flicker    Manahawkin WMA
Acadian Flycatcher    Manahawkin WMA
Great Crested Flycatcher    Manahawkin WMA
White-eyed Vireo    Cedar Bonnet Island
Red-eyed Vireo    Manahawkin WMA
Blue Jay    Manahawkin WMA
American Crow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Carolina Chickadee    Manahawkin WMA
Tufted Titmouse    Manahawkin WMA
Tree Swallow    Manahawkin WMA
Barn Swallow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Manahawkin WMA
Northern House Wren    Cedar Bonnet Island
Marsh Wren    Manahawkin WMA
Carolina Wren    Cedar Bonnet Island
Gray Catbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Wood Thrush    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Robin    Cedar Bonnet Island
House Finch    Cedar Bonnet Island
American Goldfinch    Manahawkin WMA
Field Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Seaside Sparrow    Manahawkin WMA
Song Sparrow    Cedar Bonnet Island
Orchard Oriole    Manahawkin WMA
Red-winged Blackbird    Cedar Bonnet Island
Boat-tailed Grackle    Cedar Bonnet Island
Ovenbird    Manahawkin WMA
Black-and-white Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Nashville Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Common Yellowthroat    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Parula    Cedar Bonnet Island
Magnolia Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Bay-breasted Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Yellow Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Blackpoll Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Pine Warbler    Manahawkin WMA
Prairie Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Black-throated Green Warbler    Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Cardinal    Cedar Bonnet Island
Rose-breasted Grosbeak    Cedar Bonnet Island
Indigo Bunting    Cedar Bonnet Island