Laurel Run Park 6/2--Grasshopper Sparrow

There was a time I'd go to Colliers Mills, walk dusty Success Road and before too long I'd have Grasshopper Sparrows singing and teed up on sticks in the fields on either side of the road.  Those days are long gone--you can't find hoppers there anymore, probably because it's a popular spot to train hunting dogs. I can think of 3 reliable places in the county for Grasshopper Sparrows, all problematical. The base at Lakehurst has breeders, but getting on the base requires either signing up for a trip or a project and involves a lot of bureaucracy. You can find them, apparently, at the Stafford Reserve, which sounds like a refuge but is actually a housing development next to a shopping center and I've never had any luck finding them, but then, since it creeps me out to be birding on private property, I've never spent a lot of time there. I've seen reports of them from nearby Robert J. Miller Airpark, but the couple of times I've sought them out there, I've had no success--the constant roar of airplane engines makes it impossible to hear them and the sparrows I've seen on the fence line have always turned out to be Chipping Sparrows. 

So, since Sundays seem to be my Burlco day, I drove out to Laurel Run Park in Delran, where there are open fields next to a working farm and where I have never failed to find them, today being no exception. Grasshopper Sparrows have a little quiet lisp--they must have extraordinary ears to hear each other calling in the fields--they are still within my range, but just barely. The Merlin app was picking up them (not that I find Merlin all that trustworthy, but in this case I figured it was probably correct), but I couldn't hear them over the car noise from Creek Road. Then, far back in the field, almost at the edge of the farm, I saw one sparrow perched up. I took a photo, a very distant photo, and blowing it up on the view screen I could see that it was indeed a Grasshopper Sparrow, caught in the act of singing a song I couldn't hear. It wasn't much of a photo, but at least I had confirmed a sighting. 

I walked the loop around the field and on the other side I thought I could actually hear a hopper. I played a song on my phone, which I could barely hear, and one came flying out and sat in a bush on the side of the road. Beautiful bird--I always forget how handsome they are. This one posed like a pro, giving me full face and profile looks. The only thing that would have made me happier was to have found a Dickcissel there--they've been known to frequent the site. 

About a mile away from Laurel Run is Boundary Creek Park. It has a number of viewing platforms and boardwalks along Rancocas Creek, open fields, forest...a lot of different habitats packed in a relatively small parcel. Another place I go once a year. Two of the viewing platforms are connected by a boardwalk and as I was coming back from the second one, I saw a couple looking at the creek. When the man saw my bins he asked the common question, "Seen any eagles?" 

Since he wasn't in a pickup truck and since I was in a pretty good mood I said, "Yes, there's one right there," pointing across the creek to a power line tower on which an adult Bald Eagle sat--and which I had seen earlier from another platform. He was impressed, but his wife thought it might be "just" a hawk. "No, I said," it's an eagle, waggling my binoculars. He asked if he could borrow them and let him, even though I was a little afraid he might drop them in the marsh in front of us, since he didn't put the strap around his neck. 

He finally focused on the bird and yes indeed, it had a white head, just like a Bald Eagle, which, since it was a Bald Eagle, isn't all that amazing. He said, "I've seen them a few times, but I've never seen one fly." Then it flew. I felt like a genie and was just hoping that his third wish wasn't for a Mercedes. So today, for once, I was a good birding ambassador. 

The Laurel Run list: 

26 species
Canada Goose  2
Mourning Dove  5
Chimney Swift  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Willow Flycatcher  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Warbling Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1
Fish Crow  2
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1
Barn Swallow  1
Carolina Wren  2
European Starling  15
Gray Catbird  1
American Robin  2
American Goldfinch  2
Grasshopper Sparrow  3
Field Sparrow  4
Song Sparrow  2
Red-winged Blackbird  3
Common Grackle  10
Northern Cardinal  3
Indigo Bunting  1

Laurel Run Park 6/3--Grasshopper Sparrow

I can't hear you.

The award for Most Frustrating Bird of the Year (so far) goes to...Grasshopper Sparrow. Time was when I could simply walk Success Road at Colliers Mills and come up with a couple of these shy, elusive sparrows but they've disappeared from there, one theory (mine) being that the constant dog training in the fields has pushed them out. You can still get them at the Lakehurst base (I see that 29 were reported today) but getting on the base is not easy now that the former naturalist there has retired. A trip to Assunpink in May didn't turn up any. So that leaves Laurel Run Park in Delran, Burlington County, as the one place you're most likely to find the species. 

It was frustrating just getting in there this morning. First Rt 38 was closed for unknown reasons, so I had to improvise to get there, and when I arrived, the gates were closed because they don't open until 8 AM. I saw also that the name of the park has been changed to Rainbow Meadows which sounds like the name of a children's book that is sure to be banned by right-wing mommies. Fortunately, Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area is only a mile away, so I turned the car around and went there--the gates were open despite it also supposedly opening at 8. My time there was not unfruitful for my Burlco year list--Marsh Wren, Willow Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, but I was just killing time. 

Knowing that gatekeepers can be lackadaisical, I didn't go back to Laurel Run/Rainbow Meadows until about 8:30 and the gates were indeed open. In the past, I've always found the Groppers on the west side of the mile long loop, so that's where I headed. The field was high with grass and small pushes and one very attractive purple flowering plant which turned out to be Hairy Vetch. Grasshopper Sparrows have a very soft song that is just on the cusp of my auditory capabilities. I thought I heard one call. I opened up the Merlin app and it too heard one, so I knew I was in the right place. But I didn't come all that way just to hear a whispered "pfft." Looking at the taller stems in the field I found one sitting, waving back and forth in the gentle breeze. I took a long-distance picture which more or less showed the bird--a doc shot. 

I circled the field and found pretty much what I'd expect (though not as much as I would hope) and started a second go-round. Again, I heard the little call, but no song. It sounded comparatively loud, and two steps into the field, the sparrow flushed. It teed up on a stem and then to my left, I saw another land on an old traffic cone that is used when the trail is muddy or wet. Okay, that was fine, and really, you only need one, but after my second circuit I still wasn't satisfied so I started loop #3. Same place, maybe same bird(s). This time, though, one of them decided to cooperate and sat on a stem singing. I know it was singing, because I have pictures of the bird with its mouth open, but, even though I was fairly close, I couldn't actually hear the song. I heard one "note." Maybe the birds had been singing all along and what I took for a call was the one part of the song I could hear. It is an eerie feeling to see a bird as if it were mouthing its song. 

I dog walker stopped me and asked what I was looking for and I told him though Grasshopper Sparrow meant nothing to him. As we were talking, another flew from the field behind us to the field where I'd been looking, so for the day, I counted 3. 

Three times around that field pretty much exhausted the entertainment possibilities of the park. I left unfrustrated...for the day, anyway. 

29 species
Canada Goose  1
Mallard  1
Mourning Dove  2
Chimney Swift  2
Great Blue Heron  2
Turkey Vulture  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1     
Willow Flycatcher  1
Warbling Vireo  1
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1
Purple Martin  18
Tree Swallow  2
House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  1
European Starling  50
Northern Mockingbird  2
American Robin  1
House Sparrow  5
House Finch  1
Grasshopper Sparrow  3
Field Sparrow  4
Song Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  5
Common Grackle  2
Yellow Warbler  2
Prairie Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  1

June Wrap-up: COVID Curtailed Edition

Yellow Warbler, Boundary Creek

 A month that started out just ducky, with a Garganey on its first day, lost a lot of its momentum when, after more than two years, COVID finally made its way into the Zirlin household. And it came in just as I always suspected it would: Shari caught it in New York (as best as we can figure) and infected me. Ironically, she was in New York to visit the last doctor she has there. We're quadrupled vaccinated, so the symptoms were mild yet lingering and annoying, like having a cold you can never shake. And while I tried to get out in the field as soon as I could, there was a stretch of days where I had no energy. Unfortunately, for me, that stretch included the days that Roseate Terns were showing up in numbers on Island Beach but there was just no way I could drag myself out there to chase them. 

I spent a lot of time at my favorite cranberry bogs, Whitesbog and Jumping Brook, both before, during, and after (hopefully, I'm in the after stage), and they produced Least Bittern, Common Nighthawk, and Black-billed Cuckoo, all new for the year.  While I was sitting in the house, bored, I got to thinking about how many cranberry bogs I traipse around and, as you can do in eBird, built a "patch list" of all of them to see what my total number of birds was. Impressive at 212 species. And since I like lists, they are:

Bunker Hills Bogs

Budd's Bogs

Cloverdale Farm

Cranberry Bogs on Dover Road

Double Trouble SP

Franklin Parker Preserve

Jumping Brook Preserve

Reeves Bogs and of course

Whitesbog.

I can't guess the total acreage but that's a lot of ground to have covered. 

Only 9 new species for the month, but 138 species in total which is pretty good for a doldrums month.

Counties birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean

Species                First Sighting
Canada Goose  National Guard Training Ctr
Mute Swan  Sylvan Lake
Wood Duck  Whitesbog
Garganey  National Guard Training Ctr
Mallard  National Guard Training Ctr
American Black Duck  Whitesbog
Wild Turkey  35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon  Shark River Inlet
Mourning Dove  35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  35 Sunset Rd
Black-billed Cuckoo  Whitesbog
Common Nighthawk  Whitesbog
Eastern Whip-poor-will  35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift  Jumping Brook Preserve
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail  Great Bay Blvd
Sora  Brig
Black-necked Stilt  Manahawkin WMA
American Avocet  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
American Oystercatcher  Island Beach SP
Black-bellied Plover  Island Beach SP
Semipalmated Plover  Island Beach SP
Piping Plover  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Killdeer  National Guard Training Ctr
Ruddy Turnstone  Island Beach SP
Ruff  Brig
Sanderling  Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper  Jumping Brook Preserve
White-rumped Sandpiper  Brig
Semipalmated Sandpiper  Island Beach SP
Short-billed Dowitcher  Island Beach SP
Spotted Sandpiper  Island Beach SP
Greater Yellowlegs  National Guard Training Ctr
Willet  Great Bay Blvd
Lesser Yellowlegs  National Guard Training Ctr
Laughing Gull  Island Beach SP
Ring-billed Gull   Belmar
Herring Gull  Island Beach SP
Great Black-backed Gull  Island Beach SP
Least Tern  Great Bay Blvd
Gull-billed Tern  Brig
Common Tern  Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern  Island Beach SP
Royal Tern  Island Beach SP
Black Skimmer  Great Bay Blvd
Double-crested Cormorant  Island Beach SP
Brown Pelican  Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Least Bittern  Jumping Brook Preserve
Great Blue Heron  Cranberry Bogs
Great Egret  Cranberry Bogs
Snowy Egret  Great Bay Blvd
Little Blue Heron  Cranberry Bogs
Tricolored Heron  Island Beach SP
Green Heron  Whitesbog
Black-crowned Night-Heron  Great Bay Blvd
White Ibis  Great Bay Blvd
Glossy Ibis  Island Beach SP
Black Vulture  Rt. 70 Pemberton Twp
Turkey Vulture  Cranberry Bogs
Osprey  Island Beach SP
Cooper's Hawk  Reeves Bogs
Bald Eagle  Brig
Red-tailed Hawk  Cranberry Bogs
Belted Kingfisher  Island Beach SP
Red-headed Woodpecker  South Park Rd
Red-bellied Woodpecker  Burrs Mill Brook
Downy Woodpecker  35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker  Evert Trail
Northern Flicker  Cranberry Bogs
Peregrine Falcon  Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Wood-Pewee  Island Beach SP
Acadian Flycatcher  Double Trouble SP
Willow Flycatcher  Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe  Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher  35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Kingbird  Island Beach SP
White-eyed Vireo  Island Beach SP
Yellow-throated Vireo  Reeves Bogs
Warbling Vireo  Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo  Jumping Brook Preserve
Blue Jay  35 Sunset Rd
American Crow  35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow  Shark River Inlet
Carolina Chickadee  35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse  35 Sunset Rd
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  Wesley Lake
Purple Martin  Laurel Run Park
Tree Swallow  Island Beach SP
Bank Swallow  Burrs Mill Brook
Barn Swallow  Island Beach SP
Cliff Swallow  Wesley Lake
White-breasted Nuthatch  Burrs Mill Brook
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  Whitesbog
House Wren  35 Sunset Rd
Marsh Wren  Great Bay Blvd
Carolina Wren  Island Beach SP
European Starling  Island Beach SP
Gray Catbird  Island Beach SP
Brown Thrasher  Island Beach SP
Northern Mockingbird  Island Beach SP
Eastern Bluebird  Cranberry Bogs
Veery  Colliers Mills WMA
Wood Thrush  Jumping Brook Preserve
American Robin  Island Beach SP
Cedar Waxwing  Whitesbog
House Sparrow  Island Beach SP
House Finch  35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch  35 Sunset Rd
Grasshopper Sparrow  Laurel Run Park
Chipping Sparrow  35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow  Whitesbog
Seaside Sparrow  Great Bay Blvd
Saltmarsh Sparrow  Brig
Savannah Sparrow  Jumping Brook Preserve
Song Sparrow  35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow  Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee  Island Beach SP
Yellow-breasted Chat  Brig
Orchard Oriole  Jumping Brook Preserve
Baltimore Oriole  Burrs Mill Brook
Red-winged Blackbird  Island Beach SP
Brown-headed Cowbird  Whitesbog
Common Grackle  National Guard Training Ctr
Boat-tailed Grackle  Island Beach SP
Ovenbird  Whitesbog
Worm-eating Warbler  Evert Trail
Louisiana Waterthrush  Evert Trail
Black-and-white Warbler  Whitesbog
Prothonotary Warbler  Evert Trail
Common Yellowthroat  Island Beach SP
Hooded Warbler  Colliers Mills WMA
American Redstart  Island Beach SP
Yellow Warbler  Island Beach SP
Pine Warbler  35 Sunset Rd
Prairie Warbler  Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal  Island Beach SP
Blue Grosbeak  Laurel Run Park
Indigo Bunting  Colliers Mills WMA

Baby Barn Swallows, Boundary Creek

June Review Summer Doldrums Edition

Well, at least it was a good month for Yellow-breasted Chats. These noisy non-warblers that are probably more closely related to our tanagers were pretty easy to find this month. I had them in 3 counties (Atlantic, Ocean, & Monmouth) which is surely a record for me. The ones in Ocean, Mike and I found in Double Trouble SP. They're a hard bird for Ocean County and attracted a lot of attention until the shearwater show at Barnegat Light distracted everybody and pulled them to the shore. 

Yellow-breasted Chat, Brig

The chats at Double Trouble were totally unexpected and the first ones ever reported for that park. Mike and I were walking int he Sandy Damage Area when I heard one blatting away. I was quite familiar with the "song" having spent a good portion of the previous day looking for and eventually find a couple of them at Brig where they have become a relatively easy annual species ever since they use a hydro-axe and turned woods into fields. 

For the last day of the month I went to the aviation beacon field at Assunpink, which has always been the place they were easiest to find. Today was no exception. I heard one almost immediately in a hedgerow they seem to prefer and walked over there where one of my friends was also looking for it. We never could persuade the bird to come out (pishing sounds pretty weak when a chat is a on a roll) but like the whip-poor-will, their song is so distinctive that you don't feel cheated if you only hear one. 

Great Egret with strange red tail feathers, Brig

I added 8 more species for the year which is not very impressive, but I haven't really been working at it. I chased the shearwaters and, while eventually successful, the chase didn't pass the fun test. I haven't chased other birds in the county. My routine has been to get up fairly early, get to a place that is close by, bird for 3 hours or so and be home by mid-morning. If the birds are where I want to be, fine. I bird every day but I don't want to bird all day. 

This time of year the best places to bird, I feel, are out in the fields and around the bogs. The shore is empty and the sand tough on the legs, the marshes are full of greenhead flies and in the woods you switch to swatting deer flies. I'm not looking to make myself miserable; I can read the news for that.

For the month I had 118 species in Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth and Ocean Counties. 

Species             Location Canada Goose   Double Trouble State Park Mute Swan   Manahawkin WMA Wood Duck   Whitesbog Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA Gadwall   Manahawkin WMA Mallard   Whitesbog American Black Duck   Whitesbog Surf Scoter   Barnegat Lighthouse SP Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd Rock Pigeon   Stafford Preserve Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Double Trouble State Park Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd Ruby-throated Hummingbird   Manasquan River WMA Clapper Rail   Brig Black-necked Stilt   Brig American Avocet   Brig American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP Black-bellied Plover   Brig Piping Plover   Island Beach SP Killdeer   Whitesbog Whimbrel   Brig Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig Greater Yellowlegs   Brig Willet   Manahawkin WMA Laughing Gull   Brig Ring-billed Gull   Island Beach SP Herring Gull   Manasquan River WMA Great Black-backed Gull   Manahawkin WMA Least Tern   Brig Gull-billed Tern   Brig Caspian Tern   Brig Common Tern   Brig Forster's Tern   Manahawkin WMA Black Skimmer   Brig Great Shearwater   Barnegat Lighthouse SP Double-crested Cormorant   Brig Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP Great Blue Heron   Double Trouble State Park Great Egret   Double Trouble State Park Snowy Egret   Manahawkin WMA Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP Tricolored Heron   Manahawkin WMA Green Heron   Brig Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Brig Glossy Ibis   Double Trouble State Park Turkey Vulture   Manasquan River WMA Osprey   Manahawkin WMA Bald Eagle   Laurel Run Park Red-tailed Hawk   Lakehurst Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA Red-bellied Woodpecker   Manasquan River WMA Downy Woodpecker   Double Trouble State Park Hairy Woodpecker   Double Trouble State Park Northern Flicker   Whitesbog Peregrine Falcon   Cedar Bonnet Island Eastern Wood-Pewee   Manasquan River WMA Acadian Flycatcher   Union Transportation Trail Willow Flycatcher   Brig Eastern Phoebe   Double Trouble State Park Great Crested Flycatcher   Double Trouble State Park Eastern Kingbird   Manasquan River WMA White-eyed Vireo   Double Trouble State Park Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA Red-eyed Vireo   Manasquan River WMA Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd American Crow   35 Sunset Rd Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd Carolina Chickadee   Manasquan River WMA Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Manasquan River WMA Purple Martin   Brig Tree Swallow   Manasquan River WMA Bank Swallow   Stafford Preserve Barn Swallow   Manasquan River WMA Cliff Swallow   Wesley Lake White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Manasquan River WMA House Wren   Manasquan River WMA Marsh Wren   Manahawkin WMA Carolina Wren   Manasquan River WMA European Starling   35 Sunset Rd Gray Catbird   Manasquan River WMA Brown Thrasher   Brig Northern Mockingbird   Stafford Preserve Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog Veery   Double Trouble State Park Wood Thrush   Manasquan River WMA American Robin   Manasquan River WMA Cedar Waxwing   Whitesbog House Sparrow   Union Transportation Trail House Finch   35 Sunset Rd American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd Grasshopper Sparrow   Laurel Run Park Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd Field Sparrow   Manasquan River WMA Seaside Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA Song Sparrow   Double Trouble State Park Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog Eastern Towhee   Manasquan River WMA Yellow-breasted Chat   Brig Orchard Oriole   Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area Baltimore Oriole   Whitesbog Red-winged Blackbird   Manasquan River WMA Brown-headed Cowbird   Manasquan River WMA Common Grackle   Whitesbog Boat-tailed Grackle   Brig Ovenbird   Manasquan River WMA Black-and-white Warbler   Double Trouble State Park Common Yellowthroat   Manasquan River WMA Hooded Warbler   Double Trouble State Park Yellow Warbler   Whitesbog Pine Warbler   Double Trouble State Park Prairie Warbler   Double Trouble State Park Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd Blue Grosbeak   Manasquan River WMA Indigo Bunting   Manasquan River WMA

Turkey on the neighbor's pickup truck.

Laurel Run Park 6/12--Grasshopper Sparrow

Grasshopper Sparrow

I had a choice this morning, as I saw it. I could, for the third time, go to Stafford Preserve, which is an ugly housing development set next to a vast sandy wasteland with an acre or so of scrubby fields that no one has had the chance to build on yet and frustrate myself by being someplace I don't like looking for a certain bird or I could go to Laurel Run Park in Burlco, which is part of a preserved farm with a mile long loop around grasslands, hard by Rancocas Creek and be pretty certain of finally finding Grasshopper Sparrow. I chose the latter. 

I was hoping that maybe a Dickcissel would also appear, as Laurel Run has hosted that species a couple of times, but I settled for the "gropper." I made two loops around and found 2, perhaps 3--one flew and landed a little too fast for me to get my bins on it. It was a pleasant morning, but not much else was showing itself. Goldfinches were attracted to the huge purple thistle plants. Interestingly, on my 2nd trip around, all the Grasshopper Sparrows disappeared. Strange how that can happen. Is it unintentional inattentiveness on my part? 

About a mile away from Laurel Run is another park--Boundary Creek Natural Resource Area which has boardwalks and observation platforms overlooking the Rancocas. The idea of the Rancocas being a "creek" seems pretty peculiar when you see a barge drifting along it and know that up until the 1920's there were ferries and tugboats running up and down it as it was the best way to get to Philadelphia from that area. 

I hadn't been to the park in at least a year, maybe two. I remembered it being larger but I was able to cover all the trails, essentially a figure 8, twice, pretty quickly.  I found a few birds I like, including a pair of Orchard Orioles but by far the most interesting sighting was of a Yellow Warbler nest hanging over the main viewing platform. The warblers were going back and forth with food, so I assumed there were nestlings inside, but, as I was taking pictures of the nest while they were out gathering more food, I couldn't figure out what the red triangle sticking up was. It wasn't until I got home and looked at the photos that I realized it was the open mouth of begging baby. 

 

The park had prominent Covid-19 signs posted, stating that masks were required. I'm very cautious, but I doubt the necessity for masks walking trails, but I put mine on and  I'm happy to say that at least in Burlington County, the residents take the rules seriously, since almost everyone I passed, including little kids, had their face coverings in place.