April Review

Spotted Sandpipers, 4/30, Double Trouble SP

It was an eventful month. A lot of unusual and/or rare birds along with the seasonal arrivals. In all I added 44 species to my year list.

I was all over the state this month, even venturing as far north as Hunterdon County, where I've never birded, in order to finally add Neotropic Cormorant to my state list (thanks Mike!).

Shari & I snuck in a detour to Carteret to add Monk Parakeets, a very entertaining half hour. The highlight rarity though had to be last weekend's Bar-tailed Godwit at Brig. Talk about being at the right place at the right time! We saw the bird about a 1/2 hour after it was first reported, thanks to wonders of text alerts. How did people find rare birds calling up once a week to a hotline? The American White Pelican and 6 American Avocets also at Brig that weekend made it the place to bird at the end of April.

It seemed, as always, that it took migration a while to get started. I think everyone anticipates it so much that feel late when it really isn't. But the warblers are back and the last couple of days I've been actively seeking and finding them. Today, the last day of the month, I had the pleasure of stumbling upon an Ocean County Louisiana Waterthrush at Double Trouble. It was on the same spillway as the two picture Spotted Sandpipers, in fast-moving water, where one should be found. I'd already done well at Double Trouble this morning, hearing Hooded Warbler and seeing my first two Yellow Warblers (as opposed to hearing them last week), when I walked out to the park's big reservoir. I was thinking it was a low percentage hike since no waterfowl would be on the water, so seeing the two sandpipers was a treat. Then I saw another bird bobbing it's tail and it was no sandpiper--too small, stripes on it flanks, clear through...I had the elusive warbler, reinforcing my theory that  you will not find the bird until you have truly given up. Greg had this bird last week in a different spot and I figured it was long gone by today, so I had no expectations of finding it.

Our backyard has seen the return of a few of our favorites--a hen Wild Turkey makes a daily visit, at least one Ruby-throated Hummingbird is partaking of Shari's sugar water, and the Eastern Whip-poor-will is nightly (and early morning) feature of the season. There are actually a number of whip-poor-wills in the neighborhood and when 2 or 3 of them start sounding off it is quite amazing.

I got into "the city" twice this month and was able to finally see a Chuck-will's-widow, as well as add Black-and-white Warbler and Blue-headed Vireo (both in Central Park) to the year list.

In all I listed 154 species for the month, by far the most species this year. May, with a trip to Ohio, has a good chance of surpassing that number. I'll start trying early tomorrow morning. In the meantime, here's last month's list:
Counties birded:
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Cumberland, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean
New York: New York

Species                     Location

Greater White-fronted Goose     Mercer Corporate Park

Brant     Brig

Canada Goose     Whitesbog

Mute Swan     Brig

Tundra Swan     Whitesbog

Wood Duck     Whitesbog

Gadwall     Brig

Eurasian Wigeon     Brig

American Wigeon     Brig

American Black Duck     Whitesbog

Mallard     Whitesbog

Blue-winged Teal     Brig

Northern Shoveler     Brig

Northern Pintail     Brig

Green-winged Teal     Whitesbog

Ring-necked Duck     Whitesbog

Greater Scaup     Great Bay Blvd

Bufflehead     Butterfly Bogs

Hooded Merganser     Whitesbog

Red-breasted Merganser     Brig

Ruddy Duck     Manasquan Reservoir IBA

Wild Turkey     White House

Red-throated Loon     Sunset Beach/Concrete Ship

Common Loon     Spruce Run Reservoir

Pied-billed Grebe     Brig

Horned Grebe     Manasquan Reservoir IBA

Northern Gannet     East Point Lighthouse

Neotropic Cormorant     Demott Pond

Double-crested Cormorant     Clinton

American White Pelican     Brig

American Bittern     Whitesbog

Great Blue Heron     Bunker Hill Bogs

Great Egret     Butterfly Bogs

Snowy Egret     Brig

Little Blue Heron     Island Beach SP

Tricolored Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Cattle Egret     Meadowedge Park

Glossy Ibis     Brig

Black Vulture     FREC

Turkey Vulture     Whitesbog

Osprey     Whitesbog

Northern Harrier     Whitesbog

Sharp-shinned Hawk     Colliers Mills WMA

Cooper's Hawk     Whitesbog

Bald Eagle     35 Sunset Rd

Red-shouldered Hawk     Spruce Run Reservoir

Broad-winged Hawk     Belleplain State Forest

Red-tailed Hawk     35 Sunset Rd

Clapper Rail     Heislerville WMA

American Avocet     Brig

American Oystercatcher     Great Bay Blvd

Black-bellied Plover     Great Bay Blvd

Semipalmated Plover     Heislerville WMA

Killdeer     Bunker Hill Bogs

Spotted Sandpiper     Colliers Mills WMA

Greater Yellowlegs     Brig

Willet     Great Bay Blvd

Lesser Yellowlegs     Heislerville WMA

Whimbrel     Brig

Bar-tailed Godwit     Brig

Sanderling     Norbury's Landing

Dunlin     Great Bay Blvd

Least Sandpiper     Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher     Brig

Bonaparte's Gull     Manasquan Reservoir IBA

Laughing Gull     Brick

Ring-billed Gull     Spruce Run Reservoir

Herring Gull     Spruce Run Reservoir

Lesser Black-backed Gull     Spruce Run Reservoir

Glaucous Gull     Brig

Great Black-backed Gull     Cattus Island County Park

Caspian Tern     Brig

Forster's Tern     Great Bay Blvd

Rock Pigeon     Carteret

Mourning Dove     35 Sunset Rd

Chuck-will's-widow     Bryant Park

Eastern Whip-poor-will     35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift     Brig

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     35 Sunset Rd

Belted Kingfisher     Spruce Run Reservoir

Red-bellied Woodpecker     35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     Central Park

Downy Woodpecker     Whitesbog

Hairy Woodpecker     Double Trouble State Park

Northern Flicker     Whitesbog

American Kestrel     Whitesbog

Merlin     Brig

Peregrine Falcon     Brig

Monk Parakeet     Carteret

Eastern Phoebe     Whitesbog

Eastern Kingbird     Double Trouble State Park

White-eyed Vireo     Brig

Blue-headed Vireo     Central Park

Blue Jay     Double Trouble State Park

American Crow     Whitesbog

Fish Crow     Whitesbog

Common Raven     E. Colliers Mills Rd

Northern Rough-winged Swallow     Cattus Island County Park

Purple Martin     Brig

Tree Swallow     Whitesbog

Barn Swallow     Great Bay Blvd

Carolina Chickadee     Whitesbog

Black-capped Chickadee     Demott Pond

Tufted Titmouse     35 Sunset Rd

Red-breasted Nuthatch     35 Sunset Rd

White-breasted Nuthatch     Whitesbog

House Wren     Norbury's Landing

Carolina Wren     35 Sunset Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     Spruce Run Reservoir

Golden-crowned Kinglet     Whitesbog

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Double Trouble State Park

Eastern Bluebird     Spruce Run Reservoir

Hermit Thrush     Cattus Island County Park

Wood Thrush     Belleplain State Forest

American Robin     Whitesbog

Gray Catbird     Brig

Brown Thrasher     Cox Hall Creek WMA

Northern Mockingbird     Whitesbog

European Starling     35 Sunset Rd

Ovenbird     Belleplain State Forest

Worm-eating Warbler     Evert Memorial Nature Trail

Louisiana Waterthrush     Belleplain State Forest

Black-and-white Warbler     Central Park

Prothonotary Warbler     Belleplain State Forest

Common Yellowthroat     Brig

Hooded Warbler    Evert Memorial Nature Trail

Yellow Warbler     Belleplain State Forest

Palm Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Pine Warbler     Whitesbog

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Whitesbog

Yellow-throated Warbler     Belleplain State Forest

Prairie Warbler     Heislerville WMA

Eastern Towhee     Double Trouble State Park

Chipping Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd

Field Sparrow     Brig

Savannah Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

Fox Sparrow     Whitesbog

Song Sparrow     Whitesbog

Swamp Sparrow     Whitesbog

White-throated Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd

Dark-eyed Junco     Whitesbog

Northern Cardinal     Whitesbog

Red-winged Blackbird     Whitesbog

Rusty Blackbird     Whitesbog

Common Grackle     Whitesbog

Boat-tailed Grackle     Great Bay Blvd

Brown-headed Cowbird     35 Sunset Rd

House Finch     35 Sunset Rd

Purple Finch     35 Sunset Rd

Pine Siskin     35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch     35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow     Clinton

Tree Swallow, Northern Rough-wing Swallow squabbling at Whitesbog

Hunterdon County 4/3--Neotropic Cormorant, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Neotropic Cormorant (front) with Double-crested Cormorants, Demott Pond, Clinton, NJ

Opportunity is supposed to knock once. Last year, when a Neotropic Cormorant spent a couple of months up in Hunterdon County and I didn't drive up for it, I figured I had lost my chance to add it to my state list. Amazingly, last week, presumably the same bird showed up in the same place as last year. So when Mike emailed me yesterday, asking if I was interested in chasing it today, along with a Thayer's Gull that had been reported nearby, I responded with an enthusiastic YES!!!

It was raining when we left but up in the northwest section of the state is was just cloudy. Our first "good" bird was a Wild Turkey running across the road just after we turned off I-78. Hunterdon County was one of two counties in NJ that I've never birded and I've only passed through it on the interstate, so I had no idea where we were or where we were going. Fortunately, Mike did.

Our first stop was in Clinton on an overpass above the South Branch River. There were cormorants in the water and roosting on snags, but they were all of the double-crested variety. We tried a few different vantage points but the bird wasn't there. We were hoping it would be an easy "get" so we could concentrate on finding the Thayer's Gull among the huge flock of gulls we expected on the Spruce Run Reservoir.

Planning to come back for the cormorant, Mike drove us over to the reservoir's boat launch, of which I have heard and read much about as a great place to see gulls. Yesterday someone posted that there were 2400 gulls to sort through. Today there were...28: 26 Ring-bill Gulls, 1 immature Herring Gull and 1 adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.  This was not going well. At least I had the consolation that every bird I saw or heard was a county bird.

We gave up there after about a half hour when the few gulls on the water flew off and drove back to Clinton. We looked briefly at the first spot, where even the Double-crested Cormorants had disappeared, then drove another couple of miles to Demott Pond where the bird has also been hanging out.

And there we found it. It was at first roosting in a tree with drying its outspread wings. It was obviously smaller than the Double-crested Cormorants on the pond, had a shorter tail, was browner and had no coloring on its face. It then plunged into the water, dove, and came up with a fish. We lost sight of it for a moment when it swam around to the back of a little island, but then it appeared as I photographed it above, roosting with the other cormorants, giving us great comparison views. We had our bird.

Bonus bird: I heard my first state Black-capped Chickadee. Mike & I had plenty of them when we were in Minnesota in January.

We also had Thayer's Gull there (3 in fact), but we still wanted it for our state list, so back to Spruce Run we went. There were now no gulls on the water, or the land, or the air. If you're going to miss a bird, then missing it by a mile is better than looking through thousands of gulls with the nagging thought that it is there, but you just don't see it.

Bonus birds: As we were driving out we saw a couple of birders pulled off to the side of the rode checking out the bare trees. We didn't see any raptors up there; they were looking at small birds that they thought might be warblers. The birds were small, too small to be warblers, and when we heard "zeep zeep" and saw one fly, we knew we  had our FOY Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. While they're listed as expected this time of year in south Jersey, in that part of the state they're still flagged as rare.

As we drove on toward the exit I saw a raptor in a tree close to the road. Mike stopped the car and we got a very close look at a Red-shouldered Hawk, a bird I don't see very much and certainly not as near as this one was. However, by the time we were able to get to our cameras, it disappeared--neither of us saw it fly away.

My Hunterdon County life list may be small (28 species) but there are some real goodies on it.

Species                      First Sighting

Canada Goose     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

Mallard     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

Ring-necked Duck     Demott Pond

Wild Turkey     White House

Common Loon     Spruce Run Reservoir

Neotropic Cormorant     Demott Pond

Double-crested Cormorant     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

Turkey Vulture     Demott Pond

Red-shouldered Hawk     Spruce Run Reservoir

Ring-billed Gull     Spruce Run Reservoir

Herring Gull     Spruce Run Reservoir

Lesser Black-backed Gull     Spruce Run Reservoir

Mourning Dove     Spruce Run Reservoir

Belted Kingfisher     Spruce Run Reservoir

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Spruce Run Reservoir

American Crow     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

Fish Crow     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

Tree Swallow     Spruce Run Reservoir

Black-capped Chickadee     Demott Pond

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     Spruce Run Reservoir

Eastern Bluebird     Spruce Run Reservoir

American Robin     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

Chipping Sparrow     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

Song Sparrow     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

White-throated Sparrow     Spruce Run Reservoir

Northern Cardinal     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

Common Grackle     S. Branch overpass, Clinton

House Sparrow     S. Branch overpass, Clinton