June in Review

Grasshopper Sparrow, Colliers Mills

By the middle of the month, avian activity gets very, very quiet hereabouts, so I had to range farther around the state to get new, or at least interesting, birds--a couple of trips to High Point SP, an excursion to Old Mine Road, and even some brief forays into Middlesex County, one for a chase (see above), another--the Monk Parakeets--because I was in the area anyway. And yet, I still haven't made it down to Cape May this year! Which partially explains my lagging list.

Mike and I did okay up at High Point SP, but the Old Mine Road trip had the weather against us--steady rain--and the second trip we were going to make got cancelled because of the weather too.

American Avocet at Brig

In terms of rarities, I did all right for the month coming up with one I wasn't looking for (American Avocet) while looking and not finding another (Roseate Spoonbill) at Brig. Today's Black-bellied Whistling-Ducks are probably the highlight of the month, although the memory I'll carry with me forever is taking my mother to see and hear the Monk Parakeets.

Northern Mockingbird on lamp post in front of house

I spent a lot of time tromping around Colliers Mills looking for a Red-headed Woodpecker and didn't find one, which was frustrating, but I did find other sought after birds there along the way. The Grasshopper Sparrows were very cooperative for a couple of trips. And our backyard had two very interesting birds this month, both mimids. We always have a few Gray Catbirds, but rarely do we have Brown Thrasher and there were two hanging near our feeder for a couple of days. Even more intriguing, for me, are the two Northern Mockingbirds that appear to be nesting behind an ornamental tree up against the house across the street. The first day we looked at this house 7 years ago I saw a mockingbird and didn't think anything of it, but it was years before I saw another in the neighborhood. Now there are two very aggressive birds which I've seen chasing any Fish Crow that dares to come into the vicinity.

Also new for the month were the Common Nighthawks flying over the house--this is a very early date for them; usually they don't appear until August.

The special trip of the month was to the Lakehurst base where the Upland Sandpipers put on quite a show. I'll admit to having become a bit jaded about this trip, so it was fun to be there with birders who'd never been on the base and vicariously enjoy their life birds.

For the month I notched 149 species. I could have run down to Brig today and added the spoonbill, but I have to have something to do in July.

Species                                                 First Sighting

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck   Monroe

Canada Goose   Assunpink WMA

Mute Swan   Sussex

Wood Duck   Whitesbog

Blue-winged Teal   Brig

Mallard   Assunpink WMA

American Black Duck   Ocean City Welcome Center

Green-winged Teal   Brig

Common Merganser   Old Mine Road IBA

Wild Turkey   Assunpink WMA

Common Loon   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Double-crested Cormorant   Assunpink WMA

Brown Pelican   Shark River Inlet

Great Blue Heron   Assunpink WMA

Great Egret   Brig

Snowy Egret   Brig

Little Blue Heron   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Green Heron   Ocean City Preserve

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center

Glossy Ibis   Brig

Black Vulture   New Egypt

Turkey Vulture   Assunpink WMA

Osprey   Brig

Cooper's Hawk   35 Sunset Rd

Bald Eagle   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Red-shouldered Hawk   High Point SP

Broad-winged Hawk   High Point SP

Red-tailed Hawk   Field next to Lakewood Wawa

Clapper Rail   Brig

Virginia Rail   Cattus Island County Park

Common Gallinule   Ocean City Preserve

American Avocet   Brig

American Oystercatcher   Brig

Semipalmated Plover   Brig

Piping Plover   Shark River Inlet

Killdeer   Whitesbog

Upland Sandpiper   Lakehurst NAES

Ruddy Turnstone   Brig

Dunlin   Brig

Least Sandpiper   Brig

White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig

Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Willet   Brig

Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig

Laughing Gull   Brig

Herring Gull   Brig

Great Black-backed Gull   Brig

Least Tern   Brig

Gull-billed Tern   Brig

Caspian Tern   Brig

Common Tern   Shark River Inlet

Forster's Tern   Brig

Black Skimmer   Brig

Rock Pigeon   Forsythe-Barnegat

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Whitesbog

Black-billed Cuckoo   High Point SP

Common Nighthawk   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift   Assunpink WMA

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd

Belted Kingfisher   Old Mine Road IBA

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Assunpink WMA

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   High Point SP

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker   High Point SP

Northern Flicker   Colliers Mills WMA

American Kestrel   Lakehurst NAES

Monk Parakeet   Carteret

Eastern Wood-Pewee   High Point SP

Acadian Flycatcher   Brig

Willow Flycatcher   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Eastern Phoebe   High Point SP

Great Crested Flycatcher   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Kingbird   Assunpink WMA

White-eyed Vireo   Assunpink WMA

Yellow-throated Vireo   Old Mine Road IBA

Warbling Vireo   Assunpink WMA

Red-eyed Vireo   Assunpink WMA

Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd

American Crow   Assunpink WMA

Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Common Raven   Old Mine Road IBA

Horned Lark   Lakehurst NAES

Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Union Transportation Trail

Purple Martin   Brig

Tree Swallow   Assunpink WMA

Bank Swallow   Brig

Barn Swallow   Assunpink WMA

Cliff Swallow   Wesley Lake

Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd

Black-capped Chickadee   High Point SP

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

House Wren   35 Sunset Rd

Marsh Wren   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Carolina Wren   Assunpink WMA

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   High Point SP

Eastern Bluebird   Union Transportation Trail

Veery   High Point SP

Hermit Thrush   High Point SP

Wood Thrush   High Point SP

American Robin   Assunpink WMA

Gray Catbird   Assunpink WMA

Brown Thrasher   Brig

Northern Mockingbird   Assunpink WMA

European Starling   New Egypt

Cedar Waxwing   High Point SP

Ovenbird   Assunpink WMA

Worm-eating Warbler   Old Mine Road IBA

Northern Waterthrush   High Point SP

Black-and-white Warbler   High Point SP

Prothonotary Warbler   Union Transportation Trail

Common Yellowthroat   Assunpink WMA

Hooded Warbler   Old Mine Road IBA

American Redstart   High Point SP

Northern Parula   Old Mine Road IBA

Yellow Warbler   Assunpink WMA

Black-throated Blue Warbler   High Point SP

Pine Warbler   Whitesbog

Prairie Warbler   High Point SP

Canada Warbler   High Point SP

Grasshopper Sparrow   Assunpink WMA

Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Seaside Sparrow   Brig

Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Field Sparrow   Assunpink WMA

Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Swamp Sparrow   Reeves Bogs

Eastern Towhee   Assunpink WMA

Yellow-breasted Chat   Brig

Scarlet Tanager   High Point SP

Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Rose-breasted Grosbeak   High Point SP

Blue Grosbeak   Assunpink WMA

Indigo Bunting   Assunpink WMA

Eastern Meadowlark   Lakehurst NAES

Orchard Oriole   Union Transportation Trail

Baltimore Oriole   High Point SP

Red-winged Blackbird   Assunpink WMA

Brown-headed Cowbird   High Point SP

Common Grackle   Assunpink WMA

Boat-tailed Grackle   Brig

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   Assunpink WMA

House Sparrow   New Egypt Brown Thrasher on our feeder Ovenbird, Whitesbog

High Point SP 6/17--Canada Warbler

It's a long drive to High Point SP to hear and (sorta) see one bird, but my trip up there with Mike (who, happily, doesn't mind a long drive) had other compensations. We did two loops around Cedar Swamp in the Kuser Natural Area at High Point, hoping we might hear, or perhaps flush, a grouse, or failing that (spoiler alert: we failed) get a couple of warblers on the year list. In that we were somewhat successful.

At the start of the trail we ran into a birder we know and she showed us where Canada Warbler was often heard. We'd just passed that spot and saw an unidentified bird that flew too fast and too far back. She heard the bird and pointed out it's sputtering little song--if it sounds like anything it sounds like someone giving you the raspberries. I heard it clearly enough but when it showed itself, briefly, I never got on it. On our 2nd loop, I did manage to see a flash of the bird as it jumped up off a branch and then down into the underbrush. Not the most satisfying listing, but that's warblers!

Warblers we were able to get good looks at were redstarts, Ovenbirds, Black-and-white Warblers, Northern Waterthrush and a single Black-throated Blue Warbler that posed high on a branch in the greenish-cast light of the woods.

But the real highlight of our trip was bird watching. The great thing about northern NJ is that you can see a lot of nesting birds. We saw a female redstart on the ground, which we thought unusual until Mike took a photo that showed her picking up a long stem for her nest and then we saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (which are long gone from our part of the state) visiting her nest and heard her cheeping chicks inside the hollowed out tree.

But the best was a Veery on a nest, something neither of us had ever witnessed.

I told Mike that perhaps it was anthropomorphizing, but there is something about a thrush or warbler sitting on its nest that makes them seem vulnerable and fragile. Perhaps it is because it is both incubating and protecting its eggs at the same time and it seems like a lot to ask of a little bird.

I came away with 27 species. I also broke the record for insect repellent, employing 4 kinds: Permethrin, Off spray, Off wipes, and Ultrathon lotion, all of which worked fine except for the flies bouncing off my eyeballs. Something to be said for wearing glasses.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 3
Great Crested Flycatcher 1 Heard
Yellow-throated Vireo 1 Heard
Red-eyed Vireo 15
Blue Jay 2
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Heard
Veery 5
Wood Thrush 1 Heard
Gray Catbird 1 Heard
Ovenbird 15
Northern Waterthrush 2
Black-and-white Warbler 5
Hooded Warbler 1 Heard
American Redstart 6
Black-throated Blue Warbler 1 Singing
Prairie Warbler 2 Heard
Canada Warbler 1 Heard, saw shape fly
Chipping Sparrow 3
Eastern Towhee 2 Heard
Scarlet Tanager 2
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1 toward end of loop
Brown-headed Cowbird 3 two in parking area, one on trail

High Point SP 6/2--Broad-winged Hawk, Black-capped Chickadee

High Point Monument as seen from Kuser Natural Area

How can you go this far into the year and not have Black-capped Chickadee on the year list? Well, you miss it a couple of times rushing through Central Park, you miss it at Sandy Hook where it is a common rarity, and, one of the few times you bird north of the Raritan River, you're informed that since it is breeding season, they get very quiet and hard to find, unlike the boisterous Carolina Chickadees of the Pine Barrens.

So, did I have to go the northernmost part of New Jersey to find one? Probably not, but that's where Mike and I went today in an attempt to add some new birds to the year list, which, after migration, gets harder and harder until migration reverses to the south and winter rolls around again, giving you a 2nd chance at what you missed.

Neither of us had ever birded the Kuser Natural Area in High Point SP, a 2 mile loop around a cedar swamp. We were hoping for some "exotic" birds that we don't get in South Jersey, like Mourning Warbler, or even a Ruffed Grouse, but we weren't lucky in that regard. Besides the chickadees, the other new bird for me for the year was Broad-winged Hawk which we saw flying over and calling a couple of times.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Going to High Point was like birding a different, unfamiliar state. You're never really sure what should be there and what's considered rare. We saw a Wood Thrush and heard a couple of others, which we didn't think much of, but then, talking to a local, he was quite surprised, saying that they were rare at that elevation. Mike had a Magnolia Warbler of which I only saw the flying silhouette. I didn't much care until I looked it up and found that it was "rare" up there in June.

 We saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, which would be a big surprise this time of year at home; up there, that's a "likely" bird. And a great one to see!

The forecast for today was spotty showers in that area, but aside from morning fog, the weather was fine if a little humid in the woods, until, after our 2nd loop around the trail, just as Mike was unlocking the car, a storm rolled in. Perfect timing.

It isn't a huge day list and a lot of the birds are common, but it was an unusual place for us to go. This time of year you start to consider where can I go to get a new species or should I just go somewhere I like to be. This was the former.

My day list:

Canada Goose

Mute Swan

Wild Turkey

Turkey Vulture

Red-shouldered Hawk

Broad-winged Hawk

Mourning Dove

Black-billed Cuckoo

Chimney Swift

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Eastern Wood-Pewee

Eastern Phoebe

Great Crested Flycatcher

Red-eyed Vireo

Blue Jay

American Crow

Black-capped Chickadee

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Veery

Hermit Thrush

Wood Thrush

American Robin

Gray Catbird

European Starling

Cedar Waxwing

Ovenbird

Northern Waterthrush

Black-and-white Warbler

Common Yellowthroat

American Redstart

Yellow Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Chipping Sparrow

Field Sparrow

Eastern Towhee

Scarlet Tanager

Baltimore Oriole

Red-winged Blackbird

Brown-headed Cowbird

American Goldfinch