February Summary--Rarities

Sandhill Cranes in Ditch Meadow

For a dreary month with under a hundred species I am pretty happy with my February birding mainly because of the three rarities on the list (chronicled here, here, & here). Two of them I found on my own, always more exciting than chasing after a bird, and the Sandhill Cranes at Whitesbog that I found have always been my dream bird for that spot. Although my listing is the first for Whitesbog that record has to have an asterisk attached since my informant, who does not list, has seen them there previously. 

Rome Pond

I was glad to get them on both sides of the county line and I was also happy this week to get close enough to them in Ditch Meadow to get decent photos. Yesterday I searched Ditch Meadow again, twice, and didn't find them, but when I was driving out on the road along Rome Pond I scanned for waterfowl and found them feeding there. Whitesbog is big and these birds seem determined to use as much of it as they can. 

Greater White-fronted Goose, Lake Carasaljo

A couple of days after I found the Greater White-fronted Goose at Lake Carasaljo I got a text from Steve that there were three of them at Shelter Cove, no, make that 10, then another text that there were over 20. He and some other birders finally settled on 24, which is a record flock for New Jersey. I didn't make the drive to Toms River for this spectacle because "you only need one." Steve's amusing tale of the rapidly expanding flock can be found here.

Today I ended my birding activities for the month at the Manasquan Reservoir. I still needed Pied-billed Grebe for the year and that's usually a reliable spot to get one or two. I got two. It has been a long time since I tallied under a 100 species for a month but sometimes weather and life work against you. 95 species this month but the list is sprinkled with year birds, including a backyard Pine Siskin and the rare goose, gull, and cranes.

Species                                       First Sighting
Greater White-fronted Goose   Lake Carasaljo
Brant   Manasquan Inlet
Canada Goose   Whitesbog
Mute Swan   Lake of the Lilies
Tundra Swan   Whitesbog
Wood Duck   Lake Carasaljo
Gadwall   Lake of the Lilies
Mallard   Country Lake Estates
American Black Duck   Whitesbog
Northern Pintail   Double Trouble SP
Green-winged Teal   Lake Carasaljo
Canvasback   Lake of the Lilies
Redhead   Lake of the Lilies
Ring-necked Duck   Country Lake Estates
Greater Scaup   Manasquan Inlet
Lesser Scaup   Double Trouble SP
Surf Scoter   Holgate
Black Scoter   Manasquan Inlet
Long-tailed Duck   Manasquan Inlet
Bufflehead   Double Trouble SP
Common Goldeneye   Hideaway Cove
Hooded Merganser   Double Trouble SP
Common Merganser   Lake Carasaljo
Red-breasted Merganser   Manasquan Inlet
Ruddy Duck   Lake of the Lilies
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
American Coot   Lake of the Lilies
Sandhill Crane   Whitesbog
American Oystercatcher   Holgate
Killdeer   Whitesbog
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs
Greater Yellowlegs   Bayview Ave Marshes
Sanderling   Manasquan Inlet
Purple Sandpiper   Manasquan Inlet
Black-headed Gull   Bayview Ave Marshes
Ring-billed Gull   Country Lake Estates
American Herring Gull   Whitesbog
Great Black-backed Gull   Lake of the Lilies
Pied-billed Grebe   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Horned Grebe   Berkeley Island County Park
Red-throated Loon   Manasquan Inlet
Common Loon   Manasquan Inlet
Double-crested Cormorant   Lake of the Lilies
Great Egret   Lake of the Lilies
Great Blue Heron   Whitesbog
Black Vulture   Winding River Park
Turkey Vulture   35 Sunset Rd
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Whitesbog
Cooper's Hawk   Whitesbog
Northern Harrier   Double Trouble SP
Bald Eagle   Lake Carasaljo
Red-tailed Hawk   Pemberton
Eastern Screech-Owl   Whitesbog
Great Horned Owl   Whitesbog
Belted Kingfisher   Waretown
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Northern Flicker   Cranberry Bogs
American Kestrel   Pasadena Road
Blue Jay   Whitesbog
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Common Raven   Whitesbog
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   Whitesbog
Horned Lark   Jackson Liberty HS
Tree Swallow   Great Bay Blvd
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Cranberry Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog Road
Brown Creeper   Winding River Park
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Mockingbird   Whitesbog
Eastern Bluebird   35 Sunset Rd
Hermit Thrush   Whitesbog
American Robin   Whitesbog
House Sparrow   Lake of the Lilies
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   Whitesbog
Fox Sparrow   Whitesbog
Dark-eyed Junco   Whitesbog
White-throated Sparrow   Lake Carasaljo
Song Sparrow   Whitesbog
Swamp Sparrow   Double Trouble SP
Red-winged Blackbird   Lake of the Lilies
Common Grackle   Lake Carasaljo
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Union Transportation Trail
Northern Cardinal   Whitesbog 

Lake of the Lilies 2/5--American Coot

American Coot

A little jaunt up to Pt. Pleasant Beach yesterday. For a moment, it was a head-scratcher how American Coot came up as a year-bird on my eBird list so late in the year until I realized that I hadn't been to either Pt Pleasant or the Manasquan Reservoir (the other site I'm sure to see flocks of them) this year. There were plenty of them there, more than the 75 the eBird filter would swallow, but I had no interest in making a 1 x 1 count of diving birds. With diving ducks, grebes, loons, or coots, I always figure that at any given time, about 1/3 of them are under water. 

Redheads (drakes & hens) with coots

Last month, when I was at Lake Carasaljo, I saw one Redhead and I was very happy to find it. Redheads can be a hard get in-county. Ironically, the first ducks I saw at LotL were Redheads, lots of them. Again, diving ducks, but I figured at least 50. But the quantity didn't surpass the quality of the initial find. I was more interested, though, in the 10 Canvasbacks, drakes and hens, that were in the middle of the lake. That's another duck you have to seek out, and LotL isn't usually one of the seeking sites. 

Canvasbacks

Surprisingly, there were no wigeon there, which means I may have lost my opportunity for Eurasian Wigeon which had been a long-staying visitor there since early in the winter. After viewing the lake from 3 sides, I steeled myself for some time on the jetty at Manaquan Inlet. I managed an hour of seawatching, enough time to prove to myself, yet again, that I am either a bad at standing still in one place or that I am unlucky at finding birds on the water--probably a combination of both since what I saw (aside from Red-throated Loon which went as a county bird) was dull compared to the alcids (Razorbills & Dovekies) that another (better/luckier) birder found flying by the jetty earlier that morning. 

My list from Lake of the Lilies, the more interesting of the two:

21 species
Canada Goose  50
Mute Swan  40
Gadwall  15
Mallard  60
American Black Duck  5
Canvasback  10
Redhead  50
Lesser Scaup  49
Hooded Merganser  30
Ruddy Duck  25
Mourning Dove  10
American Coot  75
American Herring Gull  15
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Great Egret  1
European Starling  10
Northern Mockingbird  3
House Sparrow  20
Song Sparrow  2
Red-winged Blackbird  1

The Rest of the Month

Greater White-front Goose (center) with Canada Geese, Mercer Corporate Park

After our Iberian sojourn, I spent the last half of October birding my favorite, close-by spots, knowing that I'd missed most of migration. The first day back I went to Whitesbog to find that almost every drop of water had been drained from the bogs--there were very few shorebirds there, but raptors big (Bald Eagle) and small (kestrel) were easy to find.  I returned to Whitesbog quite often the last two weeks, but finally had to admit I was getting diminishing returns.

Solitary Sandpiper, Colliers Mills

Mostly I went to old cranberry bogs and looked for what wasn't supposed to be there and most of the time I only found what was supposed to be there. A walk around Colliers Mills though, did make me happy, when I was able to find my old friend the Red-headed Woodpecker without having to look hard, a big flock of Rusty Blackbirds in a dried-up pond, and a very late, not supposed to be there, Solitary Sandpiper in yet another body of non-water.  

Everywhere I went, whether it was the cranberry bogs in South Toms River, Double Trouble, Cloverdale Farm, or even the Manasquan Reservoir, water was either low or pretending to be mud--obviously we're in a severe drought that will seemingly take a month of heavy rain to alleviate. 

Today, the last day of the month, I found my latest year bird, a Greater White-fronted Goose in the Mercer Corporate Park. I'd spent the morning at Assunpink (again, nothing out of the ordinary) and then swung by the MCP. This used to be a great place to stop off and look for rarities, but a couple of years ago the owners put up No Trespassing signs and the hot spot fell off the rarity radar, so I was surprised to see this bird show up on one of the alerts. I've seen Greater White-fronted there in the past, so it wasn't that unusual. I pulled into the driveway and stopped just before the Keep Out signs and scanned the first pond, which had about 500 Canada Geese in it. That's always discouraging, but the Greater White-fronted's pink/orange bill popped out of the surrounding geese and I was able to get one mediocre photo before a security guard pulled up and politely told me to scram. 

With the Eurasian Wigeon and the Nelson's Sparrow found earlier, that made 3 year-birds for the 17 days of NJ birding. After wandering around Spain and Portugal for two weeks, I couldn't work up a lot of interest in local rarities.

For the rest of the month, I found 106 species spread out over Atlantic, Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, and Ocean Counties. 

Species                         First Sighting
Greater White-fronted Goose   Mercer Corporate Park
Canada Goose   Whitesbog
Mute Swan   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Wood Duck   Cranberry Bogs
Northern Shoveler   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Gadwall   Holly Lake
Eurasian Wigeon   Marshall's Pond
American Wigeon   Marshall's Pond
Mallard   Cranberry Bogs
American Black Duck   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Northern Pintail   Brig
Green-winged Teal   Whitesbog
Ring-necked Duck   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Bufflehead   Browns Woods
Hooded Merganser   Brig
Ruddy Duck   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Rock Pigeon   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Mourning Dove   Cranberry Bogs
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Blvd
American Coot   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Killdeer   Whitesbog
Semipalmated Plover   Whitesbog
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs
Solitary Sandpiper   Colliers Mills WMA
Lesser Yellowlegs   Whitesbog
Greater Yellowlegs   Whitesbog
Ruddy Turnstone   Great Bay Blvd
Dunlin   Great Bay Blvd
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig
Laughing Gull   Barnegat Municipal Dock
Ring-billed Gull   Brig
American Herring Gull   Whitesbog
Forster's Tern   Great Bay Blvd
Royal Tern   Barnegat Municipal Dock
Pied-billed Grebe   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Double-crested Cormorant   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Black-crowned Night Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Tricolored Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Snowy Egret   Great Bay Blvd
Great Egret   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Great Blue Heron   Whitesbog
Black Vulture   35 Sunset Rd
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog
Osprey   Whitesbog
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Whitesbog
Cooper's Hawk   Cranberry Bogs
Northern Harrier   Double Trouble SP
Bald Eagle   Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk   Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Double Trouble SP
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Cranberry Bogs
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Whitesbog
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog
American Kestrel   Whitesbog
Merlin   Cranberry Bogs
Peregrine Falcon   Manasquan Reservoir IBA
Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog
Blue-headed Vireo   Great Bay Blvd
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   Brig
Common Raven   Whitesbog
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Tree Swallow   Whitesbog
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Whitesbog
White-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog
Winter Wren   Cranberry Bogs
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   Whitesbog
Gray Catbird   Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Eastern Bluebird   Whitesbog
Hermit Thrush   Great Bay Blvd
American Robin   Whitesbog
House Sparrow   Assunpink WMA
House Finch   Whitesbog
American Goldfinch   Whitesbog
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Dark-eyed Junco   Cranberry Bogs
White-throated Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Seaside Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Nelson's Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Savannah Sparrow   Whitesbog
Song Sparrow   Whitesbog
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee   Whitesbog
Eastern Meadowlark   Brig
Baltimore Oriole   35 Sunset Rd
Red-winged Blackbird   Whitesbog
Rusty Blackbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Grackle   Whitesbog
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Blvd
Blackpoll Warbler   Cattus Island County Park
Palm Warbler   Whitesbog
Pine Warbler   Whitesbog
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal   Whitesbog

Peregrine Falcon, Brig

Manasquan Reservoir 6/23--Brown Booby

I wouldn't have known about the Brown Booby if I hadn't been talking on the phone last night to my buddy Bob Auster. I don't subscribe to most of the rare bird alerts anymore and I've narrowed down the eBird reports to just a couple of counties. I've always worked on a need-to-know basis and the older I get, it seems, the less I need to know. 

There have been a few boobies in the state this year, but up until this one, they've all been too far to pursue. But the Manasquan Reservoir--one of my favorite spots--is only about a 40-minute drive from here, so Bob & I tentatively planned to meet there early in the morning, before the heat dome took over. 

I arrived first and set up my scope at the boat launch. I've never birded the reservoir in the summer, so I was surprised by how much fishing goes on there. The bird had been reported roosting on buoys way out by the pumping station, so I concentrated my efforts on those white blobs in the water. It was hazy to start, and I didn't see the booby. A park ranger came over and asked if I'd seen it and told me which of the buoys seem to be the magical one, but it still wasn't there--until it was. Somewhere, out of the heat shimmer, a brown shape had materialized and putting the scope up to full power I could see the white belly and light-yellow beak. Great. Now, where was Bob? Because of course, as soon as I took my eyes off it, it disappeared. 

Another birder came by, one of the reservoir regulars who'd already seen it the previous day and while we were talking the booby, seemingly out of nowhere, alighted on the buoy again. And stayed for a good long while, but still no Bob and then it disappeared. The second time it was on the buoy the sun had come out and I could see the details of the bird much better with the sun shining on it. 

Bob arrived around 7 and while I kept my scope on the buoy he scanned the reservoir. Eventually, after a couple of false alarms, he found the bird "loosely associating" with a few geese, floating in the middle of the water. Yesterday, there were pictures of the bird in the same behavior. Odd to see a sea bird tucked in among the geese, but then, it's odd to see a sea bird on fresh water anyway. When the geese got too far ahead of the booby, we saw it take off and fly a couple of hundred feet to catch up with them. 

That was all fine, except my digiscope photos were pathetic. Bob & I decided to walk the path to the other side of the reservoir, hoping to catch sight of the bird from a different angle where there is a road (closed to the public) and view of the pump house, which is only distant instead of our present view, which was very distant. 

It was just about a 2-mile walk to the other side of the reservoir and sure enough, we did have clearer views of the booby, and with only our binoculars since neither of us felt like carry a scope that far. And I got some photos for illustration. It really did like that one particular buoy. 

It is a 5-mile circumambulation around the reservoir, so instead of turning back we decided that it wasn't all that hot--yet--and one more mile wasn't going to make a difference on the sweat index so we completed the walk around, finding the summer birds you would expect(though 10 Warbling Vireos did seem excessive)--but since I'd never been there this time of year, I added 11 birds to my patch list.

This is the time of year when between migrations you either chase rarities or go to your usual spots and hope to find something that isn't supposed to be there. Today was the former; tomorrow I continue the latter. 

Today's list:

37 species
Canada Goose  50
Mute Swan  3
Mallard  1
Laughing Gull  5
Brown Booby  1     
Double-crested Cormorant  7
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  2
Osprey  1
Belted Kingfisher  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Eastern Wood-Pewee  2
Great Crested Flycatcher  3
Eastern Kingbird  1
Warbling Vireo  10
Red-eyed Vireo  5
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  2
Fish Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  6
Tree Swallow  10
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
Carolina Wren  5
Gray Catbird  10
Eastern Bluebird  1
American Robin  2
American Goldfinch  1
Field Sparrow  1
Song Sparrow  2
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Ovenbird  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
Yellow Warbler  2
Pine Warbler  1
Scarlet Tanager  1
Northern Cardinal   3

Lake of the Lilies 2/9--Lesser Black-backed Gull

 I made a few stops around Point Pleasant this morning. Things didn't get off to a good start at Baltimore Avenue which has been turned into a construction site, so I wasn't able to set up my scope, what with dump trucks backing up and excavators scurrying around on their treads. And the tide was in, so there was no sand bar on which one may find an "interesting" gull. Three minutes of that was enough. 

Purple Sandpipers, Manasquan Inlet

I drove over to the Manasquan Inlet and set myself up on the jetty. Unlike the jetty at Barnegat Light, one can walk this jetty without risking life and optics. One can stand on it and scope the ocean without worrying about slipping between the rocks with one wrong step. One does not have an excuse to like "this is too dangerous" or "this is too wet" to get off the jetty. And if you like to look at Common Loons, that was the place to be today. I was kind of hoping for gannets, which I need for the county, but none were in evidence. I did see one Razorbill, always fun to find, but no Dovekies, murres, or guillemots, which are a lot more fun. Most of my entertainment was provided by a big flock of Purple Sandpipers that were feeding on the cement jacks that buttress the jetty. I heard them peeping when I got toward the end of the jetty, and they kept flying up and over the inlet. Every so often, I'd rest my eyes by looking down into the crevasses and see them standing there. Unlike the Barnegat jetty, there doesn't seem to be much growing on the cement there, so what they're finding to eat is a mystery. 

To the south there was what my friend Linda would call a large "herd" of gulls, Herring and Great Black-backed. In any large congregation of gulls there is a very good probability of finding an "interesting" gull if one is 

A) patient &

B) knows what one is looking for.

Since A) does not apply to me and I am spotty on B), I did not walk down the beach to scope the herd. 

Killdeer, Lake of the Lilies

Instead, I went to Lake of the Lilies. It was better than the last time I was there, when the water was 90% frozen, but the duckage was much less than what I'd expect. Predominately scaup (2 greater, the other lesser) and Ruddy Ducks, with the usual American Coots. (Any guesses as to why this is the best place south of the Manasquan Reservoir to find coots?) There was also a big flock of gulls in the middle of the water. I walked around 3/4 of the lake (.4 miles), trying to find anything unusual (Tufted Duck would be nice), while thinking to myself, again, that out of all those gulls, one must be an oddball. When I turned around and got back to my car on Elizabeth Ave, a birder I know had set up his scope just behind where I was parked. We compared notes ("Too bad about Baltimore Avenue") and talked about gull experts we know. We also wondered where the Killdeer were that usually feed on the grassy strip between the water and the fence. Wondering brought two of them in--who knows where they were hiding--and then J found a Lesser Black-backed Gull immature, no less, just to add to the degree of difficulty. I had some difficulty finding it (Greater Black-backs kept getting in the way), but then the bird took off and flew to our right, giving very good looks. When it returned, a few minutes later, good comparisons could be made between it and the other bigger gulls. J was saying before he found the Lesser, that he wanted to get good at gulls. I just want to get good gulls. And I'll mooch them if I have to. 

Manasquan Reservoir 12/8--White-faced Ibis (Monmouth County Bird)

Yesterday, the Mayor of Assunpink asked me if I "had" White-faced Ibis for the year, because there was one at Manasquan Reservoir that had originally been identified as a Glossy Ibis. A Glossy Ibis this late would be very unusual, but a White-faced Ibis, in Monmouth County, in December, is just weird. I told him that actually, I did have the species this year, at Meadowedge Park in Barnegat. Birding is sort of like collecting baseball cards--Do you have a Willie Mays? How about a Pete Rose? 

But then I got to thinking that I didn't have a White-faced Ibis in Monmouth County. In fact, practically no one did, because this was only the second report of the species in that county, and the first one was inaccessible, it being on a private golf course. So, this morning, with the forecast for cold but calm weather (hate the wind off the water), I went up the reservoir. 

I had an idea of where the bird was but when I looked there, I had no luck. Oh well, I'll just walk the perimeter, five miles around, and find what I find. I like all the ducks, coots, and grebes there. Coming back to my car to put away my scope I ran into another birder who was also on the quest. He told me the bird had been reported recently, so I doubled back with him. Still, no luck, until another guy, looking for the bird, read a text from some alert app that the bird was near the Chestnut Point parking lot. Not far, but not where we were. So, since my new acquaintance didn't know where that was and I did, we walked up there together. We were approaching the causeway when suddenly the bird flew up and around us and landed in the little cove in front of us. The light was bad but an ibis has a distinct silhouette so there was the bird. If you had asked me what it was, I'd have said glossy because that's the default species, and it's hard enough to tell a White-faced Ibis from a Glossy when the light is good. I took some photos, which would prove nothing, but this was an "if you say so" bird anyway. 

Happy that he'd gotten his bird, my new friend and I shook hands--he went back to work, and I started the loop around the reservoir. By the time I got almost all the way around, I ticked off more than 30 species. I was back to where I originally had started when I saw my friends Bob & Bruce peering into the low water. "You're in the wrong place," I told them and they said, "No, it's right there." Sure enough, the bird had move yet again, and this time was in decent light. I still wouldn't have called it a White-faced Ibis--I guess, looking at my photos, I could convince myself that the eye is red and that legs are faintly pink, but again, if you say so. 

After a while we had our fill of the bird and started walking back to the parking lot. It was time, I thought, for me to get home, but then we saw Scott coming down the path. Scott had originally looked at the pictures of the bird and determined that it wasn't a glossy and now he was there to get the bird in person and onto his list. Except the directions, as they almost always are, were confusing. Good thing we were there to show him the way. We found the bird again and Scott...said so. 

Lots of out of place birds this season...Limpkin, White-faced Ibis, the common rarity of the Trumpeter Swans at Assunpink, and of course, the Red-flanked Bluetail which persists 1 mile from here and has attracted birds from near and far--Maine, Michigan, Maryland...hundreds of birders walking the winding streets of Internment Camp #5 to the bemusement of fellow villagers. 

My list for Manasquan Reservoir today:

33 species
Canada Goose  140
Mute Swan  5
Northern Shoveler  5
American Wigeon  2
Mallard  105
American Black Duck  100
Lesser Scaup  3
Bufflehead  15
Hooded Merganser  30
Common Merganser  1
Ruddy Duck  60
Pied-billed Grebe  5
Rock Pigeon  55
American Coot  100
Ring-billed Gull  10
Great Blue Heron  1
White-faced Ibis  1     
Belted Kingfisher  3
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1     Heard Wetlands #2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  5
Downy Woodpecker  1
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  1
Merlin  1     Cove trail
Blue Jay  3
American Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  5
White-breasted Nuthatch  3
Carolina Wren  5
American Goldfinch  1
White-throated Sparrow  25
Song Sparrow  2
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2

Chestnut Point Field 12/30--Common Redpoll, Bullock's Oriole

I always thought the field across the street from the Chestnut Point parking lot at Manasquan Reservoir was off limits but, with the discovery of a Bullock's Oriole in there a few days ago, it turned out that I was operating under a misapprehension. I decided to drive up there this morning; Manasquan Reservoir is one of my favorite winter spots anyway, so I figured that if I dipped on the oriole, at least I could take my walk on the 5 mile perimeter trail. I arrived pretty early, the sun low on the horizon, meeting only a couple of other birders that I knew. The bird was seen yesterday, by m.obs, in a field about a quarter mile from the guardrail on Georgia Tavern Road. It looked unpromising to me--a lot of high grass and scattered cedars. It wasn't like a lake or beach you could just scan. So, I walked into the field, muttering to myself about wasting my time and wandering randomly, as you can see as eBird tracked my path. For the first half hour or so not much was happening at all aside from an eagle flyover, a few crows, and a distant Blue Jay call. 

But as the sun rose higher in the sky, some birds started to move around and a flock of them stopped long enough among the high grass for me to get my bins on them. Field sparrows, Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Song Sparrow...and the oriole. Amazing. I'm usually the one running across the field after someone has found the bird. It's the old "Blind Squirrel Theory." I called out, "I have the bird," knowing that was probably enough to spook the oriole, which, of course flew out of sight into a cedar. Luckily, at least one other birder saw it too. He was standing looking at the same stand of grass at a 90 degree angle from where I stood. The few birders there came rushing over. I pointed out where it had gone, determined quickly that my chances of getting a photo were nil, and decided to leave before the second wave of birders descended on the field. 

Which they already were, as I was walking out, including Bob and Linda who were just crossing the road as I was leaving. I gave them directions to the area, but it was really just a case of Zirlin's 4th Law of Birding: Don’t look for the bird, look for the birders. They asked me if I wanted to walk back with them, but I declined and walked around the reservoir as I had planned. 

As an extra added attraction, one time before I found the oriole and one time just after it flew into the cedar tree, Common Redpolls undulated and called overhead. I've been looking for them all fall and winter and naturally, when they aren't on my mind is when I see them. 

When I finished my walk around the reservoir Bob, Linda, Carol, & Steve were just coming out of the field. They had all successfully found the bird which was good news. Nothing as aggravating as dipping on a bird a hundred other people have seen. 

So a successful morning and that field looks promising for grassland species in the spring and summer. 

November in Review--3 Year Birds, 1 Lifer

Bell's Vireo, Sandy Hook

Again, for the 2nd month in a row, only 3 year birds added to the list, but what birds! All rarities, all vagrants, and seeing them ran the gamut of how to find birds.

The first rarity, the Bell's Vireo at Sandy Hook, was the most fun because it was both unexpected and easy--we happened to be with a group a few hundred feet away from the where the bird had just been reported; we walked over, looked around for a few a minutes and there it was and everyone was surprised and happy. No chasing involved.

The 2nd year bird of the month was more of an expedition--a chase for multiple birds with only one success but it was our life bird LECONTE'S SPARROW. Shari, Mike, and I traveled down to Cape May to the "magic field" where all sorts of interesting birds were (and still are) being reported, but it took us almost all the day to finally stumble upon the LeConte's. It was bad enough that we couldn't also find the Golden-crowned Sparrow that was down there which would also have been a year bird, but when we decided to search for the Wood Stork a birder nearby turned around and said, "It's dead." That put a damper on the quest.

Finally, today was the kind of birding I dislike the most--traveling, for a 2nd time, to search a small area for a small bird. At least in the "magic field" we got to walk around a large area. Searching for the Pacific-slope Flycatcher today I walked almost 2 miles back and forth on what might have been an eighth of a mile stretch of trails.

As for the rest of the month, I spent most of it walking in my favorite spots--Assunpink, Manasquan Reservoir, Whitesbog, Manahawkin, Island Beach--plus I added a new favorite place in the extension of the Union Transportation Trail into Ocean County. While I haven't found anything new there, yet, it is only because it late in the year. I feel confident that this barely mowed power line cut will produce many warblers, sparrows, and other passerines in the new year. Plus, the hardwoods along the trail look very inviting for a Pileated Woodpecker.

Prairie Warbler,
Barnegat Light SP

Other interesting birds for the month, rare but not new, were the returning Trumpeter Swans to Stone Tavern Lake, a Cackling Goose for the county on Deerhead Lake, and a very late Prairie Warbler in the dunes of Barnegat Light.

I'm up to 293 NJ birds for the year, more than I've seen in the state any other year. If I'd been willing to chase more, or go on a pelagic, or was just a better birder, I could conceivable have 300 species which is the bogie for the state. With good weather and little less shilly-shallying, I could probably still make 300. But the weather looks lousy for the first couple days of the month and Cape May is an awful long way away.

For the month I had 136 species, all in the state, from Cape May to Sandy Hook.
Counties Birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean.

Species              First Sighting

Snow Goose   Manasquan Reservoir

Brant   Sandy Hook

Cackling Goose   Deer Head Lake

Canada Goose   Manasquan Reservoir

Mute Swan   Manasquan Reservoir

Trumpeter Swan   Stone Tavern Lake

Tundra Swan   Bamber Lake

Wood Duck   Sandy Hook

Northern Shoveler   Manasquan Reservoir

Gadwall   Assunpink WMA

American Wigeon   Assunpink WMA

Mallard   Manasquan Reservoir

American Black Duck   Manasquan Reservoir

Northern Pintail   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Brig

Ring-necked Duck   Manasquan Reservoir

Greater Scaup   Brig

Lesser Scaup   Assunpink WMA

Common Eider   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Harlequin Duck   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Surf Scoter   Sandy Hook

White-winged Scoter   Sandy Hook

Black Scoter   Cape May-Lewes Ferry Terminal

Long-tailed Duck   Island Beach SP

Bufflehead   Manasquan Reservoir

Common Goldeneye   Assunpink WMA

Hooded Merganser   Holly Lake

Red-breasted Merganser   Sandy Hook

Ruddy Duck   Manasquan Reservoir

Wild Turkey   Brig

Pied-billed Grebe   Manasquan Reservoir

Horned Grebe   Brig

Red-necked Grebe   Brig

Rock Pigeon   Manasquan Reservoir

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

American Coot   Manasquan Reservoir

American Avocet   Brig

American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP

Black-bellied Plover   Sandy Hook

Killdeer   Brig

Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Sanderling   Sandy Hook

Dunlin   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Purple Sandpiper   Island Beach SP

Western Sandpiper   Brig

Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig

Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig

Laughing Gull   Manasquan Reservoir

Ring-billed Gull   Manasquan Reservoir

Herring Gull   Sandy Hook

Iceland Gull   Island Beach SP

Lesser Black-backed Gull   Sandy Hook

Great Black-backed Gull   Sandy Hook

Royal Tern   Sandy Hook

Red-throated Loon   Manasquan Reservoir

Common Loon   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Northern Gannet   Sandy Hook

Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Double-crested Cormorant   Manasquan Reservoir

Great Blue Heron   Manasquan Reservoir

Great Egret   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Snowy Egret   Brig

Little Blue Heron   Brig

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

Black Vulture   Sandy Hook

Turkey Vulture   35 Sunset Rd

Osprey   Sandy Hook

Golden Eagle   The Beanery

Northern Harrier   Sandy Hook

Sharp-shinned Hawk   Sandy Hook

Cooper's Hawk   Sandy Hook

Bald Eagle   Sandy Hook

Red-shouldered Hawk   Sandy Hook

Red-tailed Hawk   Sandy Hook

Great Horned Owl   Brig

Barred Owl   The Beanery

Belted Kingfisher   Manasquan Reservoir

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   35 Sunset Rd

Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker   Assunpink WMA

Pileated Woodpecker   Assunpink WMA

Northern Flicker   Manasquan Reservoir

Merlin   Sandy Hook

Peregrine Falcon   Sandy Hook

Pacific-slope Flycatcher   Palmyra Cove Nature Park

Eastern Phoebe   Sandy Hook

Bell's Vireo   Sandy Hook

Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd

American Crow   Manasquan Reservoir

Fish Crow   Assunpink WMA

Common Raven   Berkeley

Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

Golden-crowned Kinglet   35 Sunset Rd

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Sandy Hook

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper   Sandy Hook

House Wren   The Beanery

Winter Wren   Palmyra Cove Nature Park

Marsh Wren   Brig

Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd

European Starling   Manasquan Reservoir

Gray Catbird   Manasquan Reservoir

Brown Thrasher   Assunpink WMA

Northern Mockingbird   Manasquan Reservoir

Eastern Bluebird   Union Transportation Trail

Hermit Thrush   Sandy Hook

American Robin   Manasquan Reservoir

Cedar Waxwing   Palmyra Cove Nature Park

House Sparrow   Holly Lake

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Snow Bunting   Island Beach SP

Chipping Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Field Sparrow   Union Transportation Trail

Fox Sparrow   Manasquan Reservoir

Dark-eyed Junco   Sandy Hook

White-crowned Sparrow   Sandy Hook

White-throated Sparrow   Manasquan Reservoir

LECONTE'S SPARROW   The Beanery

Nelson's Sparrow   Brig

Savannah Sparrow   Sandy Hook

Song Sparrow   Manasquan Reservoir

Lincoln's Sparrow   Brig

Swamp Sparrow   Assunpink WMA

Eastern Towhee   Brig

Eastern Meadowlark   The Beanery

Red-winged Blackbird   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Common Grackle   Assunpink WMA

Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Palm Warbler   Sandy Hook

Pine Warbler   Whiting

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Manasquan Reservoir

Prairie Warbler   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd Boat-tailed Grackle, Barnegat Light SP Great Black-backed Gull, Barnegat Light SP