Birds & Words: Ocean County Parks Offices

Showing posts with label Ocean County Parks Offices. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Shelter Cove 3/31--Glossy Ibis

Glossy Ibis with geese and a grackle

Little Blue Heron

The plan for today (aside from living through it) was to go to Shelter Cove, pick off the Glossy Ibises that Steve found there a few days ago, walk around a bit, then go over to Cattus Island and walk the marsh trail to the Yellow Trail that goes around the Ocean County Parks offices. Almost immediately upon exiting the car, I knew that was going to be a bad idea. Yet another raw, uncomfortable, windy day. A moment or so later, Steve pulled up--we kept our social distance and he pointed out the ibis to me, which, in the mist and overcast were hard to see in the distance. He also picked out a Little Blue Heron, still flagged as rare in the county.

I could have left then, I suppose, but I subscribe to the practice of another birder I know who says you should stay in a place at least as long as the round trip takes you, so I put on my rubber boots and walked around the flooded fields. Steve drove off in the opposite direction and sent me texts of what he was finding. When I was about as far away from the area as I could be he let me know he had a Wilson's Snipe in the weedy area of the other parking lot, so I sloshed over there and we picked it out, cryptic though it was.

Wilson's Snipe

It was amusing to Steve and me to see the flock of Laughing Gulls in the fields, since only a couple of months ago there was one wintering bird in Point Pleasant that it seemed everyone just had to list (including me, excluding Steve). Steve took off and I walked around a little more, only finding a few Buffleheads in the bay.

Having walked about a mile I ditched the idea of the walk through the marshes, figuring that I don't have to make myself any more miserable than I already feel. As it turns out, it was my last chance for the foreseeable future to do it because as of 6 PM tonight, all Ocean County Parks are closed--and wisely so, I think. My planned route today was based on not coming into contact with any dogwalkers (I doubt anyone would be out with their kids or for a stroll). Too many people still not getting the concept or not caring, or not taking it seriously. A sad state of affairs when you look upon anyone within six feet of you, except your spouse, as your potential murderer.

23 species

Canada Goose 10

Mallard 15

Bufflehead 3

Mourning Dove 2 Heard

Wilson's Snipe 1

Laughing Gull 25

Ring-billed Gull 20

Herring Gull 5

Double-crested Cormorant 19

Little Blue Heron 1

Glossy Ibis 11 Exact count

Osprey 4 Two near fields two on nest

Red-tailed Hawk 1

Fish Crow 6

Carolina Chickadee 2 Heard

White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Heard

Carolina Wren 1 Heard

European Starling 100

American Robin 2

Red-winged Blackbird 10

Common Grackle 50

Pine Warbler 1 woods

Northern Cardinal 1 grove

Monday, February 5, 2018

Toms River 2/5--Killdeer, Belted Kingfisher, Brown Thrasher

Killdeer, Shelter Cove Park

I took walks in a couple of locations in Toms River I hadn't visited in quite a while, stopping first at Shelter Cove park. This is a park primarily given over to recreation that abuts the salt marsh that goes up to Cattus Island Park, but it attracts a lot of birds to its edges, beach, and underwater soccer fields. They must play some interesting matches in Toms River, because those fields are not only constantly flooded but they are also a geese magnet with the accompanying Vienna sausage-shaped goose shit all over the fields.

The geese were there, in large numbers, and mixed in among them was the bird I had hoped to find, a single Killdeer walking unperturbedly amongst the giants. The first Killdeer I ever saw in Ocean County was at this park, on a median in the parking lot and usually that is where I find them--on the drier swards that border the asphalt but I'll take 'em where I find 'em. Killdeer have been scarce this year, so far. I theorize that the extreme cold weather pushed them out--can't find little worms or bugs when the ground is either frozen or covered in snow. I also added Brown Thrasher to the year list, briefly glimpsed at the back of the park along the fence line.

Belted Kingfisher, Ocean County Parks Offices

Shelter Cove is not large enough for a good walk unless you're going to obsessively circle the fields hoping for something new, which is fine except that watching where you step gets tiresome, so after about an hour I drove up a couple of miles to the Ocean County Parks Office grounds, which is really an extension of the trails at Cattus Island. At the boat launch, I heard, then quickly found, another bird that has been missing from the area this winter, a Belted Kingfisher. I think the weather has also moved them out of their normal spots, since diving into ice is probably not a long-term survival strategy. Now that the weather of late has been more "normal," these birds, like the Killdeer, have a chance to make a living again.

My last stop was just because I was passing by on my way home--Marshall's Pond, where I tried for the 3rd time to find the reported Cackling Goose. I looked carefully through 400 or so geese and didn't see one. Some geese were flying out, while some geese were flying in, so that may explain why a few hours later my friend Steve found the cackler. Or, it could have been there all the time and I just stink at identifying that species. But the stop wasn't a complete bust. While I had my binoculars up, scanning the geese at they floated by, I felt something pressing on my wrist. I thought I was brushing up against a tree branch. When I looked to my right, I saw that a Sharp-shinned Hawk had perched there. When it realized I was not a stump, it flew across the pond and perched in a real tree. I've never had so much as a chickadee land on me, so to find a hawk very close to my face was both exhilarating and scary.

For the morning I had 28 species, 3 year birds, and upped my Ocean County list by 5

702 Canada Goose

4 Mute Swan

2 American Black Duck

5 Black Scoter

12 Bufflehead

1 Great Blue Heron

1 Turkey Vulture

1 Sharp-shinned Hawk

1 Killdeer

10 Herring Gull

1 Great Black-backed Gull

1 Belted Kingfisher

1 Red-bellied Woodpecker

1 Downy Woodpecker

1 Northern Flicker

1 American Crow

5 Carolina Chickadee

3 Tufted Titmouse

2 White-breasted Nuthatch

4 Carolina Wren

13 American Robin

1 Brown Thrasher

1 Northern Mockingbird

5 European Starling

3 Yellow-rumped Warbler

6 Dark-eyed Junco

2 Savannah Sparrow

3 Song Sparrow

Friday, September 30, 2016

September Summary

Black-throated Blue Warbler, Sandy Hook

Any month with a life bird (LARK BUNTING) has to be considered a success and doubly so when that lifer is found in NJ. Along with that bird I managed to add 8 additional year birds to the list, some of them, like Parasitic Jaeger and Winter Wren tough ones (for me).

With the closing of Brig and fall migration underway, I spent a fair amount of time at Sandy Hook and though I never hit a huge warbler fall out I did manage to add some from that family to the year list as well as getting my first NJ Philadelphia Vireo there.

Since I finally ran out of birds to list for Bird A Day earlier in the month, the birding has been a bit more, shall we say, relaxing. I haven't done any birding for the last two days because of long lingering rainstorm that seems to want to stay into October. My last foray was on Wednesday at Island Beach where, while the birding tended to be sparse, I did manage to get another look at our local mega-rarity, the Reddish Egret, which will occasionally show itself dancing around the sand bar that can be viewed from the winter anchorage. A very poor digiscope is to the left. I also came across a small flock of White-throated Sparrows along the Spizzle Creek trail which officially closes out summer and can even be considered the end of the beginning of migration.

This month I also added a new yard bird to our list (bringing us up to 93). The other day I heard a lot of noise on the roof and just as I was about to get up to investigate I saw a vulture fly down onto the ground. That isn't that unusual, but this bird happened to be a Black Vulture. There were a few of them mixed in with the much more common Turkey Vultures. I went outside to take pictures of the flock, which was moving around from rooftop to rooftop, but kept a certain distance as their defense mechanism consists of projectile vomit. Even though they are harmless (aside from the vomit), they are inescapably creepy, especially when roosting 'round your roof.

Turkey Vulture at sunset on Sunset Rd.

For the month I had 158 species, all in NJ.

Counties birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean, Union

Species First Sighting

Canada Goose Forsythe-Barnegat

Mute Swan Lake of the Lilies

Wood Duck Colliers Mills WMA

American Black Duck Whitesbog

Mallard Whitesbog

Northern Shoveler Forsythe-Barnegat

Red-breasted Merganser Sandy Hook

Wild Turkey 35 Sunset Rd

Common Loon Island Beach SP--Reed's Road

Pied-billed Grebe Double Trouble State Park

Double-crested Cormorant Island Beach SP

Brown Pelican Island Beach SP--Winter Anchorage

Great Blue Heron Whitesbog

Great Egret Island Beach SP

Snowy Egret Island Beach SP

Little Blue Heron Brig

Tricolored Heron Island Beach SP

Reddish Egret Island Beach SP--Winter Anchorage

Green Heron Cloverdale Farm

Black-crowned Night-Heron Brig

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron Great Bay Blvd

Glossy Ibis Great Bay Blvd

Black Vulture Sandy Hook

Turkey Vulture 35 Sunset Rd

Osprey Island Beach SP

Northern Harrier Brig

Sharp-shinned Hawk Sandy Hook

Cooper's Hawk Gordon Road Reed's Sod Farm

Bald Eagle Whitesbog

Red-tailed Hawk Crestwood Village

Clapper Rail Sandy Hook

Common Gallinule Lake of the Lilies

American Oystercatcher Sandy Hook--Spermaceti Cove area

Black-bellied Plover Sandy Hook

Semipalmated Plover Great Bay Blvd

Piping Plover Sandy Hook

Killdeer Whitesbog

Whimbrel Sandy Hook

Hudsonian Godwit Brig

Sanderling Island Beach SP

Dunlin Sandy Hook

Baird's Sandpiper Sandy Hook

Least Sandpiper Whitesbog

White-rumped Sandpiper Brig

Buff-breasted Sandpiper Gordon Road Reed's Sod Farm

Pectoral Sandpiper Whitesbog

Semipalmated Sandpiper Whitesbog

Western Sandpiper Great Bay Blvd

Short-billed Dowitcher Whitesbog

Wilson's Phalarope Holmdel-Willowbrook Rd

Spotted Sandpiper Cloverdale Farm

Solitary Sandpiper Cloverdale Farm

Greater Yellowlegs Whitesbog

Willet Sandy Hook

Lesser Yellowlegs Forsythe-Barnegat

Parasitic Jaeger Sandy Hook

Bonaparte's Gull Sandy Hook--Spermaceti Cove area

Laughing Gull Island Beach SP

Ring-billed Gull Sandy Hook

Herring Gull Island Beach SP--Reed's Road

Lesser Black-backed Gull Sandy Hook

Great Black-backed Gull Island Beach SP

Caspian Tern Sandy Hook

Common Tern Sandy Hook

Forster's Tern Great Bay Blvd

Royal Tern Sandy Hook

Black Skimmer Brig

Rock Pigeon Gordon Road Reed's Sod Farm

Mourning Dove 35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-billed Cuckoo Sandy Hook

Black-billed Cuckoo Cattus Island County Park

Common Nighthawk 35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will 35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift Colliers Mills WMA

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 35 Sunset Rd

Belted Kingfisher Forsythe-Barnegat

Red-headed Woodpecker Cloverdale Farm

Red-bellied Woodpecker Whitesbog

Downy Woodpecker 35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker Cloverdale Farm

Northern Flicker Forsythe-Barnegat

American Kestrel Forsythe-Barnegat

Merlin Whitesbog

Peregrine Falcon Great Bay Blvd

Eastern Wood-Pewee 35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Phoebe Whitesbog

Great Crested Flycatcher Cloverdale Farm

Eastern Kingbird Brig

White-eyed Vireo Sandy Hook--Spermaceti Cove area

Yellow-throated Vireo Sandy Hook

Blue-headed Vireo Sandy Hook

Philadelphia Vireo Sandy Hook

Warbling Vireo Island Beach SP

Red-eyed Vireo Island Beach SP--Reed's Road

Blue Jay 35 Sunset Rd

American Crow 35 Sunset Rd

Fish Crow 35 Sunset Rd

Purple Martin Whitesbog

Tree Swallow Whitesbog

Bank Swallow Island Beach SP

Barn Swallow Great Bay Blvd

Carolina Chickadee 35 Sunset Rd

Black-capped Chickadee Sandy Hook

Tufted Titmouse 35 Sunset Rd

Red-breasted Nuthatch Island Beach SP--Reed's Road

White-breasted Nuthatch 35 Sunset Rd

House Wren Colliers Mills WMA

Winter Wren Ocean County Parks Offices

Marsh Wren Sandy Hook

Carolina Wren Island Beach SP--Reed's Road

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Cloverdale Farm

Ruby-crowned Kinglet Sandy Hook

Eastern Bluebird Cloverdale Farm

Veery Sandy Hook

Swainson's Thrush Linden Hawk Rise Sanctuary

American Robin Whitesbog

Gray Catbird Whitesbog

Brown Thrasher Horicon Lake

Northern Mockingbird Island Beach SP--Reed's Road

European Starling Whitesbog

Cedar Waxwing Sandy Hook

Northern Waterthrush Sandy Hook

Black-and-white Warbler Brig

Nashville Warbler Sandy Hook

Mourning Warbler Sandy Hook

Common Yellowthroat Whitesbog

American Redstart Island Beach SP--Reed's Road

Northern Parula Sandy Hook

Magnolia Warbler Linden Hawk Rise Sanctuary

Bay-breasted Warbler Linden Hawk Rise Sanctuary

Yellow Warbler Brig

Black-throated Blue Warbler Sandy Hook

Palm Warbler Linden Hawk Rise Sanctuary

Pine Warbler Whitesbog

Yellow-rumped Warbler Sandy Hook

Prairie Warbler Island Beach SP--Reed's Road

Black-throated Green Warbler Cloverdale Farm

Wilson's Warbler Sandy Hook

Saltmarsh Sparrow Great Bay Blvd

Seaside Sparrow Great Bay Blvd

Chipping Sparrow 35 Sunset Rd

Field Sparrow Sandy Hook

LARK BUNTING Sandy Hook

White-throated Sparrow Island Beach SP

Savannah Sparrow Sandy Hook

Song Sparrow Whitesbog

Eastern Towhee 35 Sunset Rd

Scarlet Tanager Sandy Hook

Northern Cardinal 35 Sunset Rd

Blue Grosbeak Union Transportation Trail--North

Bobolink Island Beach SP

Red-winged Blackbird Great Bay Blvd

Common Grackle Cattus Island County Park

Boat-tailed Grackle Great Bay Blvd

Baltimore Oriole Colliers Mills WMA

House Finch 35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch 35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow Wawa Rt 70 & CR 530

Monday, September 26, 2016

Ocean County Parks Offices 9/26--Winter Wren

Having spent the weekend birding Sandy Hook, I stayed local today because I had a late morning appointment in Toms River. I birded close-by Cattus Island CP, where I hadn't been in months, and then, having some more time, drove a mile north to bird the loop at the Ocean County Parks Offices.

It was pleasant today to just walk around and see what I could find, rather than putting a lot of pressure on myself to find more warblers than the next guy up at Sandy Hook, a losing game, guaranteed, for me. I was a little frustrated yesterday, especially when I ran into some birders I know and we all went into the Tennis Courts to find a Tennessee Warbler. Everyone saw it but me, despite all their directions about horizontal branches above fallen trunks in the sunlight. Sometimes, when I'm birding with a group of people, I feel like I'm blind. Either I can't focus quickly enough, or I don't understand the directions quickly enough, but it not only bothers me then, but festers in my mind the rest of the day and makes me wonder what I'm not seeing when I'm alone, especially after reading other's reports where 15 parulas are listed and I managed one.

So today I was delighted to find a Winter Wren in the wet woods adjacent to the parks offices. It restored just a little bit of confidence in myself as a birder. These are notoriously skulking birds, so to kick up one by myself and get a picture I consider an accomplishment. I have to admit that, while I was not finding the Tennessee Warbler yesterday, I briefly considered just giving up birding altogether. I start to question myself: After all these years, am I going to get any better at this? Am I having fun? Why do I feel compelled to find this drab little bird? Why don't I just throw these fricking binoculars into the fricking woods?

I got home early enough yesterday to watch the Mets redeem themselves after a terrible loss the night before by beating the Phillies like a rented mule, 17-0. In that vein, to make a baseball analogy, this morning I hit a solid double to the wall after being in a slump and striking out 3 times yesterday. Maybe that, as the broadcasters say, will "get me going."

In all it wasn't a bad day, though there was little warbler movement that I could see. But who know what I don't see? My day list:
(1): Cattus Island County Park
Date: Sep 26, 2016, 8:11 AM
(2): Ocean County Parks Offices
Date: Sep 26, 2016, 10:19 AM
37 species
17 Canada Goose -- (1),(2)
3 Mute Swan -- (1)
6 Great Blue Heron -- (1)
5 Great Egret -- (1)
2 Osprey -- (1)
1 Bald Eagle -- (1)
1 Red-tailed Hawk -- (1)
1 Ring-billed Gull -- (2)
7 Herring Gull -- (1),(2)
1 Black-billed Cuckoo -- (1)
1 Belted Kingfisher -- (1)
7 Red-bellied Woodpecker -- (1),(2)
5 Downy Woodpecker -- (1),(2)
6 Northern Flicker -- (1),(2)
1 Eastern Phoebe -- (1)
4 Blue Jay -- (1),(2)
1 Fish Crow -- (2)
17 Carolina Chickadee -- (1),(2)
1 Tufted Titmouse -- (1)
2 Red-breasted Nuthatch -- (1),(2)
4 House Wren -- (1),(2)
1 Winter Wren -- (2)
2 Marsh Wren -- (1)
2 Carolina Wren -- (1)
5 Eastern Bluebird -- (1)
2 American Robin -- (1)
10 Gray Catbird -- (1)
1 Brown Thrasher -- (2)
2 Palm Warbler -- (1)
1 Pine Warbler -- (1)
2 Yellow-rumped Warbler -- (1)
8 Song Sparrow -- (1)
2 Eastern Towhee -- (1)
3 Northern Cardinal -- (1),(2)
100 Common Grackle -- (1)
1 House Finch -- (1)
1 American Goldfinch -- (1)