October Wrap-up--An Uneventful Month

You, if you're paying attention to these notes, could probably figure out that not much birding-wise was going on for me in October. It wasn't until Scott's Island Beach trip at the end of the month that I added any year birds to the list and they weren't exactly crippling looks--a flyover American Pipit at Johnnie Allen's Cove and a couple of distant Parasitic Jaegers chasing gulls out over the ocean during a sea watch--the kinds of sightings I'll only get on a trip with better eyes ears and more patience than I have. 

Even the county birds for the month were merely check marks--I finally found a previously reported Common Gallinule in the county at Tip Seaman Park in Tuckerton after traipsing up to Lake Unpronounceable 3 or 4 times in the summer without success, and scanning a huge flock of American Oystercatchers at Holgate I came upon a Marbled Godwit I was sure would be there since there always seems to be a Marbled Godwit in the oystercatcher flock in the fall at Holgate, but it was  identifiable only because it wasn't an oystercatcher. 

And that was it for the month. I actually got more armchair birds from eBird splits this month than I did from wandering around beaches and cranberry bogs--Western Warbling Vireo from our various trips out west (eBird assigns our first sighting to Florida Canyon-Lower in Arizona), Little Heron which was split from Striated Heron which was split previously from Green Heron and which we've seen in both South Africa and Australia, and Eurasian Whimbrel which was split from what is now called Hudsonian Whimbrel and which we first sighted on the Cairns Esplanade in Australia and have subsequently seen in Portugal and Spain. There is one other species, apparently, since eBird upped my total by 4, but damned if I can figure out which one it is. Had I been paying attention to sub-species in Puerto Rico and Mexico, I might have added Mangrove Yellow Warbler--actually had I know there was a sub-species I might have made the distinction, but now it simply goes down as a slash Northern Yellow Warbler/Mangrove Yellow Warbler. 

I did take some decent pictures though:

Immature White-Crowned Sparrow, Spizzle Creek

Immature White Ibis & Little Blue Heron, Lighthouse Center

Lesser Black-backed Gull, Island Beach

Eastern Bluebird, Colliers Mills

For the month 127 species restricted to Burlington and Ocean Counties:

Species      First Sighting
Brant   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Canada Goose   Whiting WMA
Mute Swan   Bridge to Nowhere
Wood Duck   Cranberry Bogs
Gadwall   Stanley H. 'Tip' Seaman County Park
Mallard   Cranberry Bogs
American Black Duck   Forsythe--Barnegat
Green-winged Teal   Reeves Bogs
Ring-necked Duck   Riverfront Landing
Common Eider   Island Beach SP
Surf Scoter   Holgate
Black Scoter   Island Beach SP
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon   Manasquan Inlet
Mourning Dove   Whiting WMA
Common Gallinule   Stanley H. 'Tip' Seaman County Park
American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP
Black-bellied Plover   Island Beach SP
Killdeer   Double Trouble SP
Semipalmated Plover   Island Beach SP
Marbled Godwit   Holgate
Short-billed Dowitcher   Island Beach SP
Spotted Sandpiper   Island Beach SP
Willet   Island Beach SP
Greater Yellowlegs   Forsythe--Barnegat
Sanderling   Holgate
Dunlin   Cattus Island County Park
White-rumped Sandpiper   Whitesbog
Pectoral Sandpiper   Whitesbog
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Island Beach SP
Parasitic Jaeger   Island Beach SP
Laughing Gull   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Ring-billed Gull   Barnegat Municipal Dock
American Herring Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Great Black-backed Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Lesser Black-backed Gull   Island Beach SP
Forster's Tern   Island Beach SP
Royal Tern   Manasquan Inlet
Pied-billed Grebe   Whitesbog
Horned Grebe   Island Beach SP
Red-throated Loon   Island Beach SP
Common Loon   Island Beach SP
Northern Gannet   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Manasquan Inlet
White Ibis   Lighthouse Center
American Bittern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-crowned Night Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Little Blue Heron   Forsythe--Barnegat
Tricolored Heron   Forsythe--Barnegat
Snowy Egret   Forsythe--Barnegat
Great Egret   Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP
Black Vulture   35 Sunset Rd
Turkey Vulture   35 Sunset Rd
Osprey   Island Beach SP
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Island Beach SP
Cooper's Hawk   Crestwood Village
Northern Harrier   Island Beach SP
Bald Eagle   Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whiting WMA
Red-tailed Hawk   Manasquan River WMA
Belted Kingfisher   Whiting WMA
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Cattus Island County Park
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Whiting WMA
Downy Woodpecker   Whiting WMA
Hairy Woodpecker   Reeves Bogs
Northern Flicker   Whiting WMA
Merlin   Whitesbog
Peregrine Falcon   Whitesbog
Eastern Phoebe   Whiting WMA
White-eyed Vireo   Manasquan River WMA
Blue-headed Vireo   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Blue Jay   Whiting WMA
American Crow   Whiting WMA
Fish Crow   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Common Raven   35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Chickadee   Whiting WMA
Tufted Titmouse   Whiting WMA
Tree Swallow   Cedar Bonnet Island
Barn Swallow   Island Beach SP
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Bridge to Nowhere
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Manasquan River WMA
White-breasted Nuthatch   Whiting WMA
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Whiting WMA
Brown Creeper   Island Beach SP
Northern House Wren   Manasquan River WMA
Winter Wren   Island Beach SP
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   Lakewood
Gray Catbird   Manasquan River WMA
Brown Thrasher   Reeves Bogs
Northern Mockingbird   Lakewood
Eastern Bluebird   Whiting WMA
Hermit Thrush   Island Beach SP
American Robin   Whiting WMA
Cedar Waxwing   Bridge to Nowhere
House Sparrow   Crestwood Village
American Pipit   Island Beach SP
House Finch   Whiting WMA
American Goldfinch   Whiting WMA
Chipping Sparrow   Whiting WMA
Field Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Dark-eyed Junco   Bridge to Nowhere
White-crowned Sparrow   Island Beach SP
White-throated Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Nelson's Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park
Savannah Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Song Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs
Lincoln's Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Swamp Sparrow   Whiting WMA
Eastern Towhee   Whiting WMA
Eastern Meadowlark   Island Beach SP
Red-winged Blackbird   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Common Grackle   Lighthouse Center
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Black-and-white Warbler   Lake Shenandoah County Park
Common Yellowthroat   Manasquan River WMA
American Redstart   Cranberry Bogs
Northern Parula   Cranberry Bogs
Palm Warbler   Island Beach SP
Pine Warbler   Whiting WMA
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Whiting WMA
Black-throated Green Warbler   Reeves Bogs
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

2024 Wrap-up--83 Life Birds

Pomarine Jaeger, Barnegat Light SP

Four countries, 433 species, 83 life birds. So, the numbers look good, if you want to count up the check marks. But. When we were in Spain this year and I listed bird #1500 (I believe it was a Cinerous Vulture, but I can't be sure, which is part of the point I'm about to make), I said to our guide Pedro that I now had enough birds on my life list. We still had three more days to go on the trip, but I was ready to go home and walk around the bogs to see what I could find. He seemed perplexed. "But now you can aim for 2000," he said, and the prospect of that made me tired. There are 10,000+ species of birds. Does it matter if I have listed 15% of them or 20% of them? There are 350,000 to 400,000 species of beetles. My brother is an expert on beetles, but he sure doesn't think he's going find more than a tiny per cent of the described species. I know a birder who did a big world-wide year in 2024--more than 2000 species in one year, more than I've seen in the all the years I've been birding. It's an amazing achievement but not one that I envy. Looking back on my year list, already a lot of the birds I listed are vague in my mind--birds from Australia and South Africa even dimmer. I wonder how many of the 2000 birds on that list are really spectacular and "worth the trip" while the others are "padding." 

Mangrove Vireo, Puerto Morelos

As it happens, my two favorite lifers this year were the first and the last birds on the list. The first was a Mangrove Vireo which I found while walking along a--wait for it--mangrove in Puerto Morelos, Mexico, near where my friends live. No guide, no specific search, just attentiveness to a song I didn't recognize and after a little work, I finally found the bird and, once I knew the song, I could take Shari back the next morning and find it again. That, to me, was an accomplishment. Interestingly, while reading up on Mangrove Vireo, I found that it is not often found in mangroves! Just as the Prairie Warbler, which is not found on prairies, is misnamed, so is this bird to a certain extent. 

The last life bird for the year was the Pomarine Jaeger at Barnegat Light this month. It was a 45 minute drive away, which for me is a bit more traveling than I like to do of late, but it was a county bird, a state bird, and a bird that is usually seen far off-shore, so unlikely to be added to a landlubber's list--and I didn't have to eat mediocre food for 10 days to see it.

I tend to get negative anyway in December--it's not a great month to find much and certainly hard to find anything new and sometimes that attitude can bite you as it did this week. I was walking around Reeves Bogs on Sunday, finding what I'd expect to find and still had some time on my hands. I thought maybe I'd drive over to the Burlington County Fairgrounds to look for the Rough-legged Hawk, a bird that seems to return to the grasslands there every year, but then I said to myself, "Nah, I already have Rough-legged for the year, what's the point?" Instead, I headed home. Two hours later I got an alert that there was a Crested Caracara there and I burst out of the house to make the 40 minute drive there, but of course, the bird had flown 10 minutes before I got there. Had I felt that morning that searching for a Rough-legged might be fun, I'd have seen the caracara, year bird and county bird. But I didn't. I considered going to the Fairgrounds early on Monday, but thought it was low percentage, so instead I went to Whitesbog where I was when (of course) I got the alert that the caracara was back--30 minutes later I arrived, only to hear that the bird had flow off after 15 minutes. There had also been a Northern Shrike reported there but I already have Northern Shrike for the year and for the county, so I didn't care. It was still there today. The calendar flips tomorrow. I'm going to Sandy Hook to "Kick Off the Year List". On Thursday, I'll care about the shrike. New birds! Year birds! I'm playing a game I can't win. 

The life birds for the year more or less in order listed:

Species                 Location
Mangrove Vireo   Puerto Morelos (Mexico)
Pallid Swift   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Green Sandpiper   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Great Spotted Woodpecker   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Lesser Spotted Woodpecker   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Eurasian Jay   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Iberian Magpie   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Eurasian Blue Tit   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Willow Warbler   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Sardinian Warbler   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Eurasian Nuthatch   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Spotless Starling   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Eurasian Blackbird   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Spotted Flycatcher   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
European Pied Flycatcher   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
European Stonechat   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Northern Wheatear   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Yellow-crowned Bishop   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
White Wagtail   Quinta da Atalaya (Portugal)
Common Redshank   RN Estuario do Tejo (Portugal)
Short-toed Treecreeper   RN Estuario do Tejo (Portugal)
Eurasian Oystercatcher   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA (Portugal)
Kentish Plover   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA (Portugal)
Spotted Redshank   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA (Portugal)
Slender-billed Gull   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA (Portugal)
Audouin's Gull   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA (Portugal)
Iberian Gray Shrike   A-49, Ayamonte ES-Huelva (Spain)
Tawny Owl   Villamanrique de la Condesa (Spain)
Black Stork   Chg-Bg-03,Sevilla (Spain)
Booted Eagle   Chg-Bg-03,Sevilla (Spain)
Black-headed Weaver   Carretera Sur del Colector (Spain)
Marbled Duck   Camino Muro de los Portugueses (Spain)
Common Snipe   Camino Muro de los Portugueses (Spain)
Little Ringed Plover   Camino Muro de los Portugueses (Spain)
Western Swamphen   Brazo del Este PjeNat (Spain)
Short-toed Snake-Eagle   Carretera Sur del Colector (Spain)
European Robin   Villamanrique de la Condesa (Spain)
Eurasian Curlew   Marismas del Odiel (Spain)
Eurasian Wryneck   Marismas del Odiel PNat (Spain)
Long-tailed Tit   Donana PN (Spain)
Wood Lark   Donana PN (Spain)
Eurasian Wren   Donana PN (Spain)
Red Kite   Muro de la Confederacian Hidrografica del Guadalquivir (Spain)
Whinchat   Muro de la Confederacian Hidrografica del Guadalquivir (Spain)
Eurasian Griffon   Donana PN (Spain)
Mediterranean Short-toed Lark   Donana PN (Spain)
Common Redstart   Donana PN (Spain)
Gray Wagtail   Donana PN (Spain)
Eurasian Linnet   Donana PN (Spain)
Corn Bunting   Donana PN (Spain)
Common Kingfisher   Lagunas de Martin Miguel (Spain)
White-headed Duck   Lagunas de Camino Colorado (Spain)
Temminck's Stint   Lagunas de Camino Colorado (Spain)
Northern Bald Ibis   11150, Vejer de la Frontera (Spain)
Eurasian Sparrowhawk   11150, Vejer de la Frontera (Spain)
Balearic Shearwater   El Estrecho PNat (Spain)
Spanish Sparrow   El Estrecho PNat (Spain)
Blue Rock-Thrush   Observatorio de Cazalla (Spain)
Egyptian Vulture   Los Alcornocales PNat (Spain)
European Shag   El Estrecho PNat (Spain)
Red-legged Partridge   Embalse de Alange (Spain)
Thekla's Lark   Embalse de Alange (Spain)
Eurasian Crag-Martin   Embalse de Alange (Spain)
European Red-rumped Swallow   Embalse de Alange (Spain)
Meadow Pipit   Embalse de Arrocampo (Spain)
Cinereous Vulture   Monfrague PN (Spain)
Crested Tit   Monfrague PN (Spain)
Great Bustard   Roadside 39.45384-6.19309 (Spain)
Spanish Eagle   Roadside 39.45384-6.19309 (Spain)
Little Owl   Roadside 39.45384-6.19309 (Spain)
Calandra Lark   Roadside 39.45384-6.19309 (Spain)
Black-bellied Sandgrouse   Roadside 39.46188-6.18491 (Spain)
Pin-tailed Sandgrouse   Magasca ZEPA (Spain)
Hawfinch   Monfrague PN (Spain)
Stock Dove   Embalse de Arrocampo (Spain)
Water Rail   Embalse de Arrocampo (Spain)
Eurasian Penduline-Tit   Embalse de Arrocampo (Spain)
Bluethroat   Embalse de Arrocampo (Spain)
Common Chiffchaff   Embalse de Arrocampo (Spain)
Eurasian Thick-knee   Embalse de Arrocampo (Spain)
Bonelli's Eagle   Lezaria Grande de Vila Franca de Xira (Portugal)
Blue-crowned Parakeet   Parque Eduardo VII (Portugal)
Pomarine Jaeger   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

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

Marshall's Pond 10/24--Eurasian Wigeon

Eurasian Wigeon

I spent two weeks in Portugal and Spain--did I see a Eurasian Wigeon in its home waters among all the Mallards, Gadwalls, shovelers, and teal?  No I did not. Instead, I had to go to a retention pond next to a shopping center in Toms River to find my find Eurasian Wigeon of the year and frankly, I'm happier seeing it 10 miles from home than I would have been had I ticked it off in Europe. 

That rather elongated pond which runs the length of the parking lot and then back toward some private houses has an inexplicable history of attracting rarities; this isn't the first Eurasian Wigeon I've seen there, though it was my best sighting. In the past, the birds I've seen there have been at the east end of the pond where the viewpoint is not ideal, and the sun is directly in your eyes in the morning. Today, it was overcast and the bird was in the middle of the pond toward the west end. It took me about 3 minutes to find it--there weren't that many ducks or geese to sort through and its red head and gray flanks just popped out against the surrounding American Wigeon. 

I usually have seen a Eurasian Wigeon well before October. For a number of years, one was faithfully showing up on the Shark River where you could get distant but decent view of it. This year, the bird did not show up. Or sometimes one would be on one of the ponds around Belmar, Avon, or Spring Lake--again, not this year. 

After seeing the wigeons I drove over to Shelter Cove and then to Cattus Island. It was pretty windy at Cattus and I was debating whether, given the dearth of birds I was finding, assuming they were all hunkering down, whether it was worth a walk around Scout Island. I decided to go over the boardwalk there and it was a good decision, because one of the warblers I saw was not the expected Yellow-rump but a Blackpoll Warbler, a bird, that looks very different in non-breeding plumage than in the spring--but the little yellow feet were the dead giveaway and let me eliminate the very similar Bay-breasted Warbler as a possibility. It even stayed still long enough for one photograph. 

Blackpoll Warbler

Iberian Peninsula 9/30-10/12--Trip List, Links

SPANISH EAGLE, Extremadura
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Shari & I spent two weeks in Portugal & Spain on a NJ Audubon trip led by Scott Barnes & Pedro Moreira. The trip started in Lisboa, Portugal and then we traveled south to Andalucia, Tarifa and Gibraltar, and then up to The Extremadura of Spain, ending two weeks later in the rice fields just outside Lisboa. There were 8 of us on the trip plus our two leaders. I have no idea how many miles we covered, but there were some long bus rides getting from section to section, fortunately broken up with birding stops. 

In Spain we spent 4 days in Andalucia, 3 days around Tarifa, and 4 days in The Extremadura. The weather in Andalucia was for the most part sunny and in the high 70's but was much more variable in The Extremadura. 

I've made no attempt to be exhaustive in my description of either all the birds we saw or the places we birded. As I mention somewhere in the entries, a lot of it blurs together and I didn't keep notes. Besides, as often happens in foreign countries, I didn't really know where I was anyway. Sometimes eBird didn't know where I was. 

Links:

Portugal 10/1

Doñana NP area

Tarifa/Gibraltar

Extremadura

Back to Portugal

For the entire trip I listed 167 species, of which 81 were life birds. The list below is my list. Others had birds I missed either because Shari & I were too tired the first day to wander around a park in Lisboa, or I missed birds that flew across the road as we drove. 

Eurasian Hoopoes
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Key: LIFE BIRD, Year Bird, Rare

Graylag Goose   Donana PNat
Egyptian Goose   Quinta da Atalaya
Common Shelduck   El Estrecho PNat
Garganey   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
Northern Shoveler   Quinta da Atalaya
Gadwall   Quinta da Atalaya
Mallard   Quinta da Atalaya
Northern Pintail   Madre Vieja del Brazo del Este del Ra­o Guadalquivir
Green-winged Teal   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
MARBLED DUCK   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
Red-crested Pochard   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
WHITE-HEADED DUCK   Lagunas de Camino Colorado
RED-LEGGED PARTRIDGE   Embalse de Alange
Greater Flamingo   Ponte Vasco da Gama
Little Grebe   Quinta da Atalaya
Great Crested Grebe   Brazo del Este PjeNat
Eared Grebe   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
Rock Pigeon   Rua de Vale de Mouros 16
STOCK DOVE   Embalse de Arrocampo
Common Wood-Pigeon   Marismas del Odiel
Eurasian Collared-Dove   Quinta da Atalaya
PIN-TAILED SANDGROUSE   Magasca ZEPA
BLACK-BELLIED SANDGROUSE   Roadside 39.46188, -6.18491
GREAT BUSTARD   Roadside 39.45384, -6.19309
Alpine Swift   Arrabal los Lances
Common Swift   Arrabal los Lances
PALLID SWIFT   Quinta da Atalaya
Little Swift   Chipiona
WATER RAIL   Embalse de Arrocampo
Eurasian Moorhen   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
Eurasian Coot   Quinta da Atalaya
Red-knobbed Coot   Laguna Alfredo Barragan
WESTERN SWAMPHEN   Brazo del Este PjeNat
EURASIAN THICK-KNEE   Embalse de Arrocampo
Black-winged Stilt   Ponte Vasco da Gama
Pied Avocet   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
EURASIAN OYSTERCATCHER   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA
Black-bellied Plover   Marismas del Odiel
Common Ringed Plover   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
LITTLE RINGED PLOVER   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
Northern Lapwing   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
KENTISH PLOVER   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA
Whimbrel   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
EURASIAN CURLEW   Marismas del Odiel
Bar-tailed Godwit   Marismas del Odiel
Black-tailed Godwit   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
COMMON SNIPE   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
Common Sandpiper   Quinta da Atalaya
GREEN SANDPIPER   Quinta da Atalaya
Wood Sandpiper   Camino Muro de los Portugueses
COMMON REDSHANK   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
SPOTTED REDSHANK   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA
Common Greenshank   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA
Ruddy Turnstone   Avenida de D Manuel I 599
Ruff   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA
Curlew Sandpiper   Marismas del Odiel
TEMMINCK'S STINT   Lagunas de Camino Colorado
Sanderling   Avenida de D Manuel I 599
Dunlin   Avenida de D Manuel I 599
Little Stint   Marismas del Odiel
SLENDER-BILLED GULL   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA
Black-headed Gull   Quinta da Atalaya
AUDOUIN'S GULL   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA
Mediterranean Gull   Avenida de D Manuel I 599
Yellow-legged Gull   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA
Lesser Black-backed Gull   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
Caspian Tern   RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA
Sandwich Tern   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
Cory's Shearwater   El Estrecho PNat
BALEARIC SHEARWATER   El Estrecho PNat
BLACK STORK   Chg-Bg-03
White Stork   Calle Prosperidad, 14
Northern Gannet   Tarifa
Great Cormorant   Quinta da Atalaya
EUROPEAN SHAG   El Estrecho PNat
Little Bittern   Embalse de Arrocampo
Black-crowned Night Heron   Carretera Sur del Colector
Little Egret   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
Squacco Heron   Lagunas de Martin Miguel
Western Cattle Egret   Quinta da Atalaya
Great Egret   Brazo del Este PjeNat
Gray Heron   Quinta da Atalaya
Glossy Ibis   Carretera Sur del Colector
NORTHERN BALD IBIS   11150, Vejer de la Frontera
Eurasian Spoonbill   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
Osprey   Quinta da Atalaya
Black-winged Kite   Quinta da Atalaya
EGYPTIAN VULTURE   Los Alcornocales PNat
CINEREOUS VULTURE   Monfrague PN
EURASIAN GRIFFON   Donana PN
SHORT-TOED SNAKE-EAGLE   Carretera Sur del Colector
BOOTED EAGLE   Chg-Bg-03
SPANISH EAGLE   Roadside 39.45384, -6.19309
BONELLI'S EAGLE   Leziria Grande de Vila Franca de Xira
Western Marsh Harrier   Quinta da Atalaya
EURASIAN SPARROWHAWK   11150, Vejer de la Frontera
RED KITE   Muro de la Confederacion Hidrografica del Guadalquivir
Black Kite   Observatorio de Cazalla
Common Buzzard   Alcochete
LITTLE OWL   Roadside 39.45384, -6.19309
TAWNY OWL   Villamanrique de la Condesa
Eurasian Hoopoe   Quinta da Atalaya
COMMON KINGFISHER   Lagunas de Martin Miguel
EURASIAN WRYNECK   Marismas del Odiel PN
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER   Quinta da Atalaya
LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER   Quinta da Atalaya
Eurasian Kestrel   Quinta da Atalaya
BLUE-CROWNED PARAKEET   Parque Eduardo VII
IBERIAN GRAY SHRIKE   Ayamonte
EURASIAN JAY   Quinta da Atalaya
IBERIAN MAGPIE   Quinta da Atalaya
Eurasian Magpie   Rua de Vale de Mouros 16
Eurasian Jackdaw   11150, Vejer de la Frontera
Carrion Crow   Quinta da Atalaya
Common Raven   Villamanrique de la Condesa
CRESTED TIT   Monfrague PN
EURASIAN BLUE TIT   Quinta da Atalaya
Great Tit   Monfrague PN
EURASIAN PENDULINE-TIT   Embalse de Arrocampo
CALANDRA LARK   Roadside 39.45384, -6.19309
MEDITERRANEAN SHORT-TOED LARK   Donana PN
WOOD LARK   Donana PN
THEKLA'S LARK   Embalse de Alange
CRESTED LARK   Quinta da Atalaya
Zitting Cisticola   Quinta da Atalaya
Bank Swallow   Calle la Rambla
EURASIAN CRAG-MARTIN   Embalse de Alange
Barn Swallow   Calle la Rambla
Western House-Martin   Calle la Rambla
RED-RUMPED SWALLOW   Embalse de Alange
Common Bulbul   Tarifa
Willow Warbler   Quinta da Atalaya
COMMON CHIFFCHAFF   Embalse de Arrocampo
Cetti's Warbler   Quinta da Atalaya
LONG-TAILED TIT   Donana PN
Eurasian Blackcap   Quinta da Atalaya
SARDINIAN WARBLER   Quinta da Atalaya
EURASIAN NUTHATCH   Quinta da Atalaya
SHORT-TOED TREECREEPER   RN Estua¡rio do Tejo
EURASIAN WREN   Donana PN
SPOTLESS STARLING   Quinta da Atalaya
Eurasian Blackbird   Quinta da Atalaya
SPOTTED FLYCATCHER   Quinta da Atalaya
EUROPEAN ROBIN   Villamanrique de la Condesa
BLUETHROAT   Embalse de Arrocampo
EUROPEAN PIED FLYCATCHER   Quinta da Atalaya
COMMON REDSTART   Donana PN
Black Redstart   Melia Lisboa Aeroporto
BLUE ROCK-THRUSH   Observatorio de Cazalla
WHINCHAT   Muro de la Confederacion Hidrografica del Guadalquivir
EUROPEAN STONECHAT   Quinta da Atalaya
NORTHERN WHEATEAR   Quinta da Atalaya
BLACK-HEADED WEAVER   Carretera Sur del Colector
YELLOW-CROWNED BISHOP   Quinta da Atalaya
Common Waxbill   Donana PNat
House Sparrow   Quinta da Atalaya
SPANISH SPARROW   El Estrecho PNat
GRAY WAGTAIL   Donana PN
Western Yellow Wagtail   Canada de Rianzuela
WHITE WAGTAIL   Quinta da Atalaya
MEADOW PIPIT   Embalse de Arrocampo
Common Chaffinch   Monfrague PN
HAWFINCH   Monfrague PN
European Greenfinch   Rua de Vale de Mouros 16
EURASIAN LINNET   Donana PN
European Goldfinch   Canada de Rianzuela
CORN BUNTING   Donana PN

SLENDER-BILLED GULL

Western Marsh Hawk
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Portugal (Quinta da Atalaya, Tagus Estuary, RN Sapal Castro Marim e VRSA) 10/1--25 Life Birds

GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER, Quinta da Atalaya

Our hotel for our first night of the trip was conveniently across the street from the airport, so we could walk to it--in fact, it was closer to the airport than our walk from our airplane gate through customs, immigration and baggage which I measured as 4/10 of a mile. We also got our first trip bird at a little grassy area outside the hotel lobby while waiting to check in--a Black Redstart, which for Shari and me was not a life bird, having seen it in France on our honeymoon. After getting into our room, we slept through the rendezvous for a quick birding trip in a little nearby park, so we missed some birds that others in the group got--it was a sacrifice my body insisted on to my mind. 

The next morning, 10/1, at 8 AM, we met our guide, Pedro and piled into the 24-seat bus (plenty of room for everyone on the trip) and started our birding trip in earnest. The first birds we saw were as we passed over the Vasco da Gama Bridge (there's a name you remember from 6th grade) where we saw flocks of Greater Flamingos and Black-winged Stilts.

EUROPEAN STONECHAT, Quinta da Atalaya

Our first stop was a wetlands area called Quinta da Atalaya, which was very close to the Tagus River estuary. There we started racking up year & life birds for the group. The first lifer I remember was PALLID SWIFT, and first lifer I got a not-very-good picture of was a YELLOW-CROWNED BISHOP (an introduced exotic) and then, more interesting, a GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER. We also had EUROPEAN STONECHAT (a bird I thought would be hard to find and turned out to be everywhere), NORTHERN WHEATEAR (a bird I stupidly blew off when it was at Brig a few years ago), and the crowd favorite, Eurasian Hoopoe.  

From there we went to a spot on Tagus Estuary itself, where it was low tide. A lot of the birds were very far out, necessitating a scope, but we did add COMMON REDSHANK and SHORT-TOED TREECREEPER which is a dead ringer for our Brown Creeper. 

After lunch we drove down to another nature reserve where Shari was thrilled to see EURASIAN OYSTERCATCHER (lifer for me, not for her), while other birds of note were KENTISH PLOVER, SPOTTED REDSHANK, AUDOUIN'S GULL and SLENDER-BILLED GULL, the latter a species I'd never heard of--overlooked somehow in my haphazard studying for the trip. 

In all, we had 70 species before we crossed into Spain, late in the day. My list from Quinta da Atalaya:

43 species
Egyptian Goose  3
Northern Shoveler  1
Gadwall  1
Mallard  2
Greater Flamingo  6
Little Grebe  1
Eurasian Collared-Dove  2
PALLID SWIFT 1
Eurasian Coot  2
Black-winged Stilt  11
Common Sandpiper  1
GREEN SANDPIPER 1
Black-headed Gull  2
Great Cormorant  2
Western Cattle Egret  60
Gray Heron  2
Osprey  1
Black-winged Kite  1
Western Marsh Harrier  1
Eurasian Hoopoe  2
GREAT SPOTTED WOODPECKER  1
LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER 1
Eurasian Kestrel  1
EURASIAN JAY 2
IBERIAN MAGPIE 2
Carrion Crow  1
EURASIAN BLUE TIT 3
CRESTED LARK 1
Zitting Cisticola  1
Willow Warbler  1
Cetti's Warbler  1
Eurasian Blackcap  1
SARDINIAN WARBLER 1
EURASIAN NUTHATCH 1
SPOTLESS STARLING 3
Eurasian Blackbird  2
SPOTTED FLYCATCHER 1
EUROPEAN PIED FLYCATCHER  2
EUROPEAN STONECHAT 1
NORTHERN WHEATEAR 1
YELLOW-CROWNED BISHOP 2
House Sparrow  10
WHITE WAGTAIL  1

Back to Portugal (Lezíria Grande de Vila Franca de Xira) 10/12--Blue-crowned Parakeet, Bonelli's Eagle

Shovelers, Mallards, teal, Lezíria Grande de Vila Franca de Xira
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Saturday we left the hotel around 9 AM and it was a very long bus ride heading north then west back to Portugal. We were rewarded with our final birding stop of the trip, the rice fields of Lezíria Grande de Vila Franca de Xira near the Tagus estuary. The fields were sliced though with irrigation ditches but it all looked the same in every direction. How Pedro our bus driver navigated through the dirt roads to the Nature Center is a wonder to me. 

Nature Center

By this time, I have to admit I was a little fried with birding, so I certain I missed a number of birds through inattention or apathy. But we did get one life bird--a BONELLI'S EAGLE, which we'd be searching for all through Spain. The look I got was not great and it was checked off my list as an "if you say so" bird, but a little while later there was another bird that was much closer, lower, and gave me decent enough looks so that I can honestly say that I've seen a Bonelli's Eagle, because looking at their range, my chances of seeing another are dim & slim. 

At the Nature Center we demurred from buying a baseball cap a brim made of cork (how long would that hold up) but we spent some time scoping the pool in front of us, which had hundreds of ducks in it--unfortunately, none that you couldn't see in NJ (well, I suppose you'd be hard pressed to see so many of this version of Green-winged Teal). 

29 species
Northern Shoveler  100
Mallard  200
Green-winged Teal  100
Little Grebe  1
Eurasian Moorhen  2
Eurasian Coot  2
Northern Lapwing  300
Common Snipe  1
Green Sandpiper  1
Lesser Black-backed Gull  15
Little Egret  12
Western Cattle Egret  4
Great Egret  10
Gray Heron  6
Glossy Ibis  2
Short-toed Snake-Eagle  1
BONELLI'S EAGLE 2     Juveniles
Western Marsh Harrier  5
Common Kingfisher  1
Eurasian Kestrel  3
Carrion Crow  3
Zitting Cisticola  1
Barn Swallow  3
Cetti's Warbler  1
Sardinian Warbler  1
European Stonechat  2
Northern Wheatear  1
Common Waxbill  6
House Sparrow  50

So, I thought Bonelli's Eagle would be my last life bird for the trip but I was wrong. While driving through central Lisboa to our hotel one of our party was on the lookout for Rose-ringed Parakeet, an exotic that was seen on the first day by the ones who could stay awake. He didn't find it, but did find, as we passed a little park, 3 BLUE-CROWNED PARAKEETS, which are countable (provisionally) in Portugal. He was disappointed because he'd seen them in Brazil. I was kind of happy--it seems like a silly bird to have as your most recent lifer. 

For the trip I ended up with 156 species in Spain and 86 in Portugal. Considering that we only really birded Portugal portions of 2 days, that seems like a surprisingly high number to me. 

The next day we left before dawn (the sun comes up very late in Portugal and Spain) so we saw no birds until we arrived home where crows and jays greeted us.