Reed Sod Farm 9/6--American Golden-Plover

A quiet Sunday morning seemed the perfect time to check out one of the sod farms in Monmouth County. I gravitate to the Reed property on Old York Road because it is adjacent to the Union Transportation Trail and it has the best viewing of any of the other sod farms in the area in terms of not getting your ass swiped off by a passing truck. And since I have spent more time there than any of the other farms, I have had more luck there than any of the other farms. 

But I was dismayed when I pulled into the UTT parking lot across the road from the farm and saw that the field was 5 feet high in weeds--no sod, no dirt. This didn't look promising, so instead of taking my scope, I just walked down Herbert Road, past the house, toward Old York Road. There, I could see, was sod and some harvested areas. But it wasn't until I got to the pull out about a quarter of a mile down the road that I saw any bird activity. 

Most of the activity, I was certain, was from Killdeers--because most of the birds there are always Killdeers and I could hear their little Penny Henny yips--but one bird, more of a moving lump from the distance it was from me, was intriguing--I could see more black on it than anything else. I turned around, went back to the car, drove to the pull out, plunked down the scope and scanned. After a while, besides the dozen or so Killdeers and a few Least Sandpipers, I found what I was looking for--the black on the moving lump was the behind of an American Golden-Plover--the black extends all the way up to the vent (nice euphemism) on this species. The pictures I was able to take from two football fields away are barely doc shots, but they'll do. I thought the bird would be flagged "rare," and I was thinking how I would describe the field marks, but at this time of year the species is no longer considered rare in Monmouth County. 

I walked closer to Old York Road, hoping for something else rare, but the only activity was in that one spot. Returning, I scoped again and was surprised to find the bird immediately. Then I found another. Then, scanning a bit more the east, another. Having seen 43 Golden-Plovers last year on a sod farm in Burlington, I didn't think much of this count until a count of "3" broke the eBird filter. I put down my snotty "exact count" (it's even snottier when the count is "2") to explain how I had arrived at such an outlandish number and let it go at that. 

After that I walked on the Union Transportation Trail for a couple of miles--nothing new, and the only really noteworthy bird was a very late Veery calling in the woods north of Assunpink Creek. 

July Wrap-up--Zero Year Birds

Red-headed Woodpecker, Cloverdale Road

If June was a quiet month, then July, to make an oxymoronic statement, was deafeningly silent. Through all my wanderings during the month, I wasn't able to add one bird to the year list. True, I wasn't spending my time seawatching, where I might have lucked onto a storm-petrel or shearwater, but even if I had been of a mind to chase, there was nothing to chase. 

The month had its compensations in the places I birded. I spend a lot of time walking around Whitesbog with my informant where I learned the history, cultivation, and processing of the Elizabeth blueberry and got a refresher course on how to separate Virginia meadowbeauty from Maryland meadowbeauty. As the month progressed, we watched the bogs get discovered by Great Egrets, as they always do this time of year, only they are using the flooded Fenwick bogs instead of the 3 bogs to the east, which are no longer drawn down.   With a little luck and some evaporation, I'm hoping that we may get something of a shorebird season in those formerly working bogs (now under water for the last two years to kill girdle worm). So far, only Killdeer, Least Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpipers, and Semipalmated Plovers in low numbers have been found feeding in them. 

Turkey Vulture, Whitesbog

And I spent a pleasant morning down at Brig with my buddy Bob Auster. It was only my second trip to Brig this year, and while we dipped on most of the rarities that had been reported there (though we did get the Black-necked Stilts at the Gull Pond), there was a good variety of shorebirds, egrets, and terns to sort through and the greenhead flies were not too bad, with only one painful bite on my elbow. 

I trudged around Colliers Mills, I trudged around the cranberry bogs on Dover Road, I trudged around Double Trouble, I even trudged up and down the Union Transportation Trail by Sharon Station because that day I didn't feel like worrying about ticks. I always say that if the birding isn't productive, at least I got my exercise in. At least I got a lot of exercise in July.

For the month, 112 species in 4 counties: Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean.

Species                 First Sighting
Canada Goose    Colliers Mills WMA
Mute Swan    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Wood Duck    Whitesbog
Mallard    Whitesbog
American Black Duck    Brig
Wild Turkey    35 Sunset Rd
Rock Pigeon    Union Transportation Trail
Mourning Dove    Whitesbog
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Whitesbog
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift    Brig
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail    Brig
Black-necked Stilt    Brig
American Oystercatcher    Brig
Black-bellied Plover    Brig
Killdeer    Double Trouble SP
Semipalmated Plover    Brig
Short-billed Dowitcher    Brig
Spotted Sandpiper    Horicon Lake
Willet    Waretown
Greater Yellowlegs    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Stilt Sandpiper    Brig
Least Sandpiper    Cattus Island County Park
Semipalmated Sandpiper    Brig
Laughing Gull    Whitesbog
American Herring Gull    Cattus Island County Park
Great Black-backed Gull    Brig
Black Skimmer    Brig
Least Tern    Brig
Gull-billed Tern    Whitesbog
Caspian Tern    Brig
Forster's Tern    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Common Tern    Brig
Double-crested Cormorant    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
White Ibis    Waretown
Glossy Ibis    Cranberry Bogs
Black-crowned Night Heron    Manahawkin WMA
Little Blue Heron    Cranberry Bogs
Tricolored Heron    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Snowy Egret    Cranberry Bogs
Green Heron    Whitesbog
Great Egret    Cranberry Bogs
Great Blue Heron    Whitesbog
Black Vulture    Crestwood Village
Turkey Vulture    Whitesbog
Osprey    Cattus Island County Park
Cooper's Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Bald Eagle    Whitesbog
Red-shouldered Hawk    Whitesbog
Red-tailed Hawk    Colliers Mills WMA
Belted Kingfisher    Cranberry Bogs
Red-headed Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker    35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker    Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker    Whitesbog
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Whitesbog
Willow Flycatcher    Cattus Island County Park
Eastern Phoebe    Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher    Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Kingbird    Whitesbog
White-eyed Vireo    Whitesbog
Eastern Warbling Vireo    Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo    Double Trouble SP
Blue Jay    35 Sunset Rd
American Crow    35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow    Whitesbog
Common Raven    Cranberry Bogs
Carolina Chickadee    Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse    Double Trouble SP
Tree Swallow    Whitesbog
Purple Martin    Whitesbog
Northern Rough-winged Swallow    Cranberry Bogs
Barn Swallow    Cranberry Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch    Whitesbog
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Whitesbog
Northern House Wren    Whitesbog
Marsh Wren    Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren    35 Sunset Rd
European Starling    Whitesbog
Gray Catbird    Whitesbog
Brown Thrasher    Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird    Crestwood Village
Eastern Bluebird    Colliers Mills WMA
Veery    Double Trouble SP
Wood Thrush    Cranberry Bogs
American Robin    Whitesbog
Cedar Waxwing    Whitesbog
House Sparrow    Crestwood Village
House Finch    35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch    Whitesbog
Chipping Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow    Whitesbog
Seaside Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Saltmarsh Sparrow    Cattus Island County Park
Song Sparrow    35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow    Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee    Whitesbog
Orchard Oriole    Whitesbog
Red-winged Blackbird    Whitesbog
Brown-headed Cowbird    Union Transportation Trail
Common Grackle    Whitesbog
Ovenbird    Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler    Whitesbog
Common Yellowthroat    Whitesbog
Northern Yellow Warbler    Lighthouse Center for Natural Resource Education
Pine Warbler    Double Trouble SP
Prairie Warbler    Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal    35 Sunset Rd
Blue Grosbeak    Colliers Mills WMA
Indigo Bunting    Union Transportation Trail

September: Stumbled Upon Birds...& Just Plain Stumbling

Great Blue Heron watching cranberry harvest at Whitesbog

Of the measly 6 new species I added to my year list in September, 5 of them were "stumble upon" birds--birds I wasn't even thinking about when I just happened to find them. I don't expect to see a Clay-colored Sparrow beneath the feeders at Cattus Island (there's never been one reported there before), nor do I expect to see a Lincoln's Sparrow jump up from a pile of pallets in an equipment yard along the Union Transportation Trail.  Yet, there they were. A Connecticut Warbler in the road to the Winter Anchorage? Not likely. Broad-winged Hawk was so far from my mind that it took me a moment to register the one flying right over me at the cranberry bogs in South Toms River. I will admit I wasn't completely surprised when I found a Yellow-bellied Flycatcher on the Ocean County side of Whitesbog--I'd seen one before, two years ago very close to where I found it this year, and birding superstition compels one to look for what you've seen before in the same spot, no matter how unlikely the prospect. Sometimes it works. While it wasn't a year bird, I did stumble upon an Orange-crowned Warbler way back in an unnamed pond at Colliers Mills--another bird that was far from my thoughts when I set out that morning. The only bird that I didn't find on my own was a Bay-breasted Warbler at Island Beach on Scott's trip there and I was mildly surprised to find that it was new for year. 

Scarlet Tanager, Colliers Mills

I don't know if migration was good or bad this month. Probably bad if you talk to any birder who looks at BirdCast and takes it seriously. I look at BirdCast occasionally and it only provokes frustration. It will say something like "176,000 birds have crossed Ocean County this evening." I don't care how many birds have crossed Ocean County. Tell me how many have landed. Whatever migration was, I didn't see much of it, stubbornly sticking to my routine of going to places I like and hoping the birds will likewise find it appealing. 

And while we're on the subject of stumbling...One place I really like, but have to think twice, thrice about, from here on out, is Jumping Brook Preserve. Not only have the trails become rivers, thanks to the busy beavers, but with all the rain this month, ditches that were once easy to step over have widened to a precarious width. A couple of weeks ago I was walking around one of the bogs, carefully stepping over the little breaches, when I came to one that has always given me pause. It has been wider than the others, but I could make it across pretty easily with one bold step. However, this time, it appeared even more of a breach than previous, and the hard vegetation that I used to step on, looked soft from the rain. I had just said to myself, "Nope, don't think I can make it across this time," when the bank gave out under my foot and I slipped into the bog, almost up to my waist. My Muck Boots were flooded. I hauled myself out and slapped my left pocket--good, wallet and car fob were dry. Slapped my right pocket: phone was gone. Somehow, it had slipped or floated out of my pocket when I hit the water and was now down in 3 or 4 feet of mud. Let me tell you, folks, even with insurance, replacing a phone is not fun and not easy. And, if you're like me, and have outsourced most of your brain to your phone, for 3 days you feel pretty stupid, if you didn't feel like a complete dope already having skidded into a ditch. 

For the month: 137 species

Counties birded: Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Ocean

Species                First Sighting
Canada Goose   Cranberry Bogs
Mute Swan   Manahawkin WMA
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Mallard   Reeves Bogs
American Black Duck   Brig
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Pied-billed Grebe   Double Trouble SP
Eared Grebe   Brig
Rock Pigeon   Jarvis Sound
Mourning Dove   Whitesbog
Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Island Beach SP
Common Nighthawk   Whitesbog
Chimney Swift   Whitesbog
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Blvd
Sora   Brig
American Oystercatcher   Island Beach SP
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Semipalmated Plover   Great Bay Blvd
Killdeer   Whitesbog
Ruddy Turnstone   Great Bay Blvd
Sanderling   Island Beach SP
Least Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd
White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig
Semipalmated Sandpiper   Island Beach SP
Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Long-billed Dowitcher   Great Bay Blvd
Spotted Sandpiper   Whitesbog
Solitary Sandpiper   Whitesbog
Greater Yellowlegs   Whitesbog
Willet   Island Beach SP
Lesser Yellowlegs   Great Bay Blvd
Bonaparte's Gull   Island Beach SP
Laughing Gull   Great Bay Blvd
Ring-billed Gull   Island Beach SP
Herring Gull   Great Bay Blvd
Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Blvd
Caspian Tern   Island Beach SP
Common Tern   Great Bay Blvd
Forster's Tern   Great Bay Blvd
Royal Tern   Great Bay Blvd
Black Skimmer   Brig
Common Loon   Island Beach SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Whitesbog
Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron   Cranberry Bogs
Great Egret   Great Bay Blvd
Snowy Egret   Great Bay Blvd
Little Blue Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Green Heron   Whitesbog
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Blvd
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Blvd
White Ibis   Brig
Glossy Ibis   Brig
Black Vulture   Bay Pkwy
Turkey Vulture   Whitesbog
Osprey   Great Bay Blvd
Cooper's Hawk   35 Sunset Rd
Bald Eagle   Brig
Red-shouldered Hawk   Whitesbog
Broad-winged Hawk   Cranberry Bogs
Red-tailed Hawk   Cranberry Bogs
Belted Kingfisher   Reeves Bogs
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Cranberry Bogs
Downy Woodpecker   Cranberry Bogs
Hairy Woodpecker   Cattus Island County Park
Northern Flicker   Whitesbog
Merlin   Reeves Bogs
Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP
Eastern Wood-Pewee   Whitesbog
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher   Whitesbog
Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog
Great Crested Flycatcher   Cranberry Bogs
Eastern Kingbird   Cranberry Bogs
White-eyed Vireo   Island Beach SP
Yellow-throated Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-eyed Vireo   Cattus Island County Park
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   Whitesbog
Common Raven   Whitesbog
Carolina Chickadee   Whitesbog
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Purple Martin   Cranberry Bogs
Tree Swallow   Whitesbog
Barn Swallow   Reeves Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Cranberry Bogs
House Wren   Cranberry Bogs
Marsh Wren   Great Bay Blvd
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   Great Bay Blvd
Gray Catbird   Whitesbog
Brown Thrasher   Whitesbog
Northern Mockingbird   Island Beach SP
Eastern Bluebird   Cranberry Bogs
Veery   Jumping Brook Preserve
American Robin   Whitesbog
Cedar Waxwing   Cedar Bonnet Island
House Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Clay-colored Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park
Field Sparrow   Union Transportation Trail
Seaside Sparrow   Island Beach SP
Saltmarsh Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd
Savannah Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Lincoln's Sparrow   Union Transportation Trail
Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog
Eastern Towhee   35 Sunset Rd
Baltimore Oriole   Island Beach SP
Red-winged Blackbird   Great Bay Blvd
Common Grackle   35 Sunset Rd
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Blvd
Northern Waterthrush   Island Beach SP
Black-and-white Warbler   Island Beach SP
Orange-crowned Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Connecticut Warbler   Island Beach SP
Common Yellowthroat   Whitesbog
American Redstart   Cedar Bonnet Island
Cape May Warbler   Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Parula   Double Trouble SP
Bay-breasted Warbler   Island Beach SP
Yellow Warbler   Reeves Bogs
Blackpoll Warbler   Island Beach SP
Black-throated Blue Warbler   Cedar Bonnet Island
Palm Warbler   Cranberry Bogs
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Whitesbog
Prairie Warbler   Cranberry Bogs
Scarlet Tanager   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Cardinal   Cranberry Bogs

Great Egret, Cedar Bonnet Island

Union Transportation Trail 9/26--Lincoln's Sparrow

The magic pile of junk with 7 species 

Four consecutive days of rain has forced me to become my own weatherman, checking maps to see where the weather might be clear, as least for a few hours. Yesterday, there was a break down in Tuckerton. Today, the rain seemed to be circling around, but not actually falling, in Upper Freehold. I've also had no desire to walk through rain-soaked fields, so the Union Transportation Trail, the Sharon Station Road section, seemed like the obvious choice.  

It can be an interesting walk, as the former railroad bed goes through a few different habitats, including over Assunpink Creek, but I wasn't expecting much. I first walked north and, as I expected, there wasn't much action aside from scaring up a Great Blue Heron from beneath one of the bridges. Walking back south, I stopped to look in the field across from the parking lot, because I was hearing Killdeer. Getting the scope out of the car I found them, and somewhat surprisingly, a few Semipalmated Plovers and Least Sandpipers. Nothing exotic, though, even though this is prime sod farm territory. Walking south, after you emerge from a little allee of trees, the walk can get a little boring with sad-looking cornfields on both sides. Farther south there are equipment sheds and some kind of grain processing silo and a typical farmyard filled with broken down machinery and plain old junk. Along a fence line I found a few Savannah Sparrows, which flew into a pile of pallets just inside the yard. By now, what Scott calls "fool's rain" had started to fall, a mist, hardly perceptible to the eye. I lingered by the pallets and found a couple of Song Sparrows, then another sparrow that didn't look right--at first I thought Field, but the buffy vest and light streaking told me I had my first Lincoln's Sparrow of the year. But the pile wasn't through giving up birds. There was a Field Sparrow hopping around in there, and then out of the corner of my eye, I saw a House Wren jump down into the pile from a little tree next to it. Another sparrow came out of nowhere and I saw that it was my second Clay-colored Sparrow of the last week--and in Monmouth County, they're flagged as rare. And bobbing its tail on the next stick over: a Palm Warbler.

Clay-colored Sparrow

That made five sparrow species, a wren and a warbler all seeking refuge among a stack of busted pallets. 

By now the "fool's rain" had turned into idiot's rain--very perceptible and only and idiot would be standing out in it. Unfortunately, I was at least a half mile from my car. I didn't bring my camera, thinking the weather might turn on me, so I took the photos with my phone, and if you think the photo of the Clay-colored is crappy, you should see the one of the Lincoln's--on a scale of 1 to 5 it rates -0. 

25 species in my 2 mile walk and almost a third of them were found in pile of junk. 

Mourning Dove  7
Semipalmated Plover  11     Muddy field across from parking lot
Killdeer  19
Least Sandpiper  5     Muddy field across from parking lot
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  3
Blue Jay  10
American Crow  4
House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  2
European Starling  100
Gray Catbird  8
Northern Mockingbird  2
House Finch  3
Clay-colored Sparrow  1     
Field Sparrow  1
Savannah Sparrow  3     Buildings
Song Sparrow  2
Lincoln's Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1
Common Yellowthroat  2
American Redstart  1
Palm Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  5

Reed's Sod Farm 8/29--Upland Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Upland Sandpiper

I can think of a few ways of birding (pelagics, sea-watching in winter, birding by helicopter) that I like less than "sod-farming," but I would never consider doing them, whereas, occasionally, I just have to grit my teeth, gird my loins, summon up what little patience I have, and stand on a busy road, scoping dirt for an hour or two. 

Late August into September are when the "grasspipers" tend to show up on the sod farms that are sprinkled around Upper Freehold. Usually I don't bother going up there because almost all of the rarities you'll find there show up at Whitesbog, too. However, this year, due to the dry conditions, the bogs there remain full, in reserve (they are reservoirs) for the cranberry harvest. Hence, no shorebird season there. 

Even still, I wouldn't necessarily go up there. I dislike standing on the side of a road as cars and big trucks zoom by a couple of feet away from me, disrupting my scope view and my so-called concentration. I dislike standing still waiting for a rarity to climb up out of a little depression in the dirt (it is amazing how hilly these supposedly flat sod farms are when you're looking for a small bird). And they're always far away. And they tend to be skittish. And the landmarks you're given by other birders usually make no sense. But Upland Sandpiper drew me to the sod farm on York Road. Since I don't go onto the naval base in Lakehurst anymore, my only chance to see an uppie is when they decide to migrate and sporadically show up in odd places. 

I got up to Herbert Road fairly early this morning and parked in the Union Transportation Trail lot--that's another problem with sod farming, parking is usually difficult. I walked down Herbert about 4/10 of a mile to a field on the north side of the road, one that I'd never seen stripped of grass. A couple of other birders were already there and fairly quickly they got me on the 4 Buff-breasted Sandpipers that were in the field. Those, for some reason, I figured would stay. The uppie I had few expectations of seeing, since they tend to be a bit more flighty, but you definitely won't see one if you don't go. Before long, one of the birders found the uppie. A couple of other birders came along, and they too found the uppie. Eventually, everyone found the uppie, either flying with the buffies or standing in the grass beyond the dirt. Everyone but me. No matter where I looked, the bird had just moved. No matter what landmarks I was given (dark trunk, tall blade of grass, blue box), I couldn't find the bird. And since I am a believer that effort expended is in inverse proportion to value, I gave up. I walked up and down the UTT, just to get my steps in. Nothing very interesting bird-wise was going on.

I went back to the same spot on Herbert Road. A fresh set of birders were there. They excitedly told me about the buffies. Then someone found the Upland Sandpiper. Here we go again. A guy next to me had the bird in his scope. I looked at it (yay) then tried to find it in my scope, because you know, it isn't official until you see it in your own scope. I scanned back and forth on the edge where the dirt dipped down to grass and could not find the bird. Checked his scope again. Scanned back and forth until I determined I hadn't gone far enough right. Found the damn bird. Took a lousy digiscope of it. Left.

Three American Golden-Plovers were reported a different field about 3 miles away. I thought about it. Nah. 

American Golden-Plover--An Ironic Tale

American Golden-Plover, Middle Bog

Every rarity you can expect--and a couple like Marbled Godwit and Whimbrel that you can't--had appeared at Whitesbog this year with the exception of American Golden-Plover. While I have this bird on my year list from our trip down to Delaware in August, I still wanted to "get it" for my NJ year list and since it looked like it would skip Whitesbog this year, I drove up to the Sharon Station Road section of the Union Transportation Trail in Upper Freehold where one had been reported for the last few days on the sod farm across the way from the parking lot.  

And of course, didn't find it for the longest time, until I saw, and here is the first irony, a birder I know from Burlco who put me on the bird. I got very good binocular looks at the bird (I didn't feel like going back to the car to get the scope) but it was much too far for pictures. Still, on the Jersey list. I had walked about a mile of the trail in between looking for the plover, but now that I had the bird, I wasn't inclined to walk the southern section, so I decided to go to Whitesbog for the rest of the morning. Driving south, there is a construction zone on Sharon Station just before it turns into Rt 539. It's a real mess and the speed limit is 35 mph.  I noticed that I was going 40 mph and slowed down but apparently, I didn't slow down fast enough (there's an oxymoron), and I got pulled over by an Upper Freehold cop who claimed I zoomed by him (I didn't zoom) and kindly gave me a ticket for "Failure to Obey Signs, Signals, or Directions." I say "kindly" because while the infraction costs $55, there are no points on my license. But that certainly put a damper on the day. 

When I finally got to Whitesbog I was not in the best of moods. I walked out on to the dam of Middle Bog, put up my bins and saw semiplo, semiplo, semiplo...not a semiplo. It was...a juvenile AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER! Which I immediately lost as it flew from one side of Cranberry Run to the other. After about 5 minutes I relocated the bird on the mud flats. It had all the right field marks, so I put it on the alert and hung around for about an hour while a few other birders (it is a workday for most) arrived and I was able to put them on the bird. 

So, the moral of this story is, had I just gone to Whitesbog, as I have almost every day for the last month and half, I would have put the bird on my Jersey list and saved myself the aggravation of getting a $55 fine plus a $1.65 "service fee" for paying online. 

January: 136 Species

Long-Tailed Duck (hen) Barnegat Light SP

Common Eider (hen), Barnegat Light SP

Cackling Goose with Canada Goose, Conine's Millpond
Photo: Mike Mandracchia

Red-tailed Hawk, Whitesbog

The edge of the dreaded Polar Vortex has kept me pretty much confined to quarters the last couple of days of this month, though I did get out yesterday for a walk along the Union Transportation Trail in Upper Freehold where I added my 136 species for the year, a hard one for me to get too, a Winter Wren moving rapidly through the undergrowth, but clearly seen--and heard.
I'm way ahead of my pace from last year and that's because I deliberately went after the "hard " birds like owls and rare geese, not to mention the Townsend's Warbler at the Trenton Sewage Ponds.

However, I didn't chase a Black Phoebe that was way up in Northern New Jersey, nor a Northern Shrike in the same vicinity. Or a hen Barrow's Goldeneye in the Delaware. I wasn't even tempted. Some birds are just too far.

I really concentrate on Ocean County and the surrounding counties with Mercer an honorable mention. I don't have a big Mercer list, but with the Townsend's Warbler this month, it has some really interesting birds on it, like last year's Ash-throated Flycatcher, and previous year's crossbills, Barnacle Geese, Virginia Rail, Least Bittern...even a Crested Caracara a few years ago. But generally I feel, the closer the rarity, the more valuable the rarity.

Birds I want for Ocean County, soon: American Woodcock, the aforementioned Winter Wren, a Purple Finch, and an American Bittern. That's quite a shopping list but not out of the question.

As to geese: We're still waiting for Pink-footed Goose and Ross's Goose to show up somewhere in the state.

Tomorrow is a new month. February tends to be really dead, so unless some new rarities show up I don't think I'm going to hit as high a number as I did this month. I'm not a "month" birder (yet) so I'm not going to go out of my way to get a Trumpeter Swan, for example, just to get a Trumpeter Swan for the month. However, if I happen to be in the vicinity....

Birds in bold italics are rarities for the month--either really rare, or just rare for the time of the year. All were exciting to see.

Species               First Sighting

Snow Goose   Brig

Brant   Sandy Hook

Barnacle Goose   Conine’s Millpond

Cackling Goose   Lake Takanassee

Canada Goose   Seven Presidents Park

Mute Swan   Lake Takanassee

Trumpeter Swan   Stone Tavern Lake

Tundra Swan   Whitesbog

Wood Duck   Little Silver Lake

Northern Shoveler   Monmouth Beach

Gadwall   Lake Takanassee

Eurasian Wigeon   Shark River

American Wigeon   Lake Takanassee

Mallard   Lake Takanassee

American Black Duck   Lake of the Lilies

Northern Pintail   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Allenhurst

Canvasback   Mathis Veteran's Memorial Park

Redhead   Lake of the Lilies

Ring-necked Duck   Mathis Veteran's Memorial Park

Greater Scaup   Bayview Ave Park

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   Sandy Hook

Long-tailed Duck   Sandy Hook

Bufflehead   Sandy Hook

Common Goldeneye   LBI Bayside

Hooded Merganser   Lake Takanassee

Common Merganser   Conine’s Millpond

Red-breasted Merganser   Sandy Hook

Ruddy Duck   Lake Takanassee

Ring-necked Pheasant   New Egypt

Wild Turkey   New Egypt

Pied-billed Grebe   Lake Takanassee

Horned Grebe   Sandy Hook

Red-necked Grebe   Sandy Hook

Rock Pigeon   Little Silver Lake

Mourning Dove   Seven Presidents Park

American Coot   Lake Takanassee

Sandhill Crane   Pemberton Twp MUA Fields

Killdeer   Lakewood Wawa

Ruddy Turnstone   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Sanderling   Manasquan Inlet

Dunlin   Manasquan Inlet

Purple Sandpiper   Manasquan Inlet

Spotted Sandpiper   Barnegat Municipal Dock

Greater Yellowlegs   Poplar St Boat Launch

Razorbill   Sandy Hook

Ring-billed Gull   Lake Takanassee

Herring Gull   Sandy Hook

Lesser Black-backed Gull   Lake Takanassee

Glaucous Gull   Manasquan Inlet

Great Black-backed Gull   Sandy Hook

Red-throated Loon   Monmouth Beach

Pacific Loon   Manasquan Inlet

Common Loon   Sandy Hook

Northern Gannet   Sandy Hook

Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Double-crested Cormorant   Point Pleasant Beach

Great Blue Heron   Lake Takanassee

Great Egret   Great Bay Bvld.

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

Black Vulture   Fischer Blvd-Toms River

Turkey Vulture   35 Sunset Rd

Northern Harrier   BC Fairgrounds

Sharp-shinned Hawk   18 Aberdeen Avenue

Cooper's Hawk   Lake Takanassee

Bald Eagle   Sandy Hook

Red-shouldered Hawk   Brig

Red-tailed Hawk   Point Pleasant Beach

Rough-legged Hawk   Stafford Township

Eastern Screech-Owl   Beach Ave

Great Horned Owl   Beach Ave

Snowy Owl   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Long-eared Owl   Assunpink WMA

Northern Saw-whet Owl   Pole Farm

Belted Kingfisher   Bayview Ave Park

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Cattus Island County Park

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Marshall's Pond

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker   Assunpink WMA

Pileated Woodpecker   Assunpink WMA

Northern Flicker   Cedar Bonnet Island

American Kestrel   Pemberton Twp MUA Fields

Merlin   Toms River

Peregrine Falcon   Sandy Hook

Eastern Phoebe   Trenton Sewage Ponds

Blue Jay   Lake of the Lilies

American Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Fish Crow   New Egypt

Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Trenton Sewage Ponds

Tree Swallow   Trenton Sewage Ponds

Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse   Cattus Island County Park

Red-breasted Nuthatch   Cattus Island County Park

White-breasted Nuthatch   Cattus Island County Park

Brown Creeper   Colliers Mills WMA

Winter Wren   Union Transportation Trail

Carolina Wren   Sandy Hook

Golden-crowned Kinglet   Cattus Island County Park

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Assunpink WMA

Eastern Bluebird   Cloverdale Farm

Hermit Thrush   Taylor Ln

American Robin   Marshall's Pond

Gray Catbird   Assunpink WMA

Brown Thrasher   Manahawkin WMA

Northern Mockingbird   Lake of the Lilies

European Starling   South Toms River

Cedar Waxwing   Taylor Ln

House Finch   Cattus Island County Park

Pine Siskin   Cloverdale Farm

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Snow Bunting   Sandy Hook

American Tree Sparrow   Shelter Cove Park

Fox Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Dark-eyed Junco   Whitesbog

White-crowned Sparrow   Assunpink WMA

White-throated Sparrow   59 White Rd, Jackson

Savannah Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island

Song Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park

Swamp Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA

Eastern Meadowlark   Pole Farm

Red-winged Blackbird   Cattus Island County Park

Brown-headed Cowbird   New Egypt

Common Grackle   New Egypt

Boat-tailed Grackle   Lake of the Lilies

Orange-crowned Warbler   Great Bay Bvld.

Palm Warbler   Trenton Sewage Ponds

Pine Warbler   Cloverdale Farm

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Cedar Bonnet Island

Townsend's Warbler   Trenton Sewage Ponds

Northern Cardinal   Assunpink WMA

House Sparrow   Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Redheads, Lake of the Lilies