April Birding During a Pandemic

Ovenbird, Whiting WMA

Birding ethically and legally during a pandemic was hard enough; the weather this month made it doubly difficult. I remember April that started out with snowstorms heavy enough to cancel baseball's Opening Day, but I don't recall an April as relentlessly cold, windy, and rainy as this past month. Many days I awoke to miserable conditions and many days I forced myself to go out in less than ideal weather for my walk. I can never tell if the winds are propitious for migration. All I know is that there were winds and winds keep the birds down.

The only real bright spot was our backyard where the turkeys, the whip-poor-will, and, toward the end of the month, the hummingbird, kept us entertained. Especially the turkeys which we found strutting around our yard almost every day, the big Toms displaying, while a gang of four "Terror Turkeys" would stand in the middle of the street and stop traffic, two standing in the road while the other two would rush over from the side and attack a car's tires. Very amusing, even when it happened to me.

I, for the most part, stuck close to the house, either exploring parts of the WMA that, even after 8 years here, I'd never bothered to walk to, or else edge birding along the power line cut that runs along the edge of the development.

I did make a few forays farther afield, to other WMAs around the county and once to Brig with Shari, but avoided the parks, even when they were open. Not only is it hard to social distance on the narrow park trails, but all those people discourage any kind of serious birding.

So, what did I find? 26 new species for the year, a couple right here in the back yard, but about half of them in our one loop around Brig. From what I can glean from my sporadic reading of others' reports (I've turned off the alerts app on my phone because I got tired of the ceaseless chatter about next to nothing), migration has been slow this year. However, every year, it seems, migration is slow. Might that be because of the supposedly billions of birds that no longer exist? Seems logical to me.

For the month I recorded 106 species. As a comparison, last year I listed 172 species. Going all the way back to 2016, my worst April was 137 species. So, Covid-19, wind and rain, not mention occasional car trouble, all managed to reduce me to a pitiable number.  But, on the other hand, I am healthy, Shari is healthy. I assume, if you're reading this, you are too. Stay that way.

Species         First Sighting

Brant   Brig

Canada Goose   Meadow View Ln

Mute Swan   Double Trouble State Park

Wood Duck   Meadow View Ln

Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA

Mallard   Meadow View Ln

American Black Duck   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Brig

Ring-necked Duck   Colliers Mills WMA

Hooded Merganser   Crestwood Village

Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd

American Coot   Brig

American Oystercatcher   East Bay Av

Black-bellied Plover   Brig

Killdeer   Colliers Mills WMA

Whimbrel   Brig

Red Knot   Brig

Stilt Sandpiper   Brig

Dunlin   Brig

White-rumped Sandpiper   Brig

Pectoral Sandpiper   Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher   Brig

Greater Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA

Willet   Brig

Lesser Yellowlegs   Brig

Laughing Gull   Brig

Ring-billed Gull   Brig

Herring Gull   Manahawkin WMA

Great Black-backed Gull   Brig

Gull-billed Tern   Brig

Forster's Tern   Brig

Double-crested Cormorant   Manahawkin WMA

Great Blue Heron   Meadow View Ln

Great Egret   Double Trouble State Park

Snowy Egret   Manahawkin WMA

Green Heron   Manahawkin WMA

Glossy Ibis   Manahawkin WMA

Black Vulture   Colliers Mills WMA

Turkey Vulture   Crestwood Village

Osprey   Whiting WMA

Northern Harrier   Rt 539 New Egypt

Cooper's Hawk   Meadow View Ln

Bald Eagle   Meadow View Ln

Red-shouldered Hawk   Meadow View Ln

Red-tailed Hawk   Crestwood Village

Belted Kingfisher   Meadow View Ln

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Meadow View Ln

Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Meadow View Ln

Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker   Whiting WMA

Pileated Woodpecker   Meadow View Ln

Northern Flicker   Meadow View Ln

American Kestrel   Rt 539 New Egypt

Eastern Phoebe   Meadow View Ln

Eastern Kingbird   Manasquan River WMA

White-eyed Vireo   Meadow View Ln

Blue Jay   Meadow View Ln

American Crow   Whiting WMA

Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Carolina Chickadee   Meadow View Ln

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

Purple Martin   Meadow View Ln

Tree Swallow   Meadow View Ln

Barn Swallow   Brig

Golden-crowned Kinglet   Colliers Mills WMA

Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Double Trouble State Park

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Double Trouble State Park

House Wren   Whiting WMA

Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd

European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA

Gray Catbird   Manasquan River WMA

Brown Thrasher   Manahawkin WMA

Northern Mockingbird   Colliers Mills WMA

Eastern Bluebird   Meadow View Ln

Hermit Thrush   Meadow View Ln

Wood Thrush   Manasquan River WMA

American Robin   Crestwood Village

House Sparrow   Crestwood Village

House Finch   Meadow View Ln

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Chipping Sparrow   Meadow View Ln

Field Sparrow   Double Trouble State Park

Dark-eyed Junco   Meadow View Ln

White-throated Sparrow   Meadow View Ln

Seaside Sparrow   Brig

Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Swamp Sparrow   Double Trouble State Park

Eastern Towhee   Double Trouble State Park

Red-winged Blackbird   Meadow View Ln

Brown-headed Cowbird   35 Sunset Rd

Common Grackle   Crestwood Village

Boat-tailed Grackle   East Bay Av, Stafford Township

Ovenbird   Manahawkin WMA

Common Yellowthroat   Colliers Mills WMA

Palm Warbler   Double Trouble State Park

Pine Warbler   Meadow View Ln

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Meadow View Ln

Prairie Warbler   Manasquan River WMA

Northern Cardinal   Meadow View Ln Blue Grosbeak   Manasquan River WMA

Palm Warbler, Whiting WMA

Colliers Mills | Cedar Bonnet Island | Barnegat Light 5/4--Common Tern, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Eastern Wood-Pewee, Willow Flycatcher, Grasshopper Sparrow, Cerulean Warbler

Cerulean Warbler, Barnegat Light

It's a good thing Mike isn't as feckless as I am, otherwise I'd never have added some of the rarities to our lists this year. The day started off with one of Mike's Birds of Jackson trips, in which the group visits the same sites in Jackson over the course of the late winter and early spring to see the change in the bird population as the weather and habitats change. I was hoping for some new birds, either year or county, but from FREC, to Butterfly Bogs, to Lake Enno we were finding fine birds but nothing new, and, having had a heavy week of birding, I was pretty tired and thinking that after our last stop at Colliers Mills a nap at home beckoned. 

Grasshopper Sparrow, Colliers Mills
(click any photo to enlarge)

It wasn't until we were driving up Success Road in Colliers Mills that we had success when, despite the dogs and their trainers running around the big field on the north side of the road we found our first Grasshopper Sparrow of the year, sitting on a little plant far away from canine activity.

But it was a fine spring day and birds had migrated and the alerts were pinging on our phones. The first rare bird, at Barnegat Light, seemed too far, to me, with a high risk of failure to pay it much mind but when rare birds started getting reported at Cedar Bonnet Island, it was just too tempting. Shari had to go home but after an infusion of Wawa coffee, Mike and I were off the dredge spoils in Manahawkin Bay. 

Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Scarlet Tanager, Cedar Bonnet Island

Of the two birds that sent us there--Lincoln's Sparrow and Tennessee Warbler--one, the warbler had been misidentified and had morphed into a even better, rarer species, though it turned out to be a female and thus less colorful. Still, we had to search. As often happens, we had no luck with either of the two birds but instead found others that were almost as interesting. Along the path to the east pavilion we came upon two practically fluorescent Scarlet Tanagers (county birds) and while we were admiring them I noticed that behind one of them was a Yellow-billed Cuckoo. You don't often see those two species in the same frame!

Eastern Wood-Pewee, Cedar Bonnet Island

We kept walking back and forth on the entrance path where all the trees are, looking for the sparrow and warbler. We turned up a lot of birds--the place was a Northern Parula hotspot, but nothing rare or new until perhaps the 3rd trip down the path someone (we were with a couple of other birders on a similar mission) pointed out a phoebe high and far way. I looked at it and it didn't seem right so I asked if were certain of the i.d. Wing bars and yellow beak, plus the fact that it was not flicking its tail led me to believe it might be a different flycatcher, which upon closer examination it turned out to be, namely our first Eastern Wood-Pewee of the year. 

Well, that was pretty good, putting me at exactly 200 species for the county and as it was just about 4 o'clock, I thought we were done, but after speaking to the one of the birders who'd just come from Barnegat Light we decided to extend the day. He was very persuasive about the ease of finding the rarity there. The Tennessee Warbler that was misidentified on Cedar Bonnet was actually a female Cerulean Warbler which is rare in New Jersey and really rare in Ocean County. But the original report from Barnegat Light was of a male Cerulean Warbler. That's a beautiful bird that we sometimes get high up in the trees in the Delaware Water Gap area. To have one in the county, where for some reason they have been passing through in record numbers (4) would be a real coup. So, even though I thought it was low-percentage play to go, it was no-percentage play not to. After another infusion of Wawa coffee of course.

I don't usually spend much time in the maritime forest at the Light. A quick walk through sometimes having walking the beach or the jetty is all I can muster, but this time we spent quite a while in there. Not much area, but it does act as a migrant trap and though we were coming up empty on the Cerulean, we did have some warbler action in there, along with more Scarlet Tanagers. We also notched our first empid species of the year when we saw a bird with two wing bars, eye ring, plain breast that called "whit." Though rare (for the moment) it turned out be a Willow Flycatcher. In a couple of weeks we'll hear it "singing" "fitz-bew" all over the place, but now we only got the call. 

So we figured that for our consolation prize and had made the loop when I saw two photographers I'd met on Cedar Bonnet during the Summer Tanager frenzy. I told them what we were looking for and got those dreaded 5 words, "Oh, you just missed it." They pointed to a bush a few feet away.

I wish I knew what kind of bush this was which was with thick white blossoms, because whatever bugs it was attracting, the birds were loving it. There were two tanagers in there grazing. They reminded me of the parrots we saw in Australia which would feed unconcernedly as you watched from a foot away. Then Mike spotted the Cerulean Warbler in the middle of the bush, living up to it color description. The light was gray by now, so the color of the bird was muted. Still, considering that all the once I have seen have been at least 50 feet up in the canopy, to have one naked eye and eye height was amazing. 

Scarlet Tanager, Barnegat Light

A couple of non-birders came by and one was trying to take a photo with his camera of a tanager (which was cooperating) but we told them that they were missing the real attraction and explained how this bird was exceedingly rare in these parts and pretty rare altogether since, due to habitat loss and other factors, its population is down 80% in our lifetimes. They were entranced and then, for good measure, a Cape May Warbler plopped into the bush. The Blue-headed Vireo in there was almost an afterthought. 

Still we weren't done. Mike wanted to see if he could find a Piping Plover for the county on the beach. Over the winter the state and a conservation group ploughed down the dunes and beach grass and created a huge flat area for shorebird nesters. A couple of oystercatchers may be taking advantage of the new digs, but so far no pipers. However, near a pond that was created at the same time there was a flock of roosting gulls and I, I myself, with Mike's confirmation, was able to pick out a 3rd year Lesser Black-backed Gull, which I needed for my county list. Our final year bird of the day were Common Terns fishing over the inlet. 

When we rolled up to my house it was already dark, which was good because it gave Mike a chance to finally add Eastern Whip-poor-will to his year list. We heard at least 3. A pretty good day considering that I expected to be asleep for half the afternoon.

Cerulean Warbler

Brig 4/28--Chimney Swift, Black Skimmer, Bank Swallow, Saltmarsh Sparrow, Orchard Oriole

Saltmarsh Sparrow

After all the excitement last night, Bob & I were up and ready to go at 7 when Mike picked us up for our trip to Brig. With the whip-poor-will Bob, yesterday, had picked up 18 of the 19 species he needed to reach his goal for the weekend, so we were pretty certain of at least one birder being happy.

Turned out we all were. I don't know how many Bob added to his list but I got 5 more on to it. The weather was very cool for late April and, while it didn't rain, it was damp, and while the winds weren't as bad as yesterday, when you could barely stand up at Heislerville, they were not the gentle, warm breezes one wishes for.

However, once we met up with Hank, the four of us started the trip, as always, at the Gull Pond where, among the usual swallows, Bob picked out a Bank Swallow, year bird for all us. Out on the dikes the Seaside Sparrows were singing and we even managed to get a couple in sight. I called out to Mike to stop the car and in the grass on the side of the road there was a Savannah Sparrow. Right next to it, a Seaside flew in. Then, just a little to the right, a Saltmarsh Sparrow flew in. Quite a trio!

Black Skimmers with Herring Gull

We'd speculated as to whether Black Skimmers would have returned. The answer was yes, at least for two of them. The rest of the trip around the dikes provided plenty of birds to sort through with a surprising number of shorebirds (though none of them in large quantities) and enough lingering ducks to keep it interesting. We weren't about to go around again as we didn't think there would be anything else to find, so after lunch we instead walked around the wooded area of the drive and along the old railroad bed that runs between Great Creek Road and the Gull Pond Road.

Near the Exit Pond (or Entrance Pond, depending on your point of view) Mike heard a chattering and called out "Oriole!" but which oriole we weren't sure. A bird was jumping around the reeds (an odd place, I thought, for an oriole) and once I got my bins on it, it turned out to be our year Orchard Oriole. At least a year bird for 3 of us anyway--Mike already had it. Finally, as we were walking on old rail path Hank looked up and called out "Chimney Swift." The was my 5th and final year bird for the day.

Since I couldn't for the life of me hear the Prairie Warbler (not usually a hard bird for me to hear, hope my ears aren't suddenly going), I only ended up with 83 species for our 5 hours plus time spent driving 8 miles and walking one.

Snow Goose  1

Brant  200

Canada Goose  100

Mute Swan  8

Wood Duck  6

Northern Shoveler  10

Gadwall  4

Mallard  10

American Black Duck  30

Green-winged Teal  12

Bufflehead  4

Mourning Dove  7

Chimney Swift  1

Clapper Rail  2    Heard

American Oystercatcher  1

Black-bellied Plover  11

Whimbrel  50

Dunlin  45

Least Sandpiper  4

Semipalmated Sandpiper  1

Short-billed Dowitcher  3

Greater Yellowlegs  30

Willet  50

Laughing Gull  5

Ring-billed Gull  5

Herring Gull  100

Great Black-backed Gull  4

Caspian Tern  2

Forster's Tern  20

Black Skimmer  2    Sand bar off south dike

Double-crested Cormorant  20

Great Blue Heron  8

Great Egret  20

Snowy Egret  10

Little Blue Heron  1

Tricolored Heron  1

Turkey Vulture  5

Osprey  6    A few occupied nests

Bald Eagle  3

Red-tailed Hawk  2

Northern Flicker  1

Eastern Phoebe  2    Heard

Great Crested Flycatcher  1    Heard

White-eyed Vireo  2

Blue Jay  5    Heard

American Crow  2

Fish Crow  6

Northern Rough-winged Swallow  1

Purple Martin  10

Tree Swallow  25

Bank Swallow  1

Barn Swallow  1

Carolina Chickadee  4

Tufted Titmouse  6

Red-breasted Nuthatch  1

House Wren  3

Marsh Wren  2    Heard

Carolina Wren  4

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2

American Robin  10

Gray Catbird  6

Brown Thrasher  2

European Starling  2

House Finch  1    Heard

American Goldfinch  1

Chipping Sparrow  3

Field Sparrow  1    Heard

White-throated Sparrow  20

Seaside Sparrow  10

Saltmarsh Sparrow  1    

Savannah Sparrow  1

Song Sparrow  2

Eastern Towhee  2    Upland section

Orchard Oriole  1    

Red-winged Blackbird  50

Brown-headed Cowbird  2

Boat-tailed Grackle  1

Ovenbird  1    Heard

Common Yellowthroat  15

Yellow Warbler  5

Pine Warbler  1    Heard

Northern Cardinal  4

House Sparrow  4