Reed's Sod Farm 9/9--Buff-breasted Sandpiper

 "Sod-farming" is not my favorite kind of birding. Standing on the verge of a busy road scoping dirt while tractor trailers zoom behind me--a guy could lose a tuchus searching for a grasspiper. But I was scouting today for American Golden-Plover, not for myself, but for a friend who is coming over from Brooklyn on Saturday. He is collecting "golden" birds for his 50th anniversary of birding, and Reed's Sod Farm on Old York Road is a very good place to look for them. On Sunday, during rainy weather, a small flock was found (nothing in comparison to the 43 that were Burlco--since gone--last week, but you only need one) and yesterday at least one was seen. 

This morning, I parked in the Union Transportation Trail lot, crossed Sharon Station Road, plunked my scope down in the wet grass, and looked at a big puddle that has formed in a low spot. Killdeer, of course, and a few peeps that I would have to get closer to if I wanted to identify them, and then, well I guess I better start a list because there's a Buff-breasted Sandpiper. I walked along the edge of Herbert Road to get closer to the pond, hoping that the other shorebirds in and near the water would turn out to be my target, but while there was a decent mix, the plover was not among them. I then started walking down Herbert Road toward Old York, past the house and over to the barren dirt field that had already had its sod harvest. Besides the big flock of starlings, I saw smaller birds in the dirt and kept walking. I got my scope on one and it turned out to be a Horned Lark--nice bird, but when you want something else, disappointing. The bird next to it was also a lark, as was the next bird, and the next bird and the next 41 birds--all Horned Larks, eating bugs or seeds. I spent an hour looking and only came away with a year bird. Doesn't mean that tomorrow or Saturday there won't be a golden plover there--especially since it may rain tonight--and if I had found one, it wouldn't have meant there would be one on Saturday. That's the problem with these oxymoronic common rarities--they're soooo unreliable. 

Only 12 species.

Canada Goose  20
Killdeer  5
Semipalmated Plover  1
Lesser Yellowlegs  2
Buff-breasted Sandpiper  1     
Least Sandpiper  3
Pectoral Sandpiper  1
Semipalmated Sandpiper  3
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  2
Horned Lark  45
European Starling  200

Reed's Sod Farm 8/25--Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Buff-breasted Sandpiper with Semipalmated Plover

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no point in being a damn fool about it.

                  --W.C. Fields

I've always found Fields' advice to be sensible, especially when it comes to chasing birds (which are, after all, I keep reminding myself, just birds), so I must have been feeling damn foolish this morning since I drove up to Reed's Sod Farm for the third time in a little over a week, looking for elusive "grasspipers." My first two tries last week were fruitless, and on my third try this morning the only "interesting" birds I found was a small flock of Horned Larks, on the dirt, no surprising for a species that seems to love the crappiest ground available. I walked the length of Herbert Road and up York Road to look at more harvested dirt when the local bird maven pulled up and told me I was searching the wrong place. The bird I was looking for had been seen most of the time behind me, at the corner of Herbert & York. I walked back there and found a photographer who had seen the bird earlier and was waiting for it to reappear. 

If there is one thing I really hate doing, it's standing on York Road with traffic whizzing within inches of my ass, waiting for a bird to show up. I stood there as long as I could stand it then hoisted my scope and left. "It is only a bird," I said aloud. I walked back to my car, which was parked in the Union Transportation Trail lot on Sharon Road, stowed the scope and walked the trail for a while. Sometimes I find notable birds along that converted railbed, but today was not one of those days. 

So I decided to look again--four times, I'm not usually that persistent. I drove down to the corner of Herbert & York and saw, once again, many, many Killdeer, but not my desired species. But I had passed two birders on Herbert, one with a scope, one with a camera. Looking at the photographer I could tell they had the bird--there is a way photographers look at the preview screens on their cameras that signals a good bird--they peer at the screen and fiddle with the controls. So, I drove back up there and asked the guy with the scope if they'd had any luck--he waved me back toward where I'd been standing. "It must be an angle thing," I thought. The photographer was a little more helpful and with my scope I found the Buff-breasted Sandpiper running along in the relatively high grass--it was an angle thing, since the slightly higher ground I was standing on gave me a view above the sod. But it was too far away for a picture, so I walked down almost to York, again, and there I was able to take the poor photographs you see here. 

With Killdeer in upper left corner.

Now, I would rather have seen this bird at Whitesbog (where, when the bogs are drawn down, they appear annually), but this year the bogs are full because of water worries. Actually, I rather have seen this bird in Ocean County, where I have only recorded it once (on the Ocean County side of Whitesbog when Big Tank was empty). Actually, I'd rather see this bird in my backyard, because, frankly, chasing after birds is losing its appeal. But, with all that, I'm still glad I got the bird, damn fool that I am. 

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. 

BC Fairgrounds 8/21--American Golden-Plover

"Sod-farming" is not my favorite style of birding. It consists of standing on the side of busy roads in Monmouth and Mercer Counties, scanning clods of dirt on the various Reed Sod Farms scattered through those counties. Once in a blue moon you find a "grasspiper." Most times you see a lot of Killdeer and starlings, while big trucks sweep behind you and cars honk their horns because they can. There is little walking involved. You won't build up a big list. There is always a haze on the fields and sun glare in your eyes. What's not to like?

But I do it every year because...you just might get lucky. Yesterday's episode with Mike started out with us thinking we had, then became a disappointment, and was finally rescued on the grounds of a former sod farm.

If I'm going to sod farm, my favorite spot to do it is on Rt 526 Spur, using the parking lot of the Reed Recreation Area as my viewing spot and looking across the road to the farm. While there is often the blur of a speeding vehicle in your scope's eyepiece, you are at least not right in the line of traffic. That was our second stop of the morning, the first farm, across from the White Birch Farm, being a haven for starlings and nothing else.

Horned Lark
Photo: Mike Mandracchia

I'd seen a few birds moving int he torn up dirt, so we set up our scopes and they weren't the Least Sandpipers I thought they might be, but instead were "land birds." They were hard to see, since they kept disappearing behinds hunks of dirt and the lighting was terrible, but we could clearly see white bellies, wing bars, and a facial pattern that suggested a sparrow-like bird. There aren't a lot of birds that like that kind of barren habitat--larks, pipits, and longspurs are about the only ones. We knew they weren't pipits, they sure didn't look like larks to us, McCown's Longspur would be an astonishing rarity and they didn't look like that species either, so we defaulted to another somewhat less rare rarity--Lapland Longspur.

We were pretty excited, but we didn't put out an alert (thanks be to caution) because while the birds looked convincing they weren't 100%. We ran up to the farm on Herbert Road where we ran into our friend Bob D and told him about our find. He turned around and drove down there. We were just pulling into the Mercer Corporate Park (nothing) when he called and said all he saw were Horned Larks. We drove back there as he was leaving, scoped the field again, and did indeed find one obvious Horned Lark. The birds we had been seeing weren't in sight.  Looking at the lark with its yellow breast and black collar only convinced us that our original ID was correct.

It wasn't until we got to the BC Fairgrounds that we got shot down. Mike had sent a picture to Scott who said, basically, nope, lark. What a let down! I get birds wrong all the time, but to be so far off makes me cringe. And it still doesn't really look like a lark to me--must be immature or a female.

I got the bad news from Mike while I was scanning the mowed field beyond the parking lot at the fairgrounds. Those fields use to be called the Mercer Sod Farm, so technically we were still sod farming. We'd come there because an American Golden-Plover had been reported. Now, this is not the place I want my golden-plover. I want it in Whitesbog. Mike is not so fussy.

I moving my scope west to east: Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer, Killdeer...I was up to 55 Killdeers when I finally hit "not a Killdeer" and found the plover. Mike quickly got on the bird. Too far out for photography. We spend a lot of time looking at this plover. Didn't want to get burned again. But it was a no doubter. There had been 3 Upland Sandpipers in the field for the last week or so but only one remained. Whether 2 had flown out and one straggler stayed, or 3 had flown out and this was a replacement is impossible to say. You only need one. Just for fun, Mike kept counting Killdeers. He ended up with 120. Sounds like a lot until you hear that someone else counted 192.

With that we gave up on sod farming and on the way home, stopped in at Bunker Hill Bogs, which, we happy to find, is now passable. It seems like for almost a year the trails were flooded, but we had no problems walking the length of the trail from the parking to Butterfly Road and back. We accumulated 31 species, including 5 species of warblers (yellowthroat, pine, redstart, Ovenbird, Black-and-White), which is not bad for mid-day, mid-summer.

August Wrap Up

Greater Yellowlegs, Upper Reservoir, Whitesbog

Green Heron, Dogleg Bog, Whitesbog

At the beginning of the month, I thought August was shaping up to be a disappointment since the 3 front bogs at Whitesbog were not going to be drawn down. Every year I look forward to circling those bogs taking in the mixed flocks of shore birds along with egrets, herons, and the occasional gull or tern. Rarities always seem to sneak in. This year I still found myself going there a lot but my routine was quite different than previous years. I spent almost all my birding time on the Ocean County side, beyond the fabled double-laned road. In that section, I was able to find some shorebirds, mostly on the Upper Reservoir, which is about 2/3 drained since this winter's breach, but also on a little bog near the dogleg that I usually don't pay much attention to except in the winter since I have occasionally seen Rusty Blackbirds feeding there. For some reason mud flats emerged on this bog over the course of the month and I was able to find shorebirds on it--nothing rare, nothing special, but there were enough there to keep me interested. It also had plenty of swallows--I had 5 different species during the month there, and every once in a while a Green Heron would make an appearance.

The only rarity I found at Whitesbog this year was the Black Tern over Union Pond on the Burlington County side. A couple of days ago I was surprised to find five of them feeding on the Upper Reservoir--that made them year county birds. And on that side of the county line they're not rare--surprising, but not rare.

I did as much "sod farming" as I could stand and did well with the American Golden Plovers. I took one canoe trip with Greg out to Great Sedge Island but unfortunately, for me, the Marbled Godwits delayed their arrival there until a week after we went, so I still need that for the year.

Our weekend trip to Delaware netted (not literally) 4 year birds and my only trip to Brig this month got me Cattle Egret and two new shorebirds. For the month I added 10 species to the year list.

eBird has come out with the updated taxonomic order which I am having a hard time getting used to. Suddenly pigeons and doves, cuckoos, swifts, and hummingbirds are all more "primitive" than the shorebirds, the warblers have advanced over the icterids, and cardinals, grosbeaks and buntings are more modern than they used to be. And next year they'll shake it up again. Glad I'm not writing a field guide.

134 species for the month.
Counties birded:
Delaware: Kent, Sussex
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean

Species               First Sighting

Canada Goose   Great Bay Blvd

Mute Swan   Holly Lake

Wood Duck   Brig

Blue-winged Teal   Bombay Hook

Northern Shoveler   Bombay Hook

American Wigeon   Bombay Hook

Mallard   Great Bay Blvd

American Black Duck   Whitesbog

Northern Pintail   Bombay Hook

Common Eider   Island Beach SP

Black Scoter   Island Beach SP

Northern Bobwhite   Bombay Hook

Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd

Rock Pigeon   Great Bay Blvd

Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-billed Cuckoo   Whitesbog

Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift   W. Cape May

Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd

Clapper Rail   Great Bay Blvd

American Avocet   Bombay Hook

American Oystercatcher   Cape May Point SP

Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Blvd

American Golden-Plover   Reed Sod Farm 526 Spur

Semipalmated Plover   Great Bay Blvd

Piping Plover   Cape May Point SP

Killdeer   Cape May Point SP

Whimbrel   Brig

Hudsonian Godwit   Bombay Hook

Ruddy Turnstone   Great Bay Blvd

Stilt Sandpiper   Brig

Sanderling   Sunset Beach/Concrete Ship

Least Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd

White-rumped Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Pectoral Sandpiper   Brig

Semipalmated Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd

Western Sandpiper   Brig

Short-billed Dowitcher   Great Bay Blvd

Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig

Spotted Sandpiper   Great Bay Blvd

Solitary Sandpiper   Whitesbog

Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Blvd

Willet   Island Beach SP

Lesser Yellowlegs   Great Bay Blvd

Laughing Gull   Great Bay Blvd

Ring-billed Gull   Cape May Point SP

Herring Gull   Great Bay Blvd

Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Blvd

Least Tern   South Cape May Meadows

Gull-billed Tern   Brig

Caspian Tern   Brig

Black Tern   Whitesbog

Common Tern   Great Bay Blvd

Forster's Tern   Great Bay Blvd

Royal Tern   Cape May Point SP

Black Skimmer   Great Bay Blvd

Double-crested Cormorant   Great Bay Blvd

Brown Pelican   Island Beach SP

Great Blue Heron   Great Bay Blvd

Great Egret   Great Bay Blvd

Snowy Egret   Great Bay Blvd

Little Blue Heron   Great Bay Blvd

Tricolored Heron   Great Bay Blvd

Cattle Egret   Brig

Green Heron   Brig

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Blvd

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Blvd

Glossy Ibis   Great Bay Blvd

Black Vulture   Cape Island--Sea Grove Ave.

Turkey Vulture   Crestwood Village

Osprey   Great Bay Blvd

Cooper's Hawk   Union Transportation Trail

Bald Eagle   Great Bay Blvd

Red-tailed Hawk   GSP MM 36

Belted Kingfisher   Whitesbog

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Great Bay Blvd

Downy Woodpecker   Whitesbog

Pileated Woodpecker   Bombay Hook

Northern Flicker   Whitesbog

Peregrine Falcon   Brig

Eastern Wood-Pewee   Brig

Eastern Phoebe   Whitesbog

Great Crested Flycatcher   Cape May Point SP

Eastern Kingbird   Cape May Point SP

White-eyed Vireo   Whitesbog

Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA

Red-eyed Vireo   Double Trouble State Park

Blue Jay   GSP MM 24

American Crow   Brig

Fish Crow   35 Sunset Rd

Horned Lark   Reed Sod Farm

Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Whitesbog

Purple Martin   Cape May Point SP

Tree Swallow   Great Bay Blvd

Bank Swallow   Whitesbog

Barn Swallow   Great Bay Blvd

Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd

Red-breasted Nuthatch   Whitesbog

White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd

Brown-headed Nuthatch   Big Stone Beach

House Wren   Cape May Point SP

Sedge Wren   Woodland Beach

Marsh Wren   Brig

Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Whitesbog

Eastern Bluebird   Brig

American Robin   35 Sunset Rd

Gray Catbird   Great Bay Blvd

Northern Mockingbird   35 Sunset Rd

European Starling   Great Bay Blvd

Cedar Waxwing   Cloverdale Farm

House Finch   35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd

Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd

Field Sparrow   Magnesite Plant

Seaside Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd

Saltmarsh Sparrow   Island Beach SP

Song Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd

Swamp Sparrow   Whitesbog

Eastern Towhee   35 Sunset Rd

Bobolink   Woodland Beach

Red-winged Blackbird   Great Bay Blvd

Brown-headed Cowbird   Whitesbog

Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Blvd

Black-and-white Warbler   Whitesbog

Common Yellowthroat   Great Bay Blvd

Yellow Warbler   Great Bay Blvd

Pine Warbler   Whitesbog

Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog

Northern Cardinal   Great Bay Blvd

Blue Grosbeak   Brig

Indigo Bunting   South Cape May Meadows

House Sparrow   Ocean View Rest Stop Short-billed Dowitcher, Upper Reservoir, Whitesbog

Sod Farming 8/20--American Golden-Plover

Since the month began I've been checking out the various sod farms clustered around Allentown, looking for "grasspipers." Until today, all I've come up with were Killdeer, Least Sandpipers, and Semipalmated Plovers, all fine birds, but nothing worth standing with your back to a busy road hoping a tractor-trailer doesn't swerve off course.

This morning, while I was doing something else, I saw that, finally, some decent birds were being found up there, but of course, I couldn't go. It wasn't until the late afternoon that I managed to gather myself together and drive up there, without much hope. The first farm I tried had tractors running around on it, so any of the cool birds that were seen there this morning weren't going to be seen this afternoon. The second place I tried, one I like better because you can view the fields from the parking lot of a recreation area, had another birder there peering through his scope when I arrived. "Another masochist," I thought, but at least he had some interesting birds in his optics. With a little help I finally managed to find 3 of the 6 American Golden-Plovers he was seeing in the dirt. Still, in order to get even the lousy photograph above, we had to cross the road to the opposite shoulder while rush hour began to build. Unpleasant to say the least.

There are more farms north of that spot and the one I like the best for both sentimental and logistical reasons, is one that is adjacent to the Union Transportation Trail. Lately, I've been parking there and actually walking on Herbert Road, scanning the fields. I've done well with Killdeer there and today we also had Horned Larks which blend amazingly well with the clods of dirt, but aside from more Semi Plovers, we had no "good" grasspipers there. My new friend was going on to the sod farm at Gordon Road, but I looked at that one recently and it still had sod on it--the farms are best once the sod has been rolled up and there's nothing but a barren field and, with luck, a few puddles. I decided that "one cool bird a day suffices" and headed home.

Gordon Rd Sod Farm 8/21--Baird's Sandpiper, Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Middle of August and a birder's interests shift to the sod farms of Mercer & Monmouth Counties. In the four years we've living here the "hot" farm shifts around. This year, so far, it appears to be the one on Gordon Road off Route 539, putting just over the border into Mercer County. Lots of reports were coming in yesterday and with last night's rain I was hoping that rarities would still be attracted to the muddy fields.

After my morning walk in Colliers Mills (where I found only the expected birds), I drove up to Gordon Road. There were 4 or 5 birders there already scoping and scanning the gullies of the field. I pulled over and joined in but found nothing rare or exciting in the least. David pulled up with his son A.J. and asked about the Ruddy Turnstone, which would really be unusual so far inland. "Haven't heard about that one." It was on an eBird alert, but I haven't caught up with the 21st century with my communications devices. In any case, it wasn't there. While David & I caught up, the other birders drifted off to check the field from Rt 539, something I wasn't anxious to do, it being a busy road with trucks blowing by you at speed. I asked David about the sod farm up the road, the first one Shari & I ever visited, but he said it was pretty much dead there. So, I figured I'd pack it in and try another day when, like a messenger at the end of a play, a birder returned to announce that at least one of the rarities had been found from the county road.

We zipped over there to where the field was mostly a dirt lot with farm equipment. Many peeps and plovers were running around picking at the ground, undisturbed, mostly, by the coming and going pickup trucks. Kirsten announced that she thought she had a Buff-breasted Sandpiper, which would be a lifer for her. I looked, David looked, it looked like a buffie, though pretty distant.Then I found the turnstone, standing next to a huge tractor tire. I can safely say I never saw that juxtaposition before. The bird I was really interested in seeing, because it is a much more difficult bird for me to confidently i.d., was soon found fairly close in on the dirt. When I looked in David's scope, though, I only saw a Pectoral Sandpiper...not a bad bird, a rarity for those parts, but not the bird I wanted. The bird I wanted, the Baird's Sandpiper, was in front of the Pec. I found it in David's scope and in mine. This might be the 2nd time I've seen both Buff-breasted and Baird's in the same field and what I've noticed is that Buff-breasted Sandpiper stands erect, while Baird's has a horizontal profile. It's a good, quick filter when sorting through many little birds running around hither and yon.

So, 4 rarities in a morning is not a bad day of birding. I'll have to keep checking the fields--American Golden Plover is due in.

Here's what you can find in a field in central Jersey after a storm:
14 species
Great Blue Heron  1     f/o
Semipalmated Plover  2
Killdeer  25
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Solitary Sandpiper  1
Ruddy Turnstone  1     
Baird's Sandpiper  1    
Least Sandpiper  10
Buff-breasted Sandpiper  1     
Pectoral Sandpiper  1    
Semipalmated Sandpiper  5
Rock Pigeon   1
Fish Crow  1     Heard
American Robin  2

All the rarities were too far away to get a decent photo.