Brig 5/25--Gull-billed Tern, American White Pelican, Yellow-breasted Chat

American White Pelican

The appeal of a huge white bird was enough to overcome my reluctance to go to Brig, a reluctance that springs from my "hunter's knowledge" of the place as it was phrased to me today by another birder. In other words, I've been there so many times, know the refuge so well, that there is rarely any novelty when I go there--I know what to look for at each Goose Marker and that prospect can be wearying.  

Usually, when I go to Brig alone, my routine is to walk from the Gull Pond through the upland section to Jen's Trail (or what used to be called Jen's Trail) then back. After that, I'd do a loop around the Wildlife Drive. Today, I changed it up to increase my chances of finding that big rare American White Pelican that has been floating around for the last few days. I drove directly onto the drive without even glancing at the Gull Pond, parked around GM 4 and walked up to the observation platform where the pelican has been seen paddling around in the impoundment. And didn't find it. I did come across a Gull-billed Tern on a sandbar with Laughing Gulls, Black Skimmers, and various peeps and thought that I might have to be satisfied with that as my new bird for the year. 

I turned around and walked to the beginning of the drive, tried to scare up a Sora at the first pool, failed, returned to my car and started birding in earnest (actually, I was in Galloway, NJ). As I approached the observation tower, I looked into the bay on my right and there it was! Unmistakable as the cliche goes on eBird. Where this huge bird was hiding I don't know, though I suppose it could hunker down behind a bank of the marsh--as the picture shows, they can change their aspect ratio pretty drastically. I also learned today (from the same birder who gave me the "hunter's knowledge" phrase) that the protuberance on its beak was not a growth, but something that appears in breeding season.  

American Oystercatcher

With that out of the way, I just drove leisurely around the dikes, picking up the birds where I'd expect them to be--the oystercatchers on the rocky shoreline, the Common Tern at the sluice gate at the NE corner, and every mud flat full of sandpipers, the largest numbers going to Dunlin and Semipalmated Sandpipers. The only real surprise (in life, I don't like surprises, in birding they're my goal) was a single Snow Goose off the north dike. Brig usually has one or two lingering Snow Geese; oftentimes they're injured birds. This one may be too, but it didn't seem in any distress. 

Common Tern

Snow Goose

When I got to the trail formerly known as Jen's (apparently it has been renamed as part of the Bristow Trail), I parked the car and began my walk through the uplands and over to the Gull Pond, reversing my usual route, wild man that I am. About a half mile down the road I came up on a Brig's regular Saturday bird walk--I knew a few of the participants and we stopped to chat--speaking of chats, I was informed that I had just walk past where they had heard one. I wrote myself a mental note to listen on the way back. 

On the way back, I did stop, and it didn't take long for me to hear the "blat blat blat" and other vocal stylings of a Yellow-breasted Chat. I even managed to see one hopping around bushes and a cedar tree, though never long enough to get a good look much less a photo. In fact, as far as I can tell, there were three chats, because I heard another from the other side of the road and still another farther along, close to the entrance road to the Refuge Overlook which everyone still calls the Experimental Pool just as everyone still calls it Brig (not Forsythe). Changing a brand name is very hard. 

A second drive around the impoundments added Red Knot, Ruddy Duck (late), American Black Duck, and the cry of a Red-shouldered Hawk (flagged as "rare") where the chats were still singing their idiotic "songs" 

So it turned out to a very good day, with 3 year birds and 77 species altogether:

Snow Goose  1
Canada Goose  75
Mute Swan  40
Mallard  7
American Black Duck  20
Ruddy Duck  1     Dogleg
Mourning Dove  4
Clapper Rail  3
American Oystercatcher  4
Black-bellied Plover  15
Semipalmated Plover  10
Short-billed Dowitcher  6
Willet  15
Ruddy Turnstone  100
Red Knot  3     Mud flat across from observation tower on south dike
Dunlin  500
Least Sandpiper  10
Semipalmated Sandpiper  500
Laughing Gull  300
Herring Gull  4
Great Black-backed Gull  1
Black Skimmer  20
Gull-billed Tern  5
Forster's Tern  30
Common Tern  1
Double-crested Cormorant  10
American White Pelican  1   
Black-crowned Night Heron  1
Snowy Egret  15
Green Heron  1     GM 5
Great Egret  45
Great Blue Heron  6
Glossy Ibis  2
Turkey Vulture  2
Osprey  15
Red-shouldered Hawk  1   
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
Eastern Wood-Pewee  1
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  4
Eastern Kingbird  7
White-eyed Vireo  2
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1
American Crow  3
Fish Crow  4
Carolina Chickadee  1
Tufted Titmouse  1
Tree Swallow  2
Purple Martin  25
Northern Rough-winged Swallow  2
Barn Swallow  4
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
House Wren  1
Marsh Wren  10
Carolina Wren  5
European Starling  1
Gray Catbird  15
Brown Thrasher  2
American Robin  4
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  1
Chipping Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  3
Seaside Sparrow  4
Song Sparrow  5
Eastern Towhee  2
Yellow-breasted Chat  3
Orchard Oriole  2
Red-winged Blackbird  125
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Ovenbird  2
Common Yellowthroat  15
Yellow Warbler  20
Pine Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  3
Blue Grosbeak  1

Great Bay Blvd 5/20--Red Knot, Semipalmated Sandpiper, Black Skimmer, Least Tern

Red Knots

The most reliable, nearby spot to find Red Knots this time of year that I know of is Great Bay Blvd in Tuckerton, so it was there I went this rather cool, late spring morning. But before I got to the inlet, there were a lot of stops to make on the 4+ mile stretch. I stopped at the access point for Tuckerton Cove and figuratively slapped my forehead when I saw a long line of Black Skimmers roosting on a sandbar. I had completely forgotten about Black Skimmers as a possibility. 

Black Skimmers

The marshes were filled with shorebirds, but nothing unusual--I spent more time checking Black-bellied Plovers than I usually do, since a few years ago a Pacific Golden-Plover was found down there around this time. When I got to the inlet, I saw my first Semipalmated Sandpipers of the year mixed in with Dunlins. There were some relatively big sandpipers with them with brick-red heads and chests that I at first took for Red Knots, but a moment's consideration told me no, they were something else. Then I realized I was looking at Sanderlings molted into alternate (breeding) plumage. I rarely see them in this state, thus the befuddlement. I walked the mud flats toward the Rutgers facility and scoped more flocks of sandpipers. There, seemingly out of nowhere, I suddenly found a tight group of Red Knots--which promptly flew off. However, while I was watching them go, two Least Terns landed on the beach, practically at my feet.

Least Tern

I walked back toward LBI, where the knots had flown, kind of hoping they'd make a landing over there, but really figuring that I'd give them time to come back to where I originally found them and that I would be stealthier when I returned.  Two American Oystercatchers were on the peat on the other end, no knots. But my strategy worked, because when I turned around and walked back, I found them in exactly the spot they'd been and this time I didn't flush them and got my photographs. 

So, four new year birds for the day and still feeling somewhat energetic, I drove up to Beach Avenue in Manahawkin, where a Prothonotary Warbler was "continuing." The problem was I had no real sense of where, along that mile stretch of road, I might find it and probably only because my ears were attuned to its "sweet sweet sweet" song from yesterday that I heard it, rather softly, coming from the woods around a wet area. No coaxing would bring it out, but I now had one for the county where it is flagged as rare. 

The Great Bay Blvd list:

42 species
Brant  1
Canada Goose  5
Mallard  2
Bufflehead  1     Drake.  Standing on dock by old boat launch
Mourning Dove  6
Clapper Rail  7
American Oystercatcher  2
Black-bellied Plover  35
Semipalmated Plover  25
Short-billed Dowitcher  3
Willet  20
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Ruddy Turnstone  40
Red Knot  10
Sanderling  20
Dunlin  75
Least Sandpiper  30
Semipalmated Sandpiper  40
Laughing Gull  45
Herring Gull  25
Black Skimmer  65
Least Tern  4
Forster's Tern  20
Double-crested Cormorant  6
Black-crowned Night Heron  1
Snowy Egret  25
Great Egret  30
Great Blue Heron  1
Glossy Ibis  7
Osprey  3
Eastern Phoebe  1     South of 2nd wooden bridge
Fish Crow  1
Tree Swallow  3
Barn Swallow  50
Gray Catbird  5
Seaside Sparrow  6
Song Sparrow  5
Red-winged Blackbird  30
Boat-tailed Grackle  75
Common Yellowthroat  5
Yellow Warbler  2
Northern Cardinal  1

Huber Preserve | Waretown | Collinstown Road 5/19--Chuck-will's-widow, Semipalmated Plover, Acadian Flycatcher, Prothonotary Warbler

Semipalmated Plover, Waretown

Shari & I have a springtime tradition where we eat dinner at a little restaurant in Forked River, then drive down to Collinstown Road in Barnegat to listen for our yearly Chuck-will's-widow.  Because of our Mexico vacation, our trip was delayed this year (to our 17th wedding anniversary as it happens) and consequently sundown was a little later. To kill some time, we first stopped at Bay Parkway in Waretown, which this time of year can have wading and shorebirds and did. The very first bird we saw was a new one for year--Semipalmated Plover flushed from the roadside. There was a small flock of them interspersed with another small flock of Least Sandpipers (it kind of looked like a gang fight at moments) and a few very noisy Willets flying about, along with both white egrets and a half dozen flyover Glossy Ibis. 

When we got down to Collinstown Road it was one minute before sundown and we were prepared to wait for a while until it got dark, our experience being that this species takes its crepuscular reputation seriously, but we got lucky, since one minute after sundown one began repeating its incessant eponymous call very loudly and very close, though of course, we didn't get eyes on one. It wasn't even dark enough to hope that driving along the road we'd get some eyeshine.  

That ended a very interesting day for me, which started out in Burlington County this morning with a walk through the woods at Reeves Bogs and then a walk along the white trail at the lengthily named Michael Huber Prairie Warbler Preserve where I go each year to look for two species. I had no trouble at all finding Prothonotary Warblers--there were at least three of them, one of which I got good looks at while it hopped around the upper reaches of trees, but I had all but given up on my second target, since I couldn't find it at the bridge where I usually do, nor along the mile or so that I covered along the trail. It wasn't until I was heading out that I finally heard the sharp "Peet-sa!" call of an Acadian Flycatcher. Another bird that didn't want to show itself in the now thick foliage--one of the disadvantages of waiting to go looking for new birds when the trees have leafed out. 

For the day 61 species:

Species                First Sighting
Canada Goose    Reeves Bogs
Wood Duck    Reeves Bogs
Mallard    Reeves Bogs
Mourning Dove    Reeves Bogs
Yellow-billed Cuckoo    Reeves Bogs
Chuck-will's-widow    Collinstown Road
Eastern Whip-poor-will    35 Sunset Rd
Ruby-throated Hummingbird    35 Sunset Rd
Killdeer    Reeves Bogs
Semipalmated Plover    Waretown
Willet    Waretown
Least Sandpiper    Waretown
Laughing Gull    Reeves Bogs
Herring Gull    Waretown
Snowy Egret    Waretown
Great Egret    Waretown
Great Blue Heron    Reeves Bogs
Glossy Ibis    Waretown
Red-bellied Woodpecker    Huber Preserve
Eastern Wood-Pewee    Reeves Bogs
Acadian Flycatcher    Huber Preserve
Eastern Phoebe    Huber Preserve
Great Crested Flycatcher    Reeves Bogs
Eastern Kingbird    Reeves Bogs
White-eyed Vireo    Huber Preserve
Warbling Vireo    Reeves Bogs
Red-eyed Vireo    Reeves Bogs
Blue Jay    Huber Preserve
American Crow    Huber Preserve
Carolina Chickadee    Reeves Bogs
Tufted Titmouse    Reeves Bogs
Tree Swallow    Reeves Bogs
Barn Swallow    Reeves Bogs
White-breasted Nuthatch    Huber Preserve
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher    Reeves Bogs
Carolina Wren    Huber Preserve
European Starling    Waretown
Gray Catbird    Reeves Bogs
Eastern Bluebird    Reeves Bogs
Wood Thrush    Huber Preserve
American Robin    Collinstown Road
Cedar Waxwing    Reeves Bogs
Chipping Sparrow    Reeves Bogs
Field Sparrow    Huber Preserve
Song Sparrow    Reeves Bogs
Swamp Sparrow    Collinstown Road
Eastern Towhee    Reeves Bogs
Red-winged Blackbird    Reeves Bogs
Brown-headed Cowbird    Huber Preserve
Common Grackle    Reeves Bogs
Ovenbird    Reeves Bogs
Blue-winged Warbler    Huber Preserve
Black-and-white Warbler    Reeves Bogs
Prothonotary Warbler    Huber Preserve
Common Yellowthroat    Reeves Bogs
Hooded Warbler    Huber Preserve
American Redstart    Reeves Bogs
Yellow Warbler    Waretown
Pine Warbler    Reeves Bogs
Prairie Warbler    Huber Preserve
Northern Cardinal    Huber Preserve 

Yucatan 5/8-5/17--MANGROVE VIREO + 32 Year Birds

Magnificent Frigatebird

Birds you can find on a non-birding vacation. Shari & I are lucky to have friends who own a house in Puerto Morelos, a few miles south of Cancun, and who are kind enough to invite us to visit.  It's mostly sand, surf, and sun, with birds as an added attraction. But just sitting by the pool with Plain Chachalacas walking on top of the wall, 3 species of flycatchers perched on the wires, 4 tropical icterids in the trees, Tropical Mockingbirds singing from the rooftops and flotillas of Magnificent Frigatebirds drifting by overhead, you can build up a pretty good list with a cerveza fría in your hand. 

MANGROVE VIREO

The street they live on is residential for a few blocks and then doglegs to run along the edge of a mangrove. I walked that road most of the time we were there, early in the morning and it was along there that I got my only life bird of the trip, a MANGROVE VIREO. I heard a twangy call I didn't recognize, and Merlin identified it as such and with a little persuasion a couple of them came out for view. They actually make quite a racket. I'm surprised I hadn't come across them before down there (this was our third visit), but then they might not have stood out in the cacophony of birdsong you hear as you walk. The next day I took Shari to the corner where I had seen them, heard the calls, and again, without very much coaxing, two came out of the thickets--like many vireos, they aren't much to look at, but they have their points. They are also very active--dumb luck got me a lousy photo of one. 

About a mile up the road you can cross over onto the playa and walk back to their house. It was along the beach that I found Sandwich Terns, Royal Terns, Brown Pelicans, an Anhinga, droves of frigatebirds, along with lots of Ruddy Turnstones.  

Turquoise-browed Motmot, Ek Balam

We also took a road trip inland to Valladolid, an old colonial town. This gave me an opportunity to start another state list in Mexico--Puerto Morelos is in Quintana Roo, while Valladolid and the Mayan ruins at Ek Balam which we visited, are in Yucatan. Considering that temperature was 101 degrees both days we were there, it is amazing we were able to see some very interesting birds at the ruins, which, of the 3 sites we've visited down there, were certainly the most interesting to me--I had never seen a pelota court where the Mayan played their famous ball game. As we walked around the ruins we saw Rose-throated Becards building a nest, a Rufous-browed Peppershrike, and the most spectacular bird of the trip, a couple of Turquoise-browed Motmots, along with the usual fare of grackles, doves, etc. 

Osprey (ridgwayi)

The last full day we were there, I looked across the street and saw a huge mostly white raptor with dark wings on top of a palapa (a thatched open-sided structure on the roofs of houses). I didn't recognize it, and though it was trying to eat a fish, the mockingbirds and kingbirds were having none of it and were constantly dive-bombing it. It was only after it flew that it became apparent it was "just" an Osprey, but of the subspecies ridgwayi, which don't have the facial mask or breast markings the birds up north have. That was the last new bird of the trip, bringing the total up to 44. As I said, we weren't really birding.

The morning before we left, I sat on the patio around 6:30 and heard all the "common" birds: Tropical Kingbird, Great Kiskadee, Social Flycatcher, Great-tailed Grackle, Melodious Blackbird, Tropical Mockingbird, and had 4 White-fronted Parrots fly low overhead. When we got home on Friday night, the whip-poor-will was going full blast. Quite a contrast for one day. 

Species                    First Sighting
Plain Chachalaca   Casa Carolina
Rock Pigeon   Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado
Eurasian Collared-Dove   Puerto Morelos
Common Ground Dove   Puerto Morelos
Ruddy Ground Dove   Puerto Morelos
White-winged Dove   Parque Principal Francisco Cantón Rosado
Black-bellied Plover   Playa Puerto Morelos
Ruddy Turnstone   Playa Puerto Morelos
Sanderling   Playa Puerto Morelos
Laughing Gull   Playa Puerto Morelos
Sandwich Tern   Playa Puerto Morelos
Royal Tern   Playa Puerto Morelos
Magnificent Frigatebird   Puerto Morelos
Anhinga   Playa Puerto Morelos
Double-crested Cormorant   Playa Puerto Morelos
Brown Pelican   Playa Puerto Morelos
Black Vulture   Playa Puerto Morelos
Turkey Vulture   Casa Carolina
Osprey   Casa Carolina
Turquoise-browed Motmot   Ek Balam
Golden-fronted Woodpecker   Puerto Morelos
White-fronted Parrot   Puerto Morelos
Rose-throated Becard   Ek Balam
Dusky-capped Flycatcher   Puerto Morelos
Brown-crested Flycatcher   Puerto Morelos
Great Kiskadee   Casa Carolina
Boat-billed Flycatcher   Ek Balam
Social Flycatcher   Puerto Morelos
Tropical Kingbird   Puerto Morelos
Couch's Kingbird   Puerto Morelos
Rufous-browed Peppershrike   Ek Balam
MANGROVE VIREO   Puerto Morelos
Green Jay   Ek Balam
Gray-breasted Martin   Propiedad Federal
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Playa Puerto Morelos
Barn Swallow   Playa Puerto Morelos
Spot-breasted Wren   Ek Balam
Tropical Mockingbird   Puerto Morelos
Hooded Oriole   Casa Carolina
Yellow-backed Oriole   Puerto Morelos
Orange Oriole   Puerto Morelos
Altamira Oriole   Puerto Morelos
Melodious Blackbird   Casa Carolina
Great-tailed Grackle   Aeropuerto Internacional de Cancun

Plain Chachalaca, Casa Carolina

Cranberry Bogs 5/6--Orchard Oriole

Orchard Oriole

So intent was I on picking ticks off my pants this morning while walking along an overgrown dike out on the bogs in South Toms River that when I saw a bird fly out of small tree into another, it took me a moment to realize that that was one of the birds for which I was risking my health. It was a female Orchard Oriole, and obviously FOY. I particularly was feeling the lack of this species since I had blithely told a friend, who had one at his feeder, that I was sure to get one and that was two weeks ago. After I flicked another Lonestar Tick off my knee--they worry me more than Deer Ticks since they don't take very long to transmit their diseases unlike Deer Ticks which have to be sucking your blood for quite a long time--I saw a very handsome brick red male to my right, but it flew off and hunkered down into the brush. I also heard two more males singing their rather disjointed song farther back when I had prudently decided to stay on the sandy trails. 

I also, finally, saw my first Green Heron for the year in this county--I heard the squawk first then saw it fly across out of reservoir and over to the trees lining the banks of the largest reservoir there. There is one bog there that is drained, and it is where I usually find Killdeer and, once this year, Wilson's Snipe. Today, there were 23 Least Sandpipers feeding in it, while on a mud flat on one of the smaller reservoirs, I found a Solitary Sandpiper--I was hoping for a Spotted. I also added one patch bird this morning--a singing Scarlet Tanager that I at first heard around the buildings and was finally able to track down along the dike that runs perpendicular to the rudimentary road there.

In all, 41 species, not counting the domestic-type Mallard keeping company with the wild ducks in the bog with the Least Sandpipers. 

Canada Goose  4
Wood Duck  2
Mallard  4
Mallard (Domestic type)  1     
Mourning Dove  5
Chimney Swift  3
Solitary Sandpiper  1     
Least Sandpiper  23    
Green Heron  1     
Great Egret  1
Northern Flicker  3
Eastern Phoebe  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  3
Eastern Kingbird  2
White-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  10
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  1
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  1
Tree Swallow  30
Barn Swallow  35
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  3
House Wren  2
Carolina Wren  2
Gray Catbird  10
American Goldfinch  2
Chipping Sparrow  1
Field Sparrow  3
Song Sparrow  3
Eastern Towhee  4
Orchard Oriole  4    
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Common Grackle  5
Ovenbird  1
Black-and-white Warbler  2
Common Yellowthroat  15
Yellow Warbler  1
Pine Warbler  1
Prairie Warbler  3
Scarlet Tanager  1     
Northern Cardinal  2

Colliers Mills | Emson Preserve 5/4--Warbling Vireo, Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting

 On this ridiculously cold May morning (and to think that 2 days ago we had the air conditioning on), I went to Colliers Mills, determined to track down a few new birds there. Warbling Vireo I always associate with a big tree in the parking lot by the lake, but today, none were singing there. I had to walk about 200 feet to find one singing just at the corner where Success Road enters the fields. By walking a little path that goes off the road and leads to an abandoned pumphouse, I was able to get eyes on the bird, at the very top of a tree just coming into leaf, hard to see but not as hard as it will be in a week or so. Birds that like bare trees are so much easier to deal with. 

Then I walked the fields along Success. I just knew there would be a Blue Grosbeak there, and soon heard one. Then it became a matter of tracking it down which I finally did as it worked the trees that separate two fields. I found it about 100 yards past the gravel road that's perpendicular to Success, then followed it all the way back to the gravel road without ever getting an opportunity for a photo--again, leaves in the way. 

I crossed over to the fields around the police shooting range. In the stand of trees to the east I found, as I have been finding every time I go there this spring, a pair of Red-headed Woodpeckers. I've stopped going to the woods north of Success where I was finding them in the winter now that I know they're on my route, but I wonder if they've switched locations, or if there are more back in the other spot. 

Indigo Bunting, Emson Preserve

The woods below the berm are flooded and I found a Solitary Sandpiper working the edge of the water. I tried again to get around that big pond south of Turnmill, but the path is still under water and even with muck boots I didn't feel like making the slog. So, I walked up Hawkin and cut through the woods to Forty Acre Pond where I found a couple of Killdeer, another Solitary, and 3 Least Sandpipers, unusual for this spot. Standing there, scanning the mudflats, I heard behind me a Hooded Warbler, so I didn't feel like I had to go to my usual mountain laurel spot to hear if one was singing there. I'm not doing a breeding bird survey. 

In all I had 44 species for area, but there was still one bird I wanted. I was hoping I'd have found it in the fields where the Blue Grosbeak was, but instead, I drove to the Emson Preserve, about 5 minutes away. I don't know why, but finding Indigo Bunting there is pretty easy this time of year and I was hardly out of the car before I had one, then two, and eventually three singing birds. As you can see, getting a picture was another story entirely. I added 3 other species in the 20 minutes I stood there and then I figured four and half hours in the cold and damp was enough. 

Species              Location
Canada Goose   Colliers Mills WMA
Mallard   Colliers Mills WMA
Mourning Dove   Colliers Mills WMA
Killdeer   Colliers Mills WMA
Solitary Sandpiper   Colliers Mills WMA
Least Sandpiper   Colliers Mills WMA
Laughing Gull   Colliers Mills WMA
Turkey Vulture   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Flicker   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Eastern Phoebe   Colliers Mills WMA
Great Crested Flycatcher   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Kingbird   Colliers Mills WMA
White-eyed Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Warbling Vireo   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue Jay   Colliers Mills WMA
Fish Crow   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Raven   Colliers Mills WMA
Carolina Chickadee   Colliers Mills WMA
Tufted Titmouse   Colliers Mills WMA
Tree Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
Barn Swallow   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Colliers Mills WMA
Carolina Wren   Colliers Mills WMA
European Starling   Colliers Mills WMA
Gray Catbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Mockingbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Bluebird   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
American Robin   Colliers Mills WMA
Chipping Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Field Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Song Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Towhee   Colliers Mills WMA
Baltimore Oriole   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-winged Blackbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown-headed Cowbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Ovenbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Black-and-white Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Yellowthroat   Colliers Mills WMA
Hooded Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Parula   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Yellow Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Pine Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Prairie Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Cardinal   Colliers Mills WMA
Blue Grosbeak   Colliers Mills WMA
Indigo Bunting   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve

Cloverdale Farm | Forsythe-Barnegat 5/2--Short-billed Dowitcher, Eastern Screech-Owl, Scarlet Tanager

Normally, I hate it when a non-birder, seeing my binoculars, wants to direct me to a bird she's seen. Usually, it turns out to be a big, charismatic bird I don't care much about--a Red-tailed Hawk, or egrets, or, if the -non-birder drives a pickup, an eagle. I don't know how many times I've had to tell someone that a Great Blue Heron wasn't a crane. So, this morning at Cloverdale Farm, when a walker approached me with the obvious intent of relaying some avian information, I inwardly groaned. "Here it comes," I said to myself. But what came was that she thought she'd seen a screech-owl sticking its head out of a box "in that pond" 

I thanked her and walked over to the pond. I haven't been to Cloverdale in quite a while and hadn't noticed the box, which is new, along with the clearing of a lot of vegetation from the area. The box looked pretty big to me, and being in the water, like it was for nesting Wood Ducks. But just because a box is meant for one species, doesn't mean another won't appropriate it--I'm looking at you House Wren.

In any event, no bird was sunning itself. I stood around and waited for a while, trying different angles, even walking up the side of the pond to look at the box from another direction, doing a bad imitation of screech-owl whinnies. Nothing.  

Then, just after I had determined there was no other way to look at the box and I was walking back to the parking lot, I looked one more time and there was an Eastern Screech-Owl with its head out of the box. The overhang of the box created a shadow, so I wasn't able to get great pictures. 

Photos are problematical anyhow. It's one thing to report an owl that you hear, but owl roosts are supposed to be kept on the down low. I consulted a friend of mine, and he told me just to list the bird without any more information. (It isn't flagged rare, so I don't have to elaborate on it). This way, dastardly photographers who lurk on eBird, looking for sightings, can't antagonize the bird. 

But you, gentle reader, you wouldn't rush off to bother the bird, would you?  Which is why I feel only slight discomfort adding the one, highly cropped photo of the owl to illustrate this entry. 

I was already feeling pretty good, since I had earlier seen my first Scarlet Tanager of the year, singing very high in the trees, flitting from pine to dead tree. I heard it first--why its song is described as a "robin with a cold" eludes me--and then managed to get eyes on it. A Scarlet Tanager is a bird I want to see. 

I left Cloverdale and drove down to the Barnegat section of Forsythe. I was looking for shorebirds, and found a large flock of Dunlin, molting into their breeding plumage, and among them were both yellowlegs and only one Short-billed Dowitcher. I was hoping for more--not dowitchers (I only need one), but new shorebirds.  

Back at Cloverdale, I had an amusing moment with bird songs. I've noticed lately that after using eBird, a splash screen comes up warning me that Merlin, their bird song app, is not 100% reliable--like duh, I figured that out when it "heard" a Prothonotary Warbler in my backyard. But I still use the app when there's a lot of singing going on, just to get a quick list of what's around. While I was using it today, it "suggested" Worm-eating Warbler as one of the songs it was "hearing." I was dubious. Merlin is notorious for not being able to separate Worm-eating Warbler from Chipping Sparrow from Pine Warbler. I was pretty certain it was picking up Chipping Sparrow, which were all over the place, but on the off-chance that it was correct, I played a recording of Worm-eating Warbler. Apparently, Chipping Sparrows can't tell the difference either because as soon as I played Worm-eating Warbler a chippie popped up on a branch, looking around for the interloper! I mean, if the birds can't tell the difference, what chance do we have?