This Year's 200th Ocean County Bird

A new backyard bird.

Yesterday I took a little stroll back in the WMA to the see how the state fire fighters were doing thinning out the pine trees before the planned prescribed burn this winter. One of the guys told me they'd seen a falcon back there; I figured it was a Merlin, one of which I've seen in the vicinity lately. I wasn't carrying binoculars, of course, when I saw a fairly large bird swoop out of one tree and perch in another. Immediately I knew it wasn't a Merlin--too big. Yet, for a hawk, fairly small. Looking at it naked eye I could see it was striped on the neck and a little on the breast. When it flew it was dark, without much banding on the tail. I was pretty certain it was a Broad-winged Hawk, but because that would be a county life bird, I didn't want to "call it" without seeing it better. It certainly behaved like one in flight through the woods, staying low, agilely flying between the trees.

This afternoon, Shari was on the patio and saw a hawk sitting on a low branch in the little wooded area abutting our backyard. This time I was able to get binoculars on it, and even though it was difficult to see through the branches and pine needles, I got a good enough view to preclude Merlin, Cooper's Hawk, or sharpie. A walker in the woods spooked it and the bird glided away, a dark bird low off the ground.

So now I have 200 species for Ocean County, which is at least an eBird record. I have no idea if anyone else keeps track of how many species have been seen in a year in the county. There are a couple of birders in the county I know of who could certainly have more; but for the nonce, I'm #1.

Prospect Park 10/3--A Rapid Walk

When I have a doctor's appt in NYC, I also go birding because otherwise it seems like a waste of time & money; I want to be in the city at least as long as it takes me to get there & back. Usually I go to Central Park which is convenient but I have never felt truly comfortable there; for one, the place is too big, I always feel like I should be somewhere else and for another, there are too many tourists in the way, although I guess nowadays, I also qualify as a tourist.

Today, instead, I went back to my beloved Prospect Park, hoping to find the Sora that has been reported in a little marsh on the peninsula. I didn't have a lot of time, so I was really walking fast, picking up only the most obvious birds, not stopping and pishing, not stopping and staring into leaves. Ticking them off: enter at 9th street--grackles, starlings, sparrows. At the Upper Pool, White-throated Sparrows, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Magnolia Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, a Black-throated Blue Warbler, naked eye. On the Nethermead, Palm Warblers, Yellow-rumps, phoebe. Only when I reached the peninsula did I stop and stake out the marsh. This certainly is not my favorite way to bird--first rushing, then waiting. I hung around the marsh for as long as I could, about 20 minutes, and the Sora didn't appear, though it was seen both before and after I was there. While I was standing there I did see a couple of Belted Kingfishers rattling over the lake and my first Ruddy Ducks of the season, along with a few Common Yellowthroats that kept throwing me off as they hopped around the reeds in the marsh. Then I had to make my way over to Grand Army Plaza.

Walking through the wooded section of the peninsula I came across more warblers but I was in a hurry and probably didn't catch a lot of what was flitting around higher than eye-level. I was getting very nostalgic for the days I used to bird the park regularly. The birding around here is great, but the Pine Barrens don't get the kind of diversity in one spot that the park attracts. I really have to work to find 9 species of warblers around here. There, they were all over the place. And I don't think today was even a particularly big "fall out" day at all. And 9 species of warblers there is an embarrassingly small number, mitigated only by the fact that I was birding as fast as I was walking.

So, in 1 hour and 25 minutes, hitting (and running by) only a few of the park's hot spots, I managed 30 species, presented herewith:
Canada Goose  20
Mute Swan  1
Mallard  20
Northern Shoveler  7
Ruddy Duck  6
Double-crested Cormorant  1
Rock Pigeon  3
Mourning Dove  1
Belted Kingfisher  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2    Heard
Eastern Phoebe  2
Blue Jay  5    Heard
Carolina Wren  2    Heard
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  5
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  2    Heard
European Starling  2
Northern Waterthrush  1
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  3
American Redstart  1
Magnolia Warbler  1
Blackpoll Warbler  2
Black-throated Blue Warbler  1    
Palm Warbler  3
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3
Chipping Sparrow  1
White-throated Sparrow  2
Common Grackle  5
House Sparrow  10

Island Beach SP 10/1--A Long Walk

Barnegat Light from Island Beach SP

I did a hike today I've wanted to do for some time: I walked the southern end of Island Beach State Park from the end of the road to Barnegat Inlet and looked around on the jetty I always see when I'm across the inlet at Barnegat Light. It was a long walk--I'm guessing 2 miles based on the time it took me to get there. Along the way I came across some interesting birds--I thought I'd only find Sanderlings. Surprisingly, there were only 5 of these beach birds. The largest group of shorebirds, by far, was the Semipalmated Plovers. There was a large flock in the surf at the jetty, smaller flocks on the sand, and a number of individuals as I made my way back. The most interesting sighting, to me, was finding a Red Knot associating with a Dunlin, both picking at the edge of the foamy surf.

Red Knot (L), Dunlin

Obviously, the knot is out of breeding plumage, which is why it took me so long to identify it. Some knots stay around all winter, I'm not sure why they don't all make the epic migration to the Tierra del Fuego. Maybe some are smarter.

I made my way down to the end of the island after make 4 other stops along the way. I split up my lists for eBird instead of just listing everything as Island Beach--distance traveled 8 miles. eBird's compilers prefer shorter trips that that. Ideally, they'd like you to stop every 100 yards or so and make a list.

I started out at Reed's Road, just after the entrance, where I found most flickers and yellow-rumps. A stop at the beach by parking lot 1, where I have so many memories of going with my parents, didn't offer up much beyond gulls, and the parking area itself had only common birds.

A little trail across the road that leads to a blind on the bay side had more "yumpers" and one Red-eyed Vireo.

The most interesting area was down near the end, the Spizzle Creek Blind Trail.  Aside from many Great Egrets, I found a Snowy Egret and a Tricolored Heron (getting late for these birds, I think) standing together in the marsh.

The warbler along this trail was Palm Warbler, all I suspect of the drabber western race, though I could only call 3 of them for sure. And the "rare" bird of the day was also along this trail, a first winter White-crowned Sparrow. Apparently eBird's filter has this date as too early for white-crowns, but I've seen them on Island Beach in October previously.
For the day I had 39 species, not a bad start to the month.

Species                     Location

Common Loon     Reed's Road

Double-crested Cormorant     South Beach to Inlet

Brown Pelican     South Beach to Inlet

Great Blue Heron     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Great Egret     Reed's Road

Snowy Egret     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Tricolored Heron     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Osprey     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Semipalmated Plover     South Beach to Inlet

Ruddy Turnstone     South Beach to Inlet

Red Knot     South Beach to Inlet

Sanderling     South Beach to Inlet

Dunlin     South Beach to Inlet

Laughing Gull     Lot 1 Beach

Ring-billed Gull     Lot 1 Beach

Herring Gull     Reed's Road

Great Black-backed Gull     Reed's Road

Caspian Tern     South Beach to Inlet

Belted Kingfisher     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Reed's Road

Northern Flicker     Reed's Road

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Eastern Phoebe     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Red-eyed Vireo     Blind Trail

Blue Jay     South Beach to Inlet

Tree Swallow     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Carolina Chickadee     Reed's Road

Carolina Wren     Reed's Road

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Gray Catbird     Reed's Road

Northern Mockingbird     Lot 1 Beach

Palm Warbler     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Reed's Road

Eastern Towhee     Reed's Road

Savannah Sparrow     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

Song Sparrow     Lot 1 Beach

White-crowned Sparrow     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

House Finch     Spizzle Creek Blind Trail

House Sparrow     Lot 1 Beach

September Summary

Great Black-backed Gulls & Royal Terns, Barnegat Light SP

September is peak migration for shorebirds, so we got a lot of those, and in the early middle of warbler migration, so, while didn't get great numbers all at once, we did do decently in that department too. For the month we had 150 species.

I think this may have been the first month this year that we birded entirely within New Jersey, so that just goes to show the kind of diversity of birds this little state gets. As to FOY there were only 4--obviously, as the year progresses, it gets more difficult to add new birds for the year. My count for Ocean County is up to 198, thanks to some new warbler species for me and also due to my desperation trip to Long Beach Island to finally chalk up pelicans and Royal Terns.

Many rare and/or hard to find shorebirds this month. Buff-breasted and Baird's Sandpipers on the same day and in the same scope view were obvious highlights. But to show how quickly one becomes jaded, after finding American Golden-Plovers in 3 or 4 different spots (it was a great season for that bird), I found myself saying to another birder that I'd seen enough of them and wasn't going to make the march out to the tip of Sandy Hook again to see one.

The most charming moment of the month occurred yesterday at the Officer's Club at Sandy Hook. I noticed something fluttering near my knee and assume it to be a falling leaf. But the leaf flew upward and turned out to be a Ruby-crowned Kinglet hovering around me.

Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cattus Island County Park

Not much in the way of raptors this month--though Northern Harriers were pretty easy to find. We didn't go to any hawk watches; maybe we'll make it down to Cape May's in October.

I found it interesting how the month split into two parts--the first half was concentrating on shorebirds and after a couple of weeks of intensive searching the sod farms, Whitesbog, and Brig, suddenly you didn't hear anything about sod farms or bogs and the search turned to warblers.

I've found a surprising number of warblers locally; the Pine Barrens are not noted for warbler diversity, but I had a hunch that the power line cut that runs to the south of Crestwood Village might be good in the mornings when a strong sun shines on the pines and jack oak and I wasn't wrong.

The month's list:
Counties birded:
Atlantic, Burlington Cape May, Mercer, Monmouth, Ocean

Species     Location

Canada Goose     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Mute Swan     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Wood Duck     Brigantine NWR

American Black Duck     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Mallard     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Blue-winged Teal     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Northern Shoveler     Brigantine NWR

Northern Pintail     Brigantine NWR

Green-winged Teal     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Wild Turkey     35 Sunset Rd

Common Loon     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Pied-billed Grebe     Brigantine NWR

Double-crested Cormorant     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Brown Pelican     Barnegat Lighthouse SP

American Bittern     Brigantine NWR

Great Blue Heron     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Great Egret     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Snowy Egret     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Little Blue Heron     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Tricolored Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Green Heron     White's Bogs

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Brigantine NWR

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     Brigantine NWR

Glossy Ibis     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Turkey Vulture     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Osprey     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Northern Harrier     Brigantine NWR

Sharp-shinned Hawk     Cattus Island County Park

Cooper's Hawk     Reed's Sod Farm

Bald Eagle     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Red-tailed Hawk     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Clapper Rail     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Sora     Brigantine NWR

American Avocet     Brigantine NWR

American Oystercatcher     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Black-bellied Plover     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

American Golden-Plover     Reed's Sod Farm

Semipalmated Plover     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Piping Plover     Holgate

Killdeer     Reed's Sod Farm

Spotted Sandpiper     Brigantine NWR

Solitary Sandpiper     Brigantine NWR

Greater Yellowlegs     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Willet     Brigantine NWR

Lesser Yellowlegs     Wetlands Institute

Whimbrel     Brigantine NWR

Hudsonian Godwit     Brigantine

Marbled Godwit     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Ruddy Turnstone     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Red Knot     Holgate

Stilt Sandpiper     Wetlands Institute

Sanderling     Holgate

Dunlin     Brigantine NWR

Baird's Sandpiper     Brigantine NWR

Least Sandpiper     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

White-rumped Sandpiper     Brigantine NWR

Buff-breasted Sandpiper     Brigantine NWR

Pectoral Sandpiper     Reed's Sod Farm

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Western Sandpiper     Wetlands Institute

Short-billed Dowitcher     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Long-billed Dowitcher     Brigantine NWR

Laughing Gull     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Ring-billed Gull     Holgate

Herring Gull     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Lesser Black-backed Gull     Holgate

Great Black-backed Gull     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Least Tern     Holgate

Gull-billed Tern     Brigantine NWR

Caspian Tern     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Common Tern     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Forster's Tern     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Royal Tern     Sandy Hook

Black Skimmer     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Rock Pigeon     Reed's Sod Farm

Mourning Dove     Reed's Sod Farm

Yellow-billed Cuckoo     Sandy Hook

Eastern Whip-poor-will     35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift     Sandy Hook

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     Union Transportation Trail

Belted Kingfisher     Crestwood Village

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Colliers Mills WMA

Downy Woodpecker     Union Transportation Trail

Hairy Woodpecker     Brigantine NWR

Northern Flicker     Crestwood Village

Merlin     Holgate

Peregrine Falcon     Brigantine NWR

Eastern Wood-Pewee     35 Sunset Rd

Least Flycatcher     35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Phoebe     Crestwood Village

Eastern Kingbird     Brigantine NWR

White-eyed Vireo     Brigantine NWR

Red-eyed Vireo     Sandy Hook

Blue Jay     Reed's Sod Farm

American Crow     Crestwood Village

Fish Crow     Crestwood Village

Horned Lark     Reed's Sod Farm

Purple Martin     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Tree Swallow     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Bank Swallow     Brigantine NWR

Barn Swallow     Reed's Sod Farm

Carolina Chickadee     Union Transportation Trail

Black-capped Chickadee     Sandy Hook

Tufted Titmouse     Crestwood Village

White-breasted Nuthatch     Crestwood Village

House Wren     Crestwood Village

Marsh Wren     Brigantine NWR

Carolina Wren     Reed's Sod Farm

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     Brigantine NWR

Golden-crowned Kinglet     Sandy Hook

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Brigantine NWR

Eastern Bluebird     Colliers Mills WMA

American Robin     Wetlands Institute

Gray Catbird     Union Transportation Trail

Brown Thrasher     Brigantine NWR

Northern Mockingbird     Wetlands Institute

European Starling     Wetlands Institute

Cedar Waxwing     Sandy Hook

Northern Waterthrush     Sandy Hook

Black-and-white Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Common Yellowthroat     Whiting WMA

American Redstart     Brigantine NWR

Northern Parula     Sandy Hook

Magnolia Warbler     Crestwood Village

Yellow Warbler     Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Blackpoll Warbler     Sandy Hook

Black-throated Blue Warbler     Sandy Hook

Palm Warbler     Sandy Hook

Pine Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Prairie Warbler     Crestwood Village

Black-throated Green Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Eastern Towhee     35 Sunset Rd

Chipping Sparrow     Union Transportation Trail

Savannah Sparrow     Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Saltmarsh Sparrow     Brigantine NWR

Seaside Sparrow     Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Song Sparrow     Reed's Sod Farm

White-throated Sparrow     Colliers Mills WMA

Scarlet Tanager     Allaire State Park

Northern Cardinal     35 Sunset Rd

Blue Grosbeak     Brigantine NWR

Indigo Bunting     Union Transportation Trail

Bobolink     Brigantine NWR

Red-winged Blackbird     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

Common Grackle     Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Boat-tailed Grackle     Cape May Osprey Boat Tour

House Finch     35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch     Crestwood Village

House Sparrow     Reed's Sod Farm Least Sandpipers, Cattus Island County Park

Sandy Hook 9/29--Yellow Birds

Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Photos: Shari Zirlin

We spent a couple of hours at Sandy Hook today. Getting a late start, I didn't expect much, but as soon as we got out of the car at the Battery Potter parking lot, I looked into a tree and immediately espied a Yellow-billed Cuckoo in plain sight. I was looking there because Shari saw a cardinal fly in when we pulling in. Never saw the cardinal again. While Shari took loads of pictures of the cuckoo I continued looking into the foliage and soon saw my FOS Golden-crowned Kinglet. Shari said it was going to be yellow bird day. I crossed the road and in quick succession I found a Yellow-rumped Warbler and a Common Yellowthroat. Shari came over, saw a few more yumpers and the yellowthroat and then found a Black-and-White Warbler. "Hey, you ruined the streak," she scolded the bird. We walked along a little path in the woods (where someone had oddly dumped a batch of tomatillo plants with perfectly good fruit on them) and in a little clearing came up with a Northern Parula (which also has a lot of yellow on it).

We walked over to the Officer's Club (it must have been great back in its heyday) and there we found Ruby-crowned Kinglet central. They seemed to be in every tree on the property but especially in a huge catalpa that had foot-long pods hanging from it. We found a couple of Black-throated Blue females, easily identified by their little white "handkerchiefs" on the wings, but the most curious sighting was Shari's finding of a Northern Waterthrush on the lawn. It is very peculiar to find this bird nowhere in sight of water. But in fall migration, I guess, birds are apt to land anywhere.

That made 6 warbler species in about an hour. Add in the Cedar Waxwings (always a crowd favorite) we found over by the hawkwatch and we had a pretty good day. Quality over quantity.
23 species
Canada Goose  125
Turkey Vulture  1
Herring Gull  2
Mourning Dove  5
Yellow-billed Cuckoo  1    Battery Potter
Northern Flicker  1
Black-capped Chickadee  2    Resident chickadee of Sandy Hook. Gave slower call.
Carolina Wren  1    Heard
Golden-crowned Kinglet  2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet  10
American Robin  2    Heard
Gray Catbird  3
European Starling  1
Cedar Waxwing  5
Northern Waterthrush  1    Officer's club
Black-and-white Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  1
Northern Parula  1
Black-throated Blue Warbler  2    Officer's club
Yellow-rumped Warbler  5
Eastern Towhee  1    Heard
Northern Cardinal  1
House Sparrow  1    Guardian Park