Brig 6/14--Glaucous Gull

The middle of June is a tweener season--spring migration is just about over and fall migration (which for shorebirds starts in July) is yet to come. When I was at Brig last week, I didn't see much on my couple trips around the impoundments; I was curious if going around with Pete & Mike today would yield more. The answer was "just a little."

It didn't help that we started our trip on a full moon high tide, so there was no mud for the shorebirds to feed on. Besides a couple of Blue Grosbeaks and a Willow Flycatcher at the start of the trip, we really weren't coming up with much of anything until Mike found a Whimbrel in the west pool to the left of a flock of skimmers. Whimbrels should be out of Brig and in the high arctic as of 3 weeks ago, at least, so this was a good find.

We were hoping that with the tide going out, our 2nd trip around after lunch would be more productive, but hope, this time, was a thing without feathers. We saw even less our 2nd trip than we did in the morning until halfway down the north dike Mike came up with another out of season bird, a hen Bufflehead.

We stopped at a place after the dogleg where often we come up with Caspian Terns; no luck this time but finally we found a really interesting bird, once again thanks to Mike--a large, light gray gull with white wingtips, the field marks of a Glaucous Gull, another bird that should be far north of here.

So the trip was by no means a bust with those 3 noteworthy birds, plus, for me another 64 species. In another month or so, the place should be teeming with hard to identify sandpipers--can't wait, especially while battling the greenhead flies at the same time.

My list:
67 species
Canada Goose  50     with goslings
Mute Swan  6     with cygnets
American Black Duck  4
Mallard  5
Bufflehead  1     
Double-crested Cormorant  8
Great Blue Heron  2
Great Egret  20
Snowy Egret  10
Tricolored Heron  1
Black-crowned Night-Heron  2
Glossy Ibis  8
Turkey Vulture  5
Osprey  15     most on nests
Bald Eagle  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Clapper Rail  1
American Oystercatcher  8
Black-bellied Plover  12
Greater Yellowlegs  2
Willet  25
Whimbrel  1
Laughing Gull  200
Ring-billed Gull  1
Herring Gull  20
Glaucous Gull  1    
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Gull-billed Tern  3
Forster's Tern  25
Black Skimmer  100
Mourning Dove  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1     Heard, parking lot
Peregrine Falcon  1
Willow Flycatcher  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  3
Red-eyed Vireo  1
American Crow  1
Fish Crow  1
Purple Martin  10
Tree Swallow  5
Barn Swallow  10
Carolina Chickadee  1     Heard
Tufted Titmouse  4     Heard
House Wren  1     Heard
Marsh Wren  2     Heard
Carolina Wren  2     Heard
Eastern Bluebird  1
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  5
European Starling  20
Cedar Waxwing  3
Common Yellowthroat  5     Heard
Yellow Warbler  1     Heard
Pine Warbler  1     Heard
Eastern Towhee  1
Field Sparrow  1     Heard
Seaside Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  4     Heard
Blue Grosbeak  2
Indigo Bunting  1     Heard, field after Experimental Pool
Red-winged Blackbird  50
Common Grackle  1
Boat-tailed Grackle  1
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Orchard Oriole  1
House Finch  4     Picnic tables

Lakehurst Joint Base 6/5--Upland Sandpiper, Common Nighthawk, Eastern Meadowlark

Our annual trip to the Lakehurst base (site of the Hindenburg disaster) was a success despite the adverse weather conditions--persistent rain which didn't stop as predicted and which became chilling after a few hours for those of us who dressed as if it were June. Due to bureaucratic screw-ups, Pete Bacinski (our leader), Shari, and I were put on the "do not admit" list for impenetrable reasons (probably a transposed number on our driver's licenses) so we had to go in with the base's Natural Resources Manager, John Joyce, which was a not a bad thing to ride with the most knowledgeable person about the base and Pete. The only real disappointment there for me was that I was looking forward to muddying up our new Subaru on the base's dirt roads.

We started off, as usual, in the "drop zone" which is managed for ground nesting birds. How long this will last is a question. Apparently the marines want to use that area for some maneuvers and John has been trying to convince them to use other parts of the base--particularly since, unbelievable as this is, the marines don't have it in their budget to do the necessary environmental impact study. There are protected plants in that area.

While standing in the crossroads of the 4 quadrants of the circle in a light rain, I found the first target bird of the day, a Grasshopper Sparrow, singing. We all managed to get good scope looks of this pretty little bird and heard it's song clearly.  Soon, a couple of Upland Sandpipers--our main target bird--were heard calling and then two flew up out of the grass and soared high over head. Pete pointed out that they flew like Spotted Sandpipers, with their wings never raising much above their bodies, so this made their flight easy to pick out. We also had a Horned Lark fly by and saw a few Eastern Meadowlarks both flying and perched on sticks in the field. I would have liked to see the uppies down on the ground or have a closer fly by, but there was no mistaking the identification.

John took us to another part of the base to look for kestrels and eventually we did find one in the murk, sitting dead center on a T-shaped light post on a runway. It then flew off and hovered over the field before landing atop a giant light bulb on another post.

Some of the group wanted to go back to the crossroads to try to get better looks at the uppies, so we caravaned back to the drop zone, and while we saw another uppie in flight, it wasn't really much closer than the previous ones, though we could hear them calling more clearly. However, David Bernstein pointed out a Common Nighthawk flying over the road and the bird put on quite a show for the group both calling and flying directly over head, giving us field guide looks at its field marks, particularly the white patches on the wings.

Then what seemed to be a large hawk flying over the tree line turned out to be a Common Raven, a rarity, supposedly, in Ocean County, though the Lakehurst base has a documented raven nest. I was happy because it was my first county raven.

A trip to a pond where we usually end up produced a Willow Flycatcher and Eastern Kingbird, but no Least Terns, which are usually fairly reliable in that spot. There were a few birds I let go by either because I didn't feel like standing in the rain looking into a featureless gray sky for a speck of a bird or because I couldn't realistically shush everyone so I could hear a "zeep" or a "pfft."

For the day I had 26 species. Others had more. Others had less. I think the total group list was around 47.
Great Blue Heron  1     f/o cathedral parking lot
Turkey Vulture  4     cathedral parking lot
Killdeer  1     Heard
Upland Sandpiper  3
Mourning Dove  10
Common Nighthawk  1
Hairy Woodpecker  1
American Kestrel  1
Willow Flycatcher  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
American Crow  1
crow sp.  1
Common Raven  1    
Horned Lark  3
Tree Swallow  4
House Wren  1     Heard
American Robin  1
Gray Catbird  1     Heard
Northern Mockingbird  1
European Starling  10
Ovenbird  1     Heard
Eastern Towhee  1     Heard
Field Sparrow  1     Heard
Grasshopper Sparrow  2
Red-winged Blackbird  2
Eastern Meadowlark  3
Common Grackle  1

Burlington County 6/1--Hooded Warbler

I went out with my friend Greg today to bird spots in Burlington County. It was what Greg calls "targeted birding." We have a few species in mind that we really wanted to see and went to the most likely places to see them.

The species I most wanted to see was Kentucky Warbler, so our first stop was on the weirdly named Ong's Hat Road, The Dot & Brooks Evert Memorial Nature Trail, a small preserve through which the equally weirdly named Stop-the-Jade Run courses. Half the preserve is a red maple swamp on the Outer Coastal Plain which constitutes the Pine Barrens and is very wet, while the other, drier section lies on the Inner Coastal Plain, so the variety of habitat is diverse for such a small area. The attraction to birders is the breeding population of three popular warblers.

We were lucky in that the boardwalk that runs through most of the preserve was dry and not slippery or under water as it often is. We weren't so lucky in finding birds. We heard a lot of species, but finding them in the dense foliage was a real chore. In a couple of hours we managed to tease out an Ovenbird, a Black-and-white Warbler, and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo, as well as a few wrens. We did hear two of the target species--Prothonotary Warbler singing beside the water, where you would expect to find one, and a couple of Hooded Warblers. I was disappointed that we couldn't come up with a Kentucky Warbler--it remains an elusive potential lifer for me. We also thought/hoped we heard a Worm-eating Warbler but it turned out to be the much more common Pine Warbler. Their songs are similar, one "drier" than the other, and I could probably listen to recordings every day for a year and still have just a 50/50 chance of telling them apart.

Our next stop was a place I'd never been but with which Greg was familiar--Bear Swamp down around Medford. Prothonotary and Hooded breed there too--we were hoping to get looks at them and this time were not disappointed. We pulled off the road into a little cut out and immediately heard a Prothonotary singing and within a few minutes found this beautiful yellow bird with the beady eye on a tree branch. We got excellent looks at the bird, then crossed the road and entered the preserve. There our good fortune continued. We heard more Hooded Warblers singing and soon I actually found one--I can't remember the last one I saw (but I can look it up--Wow! April 18, 2005). A little farther on down the trail we came across another one, this one giving us killer looks--every field mark sharp and perfect in our binoculars.

We moved on down the road to a power cut that was literally buzzing--I've never heard power lines hum like that. I didn't imagine we'd find any birds perched on the wires--I think they'd be instantly electrocuted--but we did manage to add Common Yellowthroat and Prairie Warbler to our day list.

Our last stop was Rancocas Nature Center, where Greg had never been but with which I was fairly familiar. There are 4 habitats in a small area there--a meadow where we saw an Indigo Bunting plus heard another Prairie Warbler, a conifer forest where we saw a Veery fleeing from us, Rancocas Creek, which had 4 Cedar Waxwings sitting in a tree, and a large marsh where we found a Baltimore Oriole and heard a Warbling Vireo. We also came across a cardinal family--the adults did not like us walking by their area and we soon found out why--a very young cardinal was standing on a branch--not a chick, but probably only recently emerged from the nest. I've never seen a baby cardinal--gray all over with a huge eye and the start of a crest.

So in our four stops we started the month with 34 species:

Species                  First Sighting

Turkey Vulture     Bear Swamp IBA--Little Creek

Mourning Dove     Evert Nature Trail

Yellow-billed Cuckoo     Evert Nature Trail

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Bear Swamp IBA--Hawkin Rd

Downy Woodpecker     Evert Nature Trail

Northern Flicker     Evert Nature Trail

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Evert Nature Trail

Great Crested Flycatcher     Evert Nature Trail

White-eyed Vireo     Evert Nature Trail

Warbling Vireo     Rancocas Nature Center

Red-eyed Vireo     Evert Nature Trail

Fish Crow     Evert Nature Trail

Tree Swallow     Rancocas Nature Center

Carolina Chickadee     Rancocas Nature Center

Tufted Titmouse     Bear Swamp IBA--Little Creek

Carolina Wren     Evert Nature Trail

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     Evert Nature Trail

Veery     Rancocas Nature Center

Wood Thrush     Evert Nature Trail

American Robin     Bear Swamp IBA--Hawkin Rd

Cedar Waxwing     Rancocas Nature Center

Ovenbird     Evert Nature Trail

Black-and-white Warbler     Evert Nature Trail

Prothonotary Warbler     Evert Nature Trail

Common Yellowthroat     Bear Swamp IBA--Hawkin Rd

Hooded Warbler     Evert Nature Trail

Pine Warbler     Evert Nature Trail

Prairie Warbler     Bear Swamp IBA--Hawkin Rd

Eastern Towhee     Evert Nature Trail

Field Sparrow     Rancocas Nature Center

Northern Cardinal     Evert Nature Trail

Indigo Bunting     Rancocas Nature Center

Red-winged Blackbird     Rancocas Nature Center

Common Grackle     Evert Nature Trail

Baltimore Oriole     Rancocas Nature Center

May Birds

Cedar Waxwing, Whitesbog

May was by far the best birding month of the year so far. Of course, the New Mexico trip really boosted the numbers, but the month was bound to be great since it is the middle of migration and all kinds of warblers and shorebirds were flowing through New Jersey, most bound for more northern climes to breed, though a few others do stick around.

Highlights of the month, besides 6 life birds in New Mexico, were finding the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks calmly sitting on the shore of a little pond in Galloway Township, hearing a Great Horned Owl outside our door, and getting both Tennessee Warbler and Mourning Warbler within a few minutes of each other at the Oros Preserve, only a few minutes from the ancestral home. Ah, if only I'd been a birder when I was a kid, I'd have such a life list by now.

For the month I managed 202 species, quite a respectable number. I remember years ago a birder telling me at Jamaica Bay that he'd seen 200 species that month and the number just did not seem possible to me. Now, while it isn't routine, it is certainly imaginable.

Counties Birded:
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean
New Mexico: Bernallilo, Los Alamos, Sandoval, San Miguel, Santa Fe
New York: Kings
Texas: Tarrant

Species                First Sighting

Black-bellied Whistling-Duck     Patriot Lake

Snow Goose     Brigantine

Brant     Island Beach SP

Canada Goose     Cattus Island County Park

Mute Swan     Brigantine

Tundra Swan     Brigantine

Wood Duck     Whitesbog OC portion

Gadwall     Brigantine

American Black Duck     Brigantine

Mallard     Cattus Island County Park

Greater Scaup     Brigantine

Bufflehead     Cattus Island County Park

Double-crested Cormorant     Cattus Island County Park

Great Blue Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Great Egret     Cattus Island County Park

Snowy Egret     Cattus Island County Park

Little Blue Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Tricolored Heron     Cattus Island County Park

Green Heron     Whitesbog OC portion

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Island Beach SP

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron     Great Bay Blvd

Glossy Ibis     Brigantine

Turkey Vulture     White's Bogs

Osprey     Cattus Island County Park

Northern Harrier     Brigantine

Sharp-shinned Hawk     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

Cooper's Hawk     FREC

Northern Goshawk     Santa Fe NF

Bald Eagle     Cattus Island County Park

Red-tailed Hawk     FREC

Clapper Rail     Brigantine

American Coot     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

American Oystercatcher     Brigantine

Black-bellied Plover     Brigantine

Semipalmated Plover     Brigantine

Killdeer     Prospertown Lake

Spotted Sandpiper     White's Bogs

Solitary Sandpiper     Butterfly Bogs

Greater Yellowlegs     Cattus Island County Park

Willet     Cattus Island County Park

Lesser Yellowlegs     Brigantine

Whimbrel     Brigantine

Ruddy Turnstone     Brigantine

Dunlin     Brigantine

Least Sandpiper     Cattus Island County Park

White-rumped Sandpiper     Brigantine

Semipalmated Sandpiper     Brigantine

Short-billed Dowitcher     Brigantine

Laughing Gull     Brigantine

Ring-billed Gull     Patriot Lake

Herring Gull     Cattus Island County Park

Great Black-backed Gull     Brigantine

Least Tern     Double Trouble State Park

Gull-billed Tern     Brigantine

Caspian Tern     Brigantine

Forster's Tern     Cattus Island County Park

Black Skimmer     Brigantine

Rock Pigeon     Delgado St, Santa Fe

Eurasian Collared-Dove     Santa Fe River Park

White-winged Dove     Madrid, NM

Mourning Dove     Cattus Island County Park

Yellow-billed Cuckoo     Colliers Mills WMA

Black-billed Cuckoo     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve

Great Horned Owl     35 Sunset Rd

Chuck-will's-widow     Brigantine

Eastern Whip-poor-will     35 Sunset Rd

Chimney Swift     Prospertown Lake

White-throated Swift     Bandelier NM -- Main Loop Trail

Ruby-throated Hummingbird     35 Sunset Rd

Black-chinned Hummingbird     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Broad-tailed Hummingbird     Delgado St, Santa Fe

Belted Kingfisher     Cattus Island County Park

Red-headed Woodpecker     Colliers Mills WMA

Acorn Woodpecker     Bandelier Entrance Rd

Red-bellied Woodpecker     35 Sunset Rd

WILLIAMSON'S SAPSUCKER     Santa Fe NF

Downy Woodpecker     Cattus Island County Park

Hairy Woodpecker     Cibola NF -- Sandia Crest

Northern Flicker     Cattus Island County Park

American Kestrel     Colliers Mills WMA

Peregrine Falcon     Brigantine

Eastern Wood-Pewee     Colliers Mills WMA

Willow Flycatcher     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve

Gray Flycatcher     Bandelier NM--Falls Trail

Black Phoebe     Cerillos, NM

Eastern Phoebe     White's Bogs

Great Crested Flycatcher     Whitesbog OC portion

Western Kingbird     Cerillos, NM

Eastern Kingbird     Whitesbog OC portion

White-eyed Vireo     White's Bogs

Plumbeous Vireo     Cibola NF -- Sandia Crest Rd.

Blue-headed Vireo     Cattus Island County Park

Warbling Vireo     Santa Fe River Park

Red-eyed Vireo     Island Beach SP

PINYON JAY     Pecos, NM

Steller's Jay     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Blue Jay     Cattus Island County Park

Western Scrub-Jay     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE     Santa Fe River Park

American Crow     35 Sunset Rd

Fish Crow     Cattus Island County Park

Common Raven     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Northern Rough-winged Swallow     Whitesbog OC portion

Purple Martin     Whitesbog OC portion

Tree Swallow     Cattus Island County Park

Violet-green Swallow     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Barn Swallow     Cattus Island County Park

Cliff Swallow     Cerillos, NM

Carolina Chickadee     Cattus Island County Park

Black-capped Chickadee     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Mountain Chickadee     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Juniper Titmouse     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

Tufted Titmouse     Cattus Island County Park

Bushtit     Delgado St, Santa Fe

Red-breasted Nuthatch     Cibola NF -- Sandia Crest

White-breasted Nuthatch     Cattus Island County Park

Pygmy Nuthatch     Santa Fe NF

Brown Creeper     Santa Fe NF

Rock Wren     Bandelier NM--Falls Trail

House Wren     Whitesbog OC portion

Marsh Wren     Brigantine

Carolina Wren     35 Sunset Rd

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     White's Bogs

AMERICAN DIPPER     Santa Fe NF

Golden-crowned Kinglet     Santa Fe NF

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Colliers Mills WMA

Eastern Bluebird     White's Bogs

Western Bluebird     Leonora Curtin Wetland Preserve

MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD     Cerillos, NM

Townsend's Solitaire     Santa Fe NF

Veery     William Warren County Park

Gray-cheeked Thrush     William Warren County Park

Swainson's Thrush     William Warren County Park

Hermit Thrush     Cibola NF -- Nine Mile Picnic Site

Wood Thrush     FREC

American Robin     Cattus Island County Park

Gray Catbird     Cattus Island County Park

Brown Thrasher     Cattus Island County Park

Northern Mockingbird     White's Bogs

European Starling     White's Bogs

Cedar Waxwing     William Warren County Park

Ovenbird     White's Bogs

Northern Waterthrush     Whitesbog OC portion

Blue-winged Warbler     Colliers Mills WMA

Black-and-white Warbler     White's Bogs

Tennessee Warbler     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve

Orange-crowned Warbler     Santa Fe NF

Virginia's Warbler     La Cueva Valley

MacGillivray's Warbler     Bandelier NM--Falls Trail

Mourning Warbler     Ernest L. Oros Wildlife Preserve

Common Yellowthroat     Cattus Island County Park

American Redstart     Double Trouble State Park

Northern Parula     Whitesbog OC portion

Magnolia Warbler     Double Trouble State Park

Bay-breasted Warbler     Island Beach SP

Yellow Warbler     Whitesbog OC portion

Chestnut-sided Warbler     William Warren County Park

Blackpoll Warbler     Island Beach SP

Black-throated Blue Warbler     Island Beach SP

Palm Warbler     Whitesbog OC portion

Pine Warbler     Cattus Island County Park

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Whitesbog OC portion

Prairie Warbler     White's Bogs

Black-throated Gray Warbler     La Cueva Valley

Canada Warbler     Island Beach SP

Wilson's Warbler     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

Yellow-breasted Chat     Assunpink WMA--Navigation Beacon

Green-tailed Towhee     Santa Fe NF

Spotted Towhee     Delgado St, Santa Fe

Eastern Towhee     Cattus Island County Park

Canyon Towhee     Santa Fe Canyon Preserve

Chipping Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

Field Sparrow     FREC

Savannah Sparrow     Brigantine

Grasshopper Sparrow     Colliers Mills WMA

Saltmarsh Sparrow     Great Bay Blvd

Seaside Sparrow     Brigantine

Song Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

Swamp Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

White-throated Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

White-crowned Sparrow     Double Trouble State Park

Dark-eyed Junco     Santa Fe NF

Hepatic Tanager     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Scarlet Tanager     FREC

Western Tanager     Santa Fe River Park

Northern Cardinal     Cattus Island County Park

Rose-breasted Grosbeak     Whitesbog OC portion

Black-headed Grosbeak     Randall Davey Audubon Ctr

Blue Grosbeak     Prospertown Lake

Indigo Bunting     Assunpink WMA--Navigation Beacon

Red-winged Blackbird     Cattus Island County Park

Brewer's Blackbird     Pecos, NM

Common Grackle     White's Bogs

Boat-tailed Grackle     Brigantine

Great-tailed Grackle     DFW

Brown-headed Cowbird     White's Bogs

Orchard Oriole     Whitesbog OC portion

Baltimore Oriole     Lake Enno

House Finch     Cattus Island County Park

Pine Siskin     Delgado St, Santa Fe Feeder

Lesser Goldfinch     Cerillos, NM

American Goldfinch     Cattus Island County Park

EVENING GROSBEAK     Delgado St, Santa Fe

House Sparrow     Brigantine