Island Beach SP 5/6--Semipalmated Plover, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Magnolia Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak

I was at Island Beach early this morning, ahead of Scott's NJA trip there. I wanted to check out Reed's Road, to see if, with all the on-going construction, it would be possible to park the group's cars in the lot. Ixnay. A pile driver was taking up 2 or 3 spots, some other equipment and large steel beams most of the rest. While standing in the parking lot, chatting with another birder, I did see a very nice Indigo Bunting and a Yellow-throated Vireo. 

I made a brief walk up Two-bit Road, the only time I got to the eastern side of the road, then joined the group at the parking area just outside the park. They were all concentrating on one tree in an empty lot, that usually attracts a lot of birds, this morning, being no exception with a Yellow-throated Vireo and my first Scarlet Tanager of the year. Scott decided, that instead of skipping Reed's Road, which is probably the birdiest area in the park this time of year, that the group would walk the 1/4 mile down the main road of the park to the trail head. We hoped to pick up birds in the trees and bushes along the way, and we did, but none of them were particularly interesting. 

Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Reed's

Reed's was busy as usual. Black-and-white Warblers and Ovenbirds were the most common warblers, but we did find at least one Magnolia Warbler, and one rarity (sort of), a Gray-cheeked Thrush, tucked very deep into the underbrush. Neither of these birds were photographable. 

We did most of the bay side paths. At the kayak access path we heard, in the marsh, both a Virginia Rail and a Clapper Rail. Along Johnny Allen's Cove trail we had a Semipalmated Plover, along with Willets, Black-bellied Plover, and a Spotted Sandpiper. A couple of Tricolored Herons were a standout for the group.  It amused me to think how much time I spent looking for one last month, when all along I knew I'd eventually see one. Before we walked on that trail, we had lunch at the Visitor's Center, and there, right above the picnic tables, was a fairly shabby Rose-breasted Grosbeak, but points aren't deducted for appearance. Along Spizzle Creek trail we had a White-crowned Sparrow, more Willets, both yellowlegs, Little Blue Herons, and two late Bufflehead hens, the only other "rarity" for the day. 

For the more than 7 hours I spent there I racked up 76 species for the day. No looks at the ocean where maybe I could have added Common Tern. The operative word there is "common." I'll get one eventually. 

Brant  15
Mallard  2
Bufflehead  2     
Red-breasted Merganser  1     Spizzle
Mourning Dove  4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
Clapper Rail  1     
Virginia Rail  1     
American Oystercatcher  2
Black-bellied Plover  1
Semipalmated Plover  1
Least Sandpiper  7     
Spotted Sandpiper  1
Solitary Sandpiper  1     Pond at Kayak access
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Willet  7
Lesser Yellowlegs  3     Spizzle
Laughing Gull  3
Herring Gull  4
Forster's Tern  2
Double-crested Cormorant  35
Great Egret  5
Snowy Egret  5
Little Blue Heron  2
Tricolored Heron  2
Green Heron  1
Glossy Ibis  60
Turkey Vulture  1
Osprey  5
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Merlin  1
Great Crested Flycatcher  2
Eastern Kingbird  5
White-eyed Vireo  3
Yellow-throated Vireo  1     
Blue-headed Vireo  2
Red-eyed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1
Fish Crow  2
Carolina Chickadee  3
Purple Martin  1     Reeds
Tree Swallow  4
Barn Swallow  6
Red-breasted Nuthatch  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  1
House Wren  1
Carolina Wren  2
Gray Catbird  2
Northern Mockingbird  1
Veery  1     Reeds
Gray-cheeked Thrush  1     
Hermit Thrush  1     Reeds
American Robin  5
House Finch  1
American Goldfinch  4
Chipping Sparrow  1
White-crowned Sparrow  1     
White-throated Sparrow  1
Savannah Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  3
Baltimore Oriole  2
Red-winged Blackbird  15
Brown-headed Cowbird  2
Common Grackle  2
Boat-tailed Grackle  4
Ovenbird  3
Black-and-white Warbler  5
Common Yellowthroat  1
Northern Parula  1
Magnolia Warbler  1
Yellow Warbler  4
Prairie Warbler  1

Scarlet Tanager  1
Northern Cardinal 1

Rose-breasted Grosbeak  1

Indigo Bunting

Cedar Bonnet Island | Barnegat Light SP 5/5--Semipalmated Sandpiper, Gray Kingbird, Yellow-throated Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Swainson's Thrush, Cape May Warbler, Northern Parula

Gray Kingbird

Gray Kingbird at Barnegat Light ticked a lot of boxes today: Country Bird (I've seen it many times in the Bahamas, PR, and T&T, but never in the USA) and then it follows, State Bird, and County Bird, and of course, Year Bird. It is funny how this rarity slowly bubbled to the surface of birder awareness. It was originally reported on Sunday by an out-of-state birder, with no photo, and not on eBird, until mid-week. Then yesterday two other out-of-state birders found it and posted photographs. I knew I'd chase this bird because for one thing, flycatchers tend to stay in one place and for another, the area it was in was relatively small.

I started the morning at Cedar Bonnet Island, figuring there was no really hurry--either the bird was at Barnegat Light or it wasn't. I don't usually do well at Cedar Bonnet--I suspect it is because I always feel like I have to get to the next stop, so I don't give it the time I should. And I wasn't doing all the great this morning until I was walking out when I finally saw a couple of year birds--a Red-eyed Vireo and a trio of Northern Parulas. 

At the Light, the kingbird had been reported hanging around the lighthouse and the visitor's center. When I got there, a birder friend of mine was in front of the lighthouse--she had seen the bird, perched on a bench, no less, but lost it when she went to report its location. This seemed typical to me, a variety of the "OH, you just missed it" statement. We wandered the area a little and a couple of other birder acquaintances showed up, and we stood near the lighthouse, and nothing was shaking there. I said I was going to walk in the maritime forest which is very small and across from the visitor center. My reasoning was that I've never seen any kind of kingbird that wasn't out in the open, and from the top of the hill in the forest, we could look out on to the dunes. My reasoning was correct. At the steps of the forest we came across a Swainson's Thrush (FOY), a Palm Warbler (all of sudden flagged as "rare"), and an Eastern Kingbird that fooled us for a second. A few step up the path, though, we came upon the Gray Kingbird, and for the rest of the day, it was an easy bird to find as it hawked insects from the top of the trees. By this time, many more birders were arriving, to the point where we had to make room for everyone to see it. 

Piping Plover

I hadn't planned on a long stay at the Light. I figured I'd get the bird, take a walk out to the ocean, and scram. But the forest was surprisingly full of birds--Barnegat Light is not a popular destination for birders except in winter--so the park is probably underbirded. After spending longer than I had planned in the forest, I did take my walk on the beach, where I added Semipalmated Sandpiper to the list. I also wanted to find a Piping Plover or two, just for the challenge of it, and I was successful in that enterprise too. Walking back I ran into Steve and couple of other birder friends, so I turned around and walked back to end of the jetty with them, stopping for Semi Sand, since I wanted to confirm my i.d.--there was something about it that just didn't look right, but sandpipers are always in some kind of confusing molt as far as I can tell. 

One more walk in the forest was suggested and I'm glad I stayed, because, besides the almost laughingly easy-to-find kingbird, there was a beautiful Cape May Warbler at the entrance, and later, high up in the canopy, my first Blue-headed Vireo and Yellow-throated Vireo, the latter, a relatively difficult bird for the area. 

So that made 8 year birds for the day. Instead of the 2 hours I planned on at Barnegat I was there for more than 4. But it was well worth it, well worth it, indeed. And yet, so many more birds are popping up on my "needs" alerts. Including the Worm-eating Warbler that I missed there--others with more luck and/or patience did see it. 

The Barnegat Light list: 

43 species
Brant  80
Canada Goose  2
Rock Pigeon   3
Ruby-throated Hummingbird  1
American Oystercatcher  4
Piping Plover  3
Ruddy Turnstone  14
Sanderling  1
Purple Sandpiper  4
Semipalmated Sandpiper  1     Jetty
Bonaparte's Gull  2     End of jetty & in the water
Laughing Gull  2
Ring-billed Gull  3
Herring Gull  50
Lesser Black-backed Gull  1
Great Black-backed Gull  20
Double-crested Cormorant  5
Little Blue Heron  1
Osprey  1
Merlin  1
Eastern Kingbird  1
Gray Kingbird  1    
White-eyed Vireo  1
Yellow-throated Vireo  1     
Blue-headed Vireo  1
Blue Jay  1
Fish Crow  9
Carolina Chickadee  3
Barn Swallow  10
Carolina Wren  1
European Starling  1
Gray Catbird  3
Swainson's Thrush  2     Maritime Forest & parking lot
House Sparrow  2
Song Sparrow  1
Baltimore Oriole  1
Brown-headed Cowbird  4
Black-and-white Warbler  6
Cape May Warbler  1     
Northern Parula  1
Palm Warbler  1     
Yellow-rumped Warbler  1
Northern Cardinal  2

Colliers Mills | Island Beach SP 5/4--Bank Swallow, Eastern Kingbird, Baltimore Oriole, Kentucky Warbler

Kentucky Warbler

 I was filling up a feeder late this afternoon when I got a text from Steve that there was a Kentucky Warbler at Island Beach SP. Normally, I wouldn't go chasing after a warbler, and I wouldn't go so late in the day, but this was practically a life bird for me, since my only record of Kentucky Warbler is a "heard only" at Baldpate Mountain 5 years ago. And I figured I was lucky with the Roseate Tern on Sunday, maybe my luck would continue to hold for this bird, so I jumped in the car and made decent time to the park--discovering when I got there that while I had remembered my phone, binoculars, and camera, I had neglected to put my wallet in my pocket. So, I had no license on me. Yikes, already I was thinking how slowly I was going to have drive home. 

A number of birders were there, hovering around the entrance to Reed's Road, although the bird was originally found on the side of the road just south of the head of the trail, across from the maintenance area. I had seen Steve as he was driving out after seeing the bird and he told me that it was jumping in and out of the brush, sometimes at the entrance of the road, sometimes along the road. When I got out of my car everyone there had already seen the bird and touchingly, it seemed very important to them that I get on the bird. Someone called that it was down the road about a hundred feet and I ran down there. After a few frantic seconds with everyone giving me directions as to where to look, I saw the bird--a beauty, with a black crown and mask, brilliant yellow body and an olive back. It was feeding quite actively--I wonder what sort of bugs it was finding--and with my slow-focusing camera, I was lucky to get the doc shots that I did. I would have loved to hang around and even take a walk up Reed's Road to see what warblers were on the path, but the idea of drving home in the dark with no license seemed like a very bad one, so I left after being there for all of 18 minutes. My drive time back & forth was 3 times that. 

The Kentucky Warbler was my 200th bird for the year and 325th in Ocean County. 

I spent the morning at Colliers Mills, walking a long loop through the woods and around the ponds there. It wasn't as busy as I had hoped, but I did manage to find 53 species, including 3 new ones for the year. A few swallows were aviating over Turnmill Pond, and one of them was small & brown. It took me a while to make certain, but it was my first Bank Swallow of the year and a patch bird for me there. 

In the woods along the pond there was an onslaught of bird song and only one sounded odd to me and of course, using Merlin, it was the one song that it didn't pick up because I recognized all the other ones. I was pretty sure it was an oriole and looking up I found it--a Baltimore Oriole pushing a blackbird out of the tree. 

Spotted Sandpiper

Along the shore there were two Spotted Sandpipers, and at the back of the little pond on Hawkin Road there were two Solitary Sandpipers (and they were being pretty territorial with each other) and 3 Least Sandpipers, which are not all that common at Colliers, along with another spotty. 

Solitary Sandpiper 

Forty Acre Pond in the back was shaping up as a disappointment, with only Wood Ducks and Mallards, no shorebirds on the mud flats. I hadn't heard the Hooded Warbler in it usual spot among the mountain laurel just off Hawkin, but while I was scanning the pond, one began to sing there, so that made it worth the walk. 

Eastern Kingbird

When I first got there, I decided not to walk in the woods north of Success and track down a Red-headed Woodpecker, because I didn't feel like spending the time, but I got lucky, as while I was walking over the hill that separates Success Road fields from the firing range area, one flew right over me and landed in a tree on Success. There was also a Blue Grosbeak in the field. Unfortunately, it began to rain. I walked pretty fast along Success but couldn't resist peeking in the fields to the south of the road. Sitting on one of the warning signs was an Eastern Kingbird, finally. It kept diving into the grass and came up with a rather large insect. By then the rain was pretty steady, and I just fast-stepped the rest of the circuit back to my car. The only negative for the day was Detroit 2, Mets 0.

53 species
Canada Goose  19
Wood Duck  6
Mallard  2
Mourning Dove  2
Least Sandpiper  3     
Spotted Sandpiper  3
Solitary Sandpiper  2
Great Blue Heron  1
Osprey  1
Bald Eagle  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Red-headed Woodpecker  1
Red-bellied Woodpecker  4
Downy Woodpecker  1
Northern Flicker  7
Great Crested Flycatcher  3     Heard
Eastern Kingbird  1
White-eyed Vireo  10
Blue Jay  4
American Crow  1     Heard
Common Raven  3      One near parking lot 2 over Forty Acre Pond
Carolina Chickadee  4
Tufted Titmouse  6
Tree Swallow  2
Bank Swallow  1     
Barn Swallow  4
Red-breasted Nuthatch  2     Heard CM Lake & Hawkin Road
White-breasted Nuthatch  1
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  8
Carolina Wren  3     Heard
European Starling  6
Gray Catbird  10
Brown Thrasher  3
Northern Mockingbird  1
Eastern Bluebird  1
Wood Thrush  2     Heard
American Robin  10
Chipping Sparrow  3
Field Sparrow  1     Heard
White-throated Sparrow  1
Swamp Sparrow  1
Eastern Towhee  15
Baltimore Oriole  1
Red-winged Blackbird  25
Ovenbird  20
Black-and-white Warbler  5
Common Yellowthroat  30
Hooded Warbler  1    
Pine Warbler  5
Yellow-rumped Warbler  4
Prairie Warbler  4
Northern Cardinal  4
Blue Grosbeak  1

Manasquan River WMA 5/3--Solitary Sandpiper, Great Crested Flycatcher, Veery, Blue-winged Warbler, Blue Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

It was a question of where I felt like going opposed to where I thought I should go, and last night, my friend Bob Auster made my decision for me asking me if I knew anything about a (very) rare bird at Island Beach. I didn't. I didn't even know about, since I don't follow social media. But I thought that everyone would be rushing to the park this morning, and the idea of dealing with hordes of birders, on narrow trails, of stuffed parking lots, and the ongoing one-way roads due to the seemingly endless trench project along the main road made me ill, so I went where I felt like going in the first place, Manasquan River WMA. (As it happened, I was wrong, apparently, about the frenzy I expected, but I'm still happy to have gone to Brick instead of Island Beach.)

The main reason to go to Manasquan River is to find Blue-winged Warbler, not an easy bird to find but usually reliable in that WMA. It took me a hell of a long time to finally track one down, but I eventually heard one buzzing away in the usual spot in the back field, and even briefly saw it. Another reliable bird there is Blue Grosbeak and I managed to find one of those too, at the top of a tree in the same back field. 

Chukar

The unusual bird there was Solitary Sandpiper, a patch bird for me. Despite the name, there isn't a lot of water in the Manasquan River WMA (the river is inaccessible), and the only little pond there was too deep to have a sandpiper feeding in it. There was a vernal pond in the middle of the back field that I trudged my way toward, but it didn't have a solitary either. I'd given up on the idea when I came to a spot that is usually very wet, which it was, just as I had completed my first circuit of the field, and there, picking in the mud, was the Solitary--which gave a call when I turned on my camera and flew away. Two FOY birds that I only heard were Great Crested Flycatcher, when I first arrived, and a Veery way in the back at almost the Ocean/Monmouth County line. 

The most amusing bird of the day I can't count. I was walking on the trail that goes to the parking lot when I saw a lump in the middle of it. My first thought was "groundhog" but binoculars revealed it to be a Chukar, no doubt a survivor of a release during the hunting season. I've seen Chukars there before, only they were headless, decapitated, I was told by hunters, by Great Horned Owls. It ain't an easy life being a game bird. 

38 species including the Chukar

Chukar  1     
Mourning Dove  2
Solitary Sandpiper  1     
Laughing Gull  2
Black Vulture  1
Turkey Vulture  2
Red-bellied Woodpecker  2
Downy Woodpecker  1     Heard
Northern Flicker  1     Heard
Great Crested Flycatcher  1     Heard
White-eyed Vireo  4
Blue Jay  1     Heard
Carolina Chickadee  3
Tufted Titmouse  2     Heard
Tree Swallow  4
White-breasted Nuthatch  1     Heard
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher  2
House Wren  1     Heard
Carolina Wren  5     Heard
Gray Catbird  10
Brown Thrasher  1     Front field
Eastern Bluebird  1
Veery  1     Heard
Wood Thrush  5     Heard
American Robin  1     Heard
American Goldfinch  2     Heard
Field Sparrow  15
White-throated Sparrow  5
Song Sparrow  2
Eastern Towhee  4
Brown-headed Cowbird  3
Ovenbird  25     Heard
Blue-winged Warbler  1
Common Yellowthroat  25
Yellow Warbler  1     Heard
Prairie Warbler  5     Heard
Northern Cardinal  1     Heard
Blue Grosbeak  1

April Review--37 Year Birds

Red-tailed Hawk, Cranberry Bogs-Dover Road

Just as it is a commonplace for people to say, "We don't have spring anymore, we go directly from winter to summer," a similar sentiment regarding migration is constantly expressed by birders--that is: Migration stinks this year." 

I think I have heard this every year that I've been a birder, and maybe migration was different back in the day. There are a few possible explanations for the idea that migration is disappointing this year (and every year). One is delusion--just as there really is a spring but people forget the nice days as soon as it gets really warm, migration may be more or less as it always has been, but birders forget the good days when they're slogging around not finding much. 

Or, possibly, to quote Randy Newman, "What has happened down here is the winds have changed." Maybe an overall weather pattern has shifted migration to the west--apparently Texas and the Gulf Coast are doing spectacularly this year. 

But the explanation I favor is the one that is probably too painful to accept, even though the scientific evidence coincides with every birder's experience: There just aren't as many birds as there use to be. Climate change leads to loss of habitat, development leads to loss of habitat, farming leads to loss of habitat, and so forth. To paraphrase Senator Everett Dirksen, "A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon you're talking about a lot of birds." 

Wild Turkey, backyard

With all that said, I had a pretty good month, despite the lack of warblers. I added 37 species to my year list and quite a few of them were rarities, including two county lifers--Common Murre at Manasquan Inlet and Roseate Tern, today, just outside Island Beach SP. Yesterday, there was the White-faced Ibis at Meadowedge Park, and earlier in the month I found the Vesper Sparrow that stayed a few days by the beeping monitors on Great Bay Blvd. Last Friday, I ventured up to Sandy Hook to go on one of Scott's trips and was pleased to finally get Black-capped Chickadee for the year. May not seem like an exciting bird, but when you live in south Jersey, surrounded by Carolina Chickadees, the Black-capped version becomes a target. I remember once being in Central Park at the feeders, talking to a local birder and I told him that every one of the birds we were looking at I had in my backyard...except that one--the Black-capped Chickadee. Shari & I spent two day in Nassau County with our friends and I didn't find any chickadees there, so it was becoming something of a mini-nemesis. 

And, as always, Eastern Whip-poor-will has been calling every night that I listen for it since early in the month--even tonight, it is singing in the rain. 

For the month,134 species. The list includes our last day in Delaware, the weekend in New York, and 4 New Jersey counties.

Counties birded:

Delaware: Kent, New Castle

New Jersey: Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean   

New York: Nassau

Species   First Sighting
Brant   Manasquan Inlet
Canada Goose   Dover Mall Pond
Mute Swan   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Wood Duck   Jumping Brook Preserve
Blue-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Shoveler   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Mallard   Jumping Brook Preserve
American Black Duck   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Green-winged Teal   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ring-necked Duck   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Black Scoter   Manasquan Inlet
Bufflehead   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Hooded Merganser   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Red-breasted Merganser   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ruddy Duck   Hempstead Lake SP
Wild Turkey   35 Sunset Rd
Mourning Dove   Dover
Eastern Whip-poor-will   35 Sunset Rd
Chimney Swift   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Ruby-throated Hummingbird   35 Sunset Rd
Clapper Rail   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Virginia Rail   Whitesbog
American Coot   Colliers Mills WMA
American Oystercatcher   Manasquan Inlet
Black-bellied Plover   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Piping Plover   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Killdeer   Jumping Brook Preserve
Sanderling   Sandy Hook
Dunlin   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Purple Sandpiper   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Short-billed Dowitcher   Manahawkin WMA
Wilson's Snipe   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Spotted Sandpiper   IBSP Marina
Greater Yellowlegs   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Willet   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Lesser Yellowlegs   Manahawkin WMA
Common Murre   Manasquan Inlet
Bonaparte's Gull   IBSP Marina
Laughing Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Herring Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Great Black-backed Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Caspian Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Roseate Tern   IBSP Marina
Forster's Tern   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Common Loon   Manasquan Inlet
Northern Gannet   Manasquan Inlet
Double-crested Cormorant   Manasquan Inlet
American Bittern   Manahawkin WMA
Great Blue Heron   Jumping Brook Preserve
Great Egret   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Snowy Egret   Cattus Island County Park
Little Blue Heron   Shelter Cove Park
Tricolored Heron   Shelter Cove Park
Green Heron   Pond on Schoolhouse Road
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Yellow-crowned Night-Heron   Ocean City Welcome Center
White Ibis   Ocean City Welcome Center
Glossy Ibis   Cattus Island County Park
White-faced Ibis   Meadowedge Park
Black Vulture   Wawa-Medford
Turkey Vulture   Wawa-Medford
Osprey   Manasquan Inlet
Northern Harrier   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Cooper's Hawk   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Bald Eagle   Jumping Brook Preserve
Red-shouldered Hawk   Jumping Brook Preserve
Red-tailed Hawk   Middletown DE
Belted Kingfisher   Double Trouble SP
Red-headed Woodpecker   Colliers Mills WMA
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Downy Woodpecker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Hairy Woodpecker   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Northern Flicker   Jumping Brook Preserve
Merlin   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Peregrine Falcon   Island Beach SP
Eastern Phoebe   Jumping Brook Preserve
White-eyed Vireo   Manahawkin WMA
Blue Jay   Jumping Brook Preserve
American Crow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Fish Crow   Dover
Common Raven   Jumping Brook Preserve
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Black-capped Chickadee   Sandy Hook
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Northern Rough-winged Swallow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Purple Martin   Jakes Branch County Park
Tree Swallow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Barn Swallow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch   Jumping Brook Preserve
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
House Wren   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Marsh Wren   Cattus Island County Park
Carolina Wren   Dover
European Starling   Dover
Gray Catbird   Colliers Mills WMA
Brown Thrasher   Colliers Mills WMA
Northern Mockingbird   Wawa Dover
Eastern Bluebird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Hermit Thrush   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Wood Thrush   Double Trouble SP
American Robin   35 Sunset Rd
House Sparrow   Wawa Dover
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
Red Crossbill   Double Trouble SP
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Chipping Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Field Sparrow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Vesper Sparrow   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Seaside Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island
Savannah Sparrow   Jumping Brook Preserve
Song Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Swamp Sparrow   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Eastern Towhee   Cattus Island County Park
Red-winged Blackbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Brown-headed Cowbird   Cranberry Bogs--Dover Rd
Rusty Blackbird   Jumping Brook Preserve
Common Grackle   Wawa Dover
Boat-tailed Grackle   deCamp WildlifeTrail
Ovenbird   Whitesbog
Black-and-white Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Common Yellowthroat   Colliers Mills WMA
Hooded Warbler   Colliers Mills WMA
Yellow Warbler   Meadowedge Park
Palm Warbler   Jumping Brook Preserve
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Jumping Brook Preserve
Prairie Warbler   Whitesbog
Northern Cardinal   Dover
Indigo Bunting   IBSP Marina

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, Ocean City Welcome Center

IBSP Marina 4/30--Roseate Tern, Spotted Sandpiper, Indigo Bunting

Roseate Tern with a Forster's Tern looking like I felt.

I was lolling on the couch, half-awake this afternoon, listening to the rain, which is approaching Book of Noah proportions, when I got a text from Steve that there were Roseate Terns at the Island Beach SP Marina. Shoes, hat, jacket, out the door. Not only is Roseate Tern rare in New Jersey, I have never seen one in Ocean County. In fact, I've only seen the species once, a few years ago at the Shark River Inlet. For a Roseate Tern I could stand in the rain. 

Steve, who lives closer, was already there when I arrived, slightly frazzled from negotiating all the mysterious street closures on the way down. He had texted me that one was still on the dock--and, as we all know, you only need one. I bolted from the car and immediately saw the bird in front of a group of Forster's Terns--the blush on the chest was obvious and probably easier to see than if it had been sunny. It turned to the right and I saw the thin black beak. It was really too far away for my camera, but I hauled out the scope and managed one halfway decent digiscope photo. 

Then it got amusing. I would have been very happy to end the month with a county lifer, but Steve pointed out a Spotted Sandpiper standing on the dock, which was also a year bird for me (there were actually two), and then, in a place you'd never expect to find one, an Indigo Bunting flew by the far end of the dock, then turned, wisely, inland, zipping right by us. Another year bird that has been frustrating me this month. And then the skies opened up, again, and we beat a retreat to our vehicles. 

With the Wood Thrush I heard at Double Trouble this morning during a brief break in the downpours, I added four species to the year list on the last day of the month. 

Meadowedge Park 4/29--White-faced Ibis, Yellow Warbler

I didn't expect to go out today as we neared our 24th consecutive hour of rain, but a report came in from Barnegat's Meadowedge Park the was too enticing to ignore. Looking at the weather map, I saw that the rain was light down there and I figured I could, at worse, sit in my car and look for the reported White-faced Ibis, a species I haven't seen in a couple of years. 

Usually, the ibises congregate on a muddy patch on the right as you enter the park, and today there were about 10 or 15 Glossy Ibises feeding there, which I quickly determined had no White-faced in with them. However, on the other side of the park, there were 3 cars and another flock of ibis feeding on the lawn of the private house next to the park. Because of the rain, there was a large puddle on the lawn and the ibises were feeding around there, along with a Greater Yellowlegs, Laughing Gulls, geese...the usual assortment. One of the cars was familiar to me, being Scott's, so I parked and walked over. Just as Scott said from the driver's seat, "It's in there, Larry," the whole f*&@#*!g flock of 90+ ibises flushed into the air. Ibises are very skittish and my approach on foot probably did the flushing. 

At least I had Scott & Deb to talk to while I tried to find & turn on my patience knob. There were a lot of herons hanging around, more than usual, perhaps because the neighboring marshes were so flooded. After 40 minutes or so, the ibises started to return to the lawn--first one or two then five, then the whole flock again and with them, yay, was the White-faced Ibis, a nice example with pink and white bare skin around the eye, pink legs, and oddly, a noticeably lighter bill than the Glossies. However, in the dreary drizzle and at the distance we stood, I couldn't get a picture. I wasn't going to approach closer and scare them all over again.  Bonus bird: while I was standing there a Yellow Warbler sang--FOY, and was, surprisingly, new for the patch. The WFIB, not surprisingly, was also a patch bird. 

My weather app made it appear that I was on the southern edge of the rain, so I thought I'd drive down Manahawkin to see if there was anything in the impoundments and walk along Stafford Road. My weather app was wrong as the "light rain" persisted. I pulled up to the trail, on Stafford to find that Scott & Deb had preceded me. We scanned the impoundments, which had a very late Hooded Merganser hen, a Tricolored Heron, and not much else. None of us was enthusiastic about walking the tick infested, soaking wet trail to the back impoundment.  

I gave it a shot to walk in the rain down Stafford toward the bridge but after a while, not seeing anything exciting, the walk failed the fun test and I turned around. Which is when I flushed an American Bittern from the reeds right next to the road, the 2nd time I've seen bittern there this month. And that was enough birding for a day I thought would only consist of feeder birds.