Sunday 5/8

This was a slower day, both measured in terms of the numbers of warblers but also the extent to which they quieted down by late morning. I did find a Cape May Warbler at Strawberry Fields, singing, but missed the Blue Grosbeak (a lingerer, presumably) and Bay-breasted Warbler. Cape May has been moderately numerous again this spring. Birds like Blackpoll Warbler and Black-throated Green Warbler were notably absent today.

By late morning I decided to pack it in and get some brunch at one of my old UES haunts. I had driven into the city and had parked at 79th/Madison.

After brunch I decided to hit a couple of birding spots and my preferred nursery before getting home. First stop was DeKorte Park in the Meadowlands Lyndhurst. DeKorte has great potential as a spring shorebirding spot if only they would draw down the water a little and expose a little more mud, even in one small section. In the event I saw Lesser Yellowlegs, Least Sandpiper (one quite advanced, very rufous, with a prominent white eye ring), and one Spotted Sandpiper. Also present were Gadwall, American Black Duck, Mallard (with ducklings), Tree/Barn/Bank Swallows. Passerine migration was also in evidence, with the trees and pond edge containing Yellow-rumped Warblers, Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat.

After a visit to Belle Mead C0-op for grass seed, I went down to nearby Griggstown Preserve (Franklin Twp, NJ) to check for Bobolinks. Someone had reported quite a few near the parking lot. I found one, a male that still had a rather subdued plumage - either in mid-molt or a young bird. As often happens here, the Bobolinks drop in but don't seem to stick for very long. Also there was Orchard Oriole, Tree Swallow, Warbling Vireo and many Red-winged Blackbirds.

Rough-legged Hawk at Griggstown

As part of my Failure to Find Photogenic Fall Foliage loop trip up the D&R canal on Oct 30th I stopped in at Griggstown Preserve and birded from the parking lot - because I was unwilling to strap on orange to avoid some hunter shooting me. The terrestrial birds around the parking lot were: Eastern Bluebird, Palm Warbler, Song Sparrow. The fly-bys were far more interesting:

• Multiple flocks of American Pipits, of which the first one was 60++ birds
• Palm Warblers, seen apparently moving as diurnal migrants
• Yellow-rumped Warblers, probably just local boys flying around
• The expected local raptors/vultures: Red-tailed, Black V and Turkey V
• Rough-legged Hawk, pale morph

I was more than a little surprised at the latter. Although they sometimes do winter at Pole Farm (Lawrenceville) which is probably no more than 20 miles to the south-west, I don't encounter many uncommon raptors away from the hawk watches. The D&R canal is a modest raptor corridor as they follow the river for a little while on their way south, but the terrain is flat and not given to generating uplift like the hillier environment of (say) the Delaware River to the west. There was also a small falcon with it, even further west of me, so small that although I thought it was Kestrel I couldn't rule out Merlin.

Griggstown, Oct 17th

Despite Franklin Twps best attempts to degrade the habitat by mowing it to death, I went to check out Griggstown Preserve on Sunday morning. There was relatively low activity around the parking lot initially, nor in the sections of recently mown fields that used to be full of sparrows (Savannah mostly, but several species at this time of year). I did track down a Palm Warbler in the unmown section of the far south-west corner. A single American Kestrel was hunting the fields.

I checked out the maintenance section (I've nicknamed it the Trash Heap but it's cleaner now) at the southern end of the preserve and this was the best area for sparrows: Song, Swamp, Savannah, White-throated and an adult White-crowned. Several flocks of Purple Finches passed over while I was there, although only one or two were seen perched.

Back at the parking lot a group of Eastern Bluebird was hanging around the fence line, there was a small flock of House Finches and a single Chipping Sparrow. There wasn't much sign of a hawk flight although three Red-tailed Hawks passed overhead and an immature Bald Eagle was seen heading north at some distance to the east. A Sharp-shinned Hawk was hunting another corner, and this looked like an opportunistic migrant rather than a resident bird.

Six Mile Run, Griggstown, Pole Farm: May 30th

Results for Six Mile Run (Franklin, NJ) were almost identical to the visit on the 26th:
http://nycbirding.blogspot.com/2010/05/six-mile-run-may-26th.html
The most cooperative bird was the same Willow Flycatcher, actively marking territory.

Dropping down to Griggstown the grass has grown up but there was somewhat of a dearth of singing heard from the parking lot. Orchard Oriole and Rose-breasted Grosbeak were fly-bys but I didn't linger there.

Instead I headed to Pole Farm to check for Bobolink, which were there in modest numbers (4-5 males, 1 female) along with Eastern Meadowlark and Willow Flycatcher. Despite the new kestrel box, I didn't see any raptors.

Griggstown Preserve, October 5th

There's been a bit of a mowing frenzy at Griggstown, which has mowed the best fall sparrow habitat down to the stubble, and also mowed the existing Grasshopper Sparrow sites. Although they're probably trying to reverse the succession from grassland to scrubland the aggressive mowing does make me wonder about next spring.

In the meanwhile, the place somewhat sucks for sparrows in fall, with substantially lower numbers and diversity compared to last fall. Highlights were two fly-over Broad-winged Hawks and a small flock of American Pipits that dropped in as I left, but generally a fairly disappointing visit.

Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Broad-winged Hawk
American Kestrel
Northern Flicker
Carolina Wren
Gray Catbird
American Pipit
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
American Goldfinch

SIx Mile Run and Griggstown, July 11th

For the first bit of birding I'd done since the MN-ND-WY and Britain trips, I went to Six Mile Run and Griggstown to get a feel of mid-summer birding there. I only got to Six Mile Run by 9am so had to compete with bicyclists for trail usage. Nevertheless I got a pretty reasonable sample of bird life there: Song, Field and Grasshopper Sparrows, Willow Flycatcher, Yellow Warbler, Eastern Bluebird, Indigo Bunting, American Goldfinch - these are all pretty representative of the species there and some of them were still singing including one Grasshopper Sparrow. Perhaps they were starting to worry about second broods, which is probably what all those singing House Wrens are doing (like the one in my back yard).

Griggstown, by contrast, was quiet although it was even later in the morning. Griggstown is less of a native grassland preserve right now than a native shrub and weed preserve and the amount of actual grassland probably translates into reduced diversity. So I didn't linger there and concentrated on trying to fit a modest-sized Buddleia (Butterfly Bush) in my Honda Accord for the drive home from the Belle Mead co-op. This place are good about stocking native plants and many of the perennials in my attempt to make the new place more wildlife-friendly have come from there.

Griggstown and Six Mile Run, May 30th

I really haven't spent any time at my two local grasslands this spring, so I rectified this on Saturday morning by going to Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve and the nearby Six Mile Run, both on the east side of the D&R canal in Franklin Twp.

Griggstown was somewhat of a disappointment, since it held neither Bobolink nor any singing Grasshopper Sparrow and there was no Willow Flycatcher - I'm wondering if the successional nature of what's going on there may have something to do with it - the habitat has a different feel to Six Mile Run. I did see a smattering of usual species and a Red Fox: Song, Chipping and Field Sparrows, an Indigo Bunting, Orchard and Baltimore Oriole, Eastern Bluebird, Yellow Warbler and Common Yellowthroat and the inevitable Red-winged Blackbirds and Tree Swallows.

At Six Mile Run, there was all this and more. There were several singing male Grasshopper Sparrows, some of them obviously paired. There were two singing Willow Flycatchers (not obviously paired) and a pair of Great Crested Flycatchers in the parking lot. Best of all there was a Blue Grosbeak male a little further up the trail I usually take. The Willow Flycatcher shot is from Six Mile Run.

Griggstown Preserve, November 2nd

Back again to Griggstown in search of Vesper Sparrows - no luck there, and the general vibe was that the sparrow numbers had dropped. However the weather was cold, partially overcast, and there was a good selection of raptors so these may have been factors. Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, American Kestrel and Red-tailed Hawk were around. There were good numbers of Eastern Bluebird and American Goldfinch, several flocks of American Robins and blackbirds overhead, a probable small group of Siskins, and the usual suspects:

Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Griggstown Preserve, October 25th and 26th

I birded Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve in Franklin Twp on the mornings of Sat and Sun the 25th and 26th. On the Saturday the weather was gray and foreboding the rain storm to come, and bird activity was fairly quiet with only a few sparrows. There were a few good hawks, however: two Sharp-shinned, Cooper's, Red-tailed and an American Kestrel.

In contrast, after the passage of the storm, the following morning was much birdier with cooperative Savannah Sparrows everywhere and the usual suspects: Swamp, Savannah, Song, White-crowned, White-throated, Field Sparrows. There was also a late Blackpoll Warbler along with Yellow-rumped, Palm Warblers and Common Yellowthroat.

Bird activity at Pole Farm (Mercer Co Park NorthWest) was much lower, with Field and Song Sparrows, a fleeting Eastern Meadowlark, and the best bird being a fly-over immature Bald Eagle. Two Northern Harriers were hunting the fields.

The aggregate birding list for Griggstown was:
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel
Hairy Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Cedar Waxwing
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
House Finch
American Goldfinch

Griggstown Preserve, October 13th

Typical for a day in mid October, Griggstown Native Grassland Preserve was swarming with Savannah Sparrows. There were also good numbers of Swamp Sparrows and various other expect sparrow species. Two American Kestrels, a Northern Harrier and a late Bobolink rounded out the selection.

Northern Harrier
American Kestrel
Carolina Wren
Eastern Bluebird
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Palm Warbler
Field Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Bobolink

Griggstown Preserve, August 10th

A late summer visit to Griggstown after several weekends bogged down with house-hunting revealed no great surprises. Song Sparrows, Field Sparrows and a few Indigo Buntings were in evidence. The Red-winged Blackbirds had moved off breeding territories although a few appeared to be staging at the cherry trees over toward Canal Rd. Also there were two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, chasing each other. There were a few Bobolinks - either all females/juveniles or the males had already molted. I'm not sure if they bred here this year, but at the very least they were using it in late summer - a promising sign. Other species were several Eastern Bluebirds including juveniles (despite the wet and cold spring), Barn Swallows, House and Carolina Wrens, Common Yellowthroat, Brown Thrasher, Eastern Towhee, Orchard Oriole and heard Baltimore Oriole. A loud begging juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was making its way around the edge of one of the fields and there was also a large (female?) immature Cooper's Hawk being far more unobtrusive.

Very little singing, as you might expect, apart from a Song Sparrow or two and an Indigo Bunting.

Princeton area Grasslands - May 7th 2008

After an uninspiring stint in Central Park on May 6th I decided to look locally on May 7th at three local grassland preserves: Griggstown, Six Mile Run and Negri-Nepote, all of which are in Franklin Twp which seems to value its open space in contrast to other localities.

Starting at Griggstown there were swallows looking for mud on the ground, including a Northern Rough-winged Swallow that dropped down into the parking lot. There were four Bobolinks around the parking lot, which left when I arrived, but I kept seeing male Bobolinks in the preserve - they weren't being vocal or displaying however. There were also (silent) Savannah Sparrows but I heard no singing Grasshopper Sparrows. Griggstown appears to be getting a slow start. Wood Thrushes were to be heard from the woodland, at least.

Next I went to Six Mile Run, where the usual Chipping Sparrows were in the parking lot and Brown Thrasher, Baltimore Oriole and Yellow Warbler were in the scrubby area nearby. One interesting thing was watching a female Yellow Warbler gather silk strands from a Gypsy Moth caterpillar tent for nest building. She visited various tents several times for this. In the fields Eastern Bluebirds, Tree Swallows and Field Sparrows are inevitable. Two Indigo Buntings were singing, along with a Blue-winged Warbler. Further down the trail I came across the first of four singing Grasshopper Sparrows - in fact the first one was a very brightly-marked male. Since they starting singing later in the morning it's conceivable that they hadn't started at Griggstown.

After Six Mile Run I went to Negri-Nepote, where a Prairie Warbler sang near the parking lot, another Grasshopper Sparrow at the first of the grasslands. At the freshwater pond there were Hooded Merganser, several Least Sandpipers, Solitary Sandpipers, a full breeding plumage Spotted Sandpiper and a Lesser Yellowlegs. The sun was high enough that I didn't waste time photographing them, but it was interesting to see how they use any little bit of water they can find. Near Negri-Nepote I noticed other undeveloped private land that looked like it could be good for grassland species, although the two lots on the corner of Skillman Rd right next to the preserve had For Sale signs on them.

Finally I visited Princeton's Institute Woods to check that there hadn't been a warbler dropout - apart from Rose-breasted Grosbeak and singing Yellow Warbler things were relatively quiet at 11am and I left without spending too much time there.