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.

MN-ND-WY trip

Much of June was spent on a regional hiatus as I traveled in a huge loop MN-ND-MT-WY-SD-ND-MN in search of prairie and western montane birds with pretty good success. The trip report is in mid-edit, and most of the photos (incl. Dusky Grouse) are still being processed.

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.

Sterling Forest

Sterling Forest is one of the main strongholds of Golden-winged Warbler near NYC, now that the species is increasingly marginal in NJ. On May 19th I took a morning and got there at 0630, finding Golden-winged almost immediately. Other warblers present were Hooded Warbler (heard), Ovenbird (heard), Prairie Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler (heard) and a brief snippet of Cerulean Warbler song. I ignored the Cerulean while I watched a female Golden-winged forage for nest material, only to find that the Cerulean vanished rather quickly.

Other birds included several Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Baltimore and Orchard Oriole and Scarlet Tanager. Singing activity really died down after 9am, which is at least one reason I never did see any Ceruleans anywhere.

A return trip the following Sunday (May 24th) gave me a look at two Ceruleans (singing), a singing Yellow-billed Cuckoo, a fly-by Broad-winged Hawk and otherwise much the same species mix.

Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Central Park, May 13th

Things were pretty slow in Strawberry Fields, so I went over to Falconer's Hill and found Janet talking about a sharp-tailed sparrow. Five or ten minutes later it appeared from cover and the somewhat surreal sighting of a Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow in the grass at Falconer's. OK, it was in some grass, but why it didn't hang out at the much wetter Lower Lobe nearby is anyone's guess - perhaps the deeper cover at Falconer's suited it. This is the second one I've seen in Central Park, the previous one being 4/30/2001, with a Nelson's the following year (Sept 2002). Now all we need is a Le Conte's.....

Central Park, May 12th

It helps, I find, to have the battery in the digital camera to hold a little voltage. No volts, no photos.

Nevertheless, it was a decent day, although one I cut short due to camera woes. Bay-breasted Warbler was at Strawberry Fields, Solitary and Spotted Sandpipers on the Lake, and a Gray-cheeked Thrush near Azalea Pond.

Central Park, May 10th

Although May 10th is often a high-volume day in spring migration, this particular day was pretty slow, and for a long time I had about 5 species of warbler, mainly Magnolia. Eventually the quality picked up with a Prothonotary Warbler on the Point, a Least Flycatcher, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird male and a Yellow-billed Cuckoo (the latter two at Azalea Pond). Still, I only barely made it into double digits for warbler species. In the afternoon I drove back home via Bull's Island State Park, where I added the fairly reliable Acadian Flycatcher and Cliff Swallow to my year list.

Double-crested Cormorant
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Least Flycatcher
Red-eyed Vireo
Black-capped Chickadee
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Veery
Swainson's Thrush
Wood Thrush
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Prothonotary Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Field Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting

Belleplain and Heislerville

Instead of battling crowds in Central Park I made a late start and went to southern NJ. In Belleplain State Forest along Sunset Rd birds were more heard than seen. Heard-only were Acadian Flycatcher, Blue-winged Warbler and Scarlet Tanager. Seen was the reliable Prothonotary Warbler and a pair of Worm-eating Warblers as well as a fly-by Louisiana Waterthrush. A visit to Jake's Landing in the heat of the day added predictable Seaside Sparrow, Marsh Wren, Willet and calling Clapper Rails. Northern Harriers were still hunting over the marshes, surely breeding there. And then onto Heislerville WMA where it was a little after high tide and many shorebirds were on the mudflats rather than in the rather full impoundment. Nothing novel here, instead the usual roster: Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, Dunlin, Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers, Short-billed Dowitcher, Black Skimmer.

Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Northern Harrier
Black-bellied Plover
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Spotted Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Dunlin
Short-billed Dowitcher
Forster's Tern
Great Crested Flycatcher
Marsh Wren
Worm-eating Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Seaside Sparrow

Central Park, May 6th

Not the most auspicious weather to go birding in Central Park - a north wind overnight and overcast making viewing conditions difficult. Nevertheless it was May 6th, so there were a decent number of migrants in small pockets. Best birds for the day were White-eyed Vireo (Upper Lobe), Indigo Bunting and a persistently singing Blackburnian Warbler at Mugger's Woods. For May 6th the lack of Red-eyed Vireos gave it a feel of being a little late for some species, consistent with the poor and wet weather over the last few days retarding migration.

Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
American Kestrel
Blue-headed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
House Wren
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Veery
Hermit Thrush
Wood Thrush
Brown Thrasher
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Northern Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole