As is usual, there's been a lull before and after a birding trip - in this case a combination grouse and Colima Warbler trip - but I did a little birding on Sunday morning to get a locally unusual species, Yellow-throated Warbler. Was pretty easy to find from the parking lot at Colonial Park (Somerset NJ) and although other migrants were few and far between I did snag Broad-winged Hawk, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Palm Warbler. House Wrens and Chipping Sparrows were also obviously already on territory. Given the incessant singing and moderately favorable habitat it's possible the Yellow-throated may stick around.
Over the other part of the park along the nature trail, the Red-headed Woodpecker persisted. A second one has also been reported - I saw only one.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Monday, March 17, 2014
Unusually productive mid-March in Central Park
Almost literally mid-March, on March 15th, saw me in Central Park to look for some unusual birds that had been around. Foremost amongst those was a Red-necked Grebe hanging out on the Reservoir - there had been one the previous weekend and this one was allegedly an entirely different one. The appearance by two makes it less obvious that this is really a very rare species in Central Park with the last one being ~30 years ago (I've only been birding CPK for 17 years) and is my park bird #205.
Surreal experience at one point was the Grebe surfacing right next to a Red-breasted Merganser, itself relatively rare in the park.
The Ramble was also extremely productive, since it was hard not to see American Woodcocks as they repeatedly took flight and twittered through the Ramble, probably in response to a lot of people walking through there on a warm spring day. Took me a while to see one on the ground for more than a few seconds. At the feeders the sparrow numbers continued to be low, and there was only one Chickadee, but the variety was exceptional for mid-March: a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, singing Fox Sparrows, Brown Creeper, two Baltimore Orioles (overwintering) feeding on oranges. In fact Fox Sparrows were particularly numerous at Mugger's Woods when I finally caught up with a more-or-less stationary Woodcock (but also had one fly by and others were present that I did not see).
While absolute numbers of birds and species continue to be low, not least of all because of a dilettante 2 hour afternoon visit, it really was very good birding for mid March. FOY birds were Wood Duck, Black-capped Chickadee, Fox Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole.
Red-necked Grebe
Wood Duck
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red-tailed Hawk
American Woodcock (3-5)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Black-capped Chickadee
Brown Creeper
Fox Sparrow (10)
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
Surreal experience at one point was the Grebe surfacing right next to a Red-breasted Merganser, itself relatively rare in the park.
The Ramble was also extremely productive, since it was hard not to see American Woodcocks as they repeatedly took flight and twittered through the Ramble, probably in response to a lot of people walking through there on a warm spring day. Took me a while to see one on the ground for more than a few seconds. At the feeders the sparrow numbers continued to be low, and there was only one Chickadee, but the variety was exceptional for mid-March: a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, singing Fox Sparrows, Brown Creeper, two Baltimore Orioles (overwintering) feeding on oranges. In fact Fox Sparrows were particularly numerous at Mugger's Woods when I finally caught up with a more-or-less stationary Woodcock (but also had one fly by and others were present that I did not see).
While absolute numbers of birds and species continue to be low, not least of all because of a dilettante 2 hour afternoon visit, it really was very good birding for mid March. FOY birds were Wood Duck, Black-capped Chickadee, Fox Sparrow, Baltimore Oriole.
Red-necked Grebe
Wood Duck
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Red-tailed Hawk
American Woodcock (3-5)
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Black-capped Chickadee
Brown Creeper
Fox Sparrow (10)
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch
Monday, January 6, 2014
Catching up on the year list - Long Beach Island and Forsythe NWR - Jan 5th
Between social distractions and snow storms my year list has been barely ticking along, driven mainly by the birds visiting my feeder. So finally on Sunday I decided to kick it into gear.
First stop, Barnegat Inlet
Icy conditions made me reluctant to rock-hop down the jetty so I simply did some scoping from the concrete walkway in heavy overcast conditions. Surf and Black Scoters were unusually far up the inlet, actually back into the bay although they are usually to be found at the Atlantic Ocean end of the jetty. Some singles, but mostly a group mixed in with Common Eider on the far (north) side of the inlet. Red-throated Loons, Red-breasted Mergansers and the inevitable Long-tailed Ducks were in the bay itself. Out in the inlet Common Loon, more RB Mergansers and a rare-for-location fly-by Hooded Merganser, Harlequins and Long-tailed Ducks feeding adjacent to the jetty and Northern Gannets passing south out over the ocean. Shorebirds were Black-bellied Plover, Ruddy Turnstone and Purple Sandpiper on or near the jetty but I had to scope the bay beaches to pick up Sanderling and Dunlin at range. Bonus extras were Fish Crow and Boat-tailed Grackle at the state park entrance, with Yellow-rumped Warbler and Hermit Thrush in the coastal scrub.
A quick stop at a bay overlook north of the bridge gave me Mute Swan, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, more RB Mergansers.
Second stop: Holgate
That usually my cue to leave Long Beach Island, but this time I took the drive down to the southern tip at Forsythe NWR's Holgate division. I've never been there before - it's closed in summer to protect Piping Plover and the drive down that part of the barrier beach during beach season would be tedious at best. Pretty strong start with a group of Black Scoter and a few Surfs just off the breakwater, Long-tailed Duck scatter about, Common Loon and Northern Gannet over the ocean proper. Walking south along the beach I added Brant, American Black Duck and RB Merganser on the bay side, then the usual suspects in shorebirds: Sanderling, Dunlin, Black-bellied Plover and a few Ruddy Turnstones. Hurricane Sandy seems to have done a number on some of the dunes here, with some of them obviously destroyed, and it's unclear if the strip of beach will remain intact or rebuild, or it it will ultimately break into a series of islands. Other birds of note included a Northern Harrier and a flock of Snow Buntings - the buntings were forming a bizarre mixed flock with beach-foraging Sanderlings.
After about 90 minutes of walking on the beach I was grateful to make it back to the car.
Third stop: Brigantine
Although Holgate is part of Forsythe NWR, Brigantine division is the definitive place on the wildlife refuge. The recent snowfall meant that the wildlife drive was closed, but was open to hikers so I decided to make inroads into the year list by hiking up to the first observation tower. Most of the impoundments were frozen and the ducks were clustered on the ice in large flocks, periodically flushed by Bald Eagles and a jackass low-flying sea plane. Mainly American Black Duck,
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Northern Gannet
Great Blue Heron
Snow Goose
Brant
Mute Swan
Tundra Swan
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Purple Sandpiper
Dunlin
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Snowy Owl
Fish Crow
Carolina Wren
Hermit Thrush
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Snow Bunting
Boat-tailed Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
First stop, Barnegat Inlet
Icy conditions made me reluctant to rock-hop down the jetty so I simply did some scoping from the concrete walkway in heavy overcast conditions. Surf and Black Scoters were unusually far up the inlet, actually back into the bay although they are usually to be found at the Atlantic Ocean end of the jetty. Some singles, but mostly a group mixed in with Common Eider on the far (north) side of the inlet. Red-throated Loons, Red-breasted Mergansers and the inevitable Long-tailed Ducks were in the bay itself. Out in the inlet Common Loon, more RB Mergansers and a rare-for-location fly-by Hooded Merganser, Harlequins and Long-tailed Ducks feeding adjacent to the jetty and Northern Gannets passing south out over the ocean. Shorebirds were Black-bellied Plover, Ruddy Turnstone and Purple Sandpiper on or near the jetty but I had to scope the bay beaches to pick up Sanderling and Dunlin at range. Bonus extras were Fish Crow and Boat-tailed Grackle at the state park entrance, with Yellow-rumped Warbler and Hermit Thrush in the coastal scrub.
A quick stop at a bay overlook north of the bridge gave me Mute Swan, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, more RB Mergansers.
Second stop: Holgate
That usually my cue to leave Long Beach Island, but this time I took the drive down to the southern tip at Forsythe NWR's Holgate division. I've never been there before - it's closed in summer to protect Piping Plover and the drive down that part of the barrier beach during beach season would be tedious at best. Pretty strong start with a group of Black Scoter and a few Surfs just off the breakwater, Long-tailed Duck scatter about, Common Loon and Northern Gannet over the ocean proper. Walking south along the beach I added Brant, American Black Duck and RB Merganser on the bay side, then the usual suspects in shorebirds: Sanderling, Dunlin, Black-bellied Plover and a few Ruddy Turnstones. Hurricane Sandy seems to have done a number on some of the dunes here, with some of them obviously destroyed, and it's unclear if the strip of beach will remain intact or rebuild, or it it will ultimately break into a series of islands. Other birds of note included a Northern Harrier and a flock of Snow Buntings - the buntings were forming a bizarre mixed flock with beach-foraging Sanderlings.
After about 90 minutes of walking on the beach I was grateful to make it back to the car.
Third stop: Brigantine
Although Holgate is part of Forsythe NWR, Brigantine division is the definitive place on the wildlife refuge. The recent snowfall meant that the wildlife drive was closed, but was open to hikers so I decided to make inroads into the year list by hiking up to the first observation tower. Most of the impoundments were frozen and the ducks were clustered on the ice in large flocks, periodically flushed by Bald Eagles and a jackass low-flying sea plane. Mainly American Black Duck,
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Northern Gannet
Great Blue Heron
Snow Goose
Brant
Mute Swan
Tundra Swan
American Wigeon
American Black Duck
Mallard
Northern Shoveler
Northern Pintail
Green-winged Teal
Common Eider
Harlequin Duck
Surf Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Hooded Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Ruddy Duck
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Cooper's Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Peregrine Falcon
American Coot
Black-bellied Plover
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Purple Sandpiper
Dunlin
Ring-billed Gull
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Snowy Owl
Fish Crow
Carolina Wren
Hermit Thrush
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Snow Bunting
Boat-tailed Grackle
House Finch
American Goldfinch
Thursday, January 2, 2014
January 1st Green-wood Cemetery (Brooklyn)
A small start to the year list targeted two interesting species in Brooklyn's Green-wood Cemetery. The first was Monk Parakeet, a species I'd made no effort to find in NY state or NYC, despite having seen them in FL, NJ and TX. There are well-known populations within NYC, one of which is at the main gate to the cemetery, so despite hearing them before seeing them it took no more than 20 seconds to find one. That was the easier of the two species, with the nearby Red-headed Woodpecker proving elusive. In fact it was only because the other entrance was locked, forcing us to retrace our steps to the main entrance, that I managed to find it by virtue of it calling - it seemed to be moving around with a mixed flock so I was just at the right place and time.
Otherwise the cemetery understandably lacks understory so bird life was relatively low, with a few White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and with Red-headed Woodpecker the most obvious bird.
Otherwise the cemetery understandably lacks understory so bird life was relatively low, with a few White-throated Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos and with Red-headed Woodpecker the most obvious bird.
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