Southern NJ again

Let's try this all again, shall we. In fact I did exactly the same trip, ostensibly with better light, although when I got out of the car at Jake's Landing and looked westward I let out a stream of expletives as I saw storm clouds approaching. Sunny day my ass.

Nevertheless it was photographically more productive and the combination of Jake's Landing, South Cape May Meadows and Brigantine/Forsythe NWR. Compared to last week Jake's Landing was much the same, SCMM was a little less productive but still decent (and sunnier!) and Brigantine had Bank Swallow, Bald Eagle and a lot more voracious Greenheads to add to the total.

Gadwall
American Black Duck
Mallard
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
Glossy Ibis
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Clapper Rail
Semipalmated Plover
Killdeer
American Oystercatcher
Greater Yellowlegs
Willet
Gull-billed Tern
Common Tern
Forster's Tern
Least Tern
Eastern Kingbird
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Bank Swallow
Barn Swallow
Marsh Wren
Brown Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Seaside Sparrow
Indigo Bunting

Southern NJ, June 12th

I headed out pre-dawn to try my luck with the weather and look for breeding birds in southern NJ. With rather mixed success. At 6:30am at Jake's Landing the typical birds were evident: Osprey with young, Seaside Sparrow, Marsh Wren, vocal Clapper Rails, Willets. I didn't find any Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows and the cloud cover was not especially conducive to photography since photo ops and sunny intervals were rather asynchronous.

Headed back through the woodland to the road I heard Pine Warbler, Yellow-throated Warbler, White-eyed Vireo and saw Brown Thrasher. I decided to try and wait out the variable cloud cover and went to the nearby Sunset Rd bridge at Belleplain State Forest. Despite being early in the day the amount of song was limited: Ovenbird, Black-and-white Warbler, an emphatic Acadian Flycatcher were heard but there was no sign of Prothonotary Warbler or Louisiana Waterthrush. Or much else.

I went further down along the Delaware Bay shore and stopped at Kimball's Beach Rd at Cape May NWR to check out shorebirds - there in small numbers and to my eyes just Semipalmated Sandpipers, with no sign of their larger cousins (Dunlin, Sanderling, Turnstone, Knot).

From there I headed down to South Cape May Meadows (SCMM), the Nature Conservancy site near Cape May Point that is more correctly called "The Cape May Migratory Bird Refuge" these days. The weather was overcast so I went to the Concrete Ship and scanned the ocean, picking up a few Northern Gannets heading north. All immatures. At SCMM I left the camera in the car courtesy of unremitting cloud cover and walked around, seeing Piping Plovers getting agitated over every crow and Osprey. There were also Killdeer, American Oystercatcher, Black Skimmer, Least Tern and Foster's Tern. Best birds were the duo of singing Indigo Bunting and Blue Grosbeak at the entrance. Activity was relatively low and the light was pretty bad so I started to work my way north, filling up with gas near the road for Wildwood. I was just turning onto the Garden State Parkway northbound when I caught sight of a clearing patch in my rear view mirror, so turned around at the next exit and headed back to SCMM in the hopes of better light.

At SCMM I had basically the same species, but at least a little sun as the overcast cleared out for a while, and a few birds including Least Terns were relatively cooperative fishing near the viewing platform along northernmost trail. A small number of Common Terns dropped in, and at one point full alternate plumage adults, a first summer Common Tern were on the same sandbar as adult Forster's Tern and first summer Laughing Gulls. An interesting mix of plumages but apart from the Common Terns nothing new was seen on my second go around SCMM. Least Terns were in an active colony on the beach, and American Oystercatcher and Piping Plover chicks were present along the roped off areas of the beach.

Finally I went north once again and visited Brigantine/Forsythe NWR to see if there were any residual migrating shorebirds. While I did get a view of two Clapper Rails bathing in the channel, the number of shorebirds (apart from the breeding Willet) was quite low and consisted of three Greater Yellowlegs and a small group of Semipalmated Sandpipers. Gull-billed Tern was also a new bird for the day. Greenheads were out, but not yet in truly ferocious numbers and the dearth of shorebirds let me keep my car windows up for most of the time. The main benefit of birding Brig on this day is that it delayed my arrival home so that I missed the first half of that rather dire 1-1 draw between the USA and England in the World Cup.

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

Heislerville WMA, May 25th

In a fit of enthusiasm I baled out of Princeton at 5:30 am and made my way down I-295 and Rt-55 to Heislerville WMA on the southern Delaware Bay shore in NJ. I got there at 7am and found that I had badly miscalculated the tide and the number of shorebirds in the impoundment was low, and getting lower as they flew out to the saltmarsh to feed.

So instead I headed over to Jake's Landing near Dennisville to try and take photos of the usual suspects - in the case of Jake's Landing this is Seaside Sparrows and Marsh Wrens, neither of which were totally cooperative but I did get a few photographs. I saw a few Clapper Rails flying around (and heard far more) but failed to see any Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrows as I had done there the previous weekend. Surprisingly, given prior experience, I was neither devoured by no-see-ums nor disturbed every five minutes by boat launchers. A couple of cars with birders were all I found there - has this place become unpopular with the boating public ?

Once the sun started to get high and I tired of creeping up on Seaside Sparrows I headed to the nearby Belleplain State Forest and staked out the Prothonotary Warbler site on Sunset Road. As if by magic the male Prothonotary put in an appearance within 5 minutes, singing over the road. I hung out there for a while, taking pictures as it periodically dropped by (or flew by) and then, in what's a first for me at that location, spotted a female Prothonotary being far less conspicuous except for one brief interaction between the two. Also present were assorted usual suspects: Hooded Warbler (I actually saw one), Pine Warbler, a probable Worm-eating Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Acadian Flycatcher, Eastern Towhee. [Note added later - in early June a Swainson's Warbler was reported singing around this spot, but since nobody has laid their eyes on it, it could conceivably be another warbler singing a strange song].

Despite the bust at Heislerville early in the day it turned out to be relatively productive and worthwhile. On the way out I surveyed Heislerville WMA again at closer to high tide (1pm ?) and had the added bonus of a Curlew Sandpiper seen well but in harsh light at 11:30am.

Highlights:
Clapper Rail (Jake's Landing)
Black-bellied Plover (Heislerville WMA)
Semipalmated Plover (Heislerville WMA)
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Heislerville WMA)
Dunlin (Heislerville WMA)
Curlew Sandpiper (Heislerville WMA)
Short-billed Dowitcher (Heislerville WMA)
Yellow-billed Cuckoo (Belleplain SF)
Acadian Flycatcher (Belleplain SF)
Great Crested Flycatcher (Belleplain SF)
Marsh Wren (Jake's Landing)
Blue-winged Warbler (Belleplain SF)
Yellow-throated Warbler (Belleplain SF)
American Redstart (Jake's Landing)
Prothonotary Warbler (Belleplain SF)
Worm-eating Warbler (Belleplain SF)
Louisiana Waterthrush (Belleplain SF)
Eastern Towhee (Belleplain SF)
Seaside Sparrow (Jake's Landing)
Boat-tailed Grackle (Jake's Landing)