Sterling Forest, May 21st

Back up to Sterling Forest on the first sunny day for a over a week, and as it transpired the only sunny day of the weekend. Getting there around 7:30am I checked Blue Lake, where there was little singing activity, so I spent the entire morning along the power line cut at Ironwood Road.

A relatively cool start after a week of rain, and there wasn't that much active singing. In particular I heard no singing Golden-winged until I turned around on the trail, which is where I saw my first male. By that time I'd already seen two singing Blue-winged and photographed a female that was paired with the first "Blue-winged".

I say "Blue-winged" because it was this bird - almost certainly the one that was singing in the same tree as the Golden-winged 10 days perviously - that had pretty obvious Golden-winged genes in it. From underneath it's an unremarkable Blue-winged, but when I saw it from the side the upper wingbar had yellow in it, and the lower wing bar was both broad and solidly yellow. The face was perfect Blue-winged, so it wasn't an obvious "Lawrence's" Warbler. Some sort of back-cross that was 3/4 Blue-winged and 1/4 Golden-winged. Based on tail feather shape (and wear?) it was a first spring bird. The only good thing about all of this is that it was at least paired with a Blue-winged female, not a Golden-winged.

I had three singing Golden-winged on the day, plus a good mix of other warblers: Cerulean (singing male, also seen), Yellow Warbler, American Redstart, Black-and-white Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Ovenbird (heard), Hooded Warbler (heard). That's down from my previous trip here, but a pretty good total given that there was little migration ongoing with another in a series of winds out of the east.

Other passerines: Indigo Bunting, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow, Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, Yellow-billed Cuckoo (heard), Eastern Wood-Peewee and Great Crested Flycatcher. I also had an Empidonax-sp that looked a lot like a Least Flycatcher but I wasn't totally sure of it based on incomplete looks (but not Acadian or Yellow-bellied). Not a bad day and I stayed a little later there due to the slow start.

Of note were a young Snapping Turtle crawling up the hill, and a large (5+ ft!) Black Rat Snake sprawled across the trail and really quite sluggish in the lower temperatures of the morning.

Osprey
Red-tailed Hawk
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Eastern Wood-Pewee
Least Flycatcher
Great Crested Flycatcher
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Barn Swallow
Veery
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Blue-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
Indigo Bunting
Baltimore Oriole

Sterling Forest

May 11th is the earliest I have ever been to Sterling Forest - when I first went there I favored early June although more recently I've been more likely to go there at the end of May. So this was somewhat of an experiment. The novel experience was the presence of some migrants in what otherwise would be considered classic northern deciduous breeding habitat (Yellow-rumped Warbler, Nashville Warbler, Blackpoll Warbler, White-crowned Sparrow). The female Black-throated Blue was probably a migrant too. In the end I racked up quite a decent total of warblers, although some species were heard-only, and unquestionably my best for this site.

The main targets at Sterling Forest are Golden-winged Warbler and Cerulean Warbler. I heard two Ceruleans and saw/heard about six Golden-winged. All males. I didn't see any sign of females but perhaps since this is mid migration they are en route. Unfortunately I also saw four Blue-winged, a personal high total, which doesn't bode well for this little enclave of Golden-winged. In fact one Blue-winged was singing in the same tree as a Golden-winged without territorial exclusion, which illustrates how this sort of hybridization can so easily come about.

My usual initial spot for Golden-winged has been trashed by the power line company, which likes to destroy habitat of endangered species by chemical and mechanical means. Looks like that will take a few years to bounce back, assuming it ever does. I've also seen these jackasses prune trees in breeding season, including destroying an American Redstart nest in the process and right next to a Golden-winged nesting site. Of course the power line cut itself is providing niche habitat for Golden-winged, especially after habitat encroachment or succession of its more usual sites. Golden-winged is essentially extirpated in NJ, at least from any publicized spots - the last site that I knew of near Layton has gone too far in succession. Although Cerulean is relatively rare, Golden-winged is much rarer as a regional breeding species.

However at least the most prominent spot for Golden-winged at Ironwood Road is mostly intact. Here Golden-winged, Prairie, Chestnut-sided, Yellow and Common Yellowthroat were on territory. I felt that the numbers of Prairie and Chestnut-sided were on the low side, but this may reflect ongoing migration especially of the latter species.

Here's the list, with 17 warbler species:
Green Heron
Red-tailed Hawk
Killdeer
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
Yellow-throated Vireo
Red-eyed Vireo
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Black-capped Chickadee
Wood Thrush
Gray Catbird
Blue-winged Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Yellow Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Prairie Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Cerulean Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
American Redstart
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Scarlet Tanager
Eastern Towhee
Field Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Brown-headed Cowbird
Baltimore Oriole
American Goldfinch

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.