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Today was predicted to be a nice day weather-wise, or at least a big improvement over the chilly weather that we’ve been having, so I decided to head out with brother Rich to Franklin Parker Preserve in Burlington County. FPP is a large (9,400 acre) preserve consisting of former cranberry and blueberry bogs that I like to visit a few times each year. A major attraction for coming here is that it is under-birded and you are unlikely to bump into too many people out on its trails, so its a great combination of nice habitat and few people. During this time of year, it seems like an excellent area to scan the small scattered trees that are taking over the abandoned bogs, searching for shrikes or out-of-place flycatchers. Today we wanted to walk to a grove of birches that is ~ 2.5 miles from the trailhead, hoping that some Common Redpolls might be enjoying them as a food source.

We were having a pleasant walk, enjoying numerous views of Eastern Bluebirds, sorting through the sparrows, and searching for raptors. Nice finds were a colorful juvenile Northern Harrier floating over the field that perched for great scope views, and nice looks at late Pine Warblers and yellow (eastern) Palm Warblers. The birds were active, presumably encouraged by the warming weather. About 400 yards after we rounded a bend on the western end of the main reservoir, we stopped to find the source of some chip notes that were coming from the leatherleaf. We were then surprised when a buffy-colored bird appeared at the top of the bush less than 10 ft. away. SEDGE WREN! We saw a Sedge Wren earlier this year at Bombay Hook in Delaware, but this was our first sighting of this species in NJ. Of course, the day that I see a great bird is usually the same day that I leave my camera in my car. Ugh. Luckily, we spotted two other birders (Lisa Ryan and Dave Larson) approaching, so we alerted them to the wren, and fortunately Lisa had a camera and was able to document this bird for us.

Sedge Wren at Franklin Parker Preserve 11/23/2014.
Photo by Lisa Ryan.

Our route through Franklin Parker Preserve. The red pin marks the starting point, the wren was seen on the left (western) end of the reservoir, and the birches are at the northern tip of this hike.

Nov. 10 was a beautiful day. On my way back from visiting with mom I decided to drive through Whitesbog to see if the Tundra Swans have returned yet. Happily, as I reached the Upper Reservoir, three swans were easily seen on the opposite shore. That was nice. Then as I was driving down by the doglegs, I noticed a fairly large, robin-sized bird perched atop a tree. The problem is that it wasn’t chunky like a robin, and when it flew, it had a somewhat undulating flight. My mind raced as I was setting up the scope, and indeed, as suspected it turned out to be a Northern Shrike…a gray and white bird with dark primaries, large bill, and an obvious black facial mask. I reached into the car for the camera and when I looked up, the tree was empty and nowhere to be seen. Darn. Drat. Damn. Northern Shrikes appear yearly in NJ, but it still falls into the ‘good bird’ category. I only see one other record from NJ in eBird for 2014..a February bird in Salem County.  I reported the sighting on JerseyBirds, and then set about to re-find it. Two hours later I spotted it nearly a mile away on the Burlington County side of Whitesbog, where it flew to the top of the bordering pines, perched for a few minutes, then disappeared behind the treeline. Was it gone forever, as a two-hour wonder, or would it stick around?

We found out the next day when I got an e-mail from my birding buddy Larry, who reported re-finding it while I was ‘busy’ playing ping-pong. About an hour later I was able to join him, and after more than an hour of searching, was walking along one of the cross-dikes when I heard a different call. I turned around, searching for the source, and indeed, it turned out to be the shrike, close to the road, in perfect light, filling my scope view. Wow. We’re talking stunning view now, folks. Perfect for a digiscoped photo. Ooops…the adaptor is back in the car. Darn. Drat. Damn. I gave hand-held digiscoping a shot, but as I was fiddling and fumbling around, it disappeared again. Yet another missed opportunity.

I returned the next day, with similar stories…the bird was seen by me and others, but no documentation photos were taken as far as I know, and the bird remained remarkably adept at disappearing at will.

After taking a day off to try my hand at seawatching (that’s another story for another day), I returned back today with brother Rich. As we approached the Upper Reservoir, there it was, close to the road. We got out of the car quietly, and a few seconds later it flushed across the bog to a more distant tree. After Rich was able to get decent scope looks, I tried to get photos. They are far from the best photos that I have ever taken, but the first photos of this bird that I am aware of. When we took our eyes off of it momentarily, once again it sneaked of to who-knows-where.

digiscoped distant Northern Shrike (=better view desired) Whitesbog, NJ Nov. 15, 2014

Its been fun pursuing this bird, following it from day to day. It has managed to avoid my attempts to watch it feeding, but I’ve grown to appreciate that it has remained for at least 5 days. Sure, it’s shy and aloof, and sure, there have been plenty of birders driving around the Whitesbog roads shaking their heads, but that’s part of the allure. I’m hoping that it remains longer, and part of me hopes that it remains aloof.  Stay tuned.  Here’s a map of the locations where I or others have seen this bird (marked with an ‘S’). Notice how it is ranging fairly widely, but favors the Ocean County end.

Location of shrike sightings (marked with an ‘S’)