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A fall Roseate Tern

Sep 082019

I seem to be on a Roseate Tern fixation lately. We have been searching successfully for them in spring for the past three years, I posted recently about how they seem to be increasing in NJ over the past decade or so, and now Jeanine and I just found our first fall Roseate that I think merits some discussion.

If you want a brief recent description of their local history, you can click here, but suffice it to say that sightings of Roseates are increasing over the past few years, but locally they occur more often in spring than in late summer / fall. This might be partly due to the fact that they are easier to identify in spring, when they tend to stand out among other medium-sized terns due to their black bills (when Forster’s Tern and Common Terns usually have orange bills), long tail, and overall pale plumage. In fall the bills of Common Terns and Forster’s Terns also turn black, and it can be tough to find a tern with a thinner black bill among all the other medium-sized black-billed terns.

But while scanning through a flock of Common Terns this week in the Sedge Islands, one bird stood out as having light plumage. It did have what appeared to be a longer narrower bill, but was it real, or was it just birder’s imagination trying to turn it into a rarer bird? It didn’t have a long tail, which argued against Roseate. As we approached closer, we did see that it was banded, having a yellow band with black lettering, but a few weeks ago we had an interesting and confusing Common Tern that was banded, and previous Roseates that we found all had blue bands with white lettering. Finally, we knew that Roseate fall sightings are rare here in Ocean County, with only two eBird reports ever from August, and none in September. Because we were in a canoe, we didn’t have our field guides with us, so we leaned toward it being a Roseate, took lots of photos (too many of which ended up being overexposed) and hoped that when we got home we could figure it out.

Here is the bird isolated, where it is tough to make comparisons. Overall it looks bright and with a longish thin bill. Note the black edges to the outer primaries, which will become relevant later.

Now the bird looks even brighter when compared to a nearby Common Tern, and indeed the bill looks slightly thinner too. I find that brightness can change dramatically when a bird turns, but here they are facing the same direction.

Before we get to the thrilling conclusion, a few details about the distribution of Roseate Tern might be in store.
Roseate Terns can be found world-wide, nesting on offshore islands. The population here in the northeast US is endangered, with the two largest breeding colonies, each with ~2,000 pairs, located on Great Gull Island (NY) and near Buzzards Bay (MA). After breeding, they stage until late summer in Cape Cod before migrating southward. So this is the narrow fall window for spotting them on coastal beaches in our area.

Now back to our photos. We already saw how bright this bird appeared compared to the surrounding Common Terns. In some photos the bill indeed looks longer and narrower.

In this comparison the bill looks quite narrow again compared to the Common Tern.

In some photos where the bird is resting we see that the two outer primaries are black, which is good for Roseate. The best flight photo however, shows that six primaries are darkish gray in flight, seemingly arguing against Roseate. In support of Roseate, however, those six primaries are dark on the forward half of the feathers and light on the rear half.

Finally we see the bird in flight. It lacks the long outer tail feathers, but I only count four feathers on each side of the tail, so presumably the longer feathers are molted or worn.

The tail completely lacked the long outer retrices, but upon closer examination, I see only four tail feathers, so presumably the outer feathers are molted away at this time of year.

Here we get good documentation of the banding code, but the bill looks only slightly different from the Common Tern.

Overall, we were now convinced that we had our first fall Roseate, so we submitted a report to the bird banding lab, and within two days the report came back positive. Our Roseate Tern was banded in 2017 in CT, being too young at the time to fly. So this bird is two years old, and should be ready to breed next year.

It was a great lesson for us on the finer points of how to identify Roseate Tern in fall.

Western Sandpipers

Aug 062019

I’ve always had troubles with Western Sandpipers. I could never be sure whether I wasn’t seeing any, or whether I was seeing them but not recognizing them right in front of my eyes. Plus, all of the ‘peeps’ can be somewhat difficult to distinguish, being small active shorebirds with relatively subtle differences, especially if we are viewing them from a distance or under sub-optimal conditions (poor light, windy conditions, in tight flocks, partly submerged in water, etc.).

Yesterday I enjoyed a delightful day on the Jersey Shore with thousands of shorebirds at close range, including a few Western Sandpipers. But this time I was able to identify them readily and find them quite easily from within a sizeable flock of the related and similar Semipalmated Sandpipers. I thought that I’d share the experience and a few photos with you in the hope that it might help you to find your own Westerns.

Here is a Western Sandpiper. Superficially it resembles other peeps, but more careful observation reveals the three characteristics to look for: rufous tones to the head and scapular feathers, chevrons that extend down the side of the breast, and a relatively longer, thinner, and slightly drooping bill.

So what should we be looking for if we want to find Western Sandpipers this time of year? The distinguishing characteristics are that when compared to Semipalmated Sandpipers, Westerns Sandpipers have more rufous tones in their plumage, more extensive chevrons on their breast/belly, and a longer, thinner bill. For me, trying to find one by comparing bill sizes alone was not productive at all. But simply sorting through a flock of sandpipers by searching for birds that have the rufous tones or the chevrons proved rather easy, especially when these characteristics were combined. Plus, it didn’t matter too much which way the bird was facing; if the birds were facing me, looking for the extended chevrons was simple, and if the birds were facing away from me, I searched for patches of rufous feathers. To back up the identification, the length of the bill then became a third supporting characteristic.

Here we have a pair of photos of Western and Semipalmated Sandpipers in close proximity to each other in different positions. Notice how similar yet different they appear in direct comparison with each other.

The differences between a Semipalmated Sandpiper (sitting bird on the right) and a Western Sandpiper (upper right) become more noticeable when they are side-by-side. Notice the duller overall color of the Semipalmated and the shorter bill.

Here the differences in the breast pattern become more obvious, with the Semipalmated Sandpiper (on the left) sporting a more limited dull brown/gray breast band, and the Western Sandpiper in the center having more extensive chevrons.

We leave with one more photo of an isolated Western Sandpiper. Do you think you can find one now? As the season progresses I suspect that they will lose that rufous color. Will we still be able to find them?

Roseate Terns in NJ

Jersey Birding, Uncategorized Comments Off

Jul 282019

On July 3 Jeanine and I took our nearly-weekly summer venture into the Sedge Islands, and although as expected for this time of year there wasn’t much bird diversity or numbers yet, we were rewarded with spotting a Roseate Tern. Last year we found our first-ever Roseate Terns in NJ on July 12, (actually, not a single Roseate, but a group of three), and we continued to see them for the next three weeks. This year up to five Roseates have been reported sporadically but regularly from the nearby Island Beach North Natural Area.

So that got me to thinking. Are Roseate Terns becoming more common to see in NJ (and more specifically here in Ocean County) as their population increases, or are people just reporting them more due to heightened awareness of how to recognize them combined with eBird and instant text services that make their locations known to other birders? I still don’t know the complete answer, but they are indeed being spotted more frequently here based on eBird reports. I looked at the eBird records for Ocean County for the past seven years, and here are the results.

From 2000 through 2013 there were no reports of Roseate Terns in Ocean County.
In 2014 there were three July reports from Island Beach State Park (IBSP).
In 2015 there was one bird in Ocean County (Holgate in July).
In 2016 there were two sightings in Ocean.
In 2017 there were two sightings in Ocean County, both in July.
In 2018 there were multiple sightings in the Sedge Islands in a three-week span in June and July. Because the Roseates were banded, it was clear that multiple birds were involved.
In 2019 we have had multiple sightings centered around IBSP, between the Sedge Islands, the northern Natural Area of IBSP, and in Barnegat Inlet, with up to four Roseates being seen at a time.

So there we have it; we are experiencing a steady increase in sightings of Roseate Terns in Ocean County, with this species being absent (in eBird) until 2013, transitioning to being rare but regular for four years, and for the past two years becoming uncommon but expected in increasing numbers, with Island Beach State Park becoming a reliable hotspot, peaking in July. Roseates tend to disperse northerly up to Cape Cod after breeding, so if you haven’t seen any yet this year, now is the time to look before they are all gone.

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Warbler Season is Beginning

Apr 022019

Warblers are starting to arrive here in the northeast, with Pine Warblers singing on territories and Yellow-throated Warblers appearing. Prothonotaries and Louisiana Waterthrushes and Palms and Black-and-white Warblers will be arriving next. Are you ready for them?? If not, brush up using our Warbler BirdQuiz by clicking here.

Razorbillpalooza!!

Jan 192019

In one of my recent posts I mentioned that it has been a wild winter for spotting Razorbills here in NJ. At the Avalon Seawatch near Cape May where they saw only three Razorbills the entire 2017 season and eleven the previous winter, thousands have been seen migrating by on individual days this year. Jeanine and I were fortunate to find one at Manasquan Inlet on January 1 (a very happy New Year’s present from the birding gods), and yesterday we returned back to Manasquan to see if we could spot any more, hopefully accompanied by some of its relative alcids (Dovekies, Murres, or Guillemots).

The end of Manasquan Jetty, south side. Unlike the longer (0.7 mi.), rougher, more risky boulder-strewn jetty at Barnegat Lighthouse, Manasquan Jetty (400 ft) is paved. And unfortunately, littered with graffiti now. The ease of access makes it very convenient.

It’s great when the Razorbills are so close that you can see the white vertical lines on their bill.

It was a perfect day for viewing. The seas were calm, with light westerly winds of 7 mph. It was completely overcast, but with a predicted high of 42 degrees. Perfect. We took our position at the end of the jetty and within the first hour or so spotted a single fairly close Razorbill and a group of two or three more distant ones too. (Question: is two birds officially a group? I digress with that petty technicality.) Then we spotted more further south, including a distant alcid that looked different enough that we decided to take the long walk on the sand to investigate further. When we arrived at that location, 0.5 mile to the south, we were ‘disappointed’ to find out that it was only another Razorbill. Accompanied by another.

It’s tough to see their eyes, because they are dark and superimposed on that dark black plumage, but we can see a well-lit eye here.

Instead of being satisfied with those results, being the ever-greedy birders we returned back to the jetty with renewed hope of finding different alcids, and were we ever glad that we did. Before we even reached the end of the jetty, Jeanine spotted two Razoriblls to our right, with nice bin views. Then we found one at the end of the north jetty. A photographer who was there with us, Chuck, called out more that were even closer. Before we knew it, we were seeing groups of two and three and four at a time, leaving us positively giddy with delight. It became hard to estimate exactly how many were present, because Razorbills have a habit of diving for long periods and then re-surfacing a long distance away or even mysteriously disappearing. But suffice it to say that today they were as close as I have ever seen them, feeding actively (but on what??) for perhaps an hour or so, during which time we nearly always had a Razorbill in sight. During one swing of the periphery we counted at least nine on the surface, more than were seen in an entire season at Avalon in 2017! Chuck was in photographer heaven, having been pursuing Razorbills unsuccessfully for six years, and now he was surrounded by them.

Eventually it became too commonplace to find individual Razorbills, so I started focusing on groups. Here’s an adult on the left, and an immature Razorbill with a less-pronounced bill on the right. I tried to turn it into a Thick-billed Murre, but was unsuccessful.

And here’s a group of three adult Razorbills on the surface together. I missed the photo of four Razorbills lined up perfectly.

Here’s another group of three Razorbills, with a Common Loon in the background providing a nice size comparison.

So if you haven’t seen your lifer Razorbill yet, or your 2019 Razorbill, give Manasquan Inlet a try. It is unclear why the Razorbills don’t appear all up and down the coast (we spent five hours at Holgate Beach this week without a single alcid), but for whatever reason, they like Manasquan. Which means I like it there too.

Here we see the hooked tip of the Razorbill’s bill.

Scoter Identification

Jan 032019

OK, so today I want to comment on the identification of scoters. I know what some of you are thinking: “Really? Scoters? Aren’t they easy-peasy?” After all, they are relatively common ducks of our eastern seaboard, there are only three scoter species, and the males have obvious markings. I agree; the males are distinguishable and easily identified.

Male Black Scoters are all-black except for the large bright yellow-orange knob on their bill. They are perhaps the most common of our three scoters.

Male Surf Scoters are unmistakable whether they are facing you or facing away, with their multicolored bill and large white rectangular patch on the back of the neck.

Here’s a male White-winged Scoter, with the distinctive white ‘comma’ near its eye. They are the least common of our scoters, and are slightly larger than the other two species.

So as we see, the adult males are indeed simple to distinguish from each other. But for me the identification becomes more challenging when we consider female and immature scoters. Since they constitute more than half of the population, we shouldn’t simply ignore them. For example, can you identify these two birds with certainty? Can we determine their gender or age? If not, then read on.

This is a scoter, but which one?

Here is another mostly brown scoter with some white patches on its face. Do you know what it is?

With regard to the female/immature scoters, Black Scoter is easiest. To me its facial pattern is very reminiscent of a non-breeding or female Ruddy Duck (a bird that might be more familiar to most of us), with the dark cap and contrasting light cheek, which as we soon will see, is very different from the other two scoters. Here is a nice example, followed by a female Ruddy Duck for comparison.

This is a female Black Scoter, with a dark cap and contrasting lower cheek. Compare it with the Ruddy Duck shown below.

This is a Ruddy Duck. It has a similar facial pattern as the female Black Scoter, but is much smaller, with a different bill shape, and usually has its tail held in an upright position as we see here.

For me the major scoter problem was distinguishing female and immature Surf Scoters from White-winged Scoters. I used to focus on the pattern of the white spots on the face. After all, Sibley has arrows pointing out that the front spot on White-winged Scoter face is more oval, while for Surf Scoter is is vertical. In reality, I would cheat and hope that some white wing feathers were peeking out to make the decision easy. But the problem with looking strictly at the facial pattern is that the spot was often roundish or dispersed, so I couldn’t figure out if it was more oval or vertical, and sometimes there was no obvious spot near the bill. Here’s one example.

Here’s a female-type scoter with a single white spot on its face, despite the fact that the field guides depict two white patches on the face of both Surf and White-winged Scoters. So how can we evaluate it?

After struggling with this problem I went back once again to my big Sibley, and then something happened that happens often with that book…I found more information in there that I had not really paid attention to. It was this panel.

The bill shape of Surf and Black Scoters appears quite similar to me, with the exception of the ‘overhang’ of feathers on the upper base of the Surf Scoter bill. This similar shape is not a problem, because those two species are easily distinguished by plumage features, even from a distance. The point that I hadn’t noted previously is that the bill shape of Surf and White-winged Scoters are very different, so we don’t have to examine the facial spots or hope for the white wing patch to be exposed. White-winged Scoter’s bill has a smile-like appearance to it, being highly curved where it meets the feathers, with the lower ‘lip’ extending far back into the face. Surf Scoter is more triangular overall, with a somewhat vertical angle near the cheek. So if we get a good look at the bill shape (which admittedly is not always possible if they are distant), the identification becomes simple and definitive. Look for this feature when you have a mixed flock of scoters and test yourself with the birds shown below.

This is a ‘classic’ female Surf Scoter, with the two strong white facial spots, including the forward spot being located directly behind a vertical bill surface.

This is the full-body photo of one of our two original quiz birds from above, with a single facial spot. The strongly curved or ‘smiling’ surface of the bill where it meets the feathers indicates that this is a White-winged Scoter.

Here’s that same bird with its wings open, confirming that it is indeed a White-winged Scoter. Photo contributed by Billy Leiter.

This is a full-body shot of our second quiz bird from above. The white wing patch clearly identifies this brown bird as a White-winged Scoter, even from a distance. If that white wing patch wasn’t visible (as often happens), and we relied on evaluating the facial spots, we might be stumped because the forward spot is weak and somewhat vertical. But the ‘smiling’ curved bill shape would be sufficient to identify this bird. (click to enlarge the photo).

The lesson once again is that as often happens when struggling with bird identification, structure (which is consistent) trumps plumage (which is variable).

Starting the New Year the right way

Jan 012019

Like many birders I used to have a New Years Day tradition of going out early on Jan. 1, trying to start the year off with a nice list of birds. Back when I was living in New York, that meant traveling the relatively short distance to Jones Beach, Point Lookout (where we would typically arrive around noon to witness the town’s annual polar bear plunge..brrrrr!), and finishing at Jamaica Bay. That tradition changed after I moved to New Jersey, and instead of finding a new New Years route, I essentially gave up on starting a big year list. I still like birding on New Year’s morning, but with more modest goals.

This year the weather was less than ideal, with 25 mph NW winds gusting into the mid-30s throughout the day. So instead of battling the winds all day, Jeanine and I decided to try a shorter Manasquan Inlet sit, where the wind should be mostly at our backs. We made the requisite stop at Lake of the Lilies, where it was nice to see a few Redheads and a surprise Wood Duck pair.

The drake Wood Duck from Lake of the Lilies.

A hen Wood Duck. This would normally be considered quite a handsome bird If it wasn’t for the partner males being so gaudy.

Before heading out to the inlet, we decided to check the gull roost at the Baltimore Ave. sandbar. Fortunately it was low tide and filled with gulls, packed almost too tightly to scan well. Something flushed the flock, and after they landed again, I spotted a big white gull sitting alone. Glaucous Gull! I include the exclamation point because Glaucous Gull was a nemesis bird for me. I saw a distant one two or three years ago floating amidst the icepacks on the Delaware River for a lifer, but never got photos or great close looks. I have been trying to find one since then to add to my photo collection, but with no luck. So it was already a great start to the year.

A nice example of an immature Glaucous Gull.

We then went to the jetty hoping for some alcids just as two birders who had nothing notable to report were leaving. It’s never a very good sign to see disappointed birders leaving the location that you are heading to, but heck, it’s a new year so we were optimistic. Shortly after sitting down we started chatting, and a Razorbill popped up in the middle of the relatively narrow inlet! Razorbills are great to see, but are kind of scary because they have a nasty habit of diving and just disappearing, even though there is no place to hide. They have to surface again SOMEWHERE nearby, don’t they? Yet somehow they manage to disappear. This one was different. It dove for a minute or less, surfaced, and repeated doing that for maybe ten minutes or so. And then it was gone. Shortly before its last dive two more birders arrived, so they were able to see it, but it never appeared again despite four sets of eyes peeled out for this bird. That’s the way Razorbills go.

Our cooperative New Year’s Razorbill.

Later on as we were sitting there, Jeanine spotted another Glaucous Gull (perhaps the same one as we saw an hour previously) flying out southward at the end of the jetty, completing a wonderful day under challenging windy conditions. It was a great start for the year.

The Best of 2018

Dec 312018

OK folks, it’s time for my top 10 list for 2018. This is not necessarily the list of the rarest birds that I’ve seen this year, but what I’d call the most rewarding birding experiences from this past year.

#10: Upland Sandpipers. This was a good year for me to see Upland Sandpipers. I volunteered in the summer bird census at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, which is the only place that I know of where Upland Sandpipers now breed in NJ. That provided ample opportunity to visit and see and hear the Uppies, but although their flying displays were impressive and delightful, views of them on the ground were rare and distant and fleeting. Then one day in August when Jeanine and I were driving around Brig, what do we see along the side of the road but an Upland Sandpiper, closer than I’ve ever seen one before. I love surprises like that.

Upland Sandpiper on the road at Brig

#9: Kentucky Warbler. I have seen only one or two Kentucky Warblers in my life. I have heard a few more, but in dense brush and with little hope of getting good looks. We were given a hint as to a location where historically they have been seen, so we gave it a try this May. It was a fairly big reserve/park, so I was not overly optimistic, knowing the secretive habits of this species. Yet when we arrived near a creek, there was one feeding and calling, giving superb views. After birding the rest of the reserve, when we approached the area again, the bird was not visible, but we we able to hear and see it (or another one) a short distance away. So getting to find Kentucky Warblers twice in one day (whether the same bird or different ones) was a real treat.

This is the first Kentucky Warbler that I’ve seen a in few years. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

#8: Ravens at Sandy Hook. Common Ravens are becoming much more common in New Jersey, but it is still a fortunate day when we can see one or two of them. Yet on a trip to Sandy Hook in November, Jeanine and I were treated to seeing seven Ravens flying and circling over us together and calling and interacting with each other and with a Merlin. Wow. Graaawwwwkkkkk.

Six of the seven Sandy Hook Common Ravens.

#7: Razorbills. It is turning out to be a super Razorbill winter here in NJ in 2018-2019. To give you an idea of the extent of the event, there were only three Razorbills spotted during the entire SEASON at the Avalon Seawatch in 2017, and in 2016 the season total was 11 Razorbills. This year a few consecutive days at Avalon each yielded more than 1000 Razorbills!! Unfortunately, on the afternoon that we showed up, all of the activity that day was in the early morning. (groan!) So in the last week of this year, my friend Chris and I headed up to Sandy Hook to see if we could spot some on the water. Indeed, we got a quick look at one, which was a state bird for Chris, and later in the day I spotted a group of four more together, one of which gave extended great scope views. I have never seen that many Razorbills together previously. If the Razorbill sightings continue through this winter, I suspect that they will be a highlight for the 2019 season. And maybe other alcids will join them.

#6: Lakehurst Nighthawks. One morning while volunteering at the Lakehurst bird census, the fog was making things difficult. But as soon as the fog lifted, there were a dozen or so Common Nighthawks feeding all around me. Circling again and again, calling constantly. It was quite a show. If it were the old days of film cameras, I would have shot several rolls of film. At times like this, I am glad that we have digital photos. What a treat to see them!

Common Nighthawk on the wing at Lakehurst NAS.

#5: Fall migrants at Sandy Hook. Yet another Sandy Hook highlight was a fall migration day in late September that started with a Connecticut Warbler perched on a low branch for nice views. Since it is so tough to see Connecticut Warbler anywhere, that sighting alone would have made it a notable day. Then after it disappeared into the mugwort and we were trying to re-find it, another bird flew out to a distant tree. I gave up on the warbler and was able to re-find the second bird, which turned out to be a Dickcissel. What a nice duo. Then an hour or so later while strolling around and sorting through a nice sparrow flock, one of the birds had distinct facial markings. A Lark Sparrow. What a great trio for a fall migration day. We met a group later that asked “Did you see anything interesting?” Our smiles probably said it all.

Our Sandy Hook Lark Sparrow.

#4: A 21-warbler day. If you want to see lots of warblers in NJ, the place to go is Garret Mountain. So Jeanine and I took our annual expedition there in May, and we weren’t disappointed. I spotted 21 warbler species that day, and Jeanine ended up with 22! Somehow I missed Blackpoll Warbler that day, which is normally easy up there. It was a wonderful excursion with lots of birds including multiple Nashvilles, Bay-breasteds, and Canadas, and singing Tennessees, which I don’t see or hear very often. There’s something wonderful about breaking the 20-warbler barrier in a single day.

One of the Tennessee Warblers that we saw this year.

#3. Yellow-green Vireo. It started out as yet another nice September fall day in Cape May. Until a text appeared saying that a Yellow-green Vireo was just captured in a banding operation, and they would be releasing the bird in about 5 minutes. Luckily we were only a few blocks away, so we stopped by. I wouldn’t call it outstanding birding, but it was definitely an interesting experience to see this bird (which is rare to see anywhere in the US, and a first for NJ) up close, with a tracking device attached, being displayed for the birding paparazzi surrounding it. And then upon being released, disappearing like a bullet across the street, never to be seen again.

NJ’s first Yellow-green Vireo with a tracking device attached.

#2: Ecuador. My only foreign birding trip this year was a January excursion to the east slope of Ecuador with Pete and Jeanine, ranging from the Amazonian lowlands up to the Andean paramo. It was an outstanding trip with many highlights: quetzals, aracaris, numerous tanagers, a variety of hummingbirds, Hoatzins, and much much more. This was my favorite kind of birding trip, in which we had to find and identify the birds almost entirely by ourselves, with just 2 1/2 days using local guides. I love waking up in a new location, walking out the door, and nearly every bird and plant is different from those that I see at home. Despite having been to Ecuador twice previously and not having much guiding on this trip, I still manged to find 59 new lifer species, a good indication of the number of species that can be found in Ecuador.

A pair of Hoatzins, perhaps my top target species from the Ecuador trip.

#1: Roseate Terns. I had never seen Roseate Terns clearly. Oh sure, there was that trip to Tobago where some terns were flying by that a guide identified as Roseates, but I couldn’t really identify them. They appear in NJ annually in small numbers, but not to me. Until this year. Then on June 25, on one of our many trips to the Sedge Island this year, Jeanine and I spotted a tern that looked different…longer winged, and lighter color overall, and with maybe a longer bill. It had to be a Roseate, right? But then before getting confirmation and a photo, it flew off and landed on a distant sandbar. We hiked over with scope, and now were able to see details, including bands. ROSEATE TERN! And then we saw another. And another. Wow. Three Roseates. We thought that was the end of the story, but then on our next trip we saw another one, and then on another trip a week later three more, so they were there for at least two weeks. The interesting thing is that there were were actually multiple Roseates cycling in and out of the Sedges this summer, based on the number of birds that we and others saw and their bands. Have they been there in previous years and we just not noticed them? Will they be back again next year? You know that we’ll be looking for them. Stay tuned.

A pair of Roseate Terns in the Sedge Islands.

A good year for winter finches

Nov 202018

This was predicted to be a banner year for winter finches here in New Jersey, and so far that is the case. For those who are adept at identifying them by their flight calls, reports are emerging throughout the state of Purple Finches, Pine Siskins, Red Crossbills, a few Common Redpolls, and even Evening Grosbeaks. Hearing them fly by is one thing, but it’s quite another to get good looks at them. I have seen a good number of Purple Finches this fall, which are probably the easiest and most regular of the winter finch group.

A nice male Purple Finch that visited my home feeders.

My first exposure to Pine Siskins this season was spotting two of them about two weeks ago at Cedar Bonnet Island. Last week I was able to see a nice group of around eight Pine Siskins at feeders in Cape May, and this past weekend we saw at least two of them at our monthly Cloverdale Park walk. Today I was treated to nine of them at my yard feeder. So it looks like it will be another banner siskin year. Two years ago we had Pine Siskins at Cloverdale into May, while last year we had none, nicely showing the irruptive nature of this species and its relatives.

Pine Siskins drinking water at my yard feeders.

Yesterday Jeanine and I were fortunate to be in Cape May when a report came in of a group of four Red Crossbills that were spotted feeding in the pine trees in Cape May Point. We made our way over, and using the ‘find the birders’ strategy, we were able to get great looks at four Red Crossbills methodically feeding on the pine cones. I am assuming that this is merely the tip of the iceberg, and we will be finding more and more of them this season. Heck, it’s only November and the finches are appearing in many places. Five years ago, before I moved back to NJ, we had an irruption year in NY, when both Red Crossbills and White-winged Crossbills were seen well into early spring. That year was the last time that I saw them until yesterday. Look at the photos to see how crossed their bills are, and the video gives an idea of their methodical feeding activity.

Male Red Crossbill on the right, and the yellowish female is on the left. Note the incredible crossing of their bill tips.

Here’s the male Red Crossbill, acrobatically pulling out pine cone seeds.

We have yet to spot any Evening Grosbeaks, which are the real prize this year, but it is only a matter of time. And will they be joined by White-winged Crossbills, Common Redpolls, and do we dare dream of Pine Grosbeaks? Stay tuned and keep your eyes and ears open.

Fall in Cape May

Sep 282018

I am proud to be a member of the Southern Ocean Birding Group. There are many advantages to the group: friendly birders, a super collection of presentations throughout the year, hosting the Tuckerton Christmas Bird Count, sponsoring yearly cleanups of Great Bay Blvd WMA, and providing scholarships to local college-bound environmental students. Another big advantage to being an SOBG member is that the group rents a house in Cape May for four nights each fall. And fall in Cape May is the nearest thing to birding heaven here in NJ. Even though we live an average of two hours north of Cape May, it is entirely different when you wake up right in the middle of the excitement.

This year we decided to arrive a few weeks earlier than our typical October stay, and it was interesting to note the differences in the birds this year compared with what we have seen for the past few years. There are so many good places to bird in Cape May that even during a five-day stay we didn’t have time to cover them all. One of the highlights each year is spending a few hours at the Cape May Hawk Watch, one of the premier hawk watch sites in the world. Mid-October here presents a nice mix of raptors dominated by Sharp-shinned and Coopers Hawks, while on this trip the story was falcons. Merlins and American Kestrels were more common than accipitors on this trip.

Entrance to the Hawk Watch platform.

There’s plenty of room on the Hawk Watch, with sufficient benches to relax, a professional hawk counter highlighting interesting birds, naturalists to answer questions, and Swarovski scopes to view birds.

Another highlight each year is visiting Higbee Beach WMA to observe the morning flight phenomenon, where warblers and other migrants that arrived overnight traverse just above the treetops, heading northward to avoid a long flight over Delaware Bay. Our morning at Higbee was one of the most productive of the trip, highlighted by a surprising Clay-colored Sparrow and an immature Red-headed Woodpecker that were found within 15 minutes of each other. The Clay-colored Sparrow was only the third reported in NJ so far this year, and Red-headed Woodpecker is not very common in Cape May. It was interesting to watch the Red-headed Woodpecker noisily protect ‘its trees’ from the numerous Northern Flickers that were migrating through. Add in birds like Philadelphia Vireo, Northern Waterthrush, Swainson’s Thrush, and Canada Warbler and you have the recipe for a terrific morning.

The fields and mowed paths of Higbees, combined with birds moving through the treetops and raptors patrolling the skies, provided hours of productive birding.

A Clay-colored Sparrow surprised me by popping out of the brush with the numerous Palm Warblers.

An immature Red-headed Woodpecker from Higbee Beach WMA.

The day that we arrived at the house, a text alert reported that activity was strong around Lake Lily, especially on the north and western sides. This was great news, since our house is on the western shore of Lake Lily. And indeed, it was quite productive this year. In past years, because we usually arrive in mid-October, most warblers have already passed through, with the vast majority that remained being Yellow-rumped Warbler. This year we had a greater diversity of warblers, with Blackpolls being the most common, followed by Northern Parulas, American Redstarts, and Black-and-white Warblers. In previous years, sightings of Cape May Warblers were rare for us, while this year they were not uncommon. (yay!) Overall, the group spotted 18 species of warblers on this trip, and somewhat refreshingly, we didn’t see a single Yellow-rumped Warbler, highlighting the advantage of visiting here at a different time of year.

Northern Parulas were the second most common warbler on this trip.

A few Black-and-white Warblers were seen every day.

A female Cape May Warbler seen on Day 1 alongside our house.

A male Cape May Warbler is always a treat. We saw a few birds in this bright plumage this year.

One problem with renting this house in Cape May is that it is tough to stop birding. On most days we would start birding when birds stopped becoming featureless sillhouettes around 7AM, return back to the house around noon for lunch and rest, and while trying to eat lunch on the porch (always with binoculars within an arm’s reach away!) finding that we were being distracted by nearby activity. Red-breasted Nuthatches squeaked from the nearby trees. A cooperative Wilson’s Warbler stayed in a holly tree just alongside our porch for an entire day. And one day Jeanine accidentally flushed a Mourning Dove from the front pine. A Mourning Dove sighting is not unusual, but this bird returned back to nearly the same location shortly afterward. Closer inspection revealed a nest with two chicks on it that provided my first sighting of a Mourning Dove nest. It’s amazing that such a common bird avoided detection of its nest for so long. In fact, we were there for three days before we noticed the nest just a few feet from our front porch.

Red-breasted Nuthatches are back in good numbers this year after a poor showing last year.

Wilson’s Warblers were seen at the CMBO Northwood Center and in a holly tree next to our front porch.

Mourning Dove adult with one of its chicks on the well-hidden nest just a few feet from our front porch.

This year’s trip included two remarkable episodes that were detailed in other blog entries. One was the capture of a Yellow-green Vireo in the banding nets at the Meadows, allowing us to view this first-for-NJ species up close. You can read more about it here. The second episode was a sighting of a Parasitic Jaeger on land off of the Coral Ave. viewing platform. You can read about that experience here.

New Jersey’s first record of Yellow-green Vireo, captured in a banding net and released at the Cape May Meadows.

An unhealthy digiscoped Parasitic Jaeger resting on the beach.

Cape May in fall is much more than birds. Wildflowers are still in bloom, butterflies are migrating, and dragonflies are in the air. Here’s a sample of some of our non-bird distractions.

Cosmos filled some of the fields at Higbee Beach WMA.

Giant Sunflowers provided much-needed food for butterflies at The Meadows.

Nodding Ladies Tresses orchids were beginning to bloom at Higbee Beach.

Autumn Meadowhawks have arrived. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

Another highlight of any SOBG outing is food, and we had our share of day visitors and great home-cooked meals. One reason for renting this house is the spacious dinner table, which held fifteen participants one night, including dinner guests Kevin Karlson and Dale Rosselet. Good times.

Part of the Wednesday night banquet. Photo by Linda Gangi.

There is no shortage of food in the SOBG Cape May house. Photo by Jeanine Apgar.

I already am looking forward to returning back next year.

Most of the group assembled just before departure. Photo by Sue Puder.

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