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Testing the Pelagic Waters

Sep 192016

OK, let’s start off this way: pelagic trips and pelagic birding are not for everybody. But are they for me? Are they for you? I just returned back from a 20-hour pelagic birding trip yesterday, so I’ll share some thoughts and experiences from that trip here.

Birders unboarding after a successful pelagic.

First of all, why would anybody want to go on a pelagic trip? From a birding perspective, that’s not too hard to understand: there are plenty of species that are difficult or impossible to see from land, and thus to find those birds we need to go where they live…out to sea. Secondly, it’s a great change of pace to be in a completely different environment out on the ocean, away from those nasty biting insects, as you relax on a boat with cool ocean breezes wafting through your hair as you spot new birds, whales, dolphins, sharks, and other sea life.

After painting that idealized picture, why aren’t we all going on pelagics? Well, I like to think of myself as having a positive attitude, so I won’t dwell on the potential negatives, but they include unreliable sea or weather conditions for boating, the potential for seasickness, the cost, and distant birds. I’ll return back to these items after describing how this trip fared.

Pelagic birding: part of our group scanning the open seas from the bow of the boat.

This excursion out of Wildwood NJ was organized by See Life Paulagics, a company run by Paul Guris. It was scheduled as an 18 hour overnighter, leaving dock at 10:30 PM, sailing out 90 miles to the 6,000 ft deep waters of the offshore ocean canyon. Paul explained that the water here was ~76 degrees, around 6 degrees warmer than the near-shore ocean temperatures. That temperature differential and the currents that bring the warm water here is the magnet that attracts interesting birds. Considering that you lose sight of land at around 18 miles from shore, much of our sailing was well beyond sight of land. Target birds included four species of storm-petrels, four shearwaters, three jaegers, and a petrel or two if we are lucky, most of which would be lifers for me or birds that I have only seen once or twice.

Immediately after boarding our 110 ft vessel, the Atlantic Star, we selected sleeping arrangements on benches or on the decks and within an hour or so tried to catch some sleep. It was not easy for me. Despite being quite tired and having seas that weren’t really that rough, the constant up-and-down motion of the boat made it tough to get much rest. Somewhere around 4:30AM we arrived at our destination, and I was glad to hear the engines finally slowing down. Then we started rocking side-to-side, and that didn’t help me at all. Since I had only been on one previous pelagic (in Westport, WA), where I had no problems whatsoever, I didn’t take much precaution other than packing the suggested non-greasy foods. In retrospect, that wasn’t a great move, and taking some Bonine or Dramamine would have been a wise decision. It was still dark, but the mates started laying out a chum line, and within another half hour or so it was light enough to start seeing some birds. I was feeling a bit queasy and didn’t want to be hanging over the railing, but I was not the only one having problems, as another passenger was adding his previous meal to the chumline and others (but not all) clearly were affected. That didn’t help. For the first few hours the uneasiness continued, but by getting out in the open air, concentrating on viewing the birds and watching the horizon, and eating small amounts of dry food (breakfast bars, pretzels), eventually I was able to eliminate the queasiness and feel comfortable again.

Inside the main cabin, with part of the group either recovering or resting during a long day.

The problem was that when the birding was probably the best in the early morning, I was at my worst and not in much of a mood for sorting through tough-to-ID birds through unsteady bins. Still, good birds were there. Wilson’s Storm-petrel was a nemesis bird for me, one that I have attempted to see from land, but with no success. Out here they were the most numerous species, with frequent groups of these dainty birds touching upon the water with their long legs. Unfortunately they were often too distant for great photos, but they were fun to see. Two other storm-petrels that are much tougher to find in NJ waters (Leach’s and Band-rumped) occasionally were found in the mix during the first hour or two, but at that point it was tough for me to focus on the birds. Later in the trip a fourth storm-petrel, White-faced Storm-petrel, was seen momentarily by a few passengers before it disappeared into a wave trough.

A flock of Wilson’s Storm-petrels. This species has been a nemesis bird for me. It can be seen from land, but I hadn’t seen them before today.

Cropped shot of a Wilson’s Storm-petrel.

The second most abundant bird today was Cory’s Shearwater. This is the largest shearwater in the world, with a wingspan of 44 inches. By its size, on this trip it could only be confused with the slightly smaller Great Shearwater, which was also present in decent numbers today. Cory’s has a gray hood, all-white undersides, and yellow bill, while Great Shearwater has black cap, black bill, and black streaks near the axillaries. Eventually I was able to ID them fairly easily. It was fun to see why they are called shearwaters, with amazing ability to fly low to the water, tilting occasionally to gain a bit of lift. The third shearwater that we saw today was the smaller Audubon’s Shearwater, a species that I saw last year in Tobago.

Cory’s Shearwater. It’s the largest shearwater in the world, best identified by its gray cap-and-neck combo and its yellow bill.

A Cory’s Shearwater on the water. From this angle you can see why they are in the tubenose family.

Here’s a Great Shearwater showing how they earned their name, with its wingtip actually in the water. It is distinguished from the similar-sized Cory’s Shearwater by its black cap, thin black bill, and narrow white rump band.

Undersides of a Great Shearwater. The marked underwing contrasts with the clean white underwing of Cory’s. Look at the length of those wings relative to the body!

The birding highlight of the day was seeing two Black-capped Petrels. In both cases the petrel was originally found on the water, mixed in with shearwaters. When Paul excitedly screamed out “Black-capped Petrel…second bird from the left”, anybody would recognize that it was a ‘good bird’ just by the volume of his voice. This was a well-behaved bird, flying left, then right, then back again, ensuring that everyone aboard had plenty of satisfactory views. Like a classic diva bird that knows it’s the star of the show.

Black-capped Petrel. This bird of the day put on a great show. It’s a tough bird to see in NJ, as it’s a southern species that likes warm water. We saw two on this trip.

Soaring Black-capped Petrel. Note the large white rump patch that easily distinguishes it from the larger Great Shearwater.

As the trip progressed, the leaders occasionally would shout out ‘sky bird’. This was a sign that something different was being sighted, as the shearwaters, petrels, and storm-petrels tend to fly close to the water. Any bird flying high enough to be seen against the sky had a chance to be something else, with terns, gulls, and jaegers being on that list. In fact, the group did see eight distant Bridled Terns on this trip, a Parasitic Jaeger, and two Long-tailed Jaegers. One Long-tailed Jaeger must have taken cooperativity lessons from the Black-capped Petrel, as it sailed towards us and then continued directly over mid-ship. Nice.

An immature Long-tailed Jaeger.

In addition to the birds, we were fortunate to see other types of sea life, including a Hammerhead Shark, a few Portuguese Man-o-Wars (or is it ‘Men-o-War’?), a flock of acrobatic Spotted Dolphins, a few Pilot Whales, a pair of likely Gervais’ Whales breaching, a Mola, and a few turtles. All great to see.

As we were returning back to port, the inevitable question returned: would I do it over again? And if so, what would I change? Or would I recommend this kind of trip to others? I think that any serious birder needs to try a pelagic to see if it is their cup of tea. To put this trip into perspective, four NJ review species (Black-capped Petrel, Leach’s Storm-petrel, Band-rumped Storm-petrel, and White-faced Storm-petrel) were seen on this outing. On the other hand, I would probably not recommend starting with an overnighter. The spring and fall warm-water trips in NJ need to get out to the canyons to reach the warm currents that the target species love, but for winter pelagics it is not necessary to go as far out to reach the target alcids and winter gulls. I’d definitely recommend starting with a shorter trip. And by all means take simple precautions and Bonine or Dramamine to avoid seasickness. The See Life Paulagics web site has suggestions for preventing seasickness; I should have heeded all of their advice instead of just some. Paul’s outfit is essentially the only option for pelagic trips in the NY/NJ/PA area, and they run a great ship, complete with multiple highly experienced leaders who are spotting and calling out tough birds, communicating with each other using a wireless microphone system. They lay out a chum line to try to draw birds in towards the boat, but will chase good birds (and mammals) when necessary to get better views. So will I become a regular member of the pelagic group? I doubt it. Will I go again? Yes. Maybe I’ll see you there at the dock.

Barefoot Birding

Aug 222016

Today Jeanine and I felt like doing something different. Instead of spending a day birding from a canoe, or walking in the woods, the idea was to hit the beach and see if we can find one of the rarer terns that visit New Jersey. We weren’t going to be too picky; Roseate, Sandwich, or Bridled all would do. Of course, with all the bathers out there enjoying the surf, the options for a relatively peaceful birding beach location are somewhat limited. The tip of Sandy Hook is a great choice. Parts of Island Beach State Park can be good, but seeing all the cars on the beach there is simply depressing. The beach at Holgate is very nice, but Holgate is closed until Sept. 1. We decided instead to try the North Brig Natural Area, just north of Atlantic City.

This is not a walk for everyone; it is a ~2.75 mile walk one way from the parking area to the tip of the peninsula, and that’s walking on sand with the potential for greenhead flies joining us along the way. And indeed they were present; I took to wearing a beach towel like a Tongan war garment to keep them off of my bare legs. It looks goofy, but hey, sometimes you just have to try adapt for the sake of adventure. Thankfully the ~12 mph wind kept the numbers out of ‘lets get of here’ range, into the ‘annoying’ level of being bitten. The way that I figure it, sometimes a little blood needs to be sacrificed to the birding gods for the opportunity of seeing something really good.

I saw too many of these buggers today.

This is not my typical birding attire, but it worked for keeping the greenheads off of my legs.

The walk started out great, with lots of shorebirds in the surf nearly the entire distance. There were thousands of Sanderling running in and out of the surf line, joined by hundreds of Semipalmated Plovers, a few Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers to sort through, and a smattering of gulls. The diversity wasn’t staggering, but the sheer numbers of birds was impressive, and it was simply fun to be around so many birds and to sort through that huge background to find those that were a little more interesting. In other words, my kind of birding.

In this photo you get a sense of the number of birds that were here today, dotting the entire coastline as the tide receded.

And they did eventually start appearing. First a couple couple Ruddy Turnstones stuck out among the smaller common birds, then a singleton Short-billed Dowitcher, an American Oystercatcher here and there, and a single Whimbrel. Red Knots ranged from having a bright salmon-colored breast to those that were nearly all-gray. It was a great example of using the size and structure of the bird, not the plumage, to help to identify them. Eventually we found an area with a tight cluster of ~120 Red Knots. That’s the kind of stuff we were looking for.

One of the American Oystercatchers that we saw today.

Look at all those Oystercatchers. Isn’t that a great sight?

Part of a group of ~ 120 Red Knots in various plumage states.

Higher up on the sand and away from the surf, we were able to spot a Piping Plover that blended in so well with its background. Later on we found a cluster of these delightful and threatened birds. Any day where you can see a dozen Piping Plovers is a good one in my book. A short distance from the plover a few Ghost Crabs were popping in and out of their burrows in the sand. Cool!

It’s nice to see a single Piping Plover, but even better to see a group of them.

Here’s what a Ghost Crab looks like.

We eventually made it to the tip of the peninsula, where we were alone with a flock ~150 gulls and terns to sort through. I scanned through the flock twice, counting 29 Royal Terns and two Caspian Terns and was about to give up on seeing a rarity when Jeanine suggested that I take a look at one in the scope that had a yellow tip to its bill. YES! it was our main target for the day, a gorgeous Sandwich Tern, that was larger than the accompanying Common Terns, with a shaggy Friar Tuck haircut, long black bill, and overall brighter plumage. This was the first Sandwich Tern for both of us in New Jersey. The bird separated from the flock and I was able to get a fairly distant documentation shot before it flew off towards the ocean.

Jeanine’s Sandwich Tern, or as Pete Dunne calls it, the tern ‘with mustard on its bill”.

The Sandwich Tern in comparison to nearby Common Terns.

A few minutes later, I noticed a dark-winged gull that was a little smaller than a nearby Herring Gull. One look at its bright yellow legs confirmed it was a Lesser Black-backed Gull, another one of our targets. This species is a common breeder in Europe, but as far as I know is not known to breed in North America, yet we can see good numbers of them occasionally here in the US. Last year we saw twelve of them on a September walk at Holgate, and we saw yet another one of them later in the walk today. The interesting thing is that the Holgate birds from last year were all immatures, while both of our birds today were adults in clean breeding plumage.

Lesser Black-backed Gull on the left, slightly smaller than the nearby Herring Gull. Look at those bright yellow legs.

Adult Lesser Black-backed Gull in flight.

It was yet another super day of birding, finding most of our target birds; I highly recommend a day of barefoot birding for a change, seeing all of these great species, and enjoying nearly constant bird activity with the sounds and atmosphere of a different side of the Jersey shore. I love barefoot birding.

Take nothing but photos; leave nothing but bare footprints. My kind of birding.

Reddish Egret in NJ

Aug 172016

Today I went on a canoeing / birding trip with my friend Chris into the Island Beach State Park Sedge Islands, hoping to find some of the nice species that frequent the sand flats in summer. We were not disappointed, finding several dozen Royal Terns, an immature Least Tern, Brown Pelicans, and amongst all the shorebirds, we spotted a pair of Marbled Godwits. It’s tough to beat a Marbled Godwit, especially when it is so cooperative.

I love seeing Marbled Godwits, and this one was especially cooperative.

Or at least I thought that it would be hard to beat a godwit. As we passed one of the side channels, I noticed a smallish wading bird that struck me as being just too gray. It was far too small for a Great Blue Heron, and I have never seen any Little Blue Herons or Tri-colored Herons that were so gray. In addition, it didn’t have an extremely long bill or a white belly, eliminating Tri-colored. It didn’t look like a Little Blue either, since it had black legs and an all-black bill.

Immature Reddish Egret. Note the black legs, all-black bill, yellow eye, and overall dull gray appearance. It lacks the shaggy necked appearance, which is only seen in breeding adults.

A flight shot.

We stopped for photos, and while the bird was feeding in the shallows, it would occasionally raise its wings upward and chase after prey, as you can see in the photo below. Although that behavior was interesting, it wasn’t definitive, as I have seen both Tri-colored Herons and Reddish Egrets using that same approach. So putting it all together, we weren’t sure what species we were seeing, but the photos should help to figure it out after we got home. (I know, I know; I always tell people to bring field guides into the field, and I didn’t do it here for fear of it getting soaked in the canoe. Mea culpa.)

Here it is hunting in typical Reddish Egret style, with its wings held upwards, running after prey. This is very unlike the typical patient feeding style of Little Blue Herons.

A successful hunt.

After returning back home and examining the photos and comparing them with the field guides, it became apparent that this bird was an immature Reddish Egret. Cool.

So how rare is it for Reddish Egret to appear up here in the northeast? According to the NJ Birds Record Committee records, Reddish Egret had only been reported twice previously in NJ, with both birds being found originally at Brig/Forsythe. The first sighting was on Aug. 23, 1998, and the second one (which was also an immature bird…see here) was at Brig from Aug 24-31 of 2012, and presumably the same bird was seen in the IBSP Sedge Islands by Alex Tongas and his wife on Aug. 31, 2012. So although there aren’t many records, this sighting is consistent with them appearing up here this time of the year. Moreover, over the past 10 years, there are only three eBird reports for Reddish Egret on the east coast north of North Carolina (where they appear annually). In addition to the 2012 NJ bird, one was sighted in Maryland in 2015, and one in Virginia in 2008, with all of these northeastern Reddish Egrets being immature birds. Since 2000 there are only two reports in eBird of Reddish Egret appearing further up the eastern coast of the US, with probably the same bird being found two weeks apart in August 2003 in Rhode Island and MA.

A different way to determine how rare a bird is, is to ask what other rare species have been found at comparable frequency. I was stunned to learn that Reddish Egret had been sighted in NJ less frequently than all of the following species (according to the NJ Birds Records Committee list of accepted sightings, with the number of sightings in parenthesis):
White-tailed Tropicbird (3x)
Wood Stork (16x)
Magnificent Frigatebird (8x)
Anhingha (16x)
Roseate Spoonbill (3x)
Yellow Rail (40x)
Northern Lapwing (4x)
Long-billed Curlew (10x)
Bar-tailed Godwit (6x)
Red-necked Stint (3x)
Little Stint (3x)
Ivory Gull (4x)
Sabine’s Gull (18x)
Whiskered Tern (3x)
Black-chinned Hummingbird (4x)
Calliope Hummingbird (9x)
Black-backed Woodpecker (16x)
Crested Caracara (5x)
Gray Kingbird (15x)
Violet-green Swallow (5x)
Bewick’s Wren (5x)
Mountain Bluebird (3x)
Sage Thrasher (4x)
Green-tailed Towhee (7x)
Black-throated Sparrow (3x)
Golden-crowned Sparrow (6x)
Black-headed Grosbeak (24x)
Hoary Redpoll (4x)

That is a very impressive list, and I would never have expected it to be as uncommon as those species. Knowing that information now, it certainly qualifies as a ‘good bird’.

It turned out to be a pretty good day after all. You just never know what’s around the next bend.

Addendum (Sept. 30, 2016)

The interesting follow-up to this sighting is that this Reddish Egret is now by far the longest-staying Reddish Egret in NJ. The 1998 bird was a one-day wonder and the 2012 bird stayed for nine days. The last eBird report of the 2016 Reddish Egret at Island Beach was on Sept. 28, and then a Reddish Egret was spotted at Forsythe NWR on Sept 30. So if we assume that was the same bird, then it was here in NJ for 45 days! Actually, to be more correct it was not reported for a ~10 day period in early Sept. but was re-sighted repeatedly since then. Jeanine and I returned back to the Sedge Islands three more times since the original sighting and saw it every time. On our last trip there Sept. 26 it appeared that its neck plumage was just beginning to develop some reddish color and shows signs of becoming shaggy. What a great visitor, and by far my birding highlight of 2016.

Here it is on Sept. 26. From this view the neck appears a little more reddish than it was on Aug. 17, with some signs of developing the shaggy appearance of the breeding adults.

Numbers and proximity on Great Bay Boulevard

Jul 102016

Today was an interesting morning, with two hours or so spent birding in the Great Bay Boulevard WMA, via the ~3.5-mile two-lane road that heads straight into the marshes of Great Bay in Tuckerton, New Jersey, and ending near a sandy beach at the tip of the marsh.

An aerial view showing Great Bay Boulevard and its path through the Tuckerton marshes.

It’s an interesting place to bird, with extensive marsh extending on both sides of the road, and pockets of shallow pools and channels that can hold nice collections of shorebirds and waders. Typically the birding here is from a car with occasional stops to scan the marsh, thereby requiring relatively little walking. Naturally, we were hoping for some of the more difficult-to-see species, such as American Avocet or White Ibis, each of which has been spotted from this road this spring. Unfortunately, neither of these species was in the cards for us today. The day was not lost however, as I crossed one of the small bridges and came upon a pool right next to the road that was simply filled with wading birds. Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Glossy Ibis, Little Blue Herons, Great Blue Herons, and Tricolored Herons were all present. The proximity and numbers were stunning. I have never seen this concentration of waders in New Jersey or even in Florida. I just parked there and sat in gleeful silence, enjoying the scene as cars passed by without stopping because they weren’t rare birds. It was a great reminder to me of the pleasures of common birds and that if you can’t enjoy common birds then you might as well just hang up the binoculars.

Part of the extensive concentrated roadside group of waders. A delightful sea of white.

There were a few other ‘nice’ birds there too, including Black Skimmers, Least Terns, and Gull-billed Terns. For some reason I am drawn to ibis, and a cooperative Glossy Ibis helped to make my photographic day.

Glossy Ibis at close range.

After finishing with birding there and heading to a barbeque picnic, we learned that two other birders just reported seeing five American Avocets on Great Bay Boulevard. Somehow we missed them, but somehow it didn’t matter too much.

Birding by Boat and Bike

Apr 132016

Today was a day for something different. Instead of the usual approach of birding on foot, Jeanine and I traveled down to Cape May with the idea of searching for birds by boat and by bike. We started by boarding the Cape May – Lewes ferry for the 15-mile trip across Delaware Bay that takes 80 minutes. The day was chilly in the morning, but sunny and with light winds, so the crossing was very comfortable. We were on deck and astern (are you impressed by my nautical terminology?) for the entire voyage, mostly watching the show as Northern Gannets and an assortment of Great Black-backed, Herring, and Bonaparte’s Gulls fed in the wake of the ferry. We estimated ~300 gannets were behind the boat during most of the crossing, although the numbers increased towards the center of the bay. Other birds seen during the crossing included an adult Bald Eagle, Ospreys, and hundreds of Double-crested Cormorants on the jetties near our departure point at Lewes, Delaware.

Morning departure with Cape May in the background.

Part of the flock feeding in our wake. These are mostly Northern Gannets, with a few Great Black-backed Gulls mixed in.

A nice view of a Northern Gannet hovering as it searches for a meal. We were hoping to see immature gannets too, but all of the birds that we saw were adults. The immature gannets should be migrating northwards soon.

Northern Gannets are large birds with a nearly 6-foot wingspan, and are very graceful as they utilize the air currents behind the boat.

They have a subtle golden color to their head, with a blue bill and blue eye.

Upon arrival at Lewes, we boarded our bikes and headed east to Cape Henlopen State Park. It’s only ~1 mile from the ferry terminal to the park, so within a short 5-10 minute ride we were birding again. Here our main target was Brown-headed Nuthatch, a species that has only been documented four times in New Jersey, but is common within the piney regions of Cape Henlopen. This disparity is partly due to the physical barrier of Delaware Bay, but also because Brown-headed Nuthatch prefers the Loblolly Pines and Short-leaf Pines found in Cape Henlopen while the New Jersey Pinelands are populated mostly with Pitch Pine. To find these birds we wandered near the Nature Center and shortly heard their tell-tale squeaking calls. Brown-headed Nuthatch is a social species, so when one bird was found, others were nearby and often in the same tree. Having had our fill of the nuthatches and a trail snack, we boarded our bikes again and rode through the park on their biking trails, birding by ear and stopping for views of Field Sparrows, Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and Pine Warblers along the way. At the edge of Gordon’s Pond we were treated to dozens of Snowy Egrets, feeding Forster’s Terns, and a flock of Cedar Waxwings along the boardwalk. During our ~4 hour stay in Delaware we biked for ~10 miles.

One of the two dozen or so Brown-headed Nuthatches that we saw or heard during our ride through Cape Henlopen State Park.

For those who might be interested in such a trip, Cape Henlopen State Park is bike-friendly, with plenty of paved or fine-gravel biking trails so that there is no competition with auto traffic, and bike racks are found at key locations in case the urge to walk arises. The ferry costs approximately $18 for a round-trip fare for foot passengers (the cost varies slightly during the year), and bikes can be brought onto the ferry for no additional fee. Parking is free at the Cape May ferry terminal. My understanding is that the best time for the gannet show is when they are migrating back north during late March, but I suspect that it might be worthwhile in November or December when they are heading south too. Just pick a warm day. I recommend this trip; it’s a great way to introduce some variety into your birding experience.

Birding with rainbows

Apr 072016

Last November 7 I went birding with Jeanine at Brig (Forsythe NWR) on a rainy day that was perfect for some car birding. As we came around to the north dike the sun came out and an amazing rainbow appeared over the salt marsh, that gradually turned into a double rainbow, and then a triple rainbow! Wow, what an extraordinary sight.

Part of our rainbow at Brig Nov. 7, 2015, with the added orange glow of the marsh near twilight. The whole rainbow was too expansive to capture even with the wide angle of an iPhone camera.

So why am I telling you about it now? Today, exactly five months later, we went around the wildlife drive again. And again it was a drizzly and windy day perfect for car birding. And believe it or not, again shortly after turning onto the north dike, the sun came out and a rainbow appeared over the salt marsh that turned into a double rainbow. We were both speechless.

The double rainbow at Brig today. It was much larger than it appears here, since this time I used the camera panoramic mode to capture the entire view.

Not surprisingly with the nasty weather that we had today, the wildlife drive was nearly empty, and we were the only birders around to enjoy this view. Don’t be too surprised if you see me out on the north dike the next stormy afternoon. Maybe five more months from now?

ps…we saw some birds today too, including my first Glossy Ibis of the year.

T207: She’s back once again!

Nov 252015

Note: This post is from 2015. For the more recent 2016 update, click here.

When November comes around, I start looking for a bird. I don’t mean that I start looking for a particular species; I mean that I look for a very specific individual. And this morning I found her again: Tundra Swan T207. She and I have a history now that goes back three years. Here’s the updated story.

In November 2013 I became aware of a Tundra Swan with a neck collar that was seen at Whitesbog. Bill Elrick spotted this banded swan but was unable to identify the band number. I went back the next day and was able to read the band identification number through my scope and get documentation photos. After reporting the sighting and photo to the Bird Banding Lab (https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/bbl/bblretrv/index.cfm), I learned that this swan, T207, was banded about as far away as you can get from New Jersey and still be in North America. This swan was a female that was hatched in 2005 or earlier and was banded in July 2006 20 miles from Nuiqsut on the far north shore of Alaska, which is ~150 mi east of Barrow, and only ~8 miles from the Arctic Ocean. This was the fourth time that this bird was re-sighted since she was banded, with all sightings being concentrated within a small region of New Jersey. In addition to our Nov. 2013 sighting at Whitesbog, she was spotted in Nov. 2011 near Forsythe NWR (38 miles from Whitesbog), in Nov. 2010 ~6 miles from Whitesbog, and the first sighting that I am aware of was by Bob Cunningham in Whitesbog in Nov. 2008. In other words, if we make the reasonable assumption that she is returning to the site in Alaska where she was hatched and banded, then she is traveling ~6,700 miles round-trip between Alaska and NJ, perhaps each year.

T207 traveled at least 3,323 miles from her banding location in Alaska to her winter locations in New Jersey.

It’s 3,323 miles from T207’s banding location in Alaska to her winter locations in New Jersey.

Locations in New Jersey where Tundra Swan T207 has been sighted.

The wonderful thing about submitting information such as a banded bird, is that you are drawn into learning more about that species. I learned that Tundra Swans that breed in Alaska travel southwards in either of two patterns. A population that breeds in western Alaska heads southwards towards British Columbia and then travels further south along the Pacific coast, primarily wintering in California, while a second population that breeds on the north shore of Alaska heads eastward from British Columbia, migrating across Canada and the Great Lakes region to the east coast of the US, with most wintering in the Chesapeake Bay region and the North Carolina coast. Tundra Swans are known to live up to 24 years in the wild, but average a 15-20-year lifespan.

I was wondering if T207 would return back to our area, so when the swans returned again last year (November 2014), I drove through Whitesbog occasionally, scanning through the flock of up to ~90 Tundra Swans, hoping to see her again, but to no avail. Did she decide to go elsewhere? Was it too early in the season for her to return? Did she meet an early demise? (although by the aging criterion described above, she is still a youngster). I decided to look elsewhere, and finally, in a flooded bog ~ 5 miles away from Whitesbog (39.90260, -74.54057), I saw a distant bird in my binocs with a neck collar. Could it be her, or another swan visiting from the arctic? After quickly setting up the scope, I was happy to see the identifier T207 on a powder blue neck collar. That meant that she arrived back again in NJ for at least the 5th time in the last 7 years, and remarkably returned to within ~5 miles of where she was spotted in 2008, 2010, and 2013. Somehow it shouldn’t be surprising that birds have the remarkable ability to travel more than 3,000 miles and then navigate back to the same location, but I’m still amazed.

As you can imagine, I’ve been wondering if she would return and be sighted in the area for yet another year. After all it’s 6,700 miles back and forth between here and Alaska, with all kinds of hazards. And if her navigation skills are off by just a little bit, she could end up in a lake just a few miles away and we might never notice her. I’ve been popping into the local bogs around once per week hoping to see her. Today there were only 8 swans in Whitesbog, all collarless. Five miles away in Reeve’s Bog, there was a more impressive group of 93 Tundra Swans, so the odds were better, but on the first scan through, none with a collar. From another vantage point, still no collars were visible. Finally, one more try as the flock raised their heads in response to a passing truck, and this time there it was! A faded, worn, and dirty collar with T207 emblazoned across it. As if it’s not amazing enough that she finds her way back to this area of New Jersey each year, the location that I found her today is a grand total of ~200 yards away from where I spotted her last November. Now that’s what I call navigation skills! I’m thrilled that she survived and that we have her back again here in New Jersey for another winter.

She’s back again. A digiscoped photo of Tundra Swan T207, Nov. 25, 2015. Her ‘necklace’ is a bit worn and dirty, but it’s still good to see her.

You can bet that I’ll be looking for her again next year. I’m beginning to wonder who is going to be returning to Whitesbog longer…her or me?

Addendum to this entry: in early 2016, T207 was found in at least two other local lakes, so even though she returns faithfully to our area, she still moves around locally during the season. On Jan. 9, 2016 she was found in Bamber Lake (Ocean County) by Linda Walter, and on Jan. 17 she was found by Bob Cunningham again in Whitesbog. More additions to an already cool story.

T207 with other Tundra Swans, in snowy Whitesbog, Jan. 17, 2016. Photo by Bob Cunningham

Terns and shorebirds in the Sedges

Jul 292015

Late July is the beginning of the Sedge Island season for me. Last year from late July into September a series of canoe trips into the Barnegat Bay Sedge Islands resulted in great birding on nearly every trip. An excursion there last week was as pleasant as can be, with dead-calm waters reflecting the sky and scenery. Birding was fine but not spectacular, yielding plenty of terns to study, and nice looks at a trio of Red Knots as the highlight. Two out-of-season species on this trip were an interesting plumaged Common Loon and a continuing pair of Black Scoters. Interestingly, from a distance the male scoter appeared to have a white wing, but examination of photos revealed an apparent lack of major flight feathers. Other explanations for this white patch (disease?) would be appreciated.

Birding the sand flats in the Sedge Islands on the calmest day that I've seen here. This is why I keep returning back here. Photo by Karmela Moneta.

Birding the sand flats in the Sedge Islands on the calmest day that I’ve seen here. This is one reason why I keep returning back here. Photo by Karmela Moneta.

An adult male Black Scoter with a large whitish patch covering its wing. I assume that it is molting its flight feathers. Scoters are FAR more common here in NJ during winter.

Yours truly, binding the Sedges. Photo by Karmela Moneta.

Interesting plumage on this Common Loon. We’re not used to seeing them here in mid-summer. Photo by Karmela Moneta.

A trio of Red Knots. Always a nice species to see. Photo by Karmela Moneta.

Today on 93-degreee day there was no better place to be than out on the water. For the second consecutive week, the species that I have come to expect or hope for in these islands (Marbled Godwit, Brown Pelican, Caspian Tern) were absent. A great deal of our time was spent studying the terns in all their varied plumages. The challenge of distinguishing Common from Forster’s Terns has plagued me for years, but I’ve finally reached a level of confidence with these species. The great thing is that here in the Sedges, both species can be seen side-by-side and in multiple plumage stages, making for excellent comparisons.

Common and Forster’s Terns side-by-side. Note the red bill, shorter legs, and black primary tips of the Common Tern on the left compared with the orange bill, longer legs, and gray primary tips on the Forster’s Tern on the right.

On our way out towards the inlet, I saw what appeared to be a Black Tern flying past us that unfortunately continued down the channel towards the sand flats. Drat. Darn. That was a species that I wanted to see well. After spending some time at the inlet and returning to the rapidly disappearing sand flats, I noticed a dark and small tern mixed in with the tern flock. Indeed, it was an adult Black Tern just starting to transition into non-breeding plumage. I have seen Black Tern here in the islands, but never in this plumage stage. It was a fantastic sight and yet another example of how anything can appear here. One bird and I was smiling for the next few hours.

My first breeding-plumaged Black Tern in New Jersey. Yeah!

Black Tern in flight.

Adult Black Tern mixed in with some Sanderlings.

An immature Royal Tern amidst a couple of adult Common Terns.

A Ruddy Turnstone pretending to be a Sanderling.

A good day for First-of-Year birds

Apr 172015

Yesterday was a good day for picking up new first-of-year birds. The day started in Atlantic County Park in Estell Manor, about an hour south of home. Although this park apparently is not a common stopping point for birders in NJ, I had a nice early spring day there last year, highlighted by multiple sightings of Yellow-throated Warbler, a species that reaches its northern breeding limits in southern New Jersey, with only sporadic sightings further north. Although we saw quite a few Yellow-throated Warblers in Florida this past January, it is a delightful bird to see, especailly up north where it is far less common. I have heard that Atlantic County Park is also a reliable location for Prothonotary Warbler, another species that shares similar breeding limits in southern NJ. So this was a trip designed to see if we could find these two golden species.

Yellow-throated Warbler did not disappoint. I’d estimate that we saw approximately 15 individuals, some in their more typical location high in the pine trees that strains the neck to its limits (justifying Pete Dunne’s naming them the ‘Treetop Warbler’), but with multiple highly cooperative individuals that gave excellent camera opportunities. Each sighting was a delight, as the golden throats of these birds seemed to glow from within, especially in the bright spring sunlight.

This bird seemed to be showing off the feature that resulted in it being called Yellow-throated Warbler.

Another cooperative individual. You have to love it when a treetop-loving bird appears at eye level.

Alas, Prothonotary Warblers were not as cooperative, with none being seen or heard. Another trip scheduled to return here next week hopefully will prove more fortunate in locating the ‘Golden Swamp Warbler’. A nice singing Northern Parula was an excellent consolation prize and our second FOY bird for the day. We didn’t stop there, however, adding FOY Purple Martins, Greater Yellowlegs, Hairy Woodpeckers, and White-eyed Vireo. All in all, it was a good morning.

On the way back home we stopped in at Brig to see what new birds arrived there. We started with additional sightings of Purple Martins, and many Greater Yellowlegs, but the highlight was probably this American Oystercatcher nesting directly alongside the wildlife drive. It is not the first time that Oystercatchers have nested in this precarious location, but assuming that all goes well, it will provide ample opportunities for the Brig photographers. Good luck, Brig Oystercatcher.

An American Oystercatcher pair is once again nesting directly alongside the Brig Wildlife Drive. Two eggs are clearly visible now.

Finally…a Turning Point

Mar 282015

Its been a rough winter up here in the northeast, with more snow than many of us have seen in decades (or want to see again), iced-up ponds and bays leaving very little open water, and thermometers that seem to be stuck on the cold end of the scale. So we’ve all been waiting anxiously for signs of spring. Those signs have been arriving slowly but surely. It started with the arrival of the first Laughing Gulls.

My first-of-season Laughing Gull. Notice the rosy-pink hue to this bird. I’m not sure what causes that color. Does anybody out there know??

Eastern Phoebes are becoming a daily occurrence. I’ve been seeing Ospreys both on the bays and larger ponds. American Woodcock are performing their delightful twilight displays. A few Tree Swallows are flying above the ponds and bogs. Wood Ducks remain shy, but pairs are back in their finest plumage.

Today there was a clue that maybe we’ve reached a turning point. Out on the bogs, the air was chock full of tiny flying insects, presumably midges.

At times all I had to do was aim the camera in any direction, and the frame was filled with midges. The birds were loving it.

And if tiny flying insects are appearing, hungry birds can’t be far away. It didn’t take long to find them. Before today I had seen a grand total of only 9 Tree Swallows. Today the bogs were filled with hundreds of these graceful fliers. I had not seen any Pine Warblers yet this year, but today with just an hour of viewing there were dozens feeding in front of me, seemingly not knowing where to feed first. Let’s collectively hope that we’ve reached the turning point as we await the next wave of arrivals.

My first bright Pine Warbler of the season. There were dozens flitting about and feasting on the midge hatch today. It’s hard to describe how much that flash of yellow brightened up my day.

Another sign that we’ve turned a corner; delightful colors are also appearing on the forest floor.

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