Redheads and Duck Notes

On Saturday I finally took a psuedo-break from birding due to other responsibilities. By 'break' I mean I didn't head south or go on any serious chases. I birded a number of stops along the Ramapo River in search of local birds that might still be untallied; Green-winged Teal, Orabge-crowned Warbler, Fish Crow, White-crowned and Field Sparrows, and others. Despite temperatures near fifty degrees Fahrenheit I saw few interesting species. An increase in raptors amounted only to additional vultures and Red-tailed Hawks. Increased sparrow activity came in the way of Song, White-throated, and American Tree. It was pretty run-of-the-mill.

I did find a single female Green-winged Teal to be my FOY in a marshy part of the river close to New York. Upon returning home I received a tweet about a quintet of Redheads, two drakes and three females, hanging out on a corporate pond in western Morris County. They would have been great LGA birds last year. At any rate, I tracked them down Sunday morning. Not only were these my FOY Redheads, but the sighting is only my third for Jersey and they constitute five of eight total individuals I have seen in the state. I was quite satisfied.

This brings me to a pleasant anecdote to report. I have seen nearly all of the available waterfowl species in New Jersey in 2012. When I say 'available' I mean annually occurring species. All I have left is Snow Goose, Ross's Goose, Cackling Goose, Tundra Swan, Eurasian Wigeon, and Blue-winged Teal. This isn't much weighed against the thirty species I have already checked off! There's also Black-bellied Whistling-Duck (rare in summer, not present in winter), Barrow's Goldeneye (not annual), and Barnacle Goose (only reliable individual seems to have passed on) but these are not available at the present.

NJ - 123

ABA - 123

World - 123

Winter Wren 1/24

My January strategy continues; big weekend trips to coastal locations and short weekday envoys to local spot for mopping up missing terrestrial species. Today I set me sights on Winter Wren.

Now I don't want to brag, but when I left work I knew the exact spot below the exact tree in the exact park where I would find my FOY Winter Wren. I don't want to brag, but the bird was right where I expect it. Two years ago during the BYC I found this spot where a Winter Wren spent January through April and it continues to produce.

NJ - 121

ABA - 121

World - 121

Barnegat Light 1/23

I took a day off from work to travel to Barnegat Light State Park with Rick Wright on a free WINGS trip. The main targets were Harlequin Duck, which is as close to a 'given' at Barnegat as birding allows, and King Eider which can be a tricky bird to find in the bobbing groups of Common Eider just offshore. While I have seen King Eider here on my own, I knew going with a group led by an experienced birder would increase my chances.

The trip down with Rick was full of great conversation about birding, classification, and some great places in Arizona I hope to visit in a few weeks. We left the rain in North Jersey and arrived to cloudy skies but no precipitation.

The group of six moved slowly out towards the ocean. Along the we we found the usual ducks and seabirds. There was a good group of Ruddy Turnstones and Purple Sandpiper as well. Mixed in with the Purples was a lone Red Knot, my FOY, that has been hanging around for a while. A pair of Black-bellied Plovers were also FOYs. The Harlequin Ducks showed themselves as well, about fifteen in all. From a North Jersey perspective, a trip to Barnegat is a must to see these birds. No place in New Jersey north of the inlet usually has the species.

Once we arrived at the beach we quickly scanned and enormous gull flock and then turned to the rough surf on the outgoing tide. About forty Common Eider bobbed in the waves. Here I must offer a description for those who have not experienced this kind of birding. These ducks appear for a mere second on the crest of a wave before being hidden by another crest in the foreground or dipping into a trough. Sometimes they dive to avoid incoming waves or to feed. The result is that a bird you see for literally a second or two may disappear for three or four seconds and reappear a dozen feet from where it started (or never reappear at all).

The search for female King Eider has the added difficulty of having to differentiate between the very similar Common and King females in these conditions at a distance of dozens or hundreds of feet. Despite the challenge Rick was able to locate a female King Eider and pass the scope off to me just long enough to see the bird. I was able to get another quick glimpse before returning to me own scope. It would be the better part of an hour before we refound the bird. In that time the tide fell, revealing an old jetty around which the divers were feeding from. Black Scoter, Long-tailed Ducks, a Surf Scoter, and a Harlequin Duck joined the Eiders in an amalgam of rewarding ocean ducks. A female King, now in calmer and shallower water, revealed itself at the end of this jetty and was more easily seen by the group.

Satisfied with our looks at the ducks our attention returned to the gulls. A member of the group picked a Kumlien's Iceland Gull out of the two-hundred or more gulls on the beach. Kumlien's is the darker, western subspecies of Iceland Gull that forms a cline with Thayer's Gull on the Pacific coast. Being a 'cline' means that the population show physical characteristics that are intermediate between two extremes, in this case Iceland (pale extreme) and Thayer's (darker extreme). It's genetic identity has been debated and at times has been included in either of these species or has been given full species status itself. While it was my second Iceland Gull after the bird seen on the pelagic last week, it may be the first adult I have ever seen.

I was quite satisfied with the trip an the four new year birds. I am now well within my goal range of 115-125 species and looking forward to seeing what my total will be by January's end.

NJ - 120

ABA - 120

World - 120

South Jersey Weekend

Our exam schedule at work resulted in a half-day for faculty and I decided to take advantage of the extra time to get a jump on the Saturday Cape May trip Larry and I had planned. Larry had an appointment in Monmouth County on Saturday night so we needed to drive separately anyway. I decided it was tome to chase the Allaire Western Flycatcher.

I arrived at Allaire State Park directly from work in the mid-afternoon. I walked to the location, the site of a controlled burn, and on the way found my FOY Eastern Bluebird. The site had many sparrows but and Carolina Wren, but not much else. After twenty minutes of searching I paused to take a call from my wife. As I stood staring off into nothing the Western Tanager flew ten feet in front of me, chest-high. "I'll call you right back."

After getting some video I walked away satisfied. I passed a certain John and his son heading to the sight. After describing to them where I had just seen the bird, I decided to return with them to help relocate the bird. Another arriving birder found the bird and the four of us got great looks. John added his signature to my Big Year checklist.

I headed south to the Camden area where I met up with Rob for dinner. I spent the night at his new place near his place of schooling. By doing so I cut the trip to Cape May the following morning down to one-third of what it would have been from my own home.

The next morning I navigated the roads covered with about an inch of snow to Route 55 and headed south. I met Larry at the Goshen CMBO Center where a Rufous Hummingbird had been putting on a show for a few weeks. Cape May had no snow, but there was plenty of rain to make up for it. We waited for twenty minutes and were about to leave when suddenly Larry saw come to a feeder. The Rufous Hummingbird spent the next ten minutes putting on a pretty good show for us and I checked off a long overdue Jersey bird. One of Larry's photos (from his awesome new camera) appears here.

We headed south to Miami Ave Beach in Villas to search for the Black-headed Gull. Upon getting out of the car Larry thought he saw the bird on the water. I looked but saw only Bonaparte's Gulls. Then I saw a bird flying north and out of our view blocked by a house and the terrain. It looked like Bonaparte's but was bigger and had no gray on the head besides the black post-ocular spot. I thought it was the Black-headed Gull but Larry didn't get eyes on it. I set up the scope to comb through the seventy-five or so birds on a small sandbar and I immediately saw a small gull with a yellow bill. "Larry, look at this bird with the yellow bird." He was looking for a Sandwich Tern but I was thinking kittiwake. "Where? I don't see it." "Right in the center, the one that looks like a kittiwake." "It IS a kittiwake!" Larry quickly readied his camera and sent out a text to keekeekerr.

After getting some pictures up the beach Larry walked back to my position just as a certain Sam arrived. We looked at the photos; the bird looked like it had a wound on its right side. We all walked out to see the bird up close. It was an incredible bird to be on shore, especially on the bayshore. At some point Sam snapped a photo of the Black-headed Gull. It was present, somewhere.

We headed south again to the Beanery in hopes of finding the Bell's Vireo and Yellow-breasted Chat. We were almost there when a report came in of an Iceland Gull near the point. After some driving around we located the bird but found out that is was actually a Glaucous Gull! I was very satisfied to check this one off the year list. At the point we also located a continuing late Tree Swallow and my overdue first-for-Jersey Eurasian Collarted Doves. All three resident birds were on a telephone pole near the State Park. Back at the Beanery I got my FOY Northern Flicker but no vireo or chat.

Wet and cold we stopped for lunch at Lucky Bones (highly recommended). In the parking lot were my FOY Boat-tailed Grackles. Back at the Beanery a second try failed to yield the rarities but we did find our FOY Swamp Sparrow and Gray Catbird. We swung back to the St. Peter's area where we found a pair of birders already looking at the continuing Dickcissel in a bush with some House Sparrows. A quick walk through the State Park yielded few ducks but we were surprised to find a Brown Thrasher to make it a 3/3 day in the Mimidae department. A FOY Hermit Thrush was also a nice addition.

We headed back to villas but could not find the Black-headed Gull. At this point Larry decided to pack it in and head to a friend's to spend the night. I began my trek north by headeding to the Avalon Seawatch. Winds were strong and blowing rain and seawater into my scope. I was able to find about fifteen Common Eider before my optics became unusable. On the jetty itself I found some Ruddy Turnstones, FOY Purple Sandpipers and surprisingly ten Semipalmated Plovers, also FOYs. My last stop was Ocean City where a Lark Sparrow had been reported. I had no luck with the sparrow but I did get the day's only Dark-eyed Juncos. At home I was shocked to find that these were my first ever juncos logged to eBird for Cape May County.

When all was said and done I picked up twenty-four new year birds for a new total of 116. This is quite significant because my initial goal for the month was 115-125. I am in that range now and I still have a few more days to add a few more species.

NJ - 116

ABA - 116

World - 116

Boonton Northern Shrike 1/16

Today I was able to use an extended lunch period (due to a professional day at work) to make the short drive to Boonton and a park where a Northern Shrike was seen yesterday. Shrikes are interesting birds--some of only a few predatory songbirds. Many songbirds eat insects, but only shrikes eat large insects and even small rodents and are well-known for impaling them on thorns or barbed wire for later feeding. When I arrived I scanned the area and the cedars where previous observers had seen the bird but I saw nothing. From my car I grabbed some more MCDonald's fries from my hurried lunch-on-the go and noticed a Turkey Vulture sailing over a nursery full of short conifers in the distance. Something in a twenty-five foot tall maple just below the vulture's flight path caught my eye--the shrike! There it was, only my second-ever Northern Shrike, perched conspicuously in the top of the tree. I was able to snap a few poor quality 'record shots' to mark the occasion. The entire stop took only ten minutes.

The shrike marks a noteworthy accomplishment for my 2012 Big Year. My last all-out NJ effort was made in 2009 during the competition between Rob, Larry, and myself--the 'Big Year Challenge.' That January I put up my best recorded January effort to date with 91 species. Today's shrike was my 92nd bird this January; beating my previous best January and only half way through the month! My goal of reaching 115-125 species this month was set by Larry's effort back in January 2009 when he logged 120 species. I still have my work cut out for me, but I think I am on target to reach that goal.

NJ - 92

ABA - 92

World - 92

Pelagic Trip 1/15

Today was my third trip with See Life Paulagics on the Suzie Girl out of Belmar, NJ. These trips never fail to excite! Pelagic trips are a must for any big year because they offer species not available any other way. What is a pelagic trip? Since I know my big year is drawing many non-birder readers to the site I'll take this opportunity to explain a bit of what a pelagic trip is all about.

Pelagic refers to species that live on the open ocean. Believe it or not, there are pelagic species of birds--species that may spend ten months out of the year on the ocean. These birds live, feed, and even sleep on the ocean and only arrive on land for a few short weeks to breed in remote colonies. Many of these species are only available in New Jersey (these species' wintering grounds) from the vantage point of a boat. This means that if birders want to have a good chance of seeing these species they must engage in one of the most dedicated types of birding trips-- a pelagic. Pelagics may last eight hours or more and often involve difficult weather conditions. Our route is included in the first image.

The trip departed from Belmar through the Shark River Inlet. Seas were rough and winds high so we hugged the coast and headed north. While were still 'inshore' we had our first treats--Fin and Minke Whales! There were several of the large animals feeding, breaching, and spouting not far from shore in large schools of bait fish. Last year on this trip I saw a Humpback and on other trips five different species of dolphins. At this close distance we also saw good numbers of birds that are also seen from shore--Common Loons and Red-throated Loons, Long-tailed Ducks and eventually Great Cormorant. Here we also saw our first Razorbills. These birds are from the family Alcidae, the northern hemisphere analog of penguins. Like penguins they are strong-swimming, largely black and white fish-eaters. Unlike penguins they can fly. This is because they breed in areas where they may have to contend with terrestrial predators. In flight Razorbills look like footballs with wings.

Winds were out of the northwest so once we reached our northern limit we turned southeast to put the wind at our backs and make the sub-freezing temperatures as bearable as possible. As we headed out to deeper waters we saw our individuals of another alcid species, Common Murre. These birds are similar to Razorbills, but have thinner bills, a more posterior-heavy body, and are almost never seen from shore. We also got our first glimpse of a Black-legged Kittiwake. This small gull is infrequently seen in the distance from land-based observation points but is best viewed at sea. Later a second bird would allow great views. The photos are lifted from video I took of the second bird. Notice the kittiwake's small size, bright yellow bill, white head, black legs, and stunted tail. These traits separate it from most other gulls. The upper wing reveals solid black distal wingtips immediately bordered by pale gray. The gray in the proximal parts of the wings' dorsal surfaces are slightly darker, creating a unique pattern not seen in other gulls (washed out, but apparent in the second kittiwake photo). Other key features are the bird's white body and head with a small gray nape patch. Young birds have additional black in the wing.

As we approached our most distant position from shore we saw the first of my prize for the trip--Dovkie! Dovkies are tiny little alcids no longer than robins. The first of these were distant views but eventually we got a good helping of closer looks. This was an important bird for me because I will not likely have another chance at this bird in NJ this year and this was my first Dovkie for NJ. With all the likely alcids taken care of my attention returned to gulls.

Glaucous and Iceland Gulls are both difficult to find in New Jersey. Both show up annually at terrestrial locations but sparsely and often in places that require quite a bit of driving. Often they are hit-or-miss, being present almost daily but not at all times of the day. Seeing these birds on a pelagic trip would be a major relief in terms of time and driving. These birds are called 'white-winged' gulls because adults have no black at their wingtips and immature birds have a pale cream color to their bodies rather than the grey-brown of 'black-winged' gulls. On the last leg of the trip an immature Iceland Gull showed up in the cloud of gulls following the boat as we flung fish scraps and suet overboard (called 'chumming'). Soon another kittiwake arrived and the two were joined by another uncommon gull, a Lesser Black-backed Gull. For quite a while the birds put on a show, hovering over the stern, making quick passes, and generally delighting everyone who could hold a camera or binoculars. At this time I took the video from which I lifted the kittiwake photos above as well as the Iceland and Lesser Black-backed photos seen here.

Gulls can be very challenging to identify, but these photos provide a few field marks to get started for first-time gull watchers. First, notice the pale overall color of the Iceland Gull. The first photo shows the bird's true color well. The second shot is a little dark because of lighting, but provides a nice comparison with the Herring Gull in the background. Notice how the Herring is fairly brown-gray while the Iceland is a paler cream color. Notice also that the color of the Iceland is fairly consistent throughout while the Herring has darker plumage at the ends of the tail and wings. In this plumage Iceland gulls have a nearly all-black bill. While Glaucous Gull has very similar plumage, its bill has a flesh-colored base at this age and is much larger.

Lastly, the Lesser Black-backed Gull is distinguished in adult plumage by its darker back and wings (called the 'mantle'). Immature birds, such as the individual we saw, are distinguished from Herring Gull (the common gull closest in size) by its slightly smaller size and more black-and-white plumage. Herring Gulls have browner plumage. Notice the black bill and dark, wide tail-band separated from the back plumage by a pale rump. This pattern resembles a molting Laughing Gull more than Herring or Ring-billed.

In the end we had a great trip and I walked away with eight new birds for the year with some really great ones done and checked off!

NJ - 91

ABA - 91

World - 91