Team Fly or Die

January Wrap-Up & Year Strategy

2012-02-02T14:11:00.003-05:00

I wanted to post a quick wrap-up of the month as it marks the end of the first phase of my 2012 Big Year strategy. Here's the way I see my year breaking down, particularly at the New Jersey level:

1-January: All-out blitz for everything available
2-February-March: Hunt for missed species
3-April-Early June: Blitz for spring migrants
4-Late June-July: Track down missed breeders
---At this point I have had a chance at most NJ species---
5-August-Early September: Focus on shorebirds and vagrants
6-Late September-October: Aggressively track down missed migrants species
7-November-December: Vagrants and missed winter species

With January done and phase 1 complete I turn my attention from a frenetic effort to list everything towards a more focused attempt to find specific species, even if they may be common. Fish Crow, nocturnal owls, Red-shouldered Hawk, Rusty Blackbird and Red-headed Woodpecker are just a few of the many species I have thoughtfully searched for without success. The next eight weeks or so will be focused on finding these birds with the goal of getting as many out of the way as possible before migrants begin to arrive.

January was excellent. My initial goal was 115-125 species and I managed to fall squarely in that range at 123 species. Many pelagic/semi-pelagic species are done; Razorbill, kittiwake, Iceland Gull, Dovekie, Common Murre, Glaucous Gull, and others. I have a good share of vagrants and rareties checked off as well, including Dickcissel, Snowy Owl, Sandhill Crane, King Eider, Rufous Hummingbird, Common Chaffinch, and Greater White-fronted Goose. All in all its a great list so far and I am very satisfied with the results.

It will be slow going for phase 2, but the species added in this period will be important. For now the search continues...

NJ - 123
ABA - 123
World - 123

Birding 101: Nemesis Species

2012-01-30T16:25:00.010-05:00

Question:

What is a nemesis species?

Answer:

A nemesis species is a species that a birder has difficulty seeing for no apparent reason. Somehow the species always seems to allude the grasp of said birder despite that birder's best efforts. There are no specific criteria universally used to define what is and isn't a nemesis species. Some birders, like my former ornithology professor, tend to be rigid with the term and apply it only rarely and to species that really put up a fight. He called Gyrfalcon his nemesis and made a comment to me one time about missing the bird on three different continents.

Other birders use the term more loosely to refer to the bird that is most problematic in a particular season only or a bird that while sometimes seen by the birder, still seems to show up less often than for other birders.

Team Fly or Die says:

Over the years we at Fly or Die have developed our own criteria for what a nemesis species is.

1) The species in question must be a would-be life bird (or possibly a would-be state bird).

2) The birder must have chased (and missed) a known individual of this species at least three times. This does not mean just birding a place where the bird is likely, but actually looking for a bird that has been reported.

3) The case for 'nemesis' status is strengthened by increased duration and frequency of these failed chases, by the distanced traveled to chase, and by the overall time the birder has been looking for this species.

4) You can have more than one nemesis at a time, but only if the case is very strong for all of them.

Here are two examples. First take the case of Yellow-breasted Chat. Before I had seen my first chat I had looked many time for them without ever seeing one. I had not, however, gone looking for many known individuals. I had not spent much time in the appropriate habitat. I had not traveled for the bird. I had simply kept my eyes open and never seen one. This was not a nemesis despite being a bird I should have seen long before I did.

Next consider my history with Sandhill Crane. I had looked for known individuals at Cape May and Oil City Road once each and the birds in Somerset County four times over two years. Other birders saw these individuals within hours of my searches. I drove hours looking for this bird. One showed up at the Celery Farm, just minutes from my home at the time, but departed before I was able to chase. To add insult to the entire situation, a solo bird landed on the baseball field of my former high school after I graduated and hung out for the afternoon. My sister saw the bird without trying or ever knowing what she was looking at, not still no cranes for me. It was as if the bird was taunting me. Almost four years of chasing finally ended this past January. The fifth time was the charm with the Somerset birds. This was a true nemesis.

PS. I decided I'd write the first entry in a series I will be calling 'Birding 101' today as I am not doing any birding this afternoon. Why start with nemesis species? Why not 'What is birding?' or 'How to ID a bird?' This simple answer is that I have a link on the sidebar right now pointing to an entry on a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher chase that is meant to define nemesis species. While the entry does define nemesis, it also has a lot of other info and the webmaster in me wanted to correct this with better web design, and so here we are.

Redheads and Duck Notes

2012-01-29T17:30:00.004-05:00

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. For a little while I birded a number of stops along the Ramapo River in search of local birds that go untallied as of yet; Green-winged Teal, Orange-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

2012-01-24T20:59:00.002-05:00

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

2012-01-24T20:34:00.006-05:00

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.

Photo by Rick Wright

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

2012-01-22T16:11:00.012-05:00

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. Another of Larry's photo's is included here. 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

2012-01-16T18:43:00.004-05:00

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

2012-01-15T21:28:00.024-05:00

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

Local Additions 1/14

2012-01-14T18:11:00.002-05:00

I spent about six hours today birding local areas for common birds to fill out my total a bit. My day started down in the Meadowlands with a FOY Northern Harrier on Valley Brook Ave and soon after a FOY Sharp-shinned Hawk in the parking lot of DeKorte State Park. I paused here for a few minutes as I waited to complete the purchase of a used scope from another local birder. As an aside, this scope is a major improvement over the only other scope I have owned. More on that another time.

I spent quite a bit of time at DeKorte, especially looking for the Orange-crowned Warbler that had been reported. I had no luck with that bird, but 44 Canvasback, a pair of Northern Shovelers and a single male Red-winged Blackbird were all FOYs.

I made a brief stop at Mill Creek Marsh where I had little else but a strange sparrow. From here I decided to head north into Bergen County. I stopped at a local REI to pick up a face mask for tomorrow's pelagic (which promises to be bitterly clod with high temperatures below freezing). From there I continued to Van Buskirk Island where a Red-headed Woodpecker spent some time a few years ago. I hoped I might get lucky with a repeat. I didn't, but I did get a calling Common Raven and an FOY Hairy Woodpecker.

My last stop was Oradell Reservoir where I easily tallied my FOY Bald Eagles, one an adult and the other probably entering its 3rd cycle. The lake had hundreds of Canada Geese and Common Mergansers and little else. I did manage to pick out a few Hooded Mergansers and my FOY Ruddy Duck. Last but not least the shrill call of a Brown Creeper rounded out my day of nine new year birds.

NJ - 83

ABA - 83

World - 83

Big Leap Year

2012-01-12T09:43:00.004-05:00

My wife pointed out to me yesterday that my big year attempt this year falls on a leap year. Is it cheating to have one extra day of birding? I jest, but it is a funny little detail of this whole effort. It's raining today and yesterday provided no post-work FOYs so a little break in the action demands some humor.

Overpeck 1/9

2012-01-09T19:28:00.003-05:00

Today I headed down to Overpeck County Park after work to see if I could find a Vesper Sparrow Larry had reported. I dissected the overgrown fields he described in search. There were plenty of Song Sparrows of various flavors and a good handful of White-throated Sparrows. I could not find a single candidate for Vesper but a good handful of American Tree Sparrows were FOYs. A surprise FOY came in the form of a single female Common Yellowthroat.

A scan of the large goose flock yielded 250 or so Canadas but nothing else. I moved to a nearby field where I found my FOY Fox Sparrow and eighteen FOY Monk Parakeets roosting noisily in a roadside tree. My list continues to creep up as I continue my strategy of chasing rarer birds on the weekends and gradually adding common local species during the week.

NJ - 73

ABA - 73

World - 73

Monmouth County etc 1/7

2012-01-08T15:49:00.004-05:00

I spent most of Saturday birding around the Monmouth County area hoping to mop up the rarities that had been continuing there and generally just round out my year list with all of the common and uncommon birds still available.

I left home before dawn in hopes of stopping in the Great Swamp area to listen for owls. Unfortunately I left later than planned and by the time I had driven that far south it was beginning to get light outside. After a few wanderings in area to the northeast I made my way to Route 24 and headed south again to The Claypit Creek area of Hartshorne Woods to meet Jim and search for the Western Kingbird. We ended up meeting in Perth Amboy instead and searched briefly for the Eurasian Wigeon reported there with no luck.

When we finally reached Hartshorne we were greeted by many FOYs--Carolina Chickadee, Cedar Waxwing, Belted Kingfisher, etc.--but no kingbird. After forty-five minutes we continued on to Sandy Hook. It was a productive morning in terms of year birds and the weather was unseasonably pleasant (~60 degrees!), but nothing was particularly rare or unusual; many Long-tailed Ducks, more than fifty Northern Gannets, twenty-five or so Common Goldeneye, four Greater Scaup, three Red-throated Loons, a single Common Loon, bunches of distant scoter with one close enough to identify as Black Scoter, twenty or so Horned Grebes, a handful of Yellow-rumped Warblers, and many others.

We headed further south in hopes of hitting some other North Shore locations but ended up only getting as far as Seven Presidents Park. On the way we got good looks at a Lesser Black-backed Gull in Sea Bright. Seven Presidents was quiet and it was getting well into the afternoon so we decided to return to Hartshorne where we gave the kingbird a second try. The search was again fruitless, leading me to believe the bird is no longer present. There we also spoke to another birder who had just come from Thompson Park where his Ash-throated Flycatcher search had been fruitless as well. We this news we parted ways and headed home.

On the way I decided to try and add a few more birds to the day and stopped in South Amboy. Here I added twenty Bonaparte's Gulls and four Sanderlings. I also found three Lesser Scaup hiding with a group of American Coot. The coot were not FOYs but it was great to knock out both scaup in one day.

Further north and closer to home I tried for the Cackling Goose reported at Bernardsville Quarry. Again the rarity escaped me but I did add Common Raven, and Pied-billed Grebe to my year list.

All in all it was a great day of birding though all of the species seen were common or nearly so. I am glad my total is climbing but I was disappointed I didn't really add any difficult species to the total. My strategy this past week was to hit local spots after work on weekdays to build my list of common species and then chase rarities at more 'exotic' locations on the weekend. This strategy will continue again this week. My goal for January remains 115-125 species and I think I am still on track to do so.

NJ - 69

ABA - 69

World - 69

Thoughts on Bird Origins and the Chaffinch

2012-01-04T22:31:00.015-05:00

With regards to the topic of origins i think it's worth considering the standard by which we confirm the natural vagrancy of a bird. Is the goal to prove that a bird is absolutely wild or is it to determine if the bird is likely wild beyond a REASONABLE doubt?

Its nearly impossible to prove a bird's origin with absolute certainty without banding records. For this reason I'd suggest the role of any records committee is to determine if the bird can be presumed wild beyond a reasonable doubt. Consider this before we deal with the example of the chaffinch-- Do we hold a double standard for rarities? When we see a House Sparrow do we scrutinize to determine if its an American-born bird or a vagrant? No. And why not? Because it's overwhelming likely that any given House Sparrow we see is domestically born even though its possible that it could be a vagrant (besides, there's probably no way to differentiate between the two anyway). Do we stress over the origin of every Rose-breasted Grosbeak we see? The answer is no, though I have seen them for sale in Central America and inevitably some of the birds escape and enter (or re-enter) the population. Why is it ok to be very careful with one species and careless with another?

This brings me to the chaffinch. We treat a bird like this differently because its unusual. We scrutinize it in a way we never would scrutinize the origin of a Mute Swan or European Starling--both birds in North America that could potentially originate from either foreign or captive populations. What can we tell about the bird? It shows no unusual wear. It has no bands. It seems to socialize normally (though some of us from across the pond would be better able to assess that than I). It's a member of a very common species in it's home range. There is at least a scant precedent of European finches being seen in the northeast, some of which have been accepted by various record committees.

I'd like to address the issue of escapes. How many people have walked into a pet store and seen a chaffinch or greenfinch for sale. I would be willing to put money down that almost none have. Why? because they are not kept as pets. The ARE kept by serious aviculturalist. These hobbyist are to motorists as someone who rebuilds a classic car is to the average driver. They are in another class altogether. Over the years I have kept 40 or so 'finches' of various varieties. I have combed though the internet for resources on such birds. I've visited dozens of pet stores to buy and sell birds. I have even looked into mailing lists and membership websites. In all of this I have seen NO chaffinch or greenfinch for sale in the United States. I have seen some solicitations looking for these species, but that's it. What does this tell me? There are a few out there, but they are exceedingly rare among cage birds and they are kept by only the most serious collectors. This type of serious aviculturalist BANDS THEIR BIRDS! We are not talking about a twelve-year-olds with a first parakeet who may take Polly outside only to have it fly away or escape through a window. These are adults keeping expensive and therefore well-guarded birds. Lumping the two would be like treating exhibits from the Smithsonian with the same care as 6th grade school projects. Fringillid finches tend to be 'ugly' compared to Cordons and Gouldians, difficult to breed compared to Zebras and Lonchura finches, and 'dumb' compared to parrots and lovebirds. 'Pet' owners don't usually want them, hence you don't see them in pet stores.

Next, many states--NJ for example--require breeders of all but a few species to obtain permits for reasons of environmental protection. No chaffinch or greenfinch can be bred legally in NJ without a permit. The same is true for Eurpean Goldfinch, a bird I have seen a few times in pet stores (and with plumage in poor condition because fringillid finches are not well domesticated as grassfinches are). Such goldfinches invariably are BANDED because of their origin with registered breeders.

What's my point? A Common Chaffinch shows up at a feeder in NJ. Most chaffinch in the world are wild. Its plumage and behavior DO NOT suggest a captive bird specifically, so why assume? Chaffinch are kept by aviculturalists, but the number of such birds is quite small among 'pets' and the number of unbanded individuals would be only a tiny fraction of that tiny fraction. Our bird is not banded. Is it more logical to assume its a tiny minority of a tiny minority or a minority vagrant member of a huge population of birds? I'd argue that a tiny chance (vagrant) is still more likely than a very small chance x an unlikely chance x a tiny chance (escaped, unbanded, scarcely kept species). Fact is, we can never KNOW the bird's origin with absolute certainty. If our European observers confirm this bird behaves like a typical, wild chaffinch and it lacks bands or obvious aberrations to appearance that might suggest being captive, can't we conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the bird is most likely wild? I'd say yes.

Mega Morning

2012-01-04T13:31:00.005-05:00

Word leaked out two nights ago that a Common Chaffinch had been frequenting a feeder in Hunterdon County, NJ near Pennsylvania. The bird is listed on the ABA checklist as a '4' and does not appear on the most recent (Oct 2010) edition of accepted records from the New Jersey records committee. The bird is common in western Europe and has only a few records in North America. In other words, this is what the birders across the pond call a MEGA RARITY!

I knew I would need to chase this bird at all costs. I made the arrangements and headed down the next morning. Rob too decided to make the journey op from medical school. He arrived about fifteen minutes before me. When I arrived to meet him on the back porch of the home at about 7:15AM there were easily a dozen others already there. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet kept us occupied for a while. After a wait of twenty minutes or so, the bird made a brief appearance. We all got a good look at the bird, only about twenty-five feet away, but only for about twenty-five seconds!

Many of the onlookers, satisfied with a great Jersey bird, headed off on their way. New people were arriving all the time and soon after Larry and Jim showed up as well. I had decided to surprise Larry and not tell him I was chasing. I greeted him by asking, "How does it feel to be the last one to see a bird for once?" and explained that Rob and I had already had views. Larry ask, "Wait, Rob who?"

After a little while to bird returned for more prolonged views and I got a better look. I began packing up. There was a gentleman there who had been very courteous to me as he maneuvered and set up his camera. I decided I wanted to ask him to be the one to co-sign for chaffinch on my Big Year List. He obliged and he turned out to be a Howard whose photos most Jersey birders are very familiar with. I was glad to finally meet this individual in person--this is both a purpose and a benefit of the signatures I am collecting.

I left the house by 8:15AM and decided that with the time I had remaining I should make a stop at Randolph Road and try for the Sandhill Cranes, my continuing nemesis. I arrived at the preferred cornfield and began to scan. I had barely focused my eyes when I saw five birds flying over the field. Knowing there are five cranes I hastily pulled over and through my binoculars up to my eyes--SANDHILL CRANES!!! Nemesis Neutralized! I drove to the best vantage point and got my camcorder on the cranes, now walking on the top of the hill and recorded some great, though distant footage.

If only I could keep this rate up all year...

NJ - 38
ABA - 38
World - 38

2012 Big Year Kick-off!

2012-01-02T09:36:00.006-05:00

It was with great excitement that I kicked of my first truly wholehearted big year effort yesterday!

After the ball dropped I went out through my neighborhood with some non-birding friends hoping to call in an owl. We had no such luck. Some of the party went home around 1AM but my wife and friends Dan and Pete stuck around to find the first bird. Our strategy changed to checking some local ponds for some resident waterfowl and around 2AM Pete spotted shapes that would turn out to be two Mute Swans, the first birds of the year!

With the first tick marked off I went to bed. Having stayed up so late may have been my demise, however, because the next day I overslept a bit and didn't head out until almost ten o'clock. Various media I use told me that other birders had already seen my primary target--the Sandhill Cranes at Randolph Road in Somerset County. I left my house as fast as possible, clipboard at my side. As I drove I kept marking off drive-by FOYs; Turkey Vulture, Tufted Titmouse, Northern Cardinal, European Starling, etc.

By the time I got to the corn fields the birds were no where to be seen despite a thorough search. Sandhill Crane is already a nemesis, second only in frustration to Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. I have chased cranes at this location several times before and this attempt only added to the nemesis status. From here I turned west and easily found the Duke Island Park Greater White-fronted Goose amongst 350 or so Canadas. Also interesting were three Killdeer mixed in. I continued west and made an unplanned stop at Round Valley Reservoir since I was nearby. Here I added American Coot, Mallard, Bufflehead, and a few others.

Next stop was Merrill Creek Reservoir for the continuing Snowy Owl. It was quite a relief to have this species out of the way on day one. I have mentioned in a previous post that I am going to be involving others in my big year by having other sign off when they see a bird with me as a way of saying 'I was there when...' At Merrill Creek the bird's location was pointed out to me by a certain Lynn and became my first signature (I have to have the Mute Swan crowd sign off but it slipped my mind at the time).

Now I headed east toward Monmouth county but mad a second pass at the cranes in Somerset; another no-show. I arrived at Thompson Park in hope of finding the continuing Ash-throated Flycatcher. Ash-throated is a Jersey nemesis for me. I have made a few half-hearted attempts to chase this bird to no avail, though I have seen them in Arizona. I joined with other arriving birders in what would be a fruitless search. New birds here included Downy Woodpecker and Northern Pintail. With darkness impending I abandoned what would have been my last target; the Western Flycatcher at Hartshorne Woods.

I am hoping the birds I miss remain after the impending cold spell this week to allow me another crack at them on Saturday when I intend to start with them and continue on to the North Shore. My opening day efforts were focused on rarities, not total species and in the end I saw twenty nine birds.

NJ - 29
ABA - 29
World - 29

LGA Year Results: Final Analysis

2012-01-02T09:12:00.003-05:00

The new year has begun but I still wanted to complete the analysis of my 2011 'LGA Year' effort. You can read a quick summary of each county in my entries for the minor counties and major counties.

When I started this project I was coming off of a personal best big year and the decision to be 'low-key' for a year seemed like a major step backwards. This sentiment played into my rather ambitious idea of setting goals for six counties. I didn't fully appreciate how much time it would take to see a given species in so many places. For example, Fox Sparrow is a fairly common species, but not one I expect to see any given day and one that is available for only half of the year. It's one thing to see a fox sparrow in a six month period but its another thing to see six in six different places in that time. Combine this with the fact that I am trying to do the same for fifty or more species and you can see how quickly things add up: My goal was 700 total ticks (I ended up with 601 total ticks). Since work doesn't allow me to bird most days I had to cram all of those ticks mostly into weekend birding.

I did take a few things away from the experience worth repeating. Firstly, field time is paramount. The more time you spend looking the more finding you will do. Secondly, don't wait for second chances. There were many birds, especially migrants, that I should have had but missed. The simple reason was most counties didn't get a share of April-May birding because that time was focused on World Series preparation in Bergen and Passaic. As a result the other counties were deprived of a dozen or more easy warblers and other migrants. This left me scrambling for 'second chances' at these species in the fall and I simply didn't have enough birding time to make it happen.

In general I would try to make my goals a little narrower if I did this again. Looking forward to 2013 I intend to do the 'low-key' thing again after this years serious big year effort. Two likely scenarios might be to pick a single county for an all-out effort or two pick two counties and try to beat my one-year records for those counties.

LGA Year Results: the Major Counties

2011-12-31T15:49:00.004-05:00

The 'major counties' in my LGA year had species goal over 100. These counties are closest to my residence and I expected to be able to really rack up some good totals here. These counties were closeby enough for me to bird in small doses after work.

Morris County - 70% Completion (88/125 Species)
Without a doubt this was the county in which I did poorest. Prior to 2011 my Morris life list was only 124 species so my goal was to see every species and add one more. To start with I was able to add fifteen birds to my county list. I had hoped that I would get in at least one day of birding Morris during spring migration but World Series planning absorbed whatever time I had available. A few short trips did yield sixteen species of warblers. There was no major category of birds that I truly lacked, rather I just missed a little bit from everywhere. The biggest issue here was field time. I didn't realize how distant much of the county really is from my residence and I just couln't afford the driving time too frequently. Morris also lacks coastal or salt water habitat which limited the number of Charadrids I could see. Notable Morris birds in 2011: Red-breasted Merganser, Long-eared Owl,

Passaic County - 101% Completion (152/150 Species)
My goal for Passaic County was the only one I was able to complete, no doubt in large part because this is where I live. If you have followed this blog at all you have seen that my other project for 2011 was a yardbird competition and as a result I logged 89 species in my own yard. As expected, Garret Mountain and the World Series of Birding added to my Passaic total despite having a poor spring migration. The best part about meeting this goal was the fact that places relatively new to me like Walker Ave Wetlands and Pompton Lake both added many species. I added eighteen new species to my county life list and eleven of them were waterfowl! My previous best year list for Passaic was 133 species. This year I bested that by almost twenty species. Notable Passaic birds in 2011: Cackling Goose, Common Goldeneye, Northern Harrier, Olive-sided Flycatcher, American Pipit, Yellow-throated Warbler, Pine Siskin

Bergen County - 95% Completion (167/175 Species)
Birding Bergen was business as usual for me, but as I lived in Bergen County not long ago and wasn't so concerned with five other counties in years past I wasn't quite able to catch my previous best of 173 species nor my goal of 175 for this year. I did, nonetheless, see the more species in Bergen than any other county. DeKorte State Park and the Meadowlands in general supplied most of the species but the Celery Farm and the Ramapo River area added many species as well. In particular I logged many more species of warblers and neotropical migrants this year than in other years due to changes in our World Series route and accompanying scouting efforts. Bergen County is well-birded and being able to chase down local sightings sometimes after work certainly helped. Notable Bergen birds in 2011: Pink-footed Goose, Greater White-fronted Goose, Snow Goose, Black Scoter, American Bittern, Least Bittern, White Ibis, Rough-legged Hawk, Glaucous Gull, Red-headed Woodpecker, Philadelphia Vireo, Clay-colored Sparrow,

Read a final analysis of the 'LGA Year' here.

LGA Year Results: the Minor Counties

2011-12-29T16:55:00.005-05:00

Technically I still have fifty-five hours until 2011 ends, but it looks like the final species have been tallied in my 2011 'LGA Big Year' effort. A camping trip is going to take up most of that fifty-five hours and New Years Eve plans will take much of the rest. Today I made my last-ditch effort to tally some last species and I am now ready to conclude with my final analysis. In general I can say I bit off more than I could chew in having six separate counties to work towards, but more on that in a subsequent post.

the Minor Counties

The 'minor counties' are those for which I had smaller species goals due to birding availability, habitat diversity, and/or drving distance--Essex, Sussex, and Hudson Counties. I spent less time birding these counties.

Essex County - 73% Completion (55/75 Species)

Today I spent some time in West Essex Park trying to grab some new species. I fell short of the twenty three I would have needed to make my 75 bird goal, but I did find three Essex FOYs--Cooper's Hawk, Brown Creeper, and Fox Sparrow. The vast majority of my Essex birds came from Mills Reservation because it was the only Essex location I was familiar with prior to this year and because it is relatively close as far as Essex locations go. The biggest problem I ran into in Essex was simply the lack of aquatic habitats. Waterbirds were completely absent from my Essex list until my trip to Weequahic Park on December 3rd. I also ran short on neotropical migrants because I spent much of my migration time in the spring scouting for World Series. I played catch-up in the fall but it was too little too late. I tallied, for example, just nine warblers. Before this year I had a mere nine species on my eBird Essex life list (though my unofficial number was probably in the high twenties). I logged forty-eight new Essex species thanks to this effort. Notable Essex birds in 2011: Cackling Goose, Great Horned Owl, Tennessee Warbler, Hooded Warbler

Sussex County - 69% Completion (52/75 Species)

This was the most distant of all my 'LGA counties.' This reduced the amount off opportunities I had for birding in the county, especially during busy migration times. The only day I spent in Sussex County during migration was on May 21 and it yielded very few migrants. Here again a shortage of aquatic habitat limited species, though not because it was unavailable but because it was distant. As with Essex County, this effort saw a twenty-one species jump in my Sussex list, going from a mere fifty-nine species to a more respectable eighty. Notable Sussex birds in 2011: Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye

Hudson County - 87% Completion (87/100 Species)

Before this year began my Hudson County life list was ninety-one species. I put in a good effort this year in Hudson with Liberty State Park and Kearny Marsh contributing the most species. One of the main goals of the LGA Year was to bird new local venues and my effort Hudson County accomplished that goal. I birded location around Bayonne and Schmidt's Woods for the first time and Laurel Hill Park which I had birded only once of twice before. In the end I added a very satisfying thrity-three species to my Hudson life list, now at one hundred twenty four species. Here again migrants were the issue as much of my migration birding in the spring was centered on World Series. Only making matter worse was the fact that it was the poorest spring migration I can remember. For example, I only totaled seven warbler and only one was seen in spring. Even though I fell short I am very satisfied with my effort because of all the new places it took me, because of all the additional species I found for my county life list, and because of the rarities I was able to find. Notable Husdon birds in 2011: Long-tailed Duck, Common Goldeneye, Black-headed Gull, Lapland Longspur, Grasshopper Sparrow

Read a final analysis of the 'LGA Year' here.

Glaucous Gull - DeKorte State Park 12/29

2011-12-29T00:07:00.005-05:00

I spent a little bit of time in the Meadowlands today with my wife before we headed out to see a movie. It was pretty quiet, but one great bird was plucked from the blustery morning. We were standing near the end of the Transco Trail nearest to the NJ Turnpike when my wife maid mention of a quartet of birds flying in from the East. I could easily see they were gulls, but just to be prudent I put my bins up to them and looked--herring, herring, herring...glaucous!

The fourth bird was a first or second cycle Glaucous Gull. It was slightly larger than its wingmen and as it flew just twenty feet or so directly overhead I could see its cream-colored body, bicolored black & flesh bill, and complete absence of any black plumage. The bird continued east across the tidal pool and on the opposite side headed Northeast while the Herring Gulls went in the opposite direction. The bird was in no apparent hurry and languidly flew along the landfill and above the power lines until I finally lost sight of it as it approached the Northeast corner of the park. Although I almost certainly will not reach my Bergen goal of 175 in the 3 days that remain in 2011 it was great to get a Jersey and Bergen FOY.

Bergen - 167/175

Morris-Sussex Ducks

2011-12-26T23:09:00.002-05:00

Strong winds this morning discouraged me from my original plan of spending a few hours in Sussex County. After lunch winds had lessened some. I didn't think there would be many small birds out, but so as not to waste the day I went out in search of ducks in the two counties that had the fewest listed-- Morris and Sussex.

First up was Lake Parsippany in Morris County. I had seen Long-tailed Duck reported here in eBird a few times recently and decided it was worth a stop. I didn't realize the lake is a private community and it took me a bit of driving to find an acceptable spot to view the lake. Once I found a legal place to park I was able to find the lake was full of ducks. There were many Common Mergansers, among which I found a single Red-breasted Merganser. Both were Morris FOYs.

Next I stopped at Mount Hope Lake where a Eurasian Wigeon had been a few years ago. It was pretty empty besides Gadwalls and Mute Swans (which were not very mute). From here I continued North into Sussex County. I found the landfill to be closed so I continued North again to Culver's Lake.

I stop at two locations around Culver's Lake. In total I found a pair of Mallards, a few Black Ducks, almost a dozen Ring-necked Ducks, ten Bufflehead, almost forty-five Common Goldeneye, and a single Long-tailed Duck mixed in. All of these were Sussex FOYs. Canada Goose and Song Sparrow were repeats. I finished off the day at a small park I found on Route 15. I was attracted to the park by a flock of Canada Geese. A search turned up no rare geese. In the brush and trees in the park I did find my Sussex FOY Downy Woodpecker, Tufted Titmice, White-breasted Nuthatches, and White-throated Sparrow. Some roadside Wild Turkeys were also FOYs.

In the end I added two birds to my Morris list and thirteen to my Sussex list.

Morris - 88/125

Sussex - 52/75

Announcing the 2012 Big Year

2011-12-26T19:00:00.007-05:00

the 2012 Big Year

It is with great excitement and anticipation that I announce my 2012 BIG YEAR. I have been planning for and thinking about this effort for months, spurred on by my reading of the Big Year and the movie of the same name. Back in 2009 Larry, Rob, and I competed in our 'Big Year Challenge.' This was a time-intensive monthly competition between the three of us as well as a year-long contest. The unintended result of the competition was that I recorded my first comprehensive year-effort. Then in 2010 I made my first serious attempt at a personal-best Big Year. After two years of chasing, driving, and birding in general I decided to take 2011 off and just keep my birding local. My plan always was to come back in 2012 with another attempt at my personal bests and now that time has finally come.

the Plans

Central to my Big Year is the intention to chase as many NJ rarities as work and home life allow. In addition I hope to travel to contribute to my avidiversity. I'll be visitng a friend in Tuscon who recently moved there. I'll be able to afford four solid days of birding on the trip and have already contacted some locals about birding. In addition my wife and I hope to go to England over the summer and possibly Maine for a short time as well. Last but not least, I should be attending a friend's graduation party in California in October; not a birding trip but still an opportunity for local species.

the Goals

My goals are threefold--All three are pursuits of a personal best only, rather than an attempt at a public record. This is simply because the scope of an all-time record is beyond my budget for time and money; the NJ record presently being 361 and the ABA record 745. First, I will be making my third attempt at seeing 300 species in New Jersey in a single year. This is a difficult accomplishment because of the time commitment involved and one that I personally have never completed. A good handful of people achieve each year and at least seventeen did so in 2011. My previous best attempt (2010) fell short by just a bit with 294 species.

Next is my ABA goal. The ABA Area includes basically all of the continental USA, Alaska, and Canada. My previous ABA high-year was 2009 when I visited the same friend in California that I may visit this October. The 137 species I saw in Los Angeles County that year helped my ABA total reach 371 species. This year I hope to reach 400.

Lastly I have a world goal. In 2010 I achieved my highest ever one-year total with 426 species including birds from Canada, Guatemala, Japan, the Dominican Republic, and of course, the United States. This year my lofty goal is 500 species but at a minimum I just hope to break my old record of 426.

Each of these goals will 'activate' as soon as I see birds exclusive to that category. In other words my first bird in a state other than New Jersey will activate my ABA goal and my first international bird will activate my world goal. Those goals will remain inactive if for some reason circumstances prevent me from traveling. I'll be keeping track of my goals in my post this year much the same way as I did last year for my county-based 'LGA Year' of county-based goals. At the top of the right column is an image that will display my progress thermometer-style. The empty image appears here.

the 'Nemesis Targets'

One of the main goals for the year is to see all of the birds I consider to be 'overdue' for my Life List or for a particular region. Some of them are nemeses in the truest sense and some are just recurring species that I have never really put in the effort to chase. I'll be keeping a visual checklist of the Nemesis Targets in the sidebar at right as these are highlight species of the year. Here's the list:

Life Nemeses

This list represent thirteen of the most-likely life species I could still get in NJ. Many of them I have missed because of how far I live from Cape May County. Others are just frustrating nemeses or near-nemeses that I have tried for and missed.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (nemesis)

Sandhill Crane (nemesis)

Curlew Sandpiper (near-nemesis)

Arctic Tern (near-nemesis)

Bohemian Waxwing (near-nemesis)

Yellow-headed Blackbird (chased twice in Jersey, missed in MN and AZ)

Bicknell's Thrush (a difficult but overdue ID)

Red Phalarope (overdue)

Ruff (overdue)

Evening Grosbeak (overdue)

Sedge Wren (overdue)

Painted Bunting (one very disappointing NJ chase)

Brown-headed Nuthatch (overdue due to range in SE)

Jersey Nemeses

These are birds that I have seen before elsewhere, but just not in New Jersey. Note that five are typically Cape May exclusive.

Ash-throated Flycatcher

White-winged Dove

Eurasian Collared Dove

Cave Swallow

Golden-winged Warbler (chased many times in NJ but only seen in NY)

Rufous Hummingbird

Western Kingbird

Summer Tanager

the Kick-Off

I'll be starting off strong with a big push in January. During the BYC two years ago Larry put up 117 species in a solid January effort. Based on that I'll be setting the goal of seeing 115-125 species this month due to the mild weather and rarities already available (Western Kingbird, Snowy Owl, and others). First and foremost I will be checking off those continuing rarities and local specialties with trips to Barnegat Inlet and other locations. I want to go into spring having nearly finished all of the possible winter birds. This has been a poor winter for finches so far and I expect to spend next November and December looking for them. February will be focused on my Arizona trip and recovery. By March 1 I hope to have a NJ total near 150 and an ABA total over 200. Go for broke. Fly or Die. Birds!

Site Changes + Some Odds n' Ends

2011-12-26T09:53:00.006-05:00

I finally got my FOY Passaic Fox Sparrow with two dozen juncos and white-throateds at Ringwood Manor on an otherwise birdless day. Passaic County is now at goal+2 species while my other counties languish. I had planned to head up to Sussex County today, but high winds are making the prospect of scoping for gulls and ducks a little more daunting and increasing the chances that small birds will be laying low. I may give it a shot this afternoon if things calm down some.

As the YBC and LGA Year wrap up you'll be seeing some major changes to the sidebar (currently) at right. The top of that column has hosted the YBC and LGA totals for the duration of 2011 so far. Further down the column I have had a small box highlighting some totals from previous years. Already the top of the column has been crowned with a large image entitled "2012 Big Year Totals" and a counter counting down to January 1, 2012. In the next week or so the LGA and BYC will conclude and the corresponding sections of the sidebar will be shrunk or removed. Totals for my upcoming Big Year will be displayed with the image already in place. The counter will be reprogrammed to count down the time left in 2012.

Lastly the bottom of the column already has a section of Target Species which will become a focal point in 2012 and will be moved further up the column. All of the 2012 stuff is in place now as I test the code and make adjustments in advance of the kick-off in just five days.

Passaic - 152/150

Yard Bird Challenge Concluding

2011-12-22T09:57:00.008-05:00

The YBC has taken a back seat of late to my LGA efforts. With only nine days left and what's been a mild winter so far it seems unlikely anyone will be logging enough species to change their positions in the standings. Purple Finch, siskins, redpolls, and crossbills have all been scare to non-existant. At any rate, this is not the final word on the YBC, just a summary of recent events. I will post a more conclusive analysis next week.

The score has changed very little since the close of summer. Justin and I were able to log a few more warbler species during fall migration. While Justin's Tennessee Warblers were great birds, neither of us really put up any big numbers. Erica and Larry have been pretty quiet, though Larry finally logged Herring Gull and Purple Finch last week.

Also in the new birds department, Justin logged the first Lesser Scaup and Peregrine Falcons for the competition. As you'll see in next week's analysis Justin owes much of his first place position to his lake and the waterfowl it has provided him. More than likely he will be taking home the title. I'll likely remain in second, Larry in third and Erica in fourth. Of course, you never know what the final week may bring...

Dan - 89
Erica - 80
Larry - 87
Justin - 91

Bergen Screech-Owl Finally!

2011-12-22T07:36:00.007-05:00

I had to run some errands last night in Bergen County and since it was after dark I figured I'd try again for my embarrassingly late FOY Bergen Eastern Screech-Owl. I decided to drive to a location that a friend suggested had a roosting bird. Upon arrival I got out of my car and walked a few hundred feet down the road to a more suitable location to stand. I did a variety of screech-owl calls at regular intervals for about ten minutes with no response.

Frustrated, I decided it was time to head home. A car with its headlights on passed me as I walked back to my car along the dark road. As it did so I saw a tiny figure fly frenetically across the road and up into the trees. It was nothing more than a flash of movement, but it was only twenty-five feet from me. Bat? No, it didn't fly correctly for a bat. Flying squirrel? No, it banked and flew strongly upwards. Squirrels glide. It has to be an owl, but all I know is it was tiny--was it screech or saw-whet?

I stopped and called again. This time I performed my rendition of a saw-whet's po-po-po. After a few moments the bird called back--it was the whinny of an Eastern Screech-Owl. I finally had my bird.

Bergen - 166/175

Fly or Die 'CBC' Results

2011-12-18T21:49:00.005-05:00

Larry, Jim, Justin and his wife and myself were joined by Rob who was back in town from school for a big day of sorts that I'm calling the Fly Or Die CBC. It wasn't a Christmas Bird count by any stretch of description or affiliation, but 'tis the season and all of the birding media outlets are buzzing with CBC info.

We started out on Disposal Road at 5:30AM. We walked the road a few times hoping to catch sight of some owl passing by. No luck. After sunrise there the usual suspects appeared at DeKorte SP. Highlights were sparse but included eight Canvasback, a pair of Ruby-crowned Kinglets displaying their crowns, a Great Egret, and a Mallard x American Black Duck hybrid. I scored no FOYs.

Next stop was Laurel Hill Park where the same Great Cormorants and American Tree Sparrows I saw there last week showed up again. Justin and Jim pulled a Peregrine Falcon from the sky. The park was otherwise fairly quiet.

The low-key birding continued at Liberty State Park. Despite being a slow day we did score three Hudson FOYs here--a Fish Crow, a Northern Shoveler, and a dozen Greater Scaup.

Next up was Great Swamp NWR where one of Larry's non-birding friends tagged along for the ride. We crossed paths with the local CBC who reported having a good species total despite being a quiet day. Morris hasn't really been figuring into my end game strategy for my LGA efforts because it seems like a lost cause but I appreciated the Morris FOYs that I was able to get-- Hooded Merganser, American Coot, American Wigeon, and a single Ring-necked Duck.

To close out the day Jim, Rob and I headed to Foschini Park in Hackensack where we tried to get Rob his lifer Greater White-fronted Goose but failed. We crossed paths with another CBC team here but neither they nor us was able to find the goose that I had just 22 hours before. On the day we totaled fifty-three species and finished things off with burgers at local institution White Mana.

Morris - 86/125
Hudson - 87/100

Bergen Geese 12/16

2011-12-16T17:15:00.003-05:00

Opportunity smiled on my today and afforded me a chance to run down to the Hackensack River area to look for some Bergen FOY geese. First I stopped as Foschini Park in Hackensack where I was quickly able to locate the Greater White-fronted Goose that has been there for about a week. Before I left a 3rd-cycle Bald Eagle flew out of a tree and headed out down the river. Funny, the same thing happened the only other time I came to this park, which was last year looking for the 'Nelson's Gull' that was on the river.

Time was on my side so I headed over to Overpeck Park to try and find a needle in a haystack--a single young Snow Goose that had been reported the previous day. On the way in I saw a few blackbirds along the driveway that I wanted to check out. I walked over to them and while standing there a group of geese flew over me. Amongst the twenty or thirty Canada Geese was a single Snow Goose! The needle flew right over my head.

I went home with two new Bergen year birds and a smile on my face.

Bergen - 165/175

Fly or Die North Jerzey 'CBC'

2011-12-15T21:22:00.003-05:00

It's not exactly a real Christmas Bird Count, but this Saturday Fly or Die and friends will be conducting a Big Day. Jim, a mutual friend of Larry and myself, suggested the idea last week as a way for my to try and finish off my LGA totals. I asked around and we'll be having a pretty good turnout. In addition to Jim, Larry and myself we will be joined by Justin of the Yard Bird Challenge and his wife Kelly. Larry says he may be bringing a friend and finally Rob let me know he'd be back in town and he is ready to bird!

There is no way to know what we'll turn up, but the day will focus on my five remaining counties. We'll be especially focusing on the Meadowlands in Hudson and Bergen Counties again and Morris and Essex could see some action as well. Expect a full report in two days.

My excitement is growing with only two-and-a-half weeks until the kick-off of my big year attempt. The 'CBC' and these last few weeks mark a transition back to serious birding after my 'year off.' I am set and ready.

12/9 Owling

2011-12-11T18:41:00.004-05:00

Does it still count as owling if you see no owls?

My search for my FOY Bergen screech-owl continued on Friday night. My wife and I birded an west-east transect across the entire county and stopped at six or eight different locations. We stopped at a variety of locations that looked good to have a local screech-owl or where I have had owls at before. In each case I ran through my full repertoire of screech vocalizations and listened for responses. In each case there was none. Nor did I see any small winged creatures moving from tree to tree.

Once I was convinced no screech-owls would reply I took some shots in the dark and gave my rendition of saw-whet or barred or long-eared or even mouse calls. All my efforts amounted to nothing and I am still screech-less in Bergen County this year. Quite embarrassing.

Bergen 163/175 (still)

Husdon-Essex Birds 12/3

2011-12-03T16:14:00.008-05:00

In accordance with my end-of-year plan I set out today for the Meadowlands in Hudson and Bergen Counties. My day started at Kearny Marsh where few ducks were present but I managed to scare up five humorous Hudson FOYs: Northern Cardinal, Red-tailed Hawk, Fox Sparrow, American Crow and Golden-crowned Kinglet. Next I headed over to Laurel Hill Park where I found four Great Cormorants in their usual spot on the old train bridge and a young Black-crowned Night-Heron against a mud overhang across the river. Since I was in the area I went to Schmidts Woods. I didn't really expect to get much there, but I had never seen the place and just wanted to get a look. Much to my pleasant surprise, however, I found my Hudson FOY Tufted Titmouse and Hairy Woodpecker here.

A quick drive to the stream on Valley Brook Ave produced nothing. The morning was getting late so I decided to skip DeKorte and head home. On the way Larry sent a text that he had seen the Cackling Geese in Newark at Weequahic Park. I knew the birds were there, but I was trying to avoid driving to Newark. I reasoned, however, that a lake big enough to support a goose flock must have other waterbirds. This might be my one chance to score a number of Essex FOYs. I took the bait and headed south and so my Hudson-Bergen day became a Hudson-Essex day.

The park and lake were much bigger than I expected. To say there were hundreds of geese was probably an understatement. I found a group of uncooperative geese that were tiny but had their heads tucked in. Eventually three revealed themselves to be Cackling Geese with tiny plump bodies, square heads, and small bills. I assume that the originally reported seven were present with their heads down, but I'll be recording just the three that I can confirm. Also on the lake were many Essex FOYs: American Coot, Pied-billed Grebe, Ring-billed Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Lesser Scaup, Mallard, Mute Swan, Ruddy Duck, and Ring-necked Duck.

On the return trip I could not but help a five-minute stop at Garret Mountain to see the Cackling Goose that was reported there. It was my first for Passaic County and an interesting comparison to the slightly larger Cacklings I had seen in Newark. On the day I earned nine Hudson, twelve Essex, and one Passaic FOY.

Passaic 151/150

Hudson - 84/100

Essex 52/75

2011 End Game

2011-11-29T13:13:00.006-05:00

There are but 32 days left in 2011 and so it is that my "LGA Big Year" is coming to a close. But with just one of six county goals met there is still a lot of birding left to do. Finishing my remaining five counties seems unlikely, but I have come up with a plan to cut my losses and finish strong.

Bergen and Hudson will be my first targets. These counties are contiguous and meet in the Meadowlands. I hope to spend the better part of a day working the area from Liberty State Park to Overpeck County Park. I think the twenty-five remaining Hudson species are still attainable with some woodpeckers, some ducks, and many odds-and-ends left to find. Bergen County is just twelve birds short of completion, but with 163 already checked off and far fewer options remaining this late in the year. I hope a solid day in the Hudson-South Bergen area with allow me to finish Hudson and at least bring Bergen within 10 of my 175 bird goal.

Of the remaining three counties, Sussex seems most likely to produce the 35 or so species I need for completion. Morris seems like a lost cause with 50 species still needed, though many species do remain. Essex is still a ripe target but my issue in that county has been a lack of places to look for birds, especially water birds. I hope to spend a day in Sussex to hopefully finish that county in one shot. My Sussex total is still nearly devoid of ducks and raptors, not to mention many common 'yard birds' like Downy, Hairy, White-breasted Nuthatch, and others.

Success in Sussex and Hudson will mean along with Passaic I will have completed three county goals out of six. With much of Christmas break still open I may be able to get some additional trips in and just maybe I can finish one more county. More on that as it happens.

Sussex Birds

2011-11-25T14:58:00.003-05:00

I spent the morning in Sussex County today looking for a Christmas tree. I figured it would be easy to bolster my pitiful Sussex year list, which before today was the lowest of my target counties at just 20/75 species. Standouts included a group of 15+ Black Vultures on a baseball field backstop and my Sussex FOY Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Other FOYs included many common and uncommon species like Eastern Bluebird, Mallard, Mute Swan, Northern Flicker and others. On the way out we did a quick drive-by of the Sussex County Landfill and I tallied the common gulls--Great Black-backed, Herring, and Ring-billed. I did not stop to search for anything rare.

I bagged nineteen easy year-birds. I need thirty-six species to reach my goal of 75 for the year. One good day of serious birding could make that happen but my available days are running short.

Sussex 39/75

Eurasian Wigeon & Other Sightings

2011-11-12T16:39:00.004-05:00

After my stop in Passaic County I made a stop in Lincoln Park where I saw my first Morris County Greater Black-backed Gull and not much else. My last stop before heading home was Darlington County Park in Bergen County. The lake was full of waterfowl including many American Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Mallards, Canada Geese, and Loads of Gadwall. Here I also found my Bergen FOY American Coots and a male American Black Duck x Mallard hybrid. The hybrid was very close and allowed great looks at its intermediate plumage characteristics including mottling of browns in the head and body, darker mustard bill, and reduced white in the speculum.

Last year at this time a Eurasian Wigeon made an appearance on this lake for a few days. With all of the wigeon here, I hoped just maybe one would show up again. After scanning from the North end of the lake I drove around to the south end to see the large group of ducks hidden from Northern view by the curvature of the lake. There was a large group of Gadwall and wigeon here too and lo-and-behold I found a very rusty bird--a Eurasian Wigeon! The photo shows a distant shot of the bird with plenty of American Wigeon for comparison.

Bergen - 163/175
Morris - 82/125

Passaic Goal Acheived!

2011-11-12T16:16:00.004-05:00

I completed the first of my LGA goals this year-- As expected, Common Merganser became my 150th Passaic County species for 2011! A pair of the birds joined the ever-changing mix of waterfowl on Pompton Lake.

After the mergs I moved on to two other counties for the day's birding. Read about that in the next post. With my Passaic county goal met for the year I will be trying now to focus on the other counties as best as I can, especially Morris, Hudson, and Bergen.

Passaic - 150/150

Looking Forward: 2012 Targets

2011-11-07T21:05:00.010-05:00

I have 54 days until the start of my 2012 Big Year attempt. All of the 'chasing' of local common birds in attempts to complete my county goals has stirred my chasing bug again. After spending the spring trying to quell my twitching habit because I was 'taking the year off' I am spending the end of 2011 gearing myself up again. One thought keeps playing in my mind over and over again-- Next year is going to be the year I track down some overdue lifers at all costs.

I have two nemesis species at this point. I posted a brief discussion on nemesis species a while back here. In short, the unofficial Fly or Die rule is that three missed chases makes a bird eligible for nemesis status. In addition, a true nemesis will have some difficult stories attached to those misses. My biggest nemesis, hands down, is Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. In the last two years I have chased no less than five Scissors across four counties of New Jersey. Next year that bird is mine.

My other nemesis is Sandhill Crane. I don't have an exact count for the cranes, but I have ventured around central Jersey several times and Cape May at least once in search of known individuals with no success. At this point in my birding career I consider is simply embarrassing that I have not seen this bird. Next year that bird is mine.

There are a few other would-be lifers that I have priority intentions of tracking down. Ruff, Arctic Tern, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Curlew Sandpiper and others top off that list. In addition there are a number of non-life birds that would be Jersey firsts-- Eurasian Collared Dove, White-winged Dove, and Ash-throated Flycatcher to name a few. More on that in the coming days.

Passaic County Waterfowl

2011-11-07T09:19:00.003-05:00

The first week of November has been very good for Passaic County waterfowl and my county list has really filled out as a result. Walker Ave has produced most of the dabblers and Pompton Lake has produced the deeper water ducks.

Walker in the past week has had both teal, shoveler, Hooded Merganser and a few newly arrived American Black Duck and four American Wigeon. My FOY Black Duck actually appeared on Pompton Lake a few days earlier along with my FOY Bufflehead. A single Lesser Scaup has been lingering around the lake associated with new ducks as they pass through including a trio of Common Goldeneye for one day last week.

All these new arrivals have brought my total to 149, within one bird of my goal of 150. The only remaining duck likely for me to find is Common Merganser and I have a feeling it will be the goal-clinching species. I am still looking for Purple Finch and Wilson's Snipe. Besides that I can hope for a rare waterfowl species like Eurasian Wigeon or Cackling Goose or something out of place like Greater Scaup or Red-breasted Merganser.

Passaic - 149/150

Hudson Halloween

2011-10-31T15:11:00.004-04:00

I had off from work today as the freak snowstorm this weekend knocked out power to my school district. The 'snow day' offered me an unexpected opportunity to do some birding in Hudson County and the results for my Hudson year-list were scary-good.

The road closures around the area extended my one hour travel time to more than double that. AS a result I missed low tide at the Bayonne Ferry Terminal and south cove and therefore missed my best shot at getting the continuing Hudsonian Godwits. The delay and the sub-prime conditions forced me to rush the stop but I still managed to find many FOYs for Husdon County; Blackpoll Warbler, American Coot, Dark-eyed Junco, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Savannah Sparrow, and Greater Yellowlegs to name a few.

Next up was a stop at Liberty State Park. Notable sightings included four Eastern Pheobe, a few Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and a Cooper's Hawk that buzzed the ducks in the interpretive center pond causing quite a stir. I decided to walk through the large lawn area as I cold see a large flock of starlings there and I hoped to pick out some blackbirds. It turned out about a third of a the flock was in fact Brown-headed Cowbirds. As I watched I could hear American Pipits and eventually I found one in the grass. Occasionally a park vehicle would drive by, causing the birds to move. As they did I was able to find more and more groups of pipits and eventually all of the shuffling cause them to group together into one huge flock and land only one hundred feet away. I conservatively counted sixty birds but I am sure I missed some and I could hear others away from the main group.

The pipits weren't new for the county, but they were quite an amazing sight. Now that I was north of the Interpretive Center I came back to my car around the northeast corner of the IC field--a spot I usually don't visit. There were a few sparrows near the west end of the gravel road that skirts the north side of the field. As a casually scanned them I saw something I did not expect--a Grasshopper Sparrow! The bird was very cooperative and allowed me to actually photograph the bird using my scope and phone! This was my first Grasshopper for Hudson County.

I had to skip a stop at Kearny Marsh on the way back because the day was getting late and I had lost time to traffic and a long time watching the Grasshopper Sparrow. Nonetheless, I added seventeen species to my Hudson year list.

Hudson - 75/100

the Ducks Have Arrived!

2011-10-24T18:59:00.004-04:00

I have been waiting for the ducks to finally show up in Passaic County to bolster my county list. I realized near the end of summer that besides the resident Mallards and Canada Geese I had few waterfowl for Passaic County and I had a great opportunity to add a bunch of easy species. I have been checking Ringwood Manor regularly for the first merganser or Bufflehead, but so far I've had no luck. Today that changed.

I first stopped in Lincoln Park to check the lakes for waterfowl, but saw none. I did find a few new Morris birds--Fish Crow, Winter Wren, and Palm Warbler. Next I crossed the river to the Walker Ave Wetlands. I headed to the spillway where I would have a clear but distant view of the whole lake. I sat with my scope and found a huge group of dabblers on the far side. Most of the birds were either Mallards or Green-winged Teal. I picked through the flock until I found a pair of Northern Shovlers and then a Ruddy Duck. As I panned left I arrived upon a group of thirty American Coot! Three birds by themselves required quite a bit of attention because of the combination of distance, overcast skies, and poor scope but eventually proved to be Blue-winged Teal when one finally revealed the pale crescent on its face. Last but not least I gleaned a young Gadwall from the group. Each of these birds were new not only for the year, but were first-timers for my Passaic County list. Also of note was a Lesser Yellowlegs and a Pied-billed Grebe.

Morris - 77/125
Passaic - 144/150

Great Morning for Bergen 10-23-11

2011-10-23T22:27:00.002-04:00

Over badly oversleeping my birding time on Saturday I was determined to get in a good pre-church session this morning. Lately my Passaic and Morris target have been waterfowl, but since I have locations nearby for those counties that I could check after work, I decided to head a little further away and try to make a last push for Bergen as my opportunities for migrants dwindles. Last night's winds provided a decent opportunity for new birds so I decided to try DeKorte in a last effort to find a Bergen Blue-winged Teal and then head over to nearby Overpeck County Park for the resident Monk Parakeets and a shot at grassy birds in the overgrown fields there.

I arrived at DeKorte at 7:30AM and found Disposal Road to be alive with sparrows--Song, Savannah, White-throated, and a pair of Field. A nicely colored male Yellow-belied Sapsucker made a brief appearance and then another later on near the carillon. Three flyover American Pipits were Bergen FOYs and would be the only new birds for the county here. There were also welcome numbers of dabblers including my FOS Northern Pintail and plenty of Green-winged Teal and shovelers. Just before leaving I spied a large raptor heading directly away from me over the water. I laid my eyes on an adult Bald Eagle. The bird set down in a tree on the landfill across the water and allowed for the distant but discernible photos through my scope.

I left after 8:30 and arrived at Overpeck shortly after 9:00AM. I quickly heard and then saw my second Bergen FOY--the resident Monk Parakeets. Next I headed to a field where in past autumns I have seen Blue Grosbeak and Dickcissel. Entering the field I saw a late Blackpoll Warbler mixed in with some Ruby-crowned Kinglets. I was sifting through the many common sparrows when I came upon a group of eight-or-so Chipping Sparrows. I began searching for an oddball and my search was rewarded with a paler bird that landed exposed on a low tree branch as I slowly crept forward. I checked all the important field marks--The bird had pale lores and a sandy base color. Its eyestripe matched in color with its malar strip which contrasted strongly with a white adjacent stripe. It was a Clay-colored Sparrow and it cooperated nicely for comparison by perching merely six inches from a Chipping Sparrow. This was dearly hoped-for Bergen FOY. I had time for a quick look in the river where I found my Bergen FOY Pied-billed Grebe and as I drove away my Bergen FOY Rusty Blackbird called loudly just feet from the car in a wet stand of reeds. All in all it was an excellent two hours.

Bergen 159/175

Great Swamp Walk 10/11/11

2011-10-17T09:26:00.003-04:00

Last week I got a chance to participate in one of the walks held at Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in honor of National Wildlife Refuge Week. The walk was only an hour and a half long and held birding was done at a leisurely pace, but it offered the excellent bonus of granting access into an area of the refuge normally closed to the public. Besides, I still had plenty of Morris birds to gain from a late-migration outing.

There were good numbers of Mallards, Wood Ducks, and American Black Ducks--actually an amazing number. They came into a wide open area to roost in the marshes. On the walk to the marshy area the group of fifteen or so found both kinglets, Yellow-rumped Warbler, and several common sparrows. After dark the highlight for many was a Barred Owl and later an Eastern Screech-Owl that responded to the leader's calls.

I gained ten FOYs for Morris county bringing my total to 75.

Morris - 75/125

the Big Year a Must-See

2011-10-15T00:25:00.004-04:00

I just got back from the Big Year and the verdict is in--this is a must-see for any birder, especially the twitchers, listers, and chasers out there! This review is NOT a spoiler and will not ruin anything in the movie, though it may make you want to go out and see it.

I was generally impressed with how well the movie represented the book (and ipso facto the real events). Liberties were taken with minor details to make the movie a bit more interesting, but nothing that really changed the story or the characters. Many of the little details of the book appeared prominently in the movie--Komito's strategy (and snowpants) on Attu, Miller's job at the nuclear powerplant, trips to High Island and well-known locales, Levinson's loss of his sense of smell, the helicopter ride for snowcock, and the importance of pelagics in the competition.

There were many birding specific questions and anecdotes addressed-- There are questions like "This is on the honor system?" and "Why would anyone care about seeing birds?" There is the all-too-familiar stop at a private residence to see a rare bird at a feeder. There is the big fallout at a migrant trap. There is the sea-sickness on pelagics and the chumming of the water. There are loads of scopes and cameras, some disappointments, and plenty of I-got-the-bird celebrations. There is even some nice narration about the history of big years and information about bird migration.

There were only two bird-related issues that stuck out to me. The first was the Swainson's Hawk (in the trailer as well) that is seen perched on a tree on a Colorado ski slope in January. The second is the unlikely Pink-footed Goose that is missed at High Island in May, again in Boston, and is then finally seen by itself in a mountaintop hot-spring. Neither of these are likely scenarios for these species even in a vagrant-type situation. On the whole the avian footage was well-matched with proper identification.

The story, as in the book, really is an inspiration to pursue life goals and do what really matters--even if that which matters is birding. Even non-birders will enjoy the comedy (both slapstick and absurd), the believable and relatable characters, and the thrill of the hunt; the eight non-birding friends that accompanied me did!

All in all this is a clean movie anyone can enjoy and that no birder has any good reason to miss. Two thumbs up from Team Fly or Die 'Director Dan.' Go see it!

Passaic Birds 10-9-11

2011-10-09T16:20:00.004-04:00

It was a productive morning for Passaic Birds. I started the morning with a pre-church run to Ringwood Manor. I quickly tallied half a dozen Eastern Bluebirds (FOY Passaic)--there seemed to be a strong movement of them passing through. There were many sparrows out and though most were Song Sparrows I did find a few Swamp Sparrows and one each of Chipping, White-crowned (FOY Passaic), White-throated, and Savannah.

I was hoping to find a few ducks but the only waterfowl was a Mallard and a pair of Mute Swans. I did, however, have an American Pipit (FOY Passaic) make a flyover, calling with its double-noted call as it went. Presumably the same bird made another pass overhead only a few moments later going back in the direction whence it came. Three loudly circling Killdeer added interest to an already good forty-five minutes.

Back at home I had a productive couple of minutes as I changed cloths and rushed out the door for church. The familiar call of my FOY yard Red-breasted Nuthatch bursted from the same tree across the street that produced the Brown Creeper last week and another Red-breasted Nuthatch about a year ago. As I exited the house I clearly hear the same, familiar call of Eastern Bluebird that I had been hearing all morning at the Manor. Running late and in a rush, I could not really search for the bird or follow its voice as it came from down the street, but the bird was there and its call was emanating from close by. It was a great new yard bird.

Passaic - 137/150

Dan - 89
Erica - 80
Larry - 85
Justin - 85

Bergen Birds 10-8-11

2011-10-08T19:30:00.000-04:00

Another day of beating the bushes in Bergen County yielded even more new birds for the LGA effort. I met up with Larry and Jim at the Celery Farm before 8AM. Our walked lasted just under three hours and produced 48 species. There were good numbers of Yellow-rumped Warblers with a Parula, a Nashville, and a Magnolia mixed in. We found four White-crowned Sparrow and the same number of Lincoln's. There were also good numbers of White-throated Sparrow, Swamp Sparrows, and Song Sparrows. A small group of Northern Shovelers and a Green-winged Teal joined the resident waterfowl.

In found four Bergen FOYs. First up was a singing Philadelphia Vireo! We heard the bird up in some tree's near Phair's Pond. The bird had a 'vireo-type' song, but it was slower and more disjointed than Red-eyed. It clearly wasn't White-eyed. Warbling it more musical and regular than our bird and Warblings have basically all moved out by October tenth. Just to check ourselves we had a conversation about if it could be Yellow-throated, but we all agreed that the song was faster than Yellow-throated and the rythem was wrong. We called up a Philly song on a smartphone and it was a dead ringer.

Later we would have a vocalizing Eastern Bluebird. The bird bird gave poor looks as it flew off and away. A Broad-Winged Hawk gave good looks as it flew over. The Magnolia Warbler was also an FOY.

We headed over to Halifax Road afterwards. Here we found twenty-five species in about forty-five minutes. There was a good hawk flight. None of the birds were FOYs, but we tallied an American Kestrel, numerous Red-tailed Hawks and Turkey Vultures, a near-adult Bald Eagle, a Cooper's Hawk, a Sharp-shinned Hawk. We also had a bird that was either Broad-winged or Red-shouldered, but it never gave us good enough looks to tell. There were few birds other than the raptors, but we did find a single Lincoln's Sparrow and a few yellow Palm Warblers.

Bergen 152/175

Bergen Birds 10-6-11

2011-10-06T20:41:00.004-04:00

A certain Rob tweeted yesterday that a Pectoral Sandpiper was at a lake in Allendale and Tennessee Warbler and Philly Vireo were at the Celery Farm. With my time quickly dwindling I need to grab all the birds I can for Bergen if I am going to meet my goal of 175 species.

I headed over to the lake first but to no avail. I did see a bunch of Killdeer, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, a Kestrel, and a Great Blue Heron actually running across mostly dry lakebed.

The Celery Farm proved more productive. In just seconds I located a Tennessee Warbler in the low trees and scrub near Green Way. In the next 25 minutes I found a Nashville Warbler, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Winter Wren, Blue-headed Vireo, and Lincoln's Sparrow--all new for the year in Bergen. Besides a good push of Ruby-crowned Kinglets the other birds were mostly just the usuals. In the end it was six new species.

Bergen - 148/175

Lots of Fall Birds

2011-10-01T18:35:00.007-04:00

The title says it all. I took advantage of the good migration weather last night and headed out to as many places as I could for county FOYs. On the day I totaled 53 species.

First up was Garret Mountain. The chat reported yesterday didn't stick but after waiting out the 20-minute downpour that started at my arrival I did turn up some good birds. First was my Passaic FOY Lincoln's Sparrow buried deep in the bushes that held the reported chat yesterday. Small numbers of warblers included my FOS Palm Warbler (a young 'western'), parula, Black-and-White, Black-throated Blue, Black-throated Green and a few others. An Indigo Bunting was mixed in with one group. The pond help Green Heron, Great Blue Heron, Solitary Sandpiper, and my FOS Pied-billed Grebe (FOY Passaic). Newly arrived White-throated Sparrows joined Song and Swamp. Two female-type Scarlet Tanagers and a Brown Thrasher also made appearances along with a number of other migrants.

From there I moved on to Mills Reservation. The woods held only one solid group of birds that I could find, but it contained my FOS Nashville Warbler and FOY Tennessee Warbler along with three other common FOY Essex birds. On the way out an odd call caught my attention and turned out to be a first-year female Hooded Warbler just twenty-five feet from my car!

The darkening skies, increasing wind, and late day made a few other short stops unproductive. Back at home I heard some activity in a spruce across the street. I went over to investigate the emphatic chickadees half-expecting for find an annoyed owl. Instead with the chickadees and titmice I found a Black-and-white Warbler and a Brown Creeper. I had neither yet for the Yard Bird Challenge! To make the birds count I had to run back across the street to yard and watch carefully until each bird climbed across the exposed trunk of the tree that faced my direction so I could see the birds with my naked eye. It took ten minutes, but eventually the creeper and then the warbler showed themselves. These birds allowed me to one-up the Tennessee Warblers Justin logged today.

In other news, my students pointed out to my what would be my first and second Bergen County American Kestrels of the year last Friday at school. They also spotted the school's first Osprey.

Bergen - 140/175
Passaic - 134/150
Essex - 27/75

Dan - 87
Erica - 80
Larry - 84
Justin - 85

Liberty State Park 9-29-11

2011-09-29T19:41:00.003-04:00

Lori and I headed down to Liberty State Park to take advantage of my day off from work. I figured it would be a good opportunity to pick up some Hudson County birds. The last few nights have not provided many opportunities for new migrants, but I haven't birded Hudson County since the winter (excluding a few night-time forays) and so there were many common warm-weather birds despite the lack of migrants.

I walked away with 16 new species for my Hudson year-list. Highlights of the day included my fall's first American Wigeon, fall's first Brant, a Ruddy Turnstone, a Semipalmated Sandpiper, Laughing Gull, and a Merlin. A trio of Common Yellowthroats were my only warblers for the county this year.

Husdon - 58/100

Thrushes Galore & NFCs Resume

2011-09-26T20:31:00.012-04:00

Lately I have been frustrated by the complete lack of nocturnal flight calls after sunset. Even when the radar is buzzing with activity the skies have been quiet the last few weeks. In order to regain the lead in the YBC I felt I really needed to increase my passerine count with flight calls and the lack of said calls was really strating to frustrate me.

I decided to try the early AM hours instead. It would be easier on my schedule to get up early than to stay up late and maybe, just maybe, the birds might be a bit more vocal as they came in for a landing at dawn. I don't know whether my rationale was correct or not, but the plan worked.

On this morning the birds were moving in the Northeast and the skies above my yard were a filled with calls. I recorded at least fourteen solid calls and as the YBC rules go, I heard all of them with my own ears. Many of the calls were Swainson's Thrush and represented the first of that species for the competition. I also recorded two Wood Thrush and a sparrow species that will go down as either Lincoln's or Swamp. Because the recording isn't good quality and the species overlap greatly in vocal quality I won't likely be able to tell them apart.

I recorded a call that was clearly a warbler. At first I was thinking Blackburnian Warbler but with some help from the NFC listerv I confidently IDed that bird as Blackpoll. Neither species would be new for my yard. Another call submitted to the NFCers was unlike any I had recorded before. The spectrogram revealed a straight, up-sloped call gradually increasing in modulation. With help I was able to sufficiently identify it as a Northern Waterthrush.

One other bird of note--Last year on the night of September 14 I logged a Gray-cheeked Thrush that flew over the house. This morning I heard yet another just before I got the computer and mic set up. So far, all of the calls I have used as first-IDs in the competition have been recorded for proof and credibility since the idea of nocturnal flight calls is still obscure to many birders. This bird has a fairly easy call to ID--its distinctive in duration, pattern, and frequency. I wish I could have recorded the bird, but even without the spectrogram I am still sure of the ID. So long as the others are ok with it the bird will count.

Oh yeah, the thrushes and NOWA put me back in first place.

Dan - 85
Erica - 80
Larry - 84
Justin - 83

A Few Quick Updates...

2011-09-25T16:19:00.003-04:00

I did a bit of local birding yesterday but the generally poor migration weather over the past 4 or 5 days left the areas I checked somewhat devoid of birds. Nonetheless I snagged my FOY Morris Belted Kingfisher and my FOY Passaic Green Heron.

On the way home today I spied a young Bald Eagle coasting northeast off the mountain from the Bergen County side of Skyline Drive. It was my Bergen FOY. Also today I got my yard's first Ruby-crowned Kinglet mixed in with a pair of Redstarts and a Black-throated Green.

Bergen - 136/175
Passaic - 130/150
Morris - 64/125

Dan - 82
Erica - 80
Larry - 84
Justin - 82

I Can Bird In My Sleep

2011-09-25T15:45:00.003-04:00

Ever hear that expression, "I can ______ in my sleep" from someone claiming to be just that good at whatever the blank is?

Last night I had a strange dream. In summary I was with my parents and siblings moving some stuff at our church when I began to hear an owl. My family asked me to identify the bird. I said, 'no problem,' listened, and promptly reported that the bird calling was a Great Horned Owl. I proceeded to search the room (lights were off) and soon found the bird perched in a corner, still calling. I made sure to get all of my family on the bird.

Suddenly I woke up. It was 4:00AM. There were two Great Horned Owls in duet outside not far from my open window. I had literally identified the birds from my subconscious.

Birding? Yeah, I can do that in my sleep.

Say's Phoebe 9/19/11 and a Local Smattering

2011-09-20T08:37:00.005-04:00

The day started our with a Merlin during a pre-work walk around my Bergen County school. I was a little surprised to see a Merlin zooming along just after dawn, but it was a welcome surprise.

By lunchtime reports of the Say's Phoebe at Bee Meadow Park in Morris county had reached me via listserv. Though not lifer, it was a must-chase because it was within my LGA for the year and because it would be my first for NJ. The bird was only twenty-five minutes away besides. I passed word along to Larry who saw the birds with a large group of birders, including a prominent Tom, Sam, and Simon.

When I arrived the bird had moved into an inaccessible area but was still viewable from fifty yards. Another birder showed up while I was looking at the bird. I got him on it with ease and we moved on to look for a Lincoln's Sparrow that had been reported on the other side of the park. We noted how much more difficult the Lincoln's was than the Say's, but we finally did find the bird near the culvert between the ponds.

I had an appointment in Montclair later that night so rather then drive back home only to return to the area I just drove on to Mill's Reservation. Mill's was quiet, but I did manage to snag three new Essex year birds--Common Yellowthroat, Black-throated Green Warbler, and Eastern Wood-Pewee.

To wrap things up I stopped at my Alma Mater to kill time until my appointment and to check an area I used to bird between classes. This part of the campus is in Passaic County (other parts are in Essex. In a weedy patch I found House Wren, Common Yellowthroat, Magnolia Warbler, and a surprise Wilson's Warbler. Interestingly the Mag was a Passaic FOY but the Wilson's was not.

All in all it was a great day of local sightings as I added birds to four counties and I got a great new Jersey bird.

Bergen - 135/175
Passaic - 129/150
Morris - 63/125
Essex - 21/100

Owl Hat Trick 9/17/11

2011-09-17T10:58:00.007-04:00

I was at some friends house in Morristown late last night. When I left around midnight I felt I owed it to myself and my LGA efforts to swing past Great Swamp NWR and try to hear a Barred Owl. The refuge itself is closed at night but the public roads through and around it are all you need to find a place to listen. I cannot stress enough the importance of obeying all of the laws, rules, and regulations associated with our parks and wildlife areas. If we as birders want to maintain our access to these areas and indeed gain access to new ones we need to show our trustworthiness and good stewardship with those that we have. For that reason and others it is never worth trespassing or breaking other rules to get a bird.

With safety and legality in mind, I found a safe place to park on one of the public roads and started listening. It was pretty noisy--insects, frogs, Canada Geese, and a heron all filled their air with their voices. There were no owls. I tried my Barred Owl call (still in its infancy). Still no owls.

I decided to move on and try one more time, so I drove along until I found another safe, legal place to park. A fox darted out from the roadside and gave me an annoyed look. I listened again--no calls. I tried my Barred Owl again. I waited. Then I thought I heard something. Yes it was!--a Barred Owl was calling far off. I called again, hoping the bird would come closer. Then I heard another call, but this time from a different angle. It was a Great Horned Owl.

Now I was listening intently to see how many individuals of those species there were calling but instead of hearing additional Barred or Great Horned I heard a single low "hooo" from a new direction, the first two birds still calling intermittently. Then again "hooo" came from the same direction maybe fifteen seconds later. Then again, and again until I had heard it five or six times in all. A Long-eared Owl!

I could not be pleased enough with my twenty minutes of listening. Barred and Long-eared were new Morris year-birds and the Long-eared was only my fourth confirmed encounter with that species. This brings my Morris total for the year a few badly needed 'hard' birds.

Morris - 60/125

Record-keeping for the 2012 Big Year

2011-09-13T13:35:00.006-04:00

As mentioned in my previous and related post, my reading of the Big Year is influencing my Big Years plans for 2012. One of the tips I am borrowing from Sandy Komito is the importance of documentation--even though I am not competing for any titles nor do I expect to even approach any records, likely making my effort insignificant to anyone but myself.

All that aside I do hope to come up with a total that will earn some respect and I would like to have the evidence to back it up. Taking photos of all but the most cooperative birds is out of the question for me as I have no camera equipment besides a point-and-shoot.

As an alternative I plan to get signatures.

It might be cumbersome, but I am going to try to have people sign-off on as many species as possible to validate my claims. Whenever I see a bird with another birder, no matter how common, I will have them sign a spreadsheet I am going to print out. The result will be a spreadsheet full of names and dates that will both provide weight to my sightings and become a nice keepsake of my efforts.

In addition I will be working on a nice suite of statistics in true BYC/YBC fashion. If you have been following this year's Yard Bird Competition or have been following as long as 2009's Big Year Challenge you know that Fly or Die's competitions come rife with statistics and numbers. For my 2012 Big Year I plan to keep a log of the amount of time I have spent in the field as well as counts of the number of trips I have taken during each month and to major locations. The biologist in me wants to have some way to quantify the effort aspect of the attempt and since most of my observations are input to eBird anyway, I should always have duration data recorded.

I already have the spreadsheet pretty much worked out. In December I will revisit these preparations as D-Day approaches.

Travel Ideas for Big Year 2012

2011-09-13T09:44:00.011-04:00

My next big year attempt does not begin for three-and-a-half months but planning is already afoot. In short, travel plans and other details have to be worked out ahead of time.

I am currently reading The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik, the true-life story of three birders competing for the ABA Big Year record in 1998 and inspiration for the movie the Big Year for which I posted the trailer in a previous post. While I am attempting nothing like a full-blown ABA Big Year, I have been gleaning tips from the book like a hungry Ruby-crowned Kinglet.

As a result I am working on a wish-list of realistic travel plans. I have a friend in southern Arizona. A visit to his house in February would jump-start my list with western species and possibly allow me to pick up some Mexican visitors. I would like to make a trek up to Maine in early summer--a vacation my wife and I have been talking about as well as an opportunity for Puffins, Gray Jays, and other boreal birds. I have an invitation already to a friend's doctoral graduation party in Los Angeles in October. This would provide an excellent chance to pick up southbound western migrants and other songbirds as well as gulls. If these three trips happen my State-side total would be excellent.

Additionally I have some international destinations on my mind. My Big Year has no geographic limits and my previous best of 426 was a world total. My wife and I again have hope to make it to England during the Olympics in August and there is a possibility of an international trip with a church group--not a birding trip, but still an opportunity to pick up some casual international species.

Of course, all of these trips are predicated on available budget. Staying with friends, frequent flyer miles, and other travel perks may all help make these plans a reality, but at the core they will all still require serious cash that may or may not be available. Time will tell.

Coming soon is a preliminary set of parameters for my 2012 Big Year.

Migrants Overhead, Way Overhead

2011-09-10T00:21:00.003-04:00

Last night there was a good migration event over New Jersey. As tonight promised to be the same, I stayed up late. While I did manage to see two tiny flying shapes pass the moon, I heard only three calls in almost an hour and two of them were very faint. I am guessing from the apparent size of the moon birds and the absence/faintness of calls that the birds are a little higher up tonight than I can observe and hear from my back porch.

The one bird that I did hear was a 'zeep' call akin to Yellow Warbler (though its probably too late for a Yellow). It was not recorded and will go unidentified.

the Big Year: Movie Trailer

2011-09-08T19:02:00.003-04:00

The trailer speaks for itself. Loosely based on the book of the same year by Mark Obmascik about three birders who all tried to beat the ABA Big Year record in 1998. Opens October 14th.

The Big Year by teasertrailer

Bergen Co White Ibis 9-4-11

2011-09-04T21:12:00.004-04:00

Larry called me up this evening, or at least tried to; his words were a frantic jumbled mess. In the jambalaya of jumbled words and labored breathing I was able to make out "White Ibis!"

I haven't done much chasing this year, far or near, and my Bergen year list is starting to lag. I figured this would be a must-have for my LGA goals. Once I got Larry to calm down he was able to articulate that the bird was on a small pond in Park Ridge. I was familiar with the spot because it was a place I had looked there in vain for the Pink-footed Goose back in March before finally finding it the following day. At any rate, I was in my car and on my way in fifteen minutes.

After a nearly 40-minute drive (no highways run directly to the spot from my location) I arrived to find Larry and Chris waiting, bird in scope. The bird was an immature and was sitting in a tree with a trio of Great Egrets. This was my FOY NJ White Ibis and my second ever for Bergen. Larry thought it was his first as the only previous White Ibis we could remember in Bergen was in DeKorte a few years back and Larry missed it. The evening also provided a nice showing of Common Nighhawks. Twenty or more zoomed by high above us.

Bergen - 134/175

New Yard Action 8/29/11

2011-08-30T19:00:00.002-04:00

Justin has been lighting it up with week with Eastern Wood-Pewee, Common Nighthawk, and an Eastern Towhee (if I am reading the spreadsheet correctly). We have been trading off for 2nd and 3rd place since my Bald Eagle a week ago.

Justin sent me a message saying he had six nighthawks pass his house and to be on the lookout for my yard FOY since we is just a few miles away. A few hours later I tallied my own two Common Nighthawks. I also got the feeders out for the first time since my bear attack back in May. I hope the new configuration will be to the landlord's liking (and not to the bears).

Dan - 80

Larry - 84

Erica - 77

Justin - 81

Great Swamp NWR 8/26/11

2011-08-29T09:31:00.002-04:00

A friend of mine just moved to Morristown. I headed down to his housewarming get-together a few hours early and took a quick spin through Great Swamp. It was a quiet afternoon and no migration had taken place for a few days. At any rate, my Morris list was hurting for songbirds so every bit helped.

I spent an hour on the trail that loops past the 'friends' blind. Morris FOY birds included Chestnut-sided and Black-and-White Warblers, Hairy Woodpecker and Eastern Towhee. There were also good numbers of pewees. On the way out I also spotted a Red-shouldered Hawk on the ground in a field, probably on a kill.

Morris - 56/125

Morning Flight at Higbee's 8/23/11

2011-08-25T20:29:00.003-04:00

This year my family's vacation was delayed because of other summer happenings. My parents invited my wife and I to join them earlier this week and we arrived in Cape May just a few days before the region would be evacuated before the impending landfall of Hurricane Irene (expected to make landfall on Cape May Point 48 hours from now).

On the morning of the shocking East Coast Earthquake I woke up at 5AM and headed down to Higbees Beach and the dike where Morning Flight takes place. I am not typically in Cape May late enough to witness this phenomenon, but the delayed date of our vacation allowed me to finally see where all the stunning photos of warblers in flight were coming from. Woodcreeper.com was predicting a great morning for migration and I was not disappointed.

I arrived at the dike around 5:50 and by 6:10 I was standing at the crest of the hill some of the regulars--Tom, Doug, Glen, Scott, and Steven along with others. Three of the birders wielded cameras like semi-automatic rifles, ready to let out a burst of fire with a snap of the trigger. Soon I saw our first birds rising up from the trees just a few yards to the south and southwest. Among them was a Prothonotary Warbler, my FOY, and as I lifted my Swarovski's to the see the bird Tom commented that it was the watch's first of the season.

What followed was a unique experience that I will not soon forget: a near-sorcerous cross between a hawk watch and standing on the ridge at Garret Mountain during a good fallout. As with a hawk watch the birds followed a generally predictable path overhead on a South-North axis, sometimes wandering off a little to the East or West and sometimes flying up the hill of the dike and directly at the line of observers. Like the ridge at Garret, however, the commuters were predominantly passerines and were passing in accumulations unlike they could be found during other seasons. There were several groups of 40+ Eastern Kingbirds, 10-15 Baltimore Orioles, spats of five or ten assorted warblers, and nearly continuous stream of American Redstarts and Purple Martins. Notable birds included Dickcissel, Blackburnian Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blue Grosbeak, and many other colorful gems. I was treated to a hummingbird that flew up the dike and paused barely two feet from our faces as it investigated us at length and later a Common Nighthawk in broad daylight that flew past with a group of martins.

The identification of this maelstrom of birds was a marvel in itself. The more experienced Morning Flight birders identified the birds though a combination of flight calls and general impression of the flight and body type (or GISS--general impression of size and shape). For example, a buzzy flight call coming from a warbler with all-yellow undersides is likely a Blue-winged. Dickcissel, Bobolink, and others could be IDed strictly by call even if the bird was far overhead. Seeing these birds in the wide-open sky and in mid-flight was very different for me and my typical days of picking through leaf and branch for obstructed views of these tiny creatures. I am used to identifying them through a combination of songs and body plumage rather than flight/flock calls and general body characteristics.

Where the GISS and calls failed the cameras took over. Indeed the three shooters reminded me of the photos I have seen of the farmers of yesteryear wantonly shooting raptors from what is now Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania except that these shooters had rapid-fire shutters and instant-digital trophies that aided greatly in IDing difficult birds. I typically do not find myself in Cape May County for passerines with so many great North Jersey locations to bird and this experiences added greatly to both my identification skills and me Cape May list. Given the opportunity, I strongly suggest that every birder spend the first hours after dawn at Morning Flight.

Another Brown Booby

2011-08-20T14:25:00.004-04:00

Today the big news is an adult (or at least near-adult) Brown Booby being well-seen and photographed on a channel marker in Lower Township/Cape May. I have no joy for the birders seeing this bird right now and posting happily everywhere of their experience. I am not a vindictive person, but to be frank I am quite bitter about this bird.

Interesting that a well-behaved adult Brown Booby would should show up in NJ on or about August 20th when in fact two years ago I reported the same along with two other birders. Our bird, also a (near-)adult was seen on August 28th, 2009. I really can't help being frustrated by the fact that our reports met with little interest at the time and the eventual ruling of the records committee seemed to ignore many of the field marks reported (but you can read about that in a previous post).

My rant today stems from the unpublished communication I had with a member of the committee who wrote me that, "While some members voted to accept, others felt that there were some things lacking from the details (a photograph would have resolved the issue) to completely convince them of the identification, given the rarity of the species and especially of adults off the mid-Atlantic states." The issue of your credibility being reliant on a photo is another topic for another time. I rather want to point out that an ADULT Brown Booby is resting PLAIN AS DAY in a well-used channel in Cape May County, and oddly enough at the same time of year as my bird two years ago.

Yard Birds Resume

2011-08-17T19:41:00.003-04:00

After a nearly 2-month hiatus my contributions to the Yard Bird Challenge resumed today with a first-year Bald Eagle sailing over the house today in loose company with a Turkey Vulture and a pair of Red-tailed Hawks. Besides being my FOY for the yard the bird was also my FOY for Passaic County. It is interesting that I had a first-year Bald Eagle flying along the same south-bound route last August 26th.

It's been a while, but things will be heating up again as we enter the fall migration season. Incidentally, it should be mentioned that Justin and I discovered that a bird he had initially listed as Ruby-crowned Kinglet was found to be a Pine Warbler upon closer inspection of a photo taken of the bird on his suet feeder. The correction has been made in the spreadsheet (+Pine Warbler, -Ruby-crowned Kinglet, net change = 0).

Passaic - 127/150

Dan - 79
Erica - 77
Larry - 84
Justin - 78

Garret 8/17

2011-08-17T18:04:00.003-04:00

I spent about and hour and a half at Garret Mt. early this morning in hopes of bolstering my Passaic County list. Warblers were few, but flycatchers were abundant around the pond. There were many pewees, a few pheobes, a Great Crested, and one or two unidentified pewee/empid types. The highlight of this respect was an Olive-sided Flycatcher I found feeding between the ponds. From a distance I noticed the bird was darker overall than the pewees I had been seeing. The bird started off at the peak of a very tall tree in the 'lawn' between the ponds from which it sallied out a few times for insects.

As I watched the bird move about and eventually move on to another tiny twig at the exposed summit of another tall tree I could see an all-dark bill and peaked head and the streaked 'vest' on its chest and belly. The habits and overall coloration were a dead-ringer for Olive. I would have liked to have seen the sometimes-elusive white patches on the back, but it was not to be.

Other highlights included my Passaic FOY Hooded Merganser in the pond and at least two Northern Waterthrushes. Black-and-white and redstart rounded out the warblers.

Passaic - 126/150

Look back at the 8/28/09 Brown Booby

2011-08-16T23:15:00.014-04:00

I received my copy of the NJ Audubon Bird Report 2011 in the mail yesterday and was surprised to see my Brown Booby report from August 2009 in the 'Not Accepted" category. I was not surprised it was not accepted as I already had personal communication from the records committee confirming this. Rather, I was surprised that the report was only just now in publication.

At any rate, as I read the summary of the Records Committee's decision I was severely disappointed by the way my report had been handled. As I had stated this disappointment in the form of an email to one of the committee members already and as I did not see it appropriate to 'vent' about the report on the listserv, I thought this would be an appropriate venue to revisit our side of the story.

To refresh your memory of the sighting, you can read my initial post here or you can read the actual email I sent to the NJ Records Committee below. Rob and Larry also sent their accounts to the committee which I have not read to this day.

"Here is my account of the 8/28/09 Barnegat Inlet Brown Booby for submission to the records commitee:

Rob Scherr, Larry Scacchetti, and I headed to Barnegat Inlet on the afternoon of 8/28/09 with hopes of disintegrating Tropical Storm Dan pushing some birds in from the ocean. Seas and the tide were quite high and there was an abundance of birds feeding in the 'rips' where the channel water meets the ocean. These birds included Common, Forster's, Royal, and Black Terns, several Northern Gannets, about 20 Brown Pelicans, and many gulls.

Around 4:20PM I was standing alone (as my 2 companions had walked ahead and out of earshot) at the corner where the beach meets the jetty, scanning the water for anything of interest. I noticed a bird flying away from me low over the water, with rapid, stiff wingbeats and a dark overall color, about 1000 feet offshore to the right of the jetty. I knew right way it was a Sulid (long, pointed wings, streamlined body) and assumed young Northern Gannet. Initially the view of the bird was intermittently obstructed by the high surf.

The bird then turned left and allowed an unobstructed frontal view. It was clear the bird had a monochrome dark head and upper chest distinctly contrasting a white belly. The interface of the two colors was a clean line running horizontally across the breast. I immediately recalled the many Brown Boobies I had seen in Puerto Rico in August 2008 and felt strongly that this bird was in fact a Brown Booby.

My priority was to get additional eyes on the bird, so I walked to the end of the jetty, and explained that I had seen a 'gannet with brown chest and white belly' to Rob and Larry. I wanted to see what their reaction would be. Larry immediately said, "That's not a gannet, that's a Brown Booby." We returned to my original location and took turns with the scope until about 15 minutes later Larry relocated the bird, now flying higher to the left of the jetty.

The bird cooperated nicely and allowed all three of us to get great looks in the scope. It was now only 2/3 the original distance away and occupied most of the field of view in the scope. The aforementioned belly/chest contrast was very apparent. Additional field marks we noticed at this time included a chocolate brown head, chest, back, & tail, pale gray-yellow beak, and some dark mottling in the wing coverts. Aside from the white belly and few mottled patches on the wing, the plumage was entirely chocolate brown. We observed the bird until we were all satisfied and departed around 4:50PM."

I cannot reproduce the committee entry here for copyright reasons, but I will paraphrase a few excerpts from the entry as best as possible. If you are an NJAS member, you can find the entry on page 24 of the Fall 2011 issue (Vol. 37, number 3). The entry states that our description didn't eliminate either Brown Booby or [immature] Northern Gannet as possibilities because it didn't identify field marks indicative of Gannet (ex. mottled wings) nor did it mention field marks that would narrow the sighting to Brown Booby (ex. smaller size, lack of white on rump).

Nearly all of these complaints are unfounded. You can plainly read the following in my report to the committee:

1) There were a few mottled patches in the wing. Aside from these and the white belly the plumage was entirely chocolate brown. I do not describe well-mottled wings with extensive white as would be seen in a subadult gannet. The limited mottling can be explained by molt or wear. I do, however, plainly state the bird was chocolate brown, not just 'dark.'

2) The bird had a chocolate brown head, chest, back, & tail, and a pale gray-yellow beak. Far from failing to mention features that limit the bird to Brown Booby, I plainly state that the bird was dorsally all-brown by mentioning both specific brown parts of the bird's anatomy and also by stating the bird was all-brown aside from specifically mentioned exceptions (some dark mottling and white belly). This description does not give any indication of a white rump and I would say no reasonable person could infer a white rump on this bird from my description.

3) ...and a pale gray-yellow beak. Show me a gannet with a gray-yellow beak. Go ahead, I dare you. How can it be complained that there were no field marks indicative of Brown Booby?

4) The bird flew low to the water with rapid, stiff wingbeats. I mention this here to add a bit more to the 'no field marks indicative of booby' rebuttal. Sibley, Howell & Webb, Dunne, and others all indicate Brown Booby is likely to be seen low to the water and flying with deeper and stiffer wingbeats than gannet. This low-elevation flight and stiff cadence is something I allude to in my report and is a behavioral field mark indicative of booby over gannet.

5) There is a statement that seems to be meant to imbue doubt to the sighting in the committee's publication. That statement is that inclement weather played a factor. While I do state seas were rough, I said nothing about the weather (e.g. visibility) and in fact visibility was not an issue and the bird was observed at various unobstructed angles for more than 15 minutes.

The only ambiguous factor was size. While we never state that the bird was smaller (a characteristic which we did notice, but didn't report) we also never state the bird was the same size or larger than a gannet. In light of the abundance of Brown Booby-diagnostic field marks I have a hard time understanding how the lack of a single characteristic (not the report of a contradictory characteristic) can eliminate the bird from acceptance. In short, I believe most of what the committee reports in response to our sighting is simply incorrect and inconsistent with the report that I sent them. It is true that I do not know what Rob and Larry reported and I do not know how their reports may have factored in, but no mention was made to me of contradictory information in their reports.

Boyle, B., Burgiel, J., Elia, V., & Hanson, J. (2011). New Jersey Bird Records Committee. New Jersey Audubon, 37(3), 24.

Harrier Meadow 8/16/11

2011-08-16T13:46:00.003-04:00

This morning I joined the Bergen County Audubon Society for a bird walk at Harrier Meadow, my lovely wife in tow. Harrier is a restricted area and for this reason I jumped at the opportunity to bird an area I otherwise would not have access to. Also in company were prominent local characters Chris, Mike, Jim, Don, and Rick as well as many others.

The generally wet summer and last night's rain kept water levels high and shorebirds were few aside from some of each yellowlegs and some Leasts and Semi's. A young Bald Eagle did put on a nice show for a few minutes, soaring above a landfill. The sky also welcomed a Peregrine Falcon, but a Red-tailed Hawk and Osprey receiving the bird's dive-bomb attacks did not. Bergen FOYs included the falcon, a Laughing Gull, a Willow Flycatcher, and a surprise Green-winged Teal.

I was able to add four birds to the 2011 Bergen list. My wife, a non-birder, enjoyed seeing some of the more cooperative, larger species. There were plenty of familiar faces to swap sightings with. All in all a great morning. Thanks to BCAS and the Meadowlands Commission for making these walks a reality!

Bergen - 132/175

Ramapo State Forest 8/15/11

2011-08-15T10:48:00.002-04:00

I took a long walk through the lower (Bergen) part of Ramapo State Forest looking for the Ruffed Grouse that has been now reported at least three times from the same trail. This would be an awesome Bergen bird, but it would even more importantly be my first for Jersey, an almost embarrassing admission.

At any rate, my attempts to get more information from the reporters as to exactly where the bird was on said trail have left me empty-handed. I chose to walk the entire trail. This method, of course, was like looking for a well-camouflaged needle in a haystack and did not allow the type of waiting I would have liked since I needed to keep moving to cover the entire trail in a reasonable period of time.

I had no luck with the grouse, but I did turn up my Bergen FOY Scarlet Tanager and Great Crested Flycatcher. No warblers today, but the semi-rainy weather drags on.

Bergen - 128/175

Celery Farm 8/9 and 8/11

2011-08-11T14:44:00.006-04:00

Earlier this week I made a quick stop at the Celery Farm on the way to points elsewhere. I spent just fifteen minutes on the first platform near the main entrance, but I was able to spy an immature Yellow-crowned Night-Heron along one of the banks. The bird had the thin neck, all-dark bill, and limited white speckling that separate immatures of this species from its more common cousin, the Black-crowned night-Heron. I wondered if this was a bird recently hatched at nearby White's Pond. It was a first for Bergen County in 2011.

A second, more focused trip this morning yielded a dearth of species in the noticeably cooler air. I did manage to snag two Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, my FOY for Bergen, as they zipped through the trail near the butterfly garden.

These birds bump my 2011 Bergen list to 126. With still a long way to go to my goal of 175 and my Passaic list nearing its goal (124/150) I am going to be spending much of my remaining summer birding time trying to mop up Bergen birds.

Bergen 126/175

Walker Ave 8/10/11

2011-08-10T12:37:00.005-04:00

A second trip to Walker Ave met with raised water levels due to yesterday's steady rain. There were generally fewer shorebirds, but I had more time to spend and I was able to pick through the birds a little better. Additionally, I found my usual lookout occupied by another birder, Jim, whose name I was familiar with from Jersey Birding posts. I joined him and we discussed local birding a bit and helped each other pick through the small groups of waders.

In addition to the usual suspects I checked off my first pair of Semipalmated Plovers for Passaic County and a Broad-winged Hawk that was calling nearby. Barn Swallow and Solitary Sandpiper were also new for Passaic County for 2011. After a while Jim suddenly said, "Those are ravens." In fact there were three ravens circling up across the lake and well beyond, probably over Lincoln Park. They were a welcome surprise.

Passaic - 124/150

Walker Ave 8/5/11

2011-08-06T20:17:00.003-04:00

I took a short spin past the Walker Ave Wetlands to check on water levels and see if any shorebirds were showing up yet. I found, in fact, that the water was partly receded and some of the lakebed was exposed wet mud and some was even dry with grass. About 70% of the lake was still standing water, but the exposed area was enough to attract quite a few peeps and larger shorebirds. Without a scope a was able to find three Lesser Yellowlegs, one Greater Yellowlegs, two Semipalmated Sandpipers, and a number of Least Sandpipers. These FOYs for Passaic County accompanied half a dozen or more Killdeer.

In the coming days I'll be returning in hopes of maximizing my Passaic shorebird and waders lists and maybe even snagging another Baird's Sandpiper or ibis.

Passaic 121/150

Gray-hooded Gull 8/2/11

2011-08-02T22:23:00.005-04:00

It's fair to say that the Coney Island Gray-hooded Gull was my most costly chase ever. If you are adament about reducing your carbon footprint, do not read the rest of this post.

I am not the kind of guy who will drive four or five hours for a rarity. I am fairly well-traveled and I usually tell myself I can always get the bird in its home range some day or have already done so (ex. Red-necked Stint and Bar-tailed Godwit in Japan, Hooded Crow in Poland, Fork-tailed Flycatcher in Belize to name a few). Nonetheless, if a bird shows up within two or three hour's drive, especially if its a Jersey Bird, I will usually make an attempt if it would be a lifer. Such is the case with Coney Island's Gray-hooded Gull, just 36 miles from my door as the crow flies (or gull in this case).

I checked my email from my phone at a layover stop on my way back from Florida last week and found a post about the gull. I texted Larry to see if he had heard. His response was "I'm looking at it." Once I found out the the bird would be North America's second record for this species (which I didn't even recognize when I first read the report), I figured I had no excuse not to chase. Only 36 miles right? Right, except for the fact that between me and the bird is a place I loathe like no other--New York City. I really can't think of any place I would rather be, let alone drive through. Lori and I set out Tuesday morning to make the 60+ mile, one hour and fifteen minute drive.

Along the way we passed all of the great things about NYC: double-parked cars, toll bridges that cost more than a value meal at Burger King, endless construction, people walking everywhere as if impervious to being hit by a car, people whose native language is car horn, countless one-way streets, and many other auto-related oddities.

We arrived around 11AM. On the boardwalk were forty or more birders with all manner of binoculars, scopes, and cameras and not one of them was pressed to their eyes--not a good sign. I inquired and found two individuals who had been present since 5:30AM and had not seen the bird in its 'usual' spot by the palm tree water fountain (where Larry had seen it immediately on his visit). I walked up and down the beach with Lori, scanning every gull along the way. After two hours of searching our parking meter was up and we departed empty-handed at 12:55PM.

I arrived home at 2:1oPM and at 2:13PM I received an email stating that the bird had arrived at 1:15PM and was showing nicely. I was darn close to furious.

We decided that if the bird was reported in the morning on the following day we would return. It was and we did. We repeated the who driving process and arrived this time at 1:30PM. Larry had seen the bird after 1:00 and it had arrived after 1:00 on the prior afternoon, so we decided to show up at that time. There were almost no birders when we arrived--very different from the previous day. The one birder I saw said he had been at the 'usual spot' for a while with no luck. We headed east along the beach to check the other water fountain. After fifteen minutes or so we returned. I reported to the same birder, "We checked down that way but he wasn't ar--" and before I could finish he said, "That's ok because he's right there!"

I looked and there was the bird, perched boastfully on a yellow post on the beach and three or four more people were photographing him from the sand. Lori and I, the first birder and another just arriving headed down to join and take some picture, one of which appears here. I finally had my bird.

Between the tolls, the parking meters, and gas the combined trips to see this bird cost me approximately $68, not counting the lunch I had to buy that I probably would have bought anyway. In addition, it cost me five hours of driving and two and a half hours of searching. By far my most costly chase in terms of both time and money and I hope not to repeat this process anytime soon--especially in NYC.

West Indies 2011

2011-07-31T19:22:00.007-04:00

It's been a big week for Team Fly or Die; Rob is not engaged and off to medical school. Larry picked up the Gray-headed Gull that showed up at Coney Island, and I was on a cruise with my wife through the West Indies. My trip afforded me the opportunity to pick up some island endemics and to see some tropical favorites that I first saw in Puerto Rico, Cozumel, and the Dominican Republic over the years.

The trip kicked off with Magnificent Frigatebirds right at the dock in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. These have been a favorite of mine since I first saw them in Belize ten years ago. The next day we arrived at Key West and more tropical specialties: White-crowned Pigeon, Eurasian Collared Dove, Gray Kingbird, Common Ground Dove, and others. I got a photo of two cooperative White Ibis which reminded me of the 2-4 White Ibis that have been around Jersey this week. Some pishing in Fort Zachary Taylor State Park yielded a pair of Prothonotary Warblers, two Prairie Warbers, a Yellow-throated Warbler, and a bunch of Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers--all signs that fall is coming and in here already for some birds.

On the first day at sea we passed a group of birds in a feeding frenzy not too far from the northwest end of Cuba. Though distant, I could ID most of them as Sooty Terns. I had seen a mere three of these on my last cruise through the same area. I was still holding out for Bridled Tern. Next we arrived in Grand Cayman. White-winged Dove, Bananaquit, Black-necked Stilt, and Greater Antillean Grackle were all welcome repeat species. The first lifers of the trip manifested in the form of a West Indian Woodpecker perched on the ridge of a house and a pair of Caribbean Doves flying quickly by.

The next day we arrived in Jamaica where I expected to do the most damage, so-to-speak. Before disembarking from our cruise ship I caught sight of five White-tailed Tropicbirds with their distinctive black dorsal pattern feeding on flying fish that could be seen jumping and swimming along the surface in any attempt to escape. Caribbean Martin, Cave Swallow, White-collared Swift, and Loggerhead Kingbird were all happily added to the repeat species list. The first life bird here was a small swift with a notched tail which turned out to be a Black Swift and was only the first of half-a-dozen or so that I would see. The next lifer was Jamaican Crow, a loud and active trio of which was hanging around the gardens we were visiting. The last and most spectacular lifer of the trip was the Streamertail. The Red-billed subspecies of this hummingbird was common in the garden. I got a great photo of one with its distinctive plumes.

The final day at sea yielded a great view of another feeding frenzy. This time instead of moving away from the boat as usual, the flock allowed the boat to pass closely by. Most of the fifty or so birds were Sooty Terns, but there was a group of ten to fifteen Brown Boobies mixed in and I was able to pick out the white neck-band of at least one Bridled Tern. Finally. In all the trip total was 51 species with six life species. The variety of birds and the upcoming film 'the Big Year' have me pretty excited for next year's renewed big year effort when I will again try to beat my personal best of 426 species worldwide and 300 species in New Jersey. More on that as 2011 closes out, but for now I am happy for my new lifers.

Mills Reservation 7/15/11

2011-07-15T18:19:00.003-04:00

Essex County was today's target for another casual birding and caching trip. My friend and I took another mid-day trip, this time to Mills Reservation. Highlights for the day included many Wood Thrushes and a somewhat out-of-season Veery. We got good looks at a Hairy Woodpecker feeding on a log.

The best sighting came as we entered a coniferous clearing where someone had constructed a makeshift shelter of sticks. I noticed some 'whitewash' of large droppings as I walked into the clearing. Next I realized there was a group of Jays, titmice, and chickadees sounding pretty annoyed nearby. To me, the droppings and the apparent mobbing in a the potential roosting site of large conifers said one thing to me--owl. As we circled around to get closer the huge, blunt-winged silhouette of Great Horned Owl dropped out of the trees and flew further into the woods. It was a great bird to get for my tiny Essex County list and a great experience for my non-birder friend.

Essex 18/75

Lord Stirling and Great Swamp 7/13/11

2011-07-15T18:01:00.003-04:00

I took a quick trip with a non-birder friend of mine who recently moved back to NJ to explore Lord Stirling Park. I had been there only twice before myself and hoped to add some species to my county goals for the year. We walked casually around the park and also did some geocaching as we went. Eventually the plastic blazes on the trees alerted us that were we in SOMERSET County and not Morris County. We decided to move on as Somerset is not on my list for the year. We did see and hear several Purple Martins before we left, which we some of the few martins I have seen in the northern part of the state.

We drove across the bridge to Morris County, and after a quick stop at the Raptor Trust, continued to Pleasant Plains Road. Here we tallied a few birds, but the mid-day heat kept the list small. Willow Flycatcher (well seen and calling) and a pair of Marsh Wrens near an apparent nest-site were the birds of the day.

Morris - 51/125

Fishing for Birds

2011-06-28T21:15:00.003-04:00

I spent the first half of the day birding with Rob in northern Morris County. The focus of the time was fishing, but the morning outside afforded me the opportunity to make some casual lists of local breeders. The lakes we visited produced Scarlet Tanager, Wood Thrush, Eastern Pheobe, Eastern Wood-Peewee, Great Crested Flycatcher, and Red-eyed Vireo. We also got to see the nests of Eastern Bluebird and Great Blue Heron. Cruising raptors included Red-tailed Hawk and Osprey. Since I haven't done any warm-weather birding in Morris County, most of these birds were new. With summer break here, this is the first of what will hopefully be many local trips to boost my county totals--especially Morris, Essex, and Sussex counties, the totals of which are still hurting.

Morris - 45/125

Back in the saddle...

2011-06-23T14:02:00.002-04:00

It's been almost a month since my last post thanks to all of the mayhem surrounding then end of the school year, Memorial Day, Father's Day, and the like. School's officially out, so I'm back in the saddle again. The local reports should start trickling in now as my attention turns to my county goals.

Clinton Road & Rt. 515 5/21

2011-05-24T15:06:00.005-04:00

The real breeding bird habitat in the Highlands of NJ is just up Route 23. It doesn't have the same diversity or abundance as say, Stokes or Old Mine Road, but there are a good mix of breeders that would otherwise be difficult birds to track down on any one given day on migration. Another great thing about this section of Rt. 23 is that some of the stops are in Morris County and some of the stops are in Sussex County--a great help for my 'LGA year.'

The first stop was Clinton Road. I birded only the southern half and arrived late--10:00AM. I did have a number of great birds, however. First were a trio of Red-eyed Vireos which came very close upon pishing and offered great looks. Next up was a Blackburnian Warbler that was singing a song that really made me think it was Bay-breasted for a while. A singing Hooded Warbler rounded out the notable birds.

I then drove north to Route 515 where I logged my first Sussex County birds of the year. It took the better part of five months to get up there, but this was due to distance and that distance is the reason why my Sussex goal is only 75 species. Now it was after 11:00AM, so the birds were getting quieter. The first stop was our near-dawn stop on WSB 2009 where we almost got run down by a speeding team. Here I had many species singing, but may I could not ID many of them--Maybe these birds we singing alternate songs later in the season and later in the day? I had an emphatic 'beee buzzz buzzz' song coming from a distance to the south on the stream. Without seeing the bird I could not call it as Blue-winged or Golden-winged Warbler because of the possibility of hybrids. There were also Warbling Vireos and Veeries, and Wood Thrush here.

Further up the road I stop at a stop we suspect Chestnut-sided Warbler breed. I tallied two or three here easily, along with more Red-eyed Vireos, a singing Hooded Warbler, American Redstart, and some other common arrivals.

These were important birds for my Sussex and Morris efforts as these are some of the lesser birded counties in my LGA year. My total below reflect preliminary WSB 2011 checklists as well as these lists.

Bergen 123/175
Passaic 115/150
Morris 26/125
Sussex 20/75

Fly or Die - World Series of Birding 2011: Afternoon Hours

2011-05-17T13:43:00.004-04:00

The drive south remained long and slow this year. We had planned a morale-boosting stop at Double Trouble SP just to get out of the car and stay focused, but we had to nix those plans because of how late we were running. To add to the boredom, the lack of raptors kept the drive itself pretty uneventful--a far cry from WSB 2009 when Larry and I had a Mississippi Kite fly over the GSP and loads of hawks along the way.

We finally arrived at Nummy Island in Stone Harbor to find the tide was quite high and few herons were out. We did quite excellently find an American Golden Plover nestled between two Black-bellied Plovers. The Golden's slimmer build, thinner bill, and browner color was quite obvious next to its bulkier, more common relative.

We skipped the point itself to save time. Next we tallied five Yellow-crowned Night-Herons at the breeding spot in Avalon. The seawatch a few blocks north yielded few birds as the water was so high it was practically swallowing the jetty. We did get a few Gannets here, but no sea ducks or jaegers.

The route then took us to Belleplain, where we really needed to make up for the passerines missed in the north. Riv miraculously plucked a Yellow-billed Cuckoo from a tree. Prothonotary, Yellow-throated, and Mourning Warblers sang their way on to our list. The Yellow-throated was a stroke of intuition from Larry as he just randomly pulled over and the bird unexpectedly sang. We also got looks at a very badly needed Ruby-throated Kinglet and several Acadian Flycatchers.

We headed toward Forsythe NWR re-energized by a boost in passerines. Unfortunately a 'shortcut' Larry tried to take cost us fifteen minutes and brought our tardiness up to forty minutes. At Brig, a quick walk in the woods granted us our only Carolina Chickadee of the day (a 95% bird) and two fly-by Little Blue Herons. We headed to the dikes in overcast skies and failing daylight. Gull-billed Tern, Black Skimmer, Clapper Rail, Whimbrel, and Seaside Sparrow were easily added. A clutch Saltmarsh Sparrow sang right outside the car. There was a huge group of shorebirds in the middle of the impoundment. I am sure we missed birds here--Our poor scopes and the poor light did not mix well. We did, however, manage to pick out a Red Knot from the group. Something tells me there were also godwits and larger peeps out there. The Snow Geese present a few weeks before were gone.

We found ourselves reach the fields where we wait for Chuck-will's-widow at least thirty minutes late with essentially no daylight left. This caused us to miss Blue Grosbeak, but we did hear several American Woodcock calling in the field as we passed. Were these birds here in years past but calling after we had driven by? The Chucks were right on time as usual and we departed knowing our total was better than last year's, though we didn't know by how much. We make a habit of not totaling our list after we arrive at Forsythe so as not to 'psyche ourselves out' in the final locations.

From here we swung by the Tuckahoe area in a blind attempt to get King Rail but failed. Next we went to Jake's Landing for rails and Whip-poor-will. We did finally get a Virgina Rail here (three actually), but the Whips stayed quiet. I was reading a nightjar survey since the WSB and it suggested that Whips prefer to call when the moon is out. That at at Jake's was very overcast and quite windy. We waited at Jake's for a long time and when we finally departed we had time for just one more stop.

We headed down to the 2nd Ave jetty in Cape May in hopes that we could walk to beach a little and maybe find some roosting birds that we were still missing--Royal Tern and Glaucous Gull (which had been hanging out in the area) or maybe even a Piping Plover night-feeding. The beach was birdless, however, and we finally headed to the Finish Line around 11:45 to fill our our write-in (golden plover) and turn in our checklist.

Continued in Fly or Die - World Series of Birding 2011: the Results

Fly or Die - World Series of Birding 2011: Morning Hours

2011-05-15T21:50:00.010-04:00

Rob, Larry, and I met Riv at our first location in the Meadowlands around 11:15PM on Friday night. We transferred gear and began the walk to where we would start. We arrived earlier than expected and had to wait for thirty minutes, but in that time we were able to listen for some of the birds we wanted to find there. Marsh Wren, Moorhen, Canada Goose, and Mallard were all calling and we would get them in the opening minutes of the competition. We'd also get Blue-winged Teal and Common Nighthawk.

Next we headed to our second location nearby. The big scores here were a calling Least Bittern and a then a fly-away American Bittern. Next a quick drive down some roads close to the marshes left us with a total of twenty birds and we departed for upland areas just after 2:30AM. We arrived at our first location, mere yards from Rob's house, and I quickly called in a pair of screech-owls with my uncanny impression. At location two we got our first big shock of WSB 2011--a Winter Wren let out one good song in the darkness as we waited for owls near a woodland stream.

At our next location we were trying to nail down Great Horned Owl, but just as the bird began to respond to Riv's calls Rob got a cryptic message on his phone. His girlfriend's mother had left him an unintelligible voicemail saying something about her husband and asking him to get her daughter. He was unable to reach anyone in the family, but he was sure by her tone that it was an emergency. He felt he had no choice but to abandon the effort and deliver his girlfriend to her family. We consulted the rules to make sure it was legal for Rob to leave and we delivered him to his girlfriend's house, just a few minutes away. We left with an excellent 25 species--our highest total ever for 4:30 in the morning--but fifteen minutes behind schedule and down a member.

We arrived at the first of two location on the Ramapo River in Bergen County. We had scouted both waterthrushes here and hoped to pick up other wet woodland birds. We did, in fact, quickly tally a Northern Waterthrush, a singing Louisiana, Yellow Warbler, Solitary Sandpiper, Blue-winged Warbler, a time-saving Raven, and some other common songbirds. Next we headed North along the river to where we had repeatedly seen a family of Hooded Mergansers. We knew they were there but simply could not find them. Our frustrated, but determined search cost us more time, but we did get out first Warbling Vireo.

We arrived at Garret Mountain still behind schedule to find the place in the worst birding condition I have ever seen in May. There were very, very few birds. We fought our way through and found many of the common species as single birds. Singing birds alerted us to their presence and we were able to add Wilson's, Hooded, and Nashville to our list. The first two birds gave great looks as well. White-breasted Nuthatch, Canada Warbler, peewee, Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Wood Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, and many other passerines fell into place as well as wild Turkey. In the final tree before the cars we found singing Indigo Bunting and Blackpoll and Cape May Warblers. Larry saw a Worm-eating that the rest of us could not find. We left 45 minutes behind schedule with many common warblers, vireos, and thrushes missing.

It was a low point in the day as we were happy with our total (+3 from the previous year at same time) but worried about the missing songbirds and missing Rob's extra set of eyes and ears and his positive impact on morale. On the upside, the Raven we saw in Mahwah would let us skip Laurel Hill and save about twenty minutes. Route 17 also yielded a Kestrel in Woodridge.

The Meadowlands were very good to us on the second pass with various points along Disposal Road/Valley Brook Ave and DeKorte SP giving up our first peeps, Ruddy Ducks, pheasant, swallows, Savannah Sparrow, Willow Flycatcher, and a surprise shoveler. There was also a White-crowned Sparrow that got away from everyone but me and we could not count. The highlight, however, was a dark duck that after a short job to get closer turned out to be a Black Scoter! It was sitting on the water in plain sight, diving occasionally, and giving great looks at its black plumage and orange-yellow bill. This was the entire team's first Black Scoter for Bergen County.

We swung south and easily tallied the Carteret Monk Parakeets. Next up was Negri-Nepote Grasslands, where a short walk produced Prairie Warblers, a Field Sparrow, five Meadowlarks, a good handful of Grasshopper Sparrows, a Bobolink, a perched peregrine and a perched Red-Shouldered Hawk. What a haul! The raptors were badly needed as the cool temps and calm air left all of the raptors grounded for the day.

The last stop before the long drive south was South Amboy. The tide was the lowest I have ever seen and few birds were present. We would later find out that most of the Bonaparte's and the Little Gull(s) were hanging out across the bay at Sandy Hook. We did get a few gulls and terns, including five Bonaparte's, Bank Swallows, and additional shorebirds. We also scored what would end up being our only confirmed Fish Crows of the day. On the way out Larry took an epic faceplant as he tripped over a plank. Hearing a loud noise, I turned around to see his feet in the air and body on the ground. Classic.

WSB 2011 action continues here with the PM hours.

Fly or Die - World Series of Birding 2011: Preface

2011-05-15T20:20:00.008-04:00

The 2011 edition of the World Series of Birding is over and what a year it was! Here is the report from the perspective of Team Fly or Die:

When Larry was leaving my house after our spring planning meeting I reminded him that the Sapsuckers were not competing, nor were the Nine Inch Rails nor the Avian Research team. After a rather subdued meeting, a look of puzzlement swept over his face, followed by his normal mischievous smile and the following statement; "Huh... With a bunch of the top teams out..." I don't think I need to finish his thought for you.

As the Big Day approached it became apparent that four preceding days of winds out of the southeast would greatly favor inland sites with breeders on territory and disfavor eastern migrants traps, especially coastal ones. Our team's 'win in the east' mantra would be pushed to the limit. Scout week confirmed our fears. We or our close informants birded Garret Mountain three of the four days leading up to WSB and more birds left each day with few replacing them. The story was the same all around Bergen and Passaic Counties.

Scouting in other arenas, however, was mixed to favorable. We found breeding waterthrushes and a family of Hooded Mergansers in northern Bergen. We found White-crowned Sparrow, Sora and Virginia Rail in the Meadowlands along with reliable reports of both teal, Ruddy Duck, nighthawk, and some other birds. The parakeets were at Carteret, the Little Gull at South Amboy, and the ravens in Seacaucus. Rob located the three common owls near his house on Thursday morning. We were faced with a difficult choice set up by last year's only slightly improved total of 156-- Do we try again to make our migrant-trap-dependent eastern route work in what now seemed like it would be a migrant-deficient day or gamble on a completely untested western route in presumed, but unscouted breeding bird territories?

The quandary put us in a crazy situation. Our route, normally 95% finalized weeks in advance, was still changing wildly throughout scout week. Our weather-driven ambivalence teetered on how much we should expect to see at Garret Mountain, where we should look for ducks, rails, and owls, and where we needed to be standing at dawn for the bulk of our passerines. With less than 48 hours till go-time, we got permission to go to a restricted area for rails. With little time left and some new options available we made some difficult choices to drop Great Swamp from the roster and to go somewhere other than Garret at dawn since the fallout would not be in effect. Rob commented that the tough conditions forced us to make some changes that in the end might cause us to greatly improve our route.

The big day starts here.

Route Revisions for WSB 2011

2011-05-11T22:07:00.000-04:00

For the first time (ever) our team has been working as a group to scout our planned route. The scouting has led to helpful revisions and a better idea of what to expect than we have ever had.

In less than two hours Rob will be running the first third of the route solo. Last year we did the same one week prior. This time we're doing it just three days before. I expect this will be far more useful. I'll be joining Rob from 5:45AM to 6:45AM tomorrow before work during a crucial time of the morning. Larry and Rob have hit a number of potential stops over the past ten days. I've visited a few places and done the calculations and planning. Even Riv got out to scout Brig for us--a true team effort.

I am concerned a little bit by the the weather forecast. The weather predicts that winds will push birds to the Northwest. With those winds in place last night, there were few birds in some of the eastern locations we normally rely on. Tomorrow morning we'll find out if the situation is as bad as we fear. If the birds are absent we may have to make some changes--changes that we have already planned for with a 'plan B.' Commentary on that will come after the tough choices have been made and the Big Day is over.

We've kept driving to the same duration as last year while adding new locations and new habitat that we have never really covered on World Series before. This has all of us very excited about what we'll get. As time allows, I'll post the last of our scouting results tomorrow and Friday.

Birds!

Quick Recap, Late Posts

2011-05-11T21:51:00.000-04:00

The last few weeks have been extremely hectic for me personally due to non-birding experiences. I may or may not be able to late-post all of the things going on after the World Series, we'll see. In the mean time here's some highlights from the last two weeks in no particular order:

I spent last weekend in Minnesota where I saw about two dozen species in urban Minneapolis. Bald Eagle was the highlight.

All of our yards have been lit up with new species including many warblers. I had a Cape May Warbler singing this morning across the street that gave a great listen to three or four renditions of its song. I'll try to summarize the birds in everyone else's yard in a later post.

Trips to the Celery Farm, Garret Mountain, and points along the Ramapo River have produced many new song birds. One highlight was a Yellow-throated Warbler, a rare bird in North Jersey, that stayed at Garret Mountain for a few mornings. Blackburnian Warblers also appeared that morning at Garret. Both waterthrushes were common at the Ramapo River, including four Northerns and a Louisiana or two over the past week.

Yard Bird and LGA totals will be updated soon.

Planning for WSB - Fly or Die 2011

2011-05-03T20:05:00.002-04:00

The World Series of Birding is nearly upon us and Team Fly or Die has become a frenzy of activity in the last week or two. Last Thursday we finally had our badly-postponed, likely only planning meeting of the season. This year we were really on the fence about what to do after last year's modest success. An all-out failure would have spurred us on to a new route form and a brilliant move forward would have made the choice to rerun last year's route easy. Instead we were caught in the middle.

Our debate basically centered around where to spend 5:00-10AM. This is when we will check off most of the species for the day and in a sense out choice of locations for this time dictates the rest of the day, or at least the AM hours. In the end we determined to run a modified version of last year's route, but a version bolstered by new knowledge of local locations and another year's experience with calls and timing. The specifics will remain a secret until after the Big Day. In the meantime we are working on finishing off some last minute scouting and route modifications.

If all goes well, Rob and Larry will be doing some scouting of the AM locations this weekend and Riv will be scouting some of the PM. For the first time we anticipate putting in good scouting effort within 48 hours of the actual competition, afforded by a morning off of work in Rob's schedule. This should help us out a bit. There is sure to be another WSB post or two before the event. Catch all the anticipatory action here.

Yard Grosbeak 4-25-11

2011-04-25T18:50:00.004-04:00

My FOY Rose-breasted Grosbeak came in form of our first grosbeak of the competition. This presumed female was handing around the sunflower feeder with the House Finches and Cardinals its the first grosbeak I have ever had in any yard that I have called my own. While I am hoping for an adult male to show up at some point, I am very, very happy with this bird. Together with my FOY American Kestrel yesterday I remain in first with 61 species.

Meanwhile Larry got our first Baltimore Oriole, amongst other birds, and it now tied for second with Justin at 58.

Dan - 61
Erica - 56
Larry - 58
Justin -58

Belated Garret Report 4-11-11

2011-04-23T13:33:00.005-04:00

I have been slow to process this checklist because of all the yard activity going on, but I am finally catching up. I went to Garret Mountain a few weeks ago looking for a bunch of early migrants. I got everything I was hoping for except for Louisiana Waterthrush. There were good numbers of Pine Warblers, a Winter Wren, and loads of Ruby-crowned Kinglets. A Golden-crowned and some Yellow-rumped Warblers made an appearance. A Rusty Blackbird put on a good show by the old gazebo stream. Also of note was a Red-tailed Hawk perched only about six feet off of the ground that allowed very close approached (and surprised me because I didn't see it until I was about fifteen feet away)!

The trip provided me with a bunch of FOY Passaic birds. The list has been added to since and it is the now-current total below:

Passaic - 74/150

'Crazy' Yard Bird 4-22-11

2011-04-22T22:46:00.003-04:00

I went outside today around 5PM to scare off a feral cat hanging out in the yard. On the way back in a grackle came shooting through the yard followed by a sleek missile of a bird with a long tail, brown dorsal side, and warm, rust-colored outer wings--a Yellow-billed Cuckoo!

I don't know if the grackle and cuckoo were scared to flight by some marauding raptor or if the grackle had mistook the cuckoo for a kestrel (as I almost did). The coloration and smaller size made it obvious to this human that the bird was a cuckoo, though maybe it was less clear to the grackle. At any rate, I feel its a bit early for a cuckoo and I have never had any cuckoo in any of the yards I have claimed as my own, making this a great bird!

Dan - 59
Erica - 56
Larry - 51
Justin 57

Yard Nocturnals 4-20-11

2011-04-21T08:00:00.004-04:00

Last night as I walked to my car in a parking lot on the Essex/Passaic border I could hear nocturnal flights calls overhead urging me to get back home and get the recorder going! I arrived home and recorded a good number of calls between 10:40PM and midnight. Most of the calls were sparrows-- I recorded at least two Chipping, two White-throated Sparrows, and a Savannah Sparrow. Calls were coming in every three or four minutes for most of the night. By midnight the wind was picking up and interfering with my mic so I called it quits.

I recorded a long, lower-pitched call that really stood out to me as being more thrush-like. That call turned out to be my FOY Hermit Thrush. The spectrogram is included and the call appears just below the background noise at 3kHz with an arrow to point it out.

Also a part of the mix last night was a more curious seet call that was very 'flat' or monotone. The call had a little bit of an upward angle at both ends and was clearly a sparrow based on its length. I considered a few options initially, but in the end I felt sure it was my first Field Sparrow (second image).

In other yards today... Larry had his first big hawk flight yesterday and recorded his first Osprey and American Kestrel as well as Chimney Swift and Black-throated Green Warbler. Erica had a similarly big day with Kestrel, House Wren, and Cedar Waxwing amongst others.

Dan - 58
Erica - 56
Larry - 51
Justin - 56

American Redstart 4-18-11

2011-04-19T10:37:00.009-04:00

Another late-night vigil produced our first American Redstart of the competition just before midnight. The spectrogram came out poorly because I was getting lazy and making noises because I hadn't heard literally anything for about an hour. The background noise in the image is my own.

A lot of what I am doing here involves learning as I go. I knew enough to surmise last's nights bird was a warbler before I even looked at the spectrogram by its brevity and high pitch. On average 'seet' calls of warblers fall around 50 milliseconds in length while similar calls from sparrows are closer to 100 or 150 milliseconds. The 'Nike check' shape in the spectrogram was new to me but fairly distinctive. Note that the lowest part of the call is in the first third and the call is moderately upturned.

Justin had a big day yesterday too, recording our first Tree and Barn Swallows of the competition as well as the first Yellow-rumped Warbler (a bird I am surprised I have not recorded at night yet). Erica picked up our first Brown Thrasher of the year.

Dan - 55
Erica - 47
Larry - 46
Justin - 55

Pine Siskin 4-15-11 to 4-17-11

2011-04-18T15:43:00.004-04:00

I returned home on Friday after an unsuccessful try for the Absecon, NJ Painted Bunting with Rob. I sat on my back porch to plant some zinnias and was not really paying attention to the birds, including a 'goldfinch' that called and came in to land high in one of the oaks in the yard. After quite a few moments it suddenly occurred to me that something didn't seem right about its call. I looked up and to my excitement the bird was still there. Before I could do anything else it dropped down into a low maple and as it landed I caught sight of bright yellow flashes in the wind and tail--my FOY Pine Siskin! Next the bird upped the ante by coming to land and drink from a bird bath on the deck no more than five feet from my head. It soon proceeded to the feeders where I was albe to snap the accompanying record shot. The bird would make appearances for the next two days.

Spring migration is heating up. I recorded a Song Sparrow overhead last night as well as a probable Swamp Sparrow (probably because the call was indistinguishable from a much, much less likely Lincoln's Sparrow). I had the competition's first Wild Turkeys calling this morning from up the hill. These were my first yard turkeys (though my wife had them last summer).

Dan - 54

Erica - 44

Larry - 45

Justin - 51

Reign of Terror Continues 4-14-11

2011-04-14T17:51:00.002-04:00

The rain finally cleared and I was back out on the porch at dawn. I have found that in the yard, like in the field, the time around dawn is priceless for birding efforts. Early morning yielded Larry his first ever yard Hairy Woodpecker, helping to end his dry spell.

The morning started off for me with what I would later ID as my FOY Osprey flying up the valley. The bird was clearly a raptor but had almost gull-like features in the shape of its wings and body. I suspected Osprey, but the bird was just too far out to ID without optics. Only a few minutes later a second, closer bird appeared with the same features. This bird continued to rise up my ridge rather than coast into the valley and finally got close enough to ID. At this point I realized the first bird had also been an Osprey--our first of the competition.

A little while later I glanced up and saw a duck-like bird with a white belly flying over the house. Rule number four of the YBC states "Birds may be counted if they are directly over your property." This is a statement allowing the use of optics for birds directly overhead--subsequent rules state that any bird not covered in the previous exceptions can be counted only without the use of optics. Anyway, I lifted my glasses to the sky to see an alternate plumage Common Loon! This is one of my prizes of the competition so far.

Later in the day I went hiking on nearby trails with a friend. A few blocks from the house I saw two Black Vultures and two Red-shouldered Hawks circle and calling. We hurried back to the house to make the hawks countable, but by the time we arrived the birds had disappeared. I was a bit frustrated, but these are birds that I expect to get again. I left the back door open, hoping their calls would alert me if they returned. It was only about fifteen minutes later when exactly that happened. I heard a Red-shouldered Hawk and went outside to see one bird circling up, 'windows' clearly visible. A few minutes later the solo bird was joined by another Red-shouldered, a Red-tailed, two Black Vultures, a Turkey Vulture, and two Broad-winged Hawks. All of them circled up from the valley, over the house, and up, up and away.

I have advanced eleven species in four days and have returned to first place. Six species were new the competition. I have dominated in the raptor category and the only realistic raptors I can still get are the three falcons and Bald Eagle (with Rough-legged Hawk and Golden Eagle as hypothetical). I still have a few more mornings off from work--Will my surge continue through week's end? Time will tell, but for now I am thoroughly satisfied.

Dan - 52
Erica - 42
Larry - 41
Justin - 50

Pine Warbler 4-11-11

2011-04-12T10:58:00.006-04:00

To conclude my yard's biggest Big Day to date I headed outside again hoping to add another nocturnal migrant or two to the day's list. Once again there wasn't much going on until almost midnight, but at 11:54 I heard and recorded a 'seet' call that produced this spectrogram. The call is fairly flat, but slightly descending. It's essentially single-banded. The slight hint of an upper band is only visible with the contrast turned way up and brightness way down, so I think its a result of my recording, not the bird itself. Next you can see that that call is basically at about 8kHz and lasts only about 50 milliseconds, making it a fairly abrupt call note. The only 50ms, descending call at 8kHz that I could find is Pine Warbler.

This makes perfect sense as they are a common migrant right now in North Jersey and I am happy to be the first to record one for the Yard Bird Competition. It's also a first for my yard, though I would like to see one in daylight at some point! My big day concluded with seven new YBC species and 35 overall. Incredible.

A short addendum, Larry got his first bird in quite some time--a Pileated Woodpecker calling a few yards distant from his own.

Dan - 48
Erica - 41
Justin - 49
Larry - 39

The Perfect Storm: Records Crushed

2011-04-11T17:25:00.015-04:00

A number of weather conditions, personal circumstances, and just plain luck came together today for an unreal day-count and loads of new yard birds.

Our story begins last night with me in a dismal third place with 41 species behind Erica with 42 and Justin in a commanding lead with 49. In a desperate attempt to cut my losses I stayed up late last night in hopes of recording some nocturnal migrants over the house. The opportunity was afforded me by the fact that I have the week off from work. After and hour of quiet skies I decided to give up around midnight. I left the recorders on as I went to fill the feeders. While at the feeders I suddenly heard the first call of the night. I rushed back to the computer and captured the sound and spectrogram shown. After listening to the call a few more times and comparing spectrograms I am satisfied that this is our competition's first Savannah Sparrow (though I welcome anyone who is able to constructively correct me). I recorded a few Chipping Sparrows as well and went to bed with a day-list of two.

In the morning I woke at 7AM to find the yard buzzing with activity but also covered in a moderate layer of fog. Within just minutes I logged most of the usuals for the week, including the continuing Eastern Towhee, Carolina Wren, and Song Sparrow. Next I was treated to my FOS Golden-crowned Kinglet just a few feet from my porch. I noticed a handful of solo Canada Geese flying low and in no obviously purposed direction---odd. Pileated Woodpecker and a loudly calling Fish Crow added to the uncommon species. Next I was thrilled by an adult male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker--a yard first--and later on by a young female. By now I had logged twenty-seven species, but the fun was just beginning.

Next I stepped outside again to by surprised by a slowly- and low-flying Double-crested Cormorant--another yard first. It was then followed up by a leisurely flying Great Blue Heron going the other way! Then it occurred to me--the water birds I saw were circling around because in the fog they couldn't see the lakes! It was now after 10AM. Things were winding down and the fog was lifting. I headed to Garret Mountain (see subsequent post) for some new arrivals for the Passaic County list.

By the time I returned the temperature had risen and the wind had picked up a bit--it was turning into a good day for raptor migration. I quickly logged Turkey Vulture when I arrived as I established the day's movement pattern by watching two vultures circle up the valley. Next a molting first-year Red-tailed Hawk added to the day's count. The final big surprise came as I watched a slim raptor circle up in the distance. Red-tailed? No. Turkey Vulture? No. Coop? Maybe, but... looks too big. As it got closer (remember, no optics for competition birds outside the yard) I was able to tell it had black wingtips and its body was... gray?!? It was a Northern Harrier, and not just any Northern Harrier but a 'Gray Ghost' and our first of the competition. Top it all off with another Wood Duck flyby--that wooded pond down the street must be paying off.

It's now 6PM. I have logged a ridiculous 34 yard birds today, breaking by a long shot the new record of 26 set just days ago. It's also worth mentioning that the previous record for most new competitor species in a day was help by Justin when he logged three new species for himself in a single day back in February. Today I logged six. Game on.

Dan - 47
Erica - 42
Larry - 38
Justin - 49

**See subsequent post for conclusion of the night.

New Day Count Record

2011-04-08T23:59:00.003-04:00

I set a new high day-count for 2011 today with 25 species. Highlights included Eastern Towhee, Pileated Woodpecker, FOS Northern Flicker, FOY Chipping Sparrow, Brown-headed Cowbird, and a pair of Canada Geese. I don't know off hand, but its possible 25 is my highest day-count ever for this location. I expect to break that number again during this spring migration, but for now its a milestone.

Dan - 41
Erica - 42
Larry - 38
Justin - 46

Changing Yard Bird Trends

2011-04-08T09:19:00.003-04:00

The new feeding station has allowed me to have basically all of my feeders out simultaneously instead of switching between them. I also don't need to worry now about seed shells falling on the deck so I have been more liberal about how much seed is being deployed. As a result I have seen a sharp increase in the bird population over the last few days, though I have not yet seen a major gain in species. Right now the squirrels are monopolizing the feeders, however, because in my excitement I forgot to get the squirrel-baffle that goes with the station. Hopefully that will be remedied as soon as this afternoon. More on the feeding station as the situation develops this week.

In the meantime, momentum has begun to shift in the Yard Bird Challenge as Justin has not added a new species in thirteen days whereas in that time Erica has logged four and Larry and I have each logged one. My trend-line-equipped graph finally shows Justin trending negatively after a five-week, thirteen species tirade. Meanwhile Erica is beginning a resurgence and I am in third for the first time in the competition. Things are going to get very interesting in the next few weeks as the bulk of passerines move into town. I hope my new feeder arrangement and nocturnal listening equipment will allow me to catch up.

Dan - 40
Erica - 42
Larry - 38
Justin - 46

April Arrivals and New Changes

2011-04-05T07:55:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I drove immediately to Wild Birds Unlimited to pick up some components for the APS pole system (that's a free plug Scott) after my landlords gave me permission to set up a feeding station in the backyard. I returned with enough pieces to hang four feeders for the four basic food groups of birdfeeding; 1-sunflower seed blends, 2-thistle seed blends, 3-suet, and 4-fruit.

Within a few moments I had everything assembled and in place. It was last light, so the first visitors had to wait until the next morning (it was a Mourning Dove). I am excited because I now have free reign to use the backyard (within reason of course) and I plan to take advantage with this feeding station and the addition of plants to my back porch. Once the plants regain their foliage I'll have another round of photos of our yards. For now, here's a photo of the new feeding station. [photo will be inserted later today]

We already have two new species for April. Larry got our first Chipping Sparrow yesterday and I was shocked to see a pair of Wood Ducks flying up the middle of my street this morning as I walked down the front steps! Add to that a Great Horned Owl that Erica had calling this week and April is off to a great start.

Dan - 40
Erica - 40
Larry - 38
Justin - 46

A Twist In the Plot

2011-04-03T22:24:00.002-04:00

I was just given permission by my landlords today to set up a pole-mounted feeding station in the backyard. Enough said. Details and pictures to follow-- Prepare for battle boys.

YBC March & First Quarter Wrap-Up

2011-03-28T22:44:00.006-04:00

It's hard to think that our Yard Bird Competition is already one quarter over. Things are starting to heat up now as spring migration is slowly starting with waterfowl and early raptors already on the move. It's been unusually cold, however, and winds have been out of the NW and show no signs of switching. Songbird migration has been slow as a result, but water birds are on the move.

Significant Sightings
The species below were difficult to log due to location or season:

Rusty Blackbird - Erica
Common Merganser - Justin
Black Vulture - Dan
Killdeer - Dan, Erica, Justin
Double-crested Cormorant - Justin
Winter Wren - Erica
Eastern Pheobe - Erica

Leaderboard
Far and away the best birds of the first quarter were Justin's Common Redpolls and Larry's Red Crossbills. We're all looking forward to see what kinds of songbirds the second quarter will bring. Larry and I have talked a few times about what kinds of warblers we hope and expect to see around the house.

March tied February with nine new species. This makes sense as most of the available wintering birds have already been had and few new birds have arrived because of the prevailing winds still blowing toward the south.

Aquatic birds have been the crux of a big boost Justin has seen in the past few weeks as Mute Swan, Double-crested Cormorant, and Common Merganser bolstered his now-commanding 6-species lead over me and Erica tied in second and Larry just two birds behind that. The rest of us have seen meager advances with blackbirds, vultures, and wintering hawks giving us a boost and Erica finally got our first Eastern Pheobe just yesterday.

Totals
This leads to my closing for the first quarter--my predictions for quarter two! Each of us has the right kinds of backyard to attract some warbler, thrush, and other songbird species. To be frank, I am very unhappy with a weak second place and have every intention of retaking the lead. To do so I am going to call on my secret weapon--nocturnal flight calls. Last fall I confirmed Yellow Warbler, Gray-cheecked Thrush, and others. This spring I have new software and a new microphone and I am really going to work the migrants to get back to first place. Time will tell, but for now...

Dan - 39
Erica - 39
Larry - 37
Justin - 46

Weekly Yard Update + Towhee

2011-03-27T09:14:00.006-04:00

Early this morning I thought I was hearing an Eastern Towhee from my kitchen. I heard one a few weeks ago during a heavy snow and while I am sure of what I (only) heard, I really just wish I could have seen the bird to be sure because of the season. I got my chance today. Perhaps the same bird, a male, was sitting and calling in the Forsythia bushes--basically the only spot in the whole yard a tohwee or Fox Sparrow might hang out. Closer inspection revealed brown coloration on the back. That combined with his less-than-impressive song makes me think its a first-winter bird. A digi-binned record shot is included courtesy of my Swarovski binocular-to-camera attachment.

Also this week, Erica was able to match Larry's Winter Wren with a bird calling across the street. Larry finally got his Turkey Vulture and Cooper's Hawk. Justin, meanwhile, has been tacking on species at every turn. His most notable recently has been Common Merganser, Double-crested Cormorant and Fox Sparrow. As for me, I am still waiting. I have had loads of great birds passing through but no new species in at least a week.

Dan - 39

Erica - 38

Larry - 38

Justin - 43

New High Count 3/17

2011-03-17T22:21:00.005-04:00

The luck of the Irish was with me [obligatory seasonal reference, sorry] as I set a new 2011 day-count record! I arrived home late and didn't really plan to do a count for the day as I had only about 90 minutes of real daylight. As a result I lackadaisically listened to and watched the birds around the yard. After 45 minutes or so I realized it 'would have been a good count day' if I had been trying harder. Highlights included a calling cowbird, White-breasted Nuthatch (after an absence of a few days), a TV, and all the usuals.

After dark I set out to try and record migrants. I didn't get the passerines I was hoping for, but I did record good audio of Ring-billed Gull and Canada Goose around 10:00PM. When I added these and this morning's FOY Killdeer to the day's total I realized I had surpassed my previous day-record of twenty-two by two. I called for owls as well, but with no luck. I also lame-brained a pair of Red-taileds before I got serious with the day's count. By this I mean that I lazily found and IDed them with my binoculars--For this competition no optics are allowed unless the bird is physically located on (or directly over) the competitor's yard. Still a great count...

In other news, Larry had his first Red-winged Blackbird of the year today and Erica will be out of town for a few day leaving the boys to rack up the birds.

Dan - 39
Erica - 37
Larry - 35
Justin - 41

Mystery Bird - 9/12/10

2011-03-17T13:29:00.007-04:00

While I am waiting for new spring arrivals I have been going through my old recordings from last September with Raven Lite. Raven is a new weapon in my arsenal and I am trying to perfect my technique. I recorded a few hours of calls from last year's 'flight to remember' last September 11 & 12. I discovered a bunch of new calls on a recording from the 12th. Three of the calls appear to be of the sames species while the the fourth is something different. I have not had a chance to consult my Old Bird CD yet, so right now I am just combing through online resources and my own memory.

Because of the poor mic I was using last year and the background noise, the image is pretty poor. Here's the spectrogram with the call in question highlighted. Any suggestions?

New Birds, Race Tightens

2011-03-17T08:23:00.004-04:00

The tide is finally rising for the rest of us after a week or so of Justin's uncontested ascension. Earlier this week Erica logged our second Fish Crow and I logged our second Brown-headed Cowbird. Erica logged our first Killdeer yesterday and I followed suit this morning with a calling bird. Larry finally got back on the board after a 26-day hiatus with his first Cooper's Hawk earlier this week.

With all the activity we may see some lead changes. Tonight is set to be one of the first appreciable nights of migration in North Jersey this year and I will be on the back 'perch' waiting for flight calls. If anything turns up a post will follow.

Dan - 39
Erica - 37
Larry - 34
Justin - 41

Yard Bird Movements

2011-03-14T20:37:00.006-04:00

The second week in March has seen a new phase of bird activity arrive in the yards of the Yard Bird Challenge. Reports are coming in of the first Ospreys, Laughing Gulls, Pine Warblers, and Pheobes arriving in Cape May. Meanwhile, North Jersey birders who aren't chasing the continuing Pink-footed Goose around northeast Bergen County are finding new birds singing and other birds gone missing.

White-throated Sparrow has been a staple of my yard-list so far this year. Today it was the seventeenth species of the day. After more than two months of not being able to open my eyes without seeing one it was interesting to see a sharp decrease in the local population. Numbers of grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds, raptors, and Canada Geese are up while Juncos are down. I had the competition's first Black Vulture yesterday with two more today.

On the other side of the hill Justin in seeing an increase of waterfowl on his lake. Maybe his biggest advantage over the rest of the competitors is the lake that is located line-of-sight from his yard. Mute Swan and Common Merganser bolstered his list along with his first Northern Mockingbird to bring his total to 41 and his lead to four.

Dan - 37
Erica - 35
Larry - 33
Justin - 41

More North, Less South, & the Pink-footed Goose

2011-03-08T19:04:00.005-05:00

It's been an exciting few days up here in North Jerzey. The week kicked off with the e-mailed announcement of registration opening for World Series of Birding 2011. Just the day before Larry and I began talking about revisions for this year's route.

We were largely disappointed with our results last year after a largely revised route mixed with driving problems and bad luck in the south. We decided this year that we can still come up with the same results if we just stay North and save a third of the driving time. We'll be streamlining our Southern stops and maximizing the local Northern locations that we know so, so much better.

To add to our enthusiasm for everything North and nothing South, a Pink-footed Goose was discovered right here in Bergen County. The bird was less than half an our from my house and less than ten from Larry's. After two afternoons of frenzied excitement and lake-hopping I finally tracked down the bird this afternoon with the combined help of many information-getting birders--especially Larry who followed the bird almost all day.

The best part of it all is that the information coming my way is saying this is the first record of this bird for NJ (pending acceptance by the committee of course). It's so satisfying to have a first come from Bergen and not Cape May. Sorry guys, it's nothing personal really.

Bergen - 53/150