October 27 - Le Conte's Sparrow

This morning in the rain with friends Rob F. and Steph S., we were able to see the rare Le Conte's Sparrow. The typical range for this bird is shown here.

This bird was found yesterday by my friends Andy E. and Jennifer C. at the Overpeck Park in Leonia, NJ.

credit: Jed Hertz @http://www.fnal.gov/ecology/wildlife/pics/Le_Contes_Sparrow.jpg

October 20 - Sage Thrasher at Sandy Hook

Today was the perfect recipe for allowing me to chase a rarity. I had been at work for a half-day, so any big issues were taken care of, and I was able to get the Rare Bird Alert just minutes before my normal lunch hour, plus I knew exactly the location of the bird, and lastly the weather was a typical beautiful autumn day.

In just over an hour after getting the alert, I was at Sandy Hook's Plum Island and viewing the western vagrant Sage Thrasher.

credit: Tommy Boyle




final 3 images credit: Trina Anderson

This is ABA area bird # 595 for my list.

October 11 - Warren Geeen Acres/Glenhurst Meadows

No rarities were found today but some good sparrows were seen, along with some other nice species. This spot is a former golf-course which has laid fallow for several decades now, save for the trails that are maintained by the Green Acres folks.

Some "late in the season" birds were Green Heron and Solitary Sandpipers, and Red-Eyed Vireo. While woodpeckers seen included Red-Headed, Red-Bellied, Downy, Northen Flicker, and Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker.
Raptors included Red-Shouldered, Red-Tailed, and Harrier plus American Kestrel.

A Tennessee Warbler was a nice find, but the predominant species seen were sparrows. today's list included Chipping, Field, Savannah, Song, Lincoln's, Swamp, White0-Throated, White-Crowned, Dark-Eyed Junco and Eastern Towhee.

Red-Headed Woodpecker credit

October 4 - Sandy Hook & DeKorte

This morning my friend Bill E. and I made the trek to Sandy Hook, however last night's cold front didn't clear out the fog, and most of the morning here had very limited visibility. A good find was a Great Horned Owl, the first I have seen here. Otherwise it was very slow until we decided to stop at Plum Island on the way out. Here our friend Rob F. pointed out a Nelson's Sparrow and we ultimately found at least 3 of them.

Later we stopped at a nearby field and flushed up a Connecticut Warbler.

On the way home we briefly stopped at the De Korte park in the Meadowlands for looks at shorebirds. Here we saw several Stilt Sandpipers, about 15 Pectoral Sandpipers, and some Dunlin:

credit: Kevin Bolton