December 21 - New York Golden Eagle

Today started with an attempt for Golden Eagle.  This species has been over-wintering annually along the Hudson River and surrounding area for many years now.  One of the most reliable spots for viewing the Golden Eagle is the Storm King State Park parking area on Route 9W North in the town of Cornwall-on-the-Hudson (41.423057, -74.000846).

Fortunately for us we waited just over 30 minutes for the Eagle to make its appearance, which happened shortly after 08:15 am.
I first spotted the bird over a distant saddle and the bird continued coming closer, finally perching on the rock face to the north of the parking area.  This spot offered spectacular views of the Golden Hackles.
We then watched the bord for several minutes as it flew around gaining altitide before flying overhead westerly to the Storm Kink area.

 

December 15 - Bergen County Round-Up

Today's birding was brief but successful. We got the three county targets we were after.  First up was the Greater White-Fronted Goose at Overpeck.

next we stopped in Ridgewood at the Duck Pond for the adult Red-Headed Woodpecker.


Finally we stopped at the Celery Farm to get a look at the Rufous Hummingbird coming to a private feeder.

December 8 - State Rarities Chase Day

Today we went all the way south to chase the rarities in Cape May.  Our first target was the Mountain Bluebird, however we did not see it. Later we found the reason..evidently the Bluebird was predated last evening and all that was left was a file of feathers !

We also made a stop in the Villas to have a look at Harvey's special guest...a Black-Chinned Hummingbird !

Fortune gave us another chance as a male Painted Bunting was reported at a nearby home.  While the bird was not there when we arrived, after a short wait I spotted the bird coming into the feeder:

On our way back north we cut across the state westward and made a stop at Burlington County's Croft Farm.  Here we joined outher birders and quickly relocated the cooperative Le Conte's Sparrow which had been found here last weekend.
This is just the second time I've seen this species, with my last view back in 2009 !

October 6 - Results of California trip

I finally got around to knocking an item off my bucket list !

My CA trip was setup for 2 pelagics, one out of Half Moon Bay, and the other out of Monterey Bay.

Sunday September 29th was the first trip out of Half Moon Bay with Shearwater Journeys. I got to see my most wanted lifer -- South Polar Skua -- so that made the wait all the more worthwhile.  We had several Skuas that day, maybe 6-8, and a couple gave great close looks while the others were distant flybys.
Here's an image of a Skua that came directly over the boat.

 click to enlarge:
credit: Warren Whaley

I also got the expected species of Buller's & Short-Tailed Shearwaters (both lifers), and an unexpected mega (obviously lifer) in the Wedge-Tailed Shearwater !!   The Wedge-Tailed makes up for the miss I had on the Flesh-Footed.
Here is a Buller's Shearwater from the trip.

 click to enlarge
credit: Warren Whaley

I was very happy to see some Tufted Puffins (lifer), even ones with a bit of the alternate plumage tufts !  This means I do not have to return for a Farallons Trip...

  click to enlarge
credit: Warren Whaley

Finally I had two lifers in the Ashy Storm-Petrel and the Black Storm-Petrel.
Here is a Black Storm-Petrel

  click to enlarge
credit: Warren Whaley

I did get an upgrade on the Sabine's, but the alternate plumaged ones were too far away to see that yellow-tip. Oh well, that one will have to wait, I guess.

   click to enlarge

credit: Warren Whaley

I had only seen one LT Jaeger (in NJ) before so seeing a few out there in CA were big upgrades too. 

Surfbird was also a big upgrade as I had only seen one before, way back in 2004, and it was far away.  Seeing dozens from shore was great !!  And I had seen Black-Footed Albatross on a San Diego pelagic in 2010, so seeing another half-dozen on this trip was great but did not give me a new tick !

  click to enlarge
 credit: Warren Whaley

So, 7 lifers on the first pelagic was worth the costs & the wait.

The following weekend on Saturday, October 5th  I went out of Monterey Bay but did not get any lifers.  While I saw many of the same species as Half Moon Bay, I only had better looks at some species, and worse looks at others.  Yet it was still worth the second pelagic trip.

click to enlarge
credit: Ryan F Mandelbaum

click to enlarge 
credit: Ryan F Mandelbaum

I did some brief land birding and got 3 more lifers.
I easily got the Chestnut-Backked Chickadees, and a few Pacific Wrens too.  Both of these were expected.  

I then put in some early morning efforts to get the Marbled Murrelets so I was very, very happy about that.

credit: Slatremuseum.blogspot.com

My goal for this trip was 10 lifers, simply because we're at the point now where there really is no places that we can go and reach double-digit lifers.  Everything now will be onesies or  twosies, and a very good trip would yield around four life birds.

So it was great to reach that goal, and to finally enjoy the results of all my years of wintertime reading, and research, and dreaming, about these Northern California pelagics.  I guess my next goal is to return one future day and do a pelagic out of Bodega Bay or other points farther north to get a few more species I really want (Fork-Tailed Storm-Petrel, Horned Puffin etc) but that will have to wait awhile. And I may be better of going really north to places like Oregon or Seattle to guarantee these species.

Overall my trip list was just under 115 species, which is good but typically I would get about 140-150 if I had spent more time land birding.

Recap:

Lifers

South Polar Skua

Buller's SW

Short-Tailed SW

Wedge-Tailed SW

Tufted Puffin

Ashy Storm-Petrel

Black Storm-Petrel

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee

Pacific Wren

Marbled Murrelet

Upgrades and good birds

Surfbird

Sabine's Gull

LT Jaeger plus the other two Jaegers

Black Turnstones & Oystercatchers

both Clarks and Western

Rhino & Cassin's Auklets

Fulmars (I've never seen one in NJ yet !)

Golden-Crowned Sparrows

Band-Tailed Pigeons

Nuttalls WP

Wandering Tattlers

Townsend's Warbler

For the numbers, this trip puts me at 667 for Lower 48/Continental US.

If I include Hawaii , I'm now at 693.

I guess I gotta start thinking about how to get 7 more lifers as my next birding milestone !!

May 4 - Wilson's Plover in New Jersey !

Yesterday afternoon a NJ-rarity was reported but I could not leave work to try for it.  This morning while driving toward Garret it was very foggy so I made a literal last-second decision to veer onto Route 287 south toward Sea Bright where the Wilson's Plover has been seen.
I arrived just before 6:30 to find that Marc C. and Bob D. had already arrived and not found the bird. The pair walked north just outside the Piping Plover enclosure, as other birders of Bob A. and Peter K. also arrived to look for the Wilson's.
After 30 minutes or so Marc & Bob D. left, and shortly thereafter so did Bob A.   The weather started clearing so I began walking north in hopes of spotting the Wilson's. After about 200 yards I scoped farther north on maximum zoom and saw what appeared to be a dark-backed plover laying in the sand.  I walked another 100 yards north and scoped again, this time I could be certain the bird was indeed the Wilson's Plover. I turned around to alert the other birders yet they had all left already !
I continued walking another 150-200 yards north, stopping intermittently to scope the bird again and confirm it was the Wilson's.
The Wilson's Plover is NJ Bird # 393 for me.

click to enlarge

Other species seen here today were  Piping Plovers, Sanderling, Oystercatchers, Willet, Spotted Sandpiper, Gannet, Common and Least Terns, and a Merlin that took a Barn Swallow while in flight !

April 28 - Local rarities chase

Two rare birds were found nearby to each other, one in Middlesex County & the other in Somerset County.
First up was the Cattle Egret at Negri-Nepote Grasslands in Somerset.

credit: Larry Scacchetti

Shortly afterwards we sent to Bicentennial Park and saw the very cooperative Prothonotary Warbler.
The bird was gathering nesting material and showing this off to a female. 

Both of these birds were drive-up/walk-up birds...so you cannot ask for anything easier.

April 20 - Local Rarity

This morning there was a rare bird and for a nice change it was local.  Located in nearby Morris Plains was a western vagrant of the Black-Headed Grosbeak.
This is my first sighting of this species in New Jersey.



credit: Larry Scacchetti

April 14 - Garret Mountain and Long-Eared Owl

A first for me in Passaic County was this Long-Eared Owl found at Garret Mountain.

March 16 - Washington County Rarities

This morning we took the 175-mile trek up to New York State's Washington County.  First stop was in the town of Salem where we had wonderful views of Pine Grosbeaks.  I had not seen this species in 6 years so it was a treat.  At one point the birds were having a drink of water practically at our feet !

click to enlarge

Credit: Scott Varney


Afterwards we visited the Fort Edward Grasslands, where we had several Long-Eared Owls.




There were also a pair of Short-Eared Owls too !

March 9 - Shawangunk Grasslands

This evening I brought my wife along to meet up with my regular friends at the Shawangunk Grasslands in Ulster County's Galeville, NY.

Here we waited for and saw 3 of the Short-Eared Owls that are being seen each evening during the months of February and March.  Very Soon they will be gone north.

March 3 - Return to Merrill Creek

With only brief looks last weekend at the Boreal Chickadee, a return trip to Merrill Creek was on the docket today.  I arrived and immediately had the bird at very close range, and at points it appeared on the feeding station.

Later I also saw the female Barrow's Goldeneye from the Hawkwatch Overlook by the I/O Tower.

February 23 - Boreal Chickadee in New Jersey !

This morning began at Long Island New York's Jones Beach.  We took the long walk from the West End 2 lot toward the jetty at Jones Inlet.  Our walk was worth it as we enjoyed the three Harlequin Ducks from very close range.  A surprise seen upon the jetty amongst the many Dunlin was a Red Knot, and it was in very nice plumage for a winter bird.
A stop at the Coast Guard Station yielded news of a nearby Northern Saw-Whet Owl that we viewed while eating a vole.  We weren't eating the vole the Owl was !

On the way home we stopped at Orchard Beach. Here we saw lots of evidence of other owls but we could not locate any here today.  Noteworthy here was a confiding male Pileated Woodpecker that gave very long looks as he searched for insects in a tree along the path by the beach.

Once home there was a report of a Boreal Chickadee being seen in New Jersey, something that hasn't occurred in about 35 years !  My wife was generous and took the ride out west one hour to the Merrill Creek Reservoir's Visitor Center. Alas, the bird had last been seen about 20 minutes before I arrived.
While others stood around looking at the feeders where it was most frequently being seen, I decided to watch the pines and brush about 150 feet away. After about 45 minutes I was able to get a couple of brief looks at the Boreal Chickadee ! 

click to enlarge

credit: Chuck H.

 

February 17 - Coastal Connecticut

With not many rare birds being present in New Jersey this weekend we decided to head 2.5 hours north along the coast of Connecticut. Our first destination was in New London's Ocean Beach Park.
Here a long-staying King Eider has been present since December.  The bird was seen eating lots of mussels and was incredibly close and on very calm water.

click to enlarge.  Credit: Unknown

We then headed back towards home, with the first stop being at Madison's Hammonasset State Park.
Here we had great looks at a nicely plumaged Lapland Longspur. In most years this species can be seen in good numbers out at New York's Jones Beach and other coastal beaches.  However this year has been bitterly cold but without much snow cover making this Lapland the only one I have seen at all.

Our final stop was at Greenwich Point Park, a return trip for me as I has been out here just 2 weeks ago.  We easily found the Black-Headed Gull, and also the pair of Great_Horned Owls in the Holly Grove.  Nearby we check some other  pines and  Andy was able to spot a Northern Saw-Whet Owl !

February 10 - Townsend's Warbler

Today we went out southwest to Trenton to visit it's Sewage Treatment Plant.  I'm not kidding !
Attracted to the continually flowing water and the insects that thrive here all winter long was a western vagrant in the form of Townsend's Warbler.
This is my first east coast sighting of this species, and it is quite the beauty:

Afterward we went to Assunpink Wildlife Management Area to see the pair of Trumpeter Swans.
On our way back home we spotted a large flock of over 5,000 Snow Geese.  We scanned the flock for a bit and Andy was able to locate a Ross' Goose within the flock.

January 13 - Shinnecock Inlet seabirds

Today was an exciting morning.  It's rare in this area to be able to enjoy so many seabirds from land. The inlet is hosting a Thick-Billed Murre for more than a week, and was recently joined by Common Murre.  These birds were seen along with the more-likely alcid species of Razorbill.
We also saw Black-Legged Kittiwake, and some Red-Necked Grebes.



Thick-Billed Murre

My friend John's blog has more info on the day and some photos


Later we went east to Watermill, NY and saw the American White Pelican that was found recently.

January 12 - Mega rarity in Upstate New York

Today I finally had a chance to try for the Golden-Crowned Sparrow that has been seen since the last few days of 2018.

Here is the Range Map for this species:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Golden-crowned_Sparrow/maps-range






On the drive back southeast, we stopped in Parksville and saw a few dozen Evening Grosbeaks at the Woodard Road feeders.  We also had Pine Siskins at the Grants Road feeders.

January 5 - Black Phoebe

I awoke to see the New Jersey Rare Bird Alert message that a Black Phoebe had been found !
This is remarkable as this species has not been known to be found outside it's normal range.  Oh well, I guess this guy is just confused and kept flying East.

The viewing conditions were very tough as it had been raining quite hard for over an hour while we waited to see this bird.  As soon as the rain lightened up, the bird was out catching insects along the pond that is in the Hainesville Wildlife Management Area.

Here is the known Range Map:

January 1 - Slow start to the New Year

The winter thus far has been very mild, so the birding got off to a slow start this year.

We then stopped at Stone Tavern Lake in the Assunpink Wildlife Management Area to get a peek at the pair of Trumpeter Swans here.   The Trumpeters are hanging around with the more common Mute Swan.