April 20 - Old Mine Road

With the winds coming out of the East quite strongly today, my friends and I decided to head west toward the Delaware Water Gap, specifically Old Mine Road. We were rewarded with some nice warbler activity for this time of year, and had both the Louisiana and Northern Waterthrushes.



Nearly a dozen Northern Parulas (above) were already on territory and in song, Pine Warbler were evident along with Palm Warblers too, and a single Yellow Warbler was a highlight. Also seen was Broad-Winged Hawk, Eastern Kingbird, Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers, several Purple Finch and Cedar Waxwings.

April 12 - Delaware Bayshore

A trip to southern New Jersey's Delaware Bayshore was on tap for today, with the first stop being the Heislerville impoundments. Here I saw my first Barn Swallows, Black-Crowned Night Herons and Glossy Ibis of the spring. Clapper Rails and Black-Bellied Plovers were also seen, along with Pectoral Sandpipers, Short-Billed Dowitchers and Dunlin.


Some pretty breeding plumaged Bonaparte's Gulls were nice, any my first Laughing Gulls of the year were seen here also.

Afterwards we went to Belleplain State Forest where we located Black-and-White Warbler, Ovenbird, and Pine Warbler. Of course the specialty here at Belleplain is the beautiful Yellow-Throated Warbler.
credit: JOHN SCHWARZ

April 6 - Sussex County birding

Today I took a trip to the northern parts of the state, namely Sussex County. First up was Creek Road in Green Township where I saw an impressive count of approximately 100 Wilson's Snipe. There were a few Greater Yellowlegs also present here. Also seen was a male Northern Harrier, a male & female pair of American Kestrel, Black Vultures, some early Tree Swallows, and a pair of Savannah Sparrows. the ducks were represented by GW Teal, Northern Shovelers, Ring-Necked Ducks, Gadwall and American Wigeon. A lone Snow Goose was a nice surprise.

Up next was a ride thought the Kittitanny State Park whereI saw some nicely plumaged Wood Ducks . A highlight was the beautiful male Red-Shouldered Hawk.
click to enlarge

Lastly I drove around the Wallkill NWR, particularly the Oil City Road area near the New York State line. Bluebirds and Tree Swallows were present, along with Juncos and Tree Sparrows. On the impoundments were Coot, Green Heron, Common & Hooded Mergansers, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, Green-Winged and Blue-Winged Teal, and Ring-Necked Ducks.

On the drive home I spotted a Ring-Necked Pheasant.

April 5 - Garret Mountain

Time to resume the trips to this special mountain, that always has something interesting to offer.

Today I saw my first Palm Warbler and also Louisiana Waterthrush of this year.

Also seen today were American Woodcock, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creeper and Phoebes. A male Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker provided some nice views and calls.
Common Raven was overhead, and I saw the sparrows of White-Throated, House, Song, Swamp and Fox. Winter Wrens were also seen today.

Next weekend will be even better !

March 22 - Southern Connecticut

I made a trip to Stamford this morning in hopes of seeing the Common Black-Headed Gull that had been reported on both Thursday and Friday of this week. I arrived just after 7 a.m. however the bird was not present. There were some Bonaparte's Gulls, but the dozen here were a far cry from the 200-300 recently reported.

There were some nice birds to be seen though with Monk Parakeet being a highlight.
Duck species seen Shoveler, Black, Mallard, Bufflehead, Wigeon, Gadwall, and Lesser Scaup. Also Red-Breasted and Hooded Mergansers were about. My first Blue-Winged Teal of the year was a nice surprise.


On the ocean side of the park there were beautifully plumaged Long-Tailed Ducks, Horned Grebes, Common Goldeneye, Brant, and Great Cormorant. Also a Merlin was observed.


Having dipped on the gull, my next stop was the CT Audubon's Coastal Center at Milford Point about 25 miles further east. I had been here once before in July 2006 when my friend Rob F. took me to see the Red-Necked Stint. This morning I was able to see very close look at a dozen Common Redpolls.

On the water here was my first Osprey and Oystercatchers of the spring, and numerous duck species. They being Blue-Winged and Green-Winged Teal, Canvasback, Pintail, Black, Mallard, Wigeon, Gadwall, and Goldeneye. Two large rafts of Greater Scaup were out in the ocean, as was a Common Loon, many Horned Grebes, and RB Mergansers. There were more Monk Parakeets seen here also.

Alas, the target was not seen today, but it was a fine morning of birding.

March 15 - Sussex County spots

Having just a few hours free today I visited some spots in Sussex County. On the drive to my first stop, I saw a Kestrel.
At the Sussex County Landfill, I was able to locate two Lesser Black-Backed Gulls, and identify another gull that I feel is a Herring x Glaucous hybrid (a.k.a. Nelson's Gull). Certainly I am not a gull expert and could always be mistaken, particularly with the high variability of the gull family.

The bird in question was predominately white, with not a touch of gray to be seen on the mantle. The pinkish bill with complete dark tip also got my attention, and I immediately thought I had a Glaucous, yet the bill was not large enough. On further examination, also I noted that the primaries were darkish, and the bird had a dark tail band. Certainly a leucistic Herring Gull should be considered. However, I feel that a hybrid gull is likely.

Here is an image I found on the internet that appears like the bird I saw:

My next stop was Paulinskill WMA, also known as Hyper-Humus. Here I saw a pair of Tree Swallows, nearly a dozen Rusty Blackbirds, Brown-headed Cowbirds, and several species of duck: Mallard, Black, Gadwall, Pintail, GW Teal, Wigeon, Wood, Ring-Necked, Bufflehead, Ruddy & Common Mergs, and a few Coot.

Finally at Swartswood Lake, I saw a few Common Goldeneye, and a Lesser Scaup.

March 9 - Eastern Long Island geese

This was an incredibly windy day with sustained winds in the twenties, and gusts that seemed to touch forty ! The life-bird of Ross' Goose was finally seen after trying for over 4 hours. Many thanks to Seth A, who was kind enough to call me once he had located the bird !! I had just finished lunch and was preparing to head back home. I certainly would not have gotten the bird without the phone call. The bird was seen among Canada Geese in a farm field near Water Mill in the town of Southampton.
credit: Dean Edwards


This excellent comparison shows the diminutive Ross' Goose in front of the larger Snow Goose:

credit: Bill Schmoker


Otherwise some good birds seen in the vicinity of Southhampton were Kestrel, Cooper's Hawk, and Red-Tailed Hawk. Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ring-Necked Duck, Ruddy Duck , Mallerd, and Black Duck were seen along with Canada Geese and Snow Geese.