November 23 - Weymouth Woods Woodpeckers

Try saying that title ten times fast !!  On a Thanksgiving trip to see my family in North Carolina I was able to steal away a few hours this morning so I headed southbound on US 1 (a/k/a The Jefferson Davis Highway) toward Fort Bragg, and the town of Southern Pines.  Here is a small park called Weymouth Woods Nature Center that hosts a colony of Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers which can be reliably seen with a little effort.  I arrived just about 8:30 am and began enjoying all of the woodpeckers...Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker, Northern Flicker, Downy Woodpecker, Red-Bellied Woodpecker, and Pileated Woodpecker.  It took about 30 minutes for the specialty birds to show up, and then I was able to get very close & very long-lasting views of the Red-Cockaded Woodpeckers.

November 22 - Visit to North Carolina

I'm visiting family this week in the town of Cary, North Carolina.  One of my first objectives after that long 550-mile drive was to see some Brown-Headed Nuthatches.
Of course, I can see this species in Delaware but that is still about 4 hours away... and while I did see this species once in New Jersey in 2005, but again, that was in Cape May and the species has yet to make another appearance in the Garden State.  So whenever in the Tarheel State I make a point of seeing this little gem.

Other species seen today were Carolina Chickadees, Yellow-Rumped Warblers, Juncos, White-Throated Sparrows, a Gray Catbird, a Towhee, plus other common species.

November 5 - Jones Beach & the Pink-Footed Goose

This morning we visited Jones Beach. The best birds today were Snow Buntings & Lapland Longspur.

credit: Bill Elrick

Later we stopped at Hendrickson Park for the Pink-Footed Goose that has been staying here for a few days now.  This species has become annual in the coastal northeastern region over the past few years, It's interesting to note that this species was a major-rarity just a short while ago, particularly the first time I saw it all the way up in Rhode Island back in January 2007

October 2 - Garret Mountain

A nice surprise was in order today at Garret Mountain as a Bicknell's Thrush was seen.   The bird was spotted in the Wet Area at the north end of Barbour Pond, and to confirm the ID my friend Bill tested it's response to the playback of calls. The bird did not respond to the Gray-Cheeked Thrush call however it did immediately come closer when hearing the Bicknell's Thrush call.

Here is a nice image of this species, and the link in the credit gives a concise synopsis of the history:

credit: http://www.conservationbigyear.com/june-17-bicknells-thrush/

September in Cape May

My wife and I spent a few days in Cape May this week and I was able to see some nice birds.  Fall in Cape May is easy birding because the natural funnel that is Cape May results in the south-bound migrants all getting concentrated in this southern tip of New Jersey.  Also the weather is still very nice & the room rates are much cheaper.

For the birds, the highlight was the Parasitic Jaegers.  These ocean wanderers are drawn close to shore by the large flocks of Terns and Gulls feeding on small fish.  As their name implies, the Jaegers then harass these smaller birds into giving up their catch.  In the first photo below note the bulge in the throat of the white gull that is being chased by the darker Parasitic Jaeger.

In the second photo you see the results, as the chased bird 'gives up' its meal to the Jaeger.

There were many other fine birds seen over the 4 days here.  Highlights were Brown Pelicans, and Yellow-Breasted Chat, and Philadelphia Vireo.

August 27 - Brigantine Shorebirds & Herons

This morning brings the annual ritual of birding at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, affectionately known by locals as Brigantine.  Late August produces the highest number of species at this location, as well as, some seasonal specialties.
The primary target is the lovely Buff-Breasted Sandpiper, and we saw many today from very close range.  Here is an image from the Audubon website:

 We saw the special herons of Little Blue & also Tri-Colored, and tern species of Least, Forster's, Gull-Billed, Caspian, and Black.

August 14 - Wilson's Phalarope

Today I convinced my wife Donna to take a short detour from our chores to stop at Richard W. DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst to see a Wilson's Phalarope that had bee seen yesterday.  As luck would have it the bird was visible when we first arrived and it also stayed within 20-30 feet of the boardwalk so we got some great views.

Here is a video by quoteny: