May 17 - Sterling Forest

After work this evening I went up to New York State's Sterling Forest.  I was able to see all of my targets and a few extras as well.
First up was a Black-Billed Cuckoo which was calling as soon as I gout out of the car & allowed spectacular views.  Nearby a Yellow-Throated Vireo was also seen well.  I was also able to see the Yellow-Billed Cuckoo later this evening.
Next was the specialty bird of this spot, the Golden-Winged Warbler, which is a species that is extremely hard to find nesting in New Jersey anymore.  Thankfully they are still reliable here.

Go to Lloyd  Spitalnik's website to view more of  this beautiful warbler, and his other fine work.



I also saw the Blue-Winged Warbler and Prairie Warbler amongst the many singing Indigo Buntings.  Another specialty warbler of this location is the Cerulean Warbler and I was lucky to see both the male and the female this time. Other warblers tonight were Black-and-White, Common Yellowthroat, American redstart, Northern Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-Sided, and Blackpoll.
These birds were joined by Scarlet Tanager, Baltimore Oriole, rose-Breasted Grosbeak and Great Crested Flycatcher. A pair of Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds put on a nice show too. 

Just as dusk was setting in I glimpsed some Common Nighthawks overhead and ended up with a total of  11 being seen.  In the woods a Barred Owl called, and later several Eastern Whip-poor-Wills sounded off.  Overall a very productive, and enjoyable, end to the work week and  start of my birding weekend.

May 12 - Grand Day at Garret

This morning I got started just before dawn at Garret Mountain and was able to see a Common Nighthawk in the first minutes after sunrise.   The rest of the day was very enjoyable with many new arrivals, particularly for me as I was away for the first week of May.

Warblers put on a good showing with these 20 species being seen: Ovenbird, Northern Waterthrush, Black-and-White, Tennessee, Common Yellowthroat, American Redstart, Cape May, Northern Parula, Magnolia, Bay-Breasted, Blackburnian, Yellow, Chestnut-Sided, Blackpoll, Black-Throated Blue, Palm, Yellow-Rumped, Black-Throated Green, and Wilson's.

Both orioles of Baltimore & Orchard were seen, as were vireos of  Yellow-Throated, Blue-Headed, Warbling, and Red-Eyed. Both Nuthatch species were tallied as were Great Crested Flycatcher, Eastern Phoebe, Least Flycatcher, Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Eastern Kingbird.

May 11 - Brigantine re-opens !

After last October's Hurricane Sandy the Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge, a/k/a Brigantine, was heavily damaged and has now re-opened.

click to enlarge

credit:  http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Effects_of_Hurricane_Sandy_at_Edwin_B._Forsythe_National_Wildlife_Refuge._%28NJ%29.jpg

The wildlife loop was breached in several sections and required months of work to be repaired.  On Thursday evening a breeding female Red Phalarope was found, and this bird was also seen on Friday morning.  So I made the drive down here on Saturday, however the bird was not seen again after Friday.

I did however enjoy seeing the many splendid breeding plumaged Dunlin, formerly known as the Red-Backed Sandpiper.

Credit: http://www.gpnc.org/images/jpegs/animals/dunlin.jpg


Other birds seen today were Wood Duck, Northern Shoveler, Common Loon, Great Egret, Snowy egret, Black-Crowned Night-Heron, Glossy Ibis, Osprey and Clapper Rail.
Shorebirds were Black-Bellied Plover, Semiplamated Plover, Oystercatcher, Spotted Sandpiper, Willet, both Yellowlegs species, Whimbrel, Marbled Godwit, Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Sandpiper, western Sandpiper, Least Sandpiper and Short-Billed Dowitcher.
Terns seen were Gull-Billed, Caspian & Forsters, and Black Skimmer.  Swallows were Purple Martin, Tree and Barn Swallows.  Passerines were Eastern Kingbird and White-Eyed Vireo

April 27 - Nassau, Bahamas

The last week of April brought me to the Caribbean Island of New Providence in the Bahamas.  Specifically the Cable Beach area of Nassau.  While this was not a birding trip & without a car, I did manage to see a few species on foot.  Notable was the Bahama Woodstar, of which an individual was seen in Pennsylvania just a few days before my trip.  Unfortunately I did not see that bird, but was able to see a few while on vacation.

Other birds seen were Red-Legged Thrush, Black-faced Grassquit, Cuban Grassquit, Banaquit, and Ruddy Turnstones.  Doves were represented by the Eurasian-Collared, Mourning, and Ground species.   I saw a Northen Parula, American Redstart and Green Heron.

credit:  http://www.birds-of-north-america.net/images/red-legged-thrush-10.jpg

Bahama Woodstar

Cuban Grassquit

credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachellevance/6977889419/


So that brings us to May, the most-exciting month for birds in the northeastern US !!

April 21 - East Point Marina

Today we went chasing the Ruff that had been reported on eastern Long Island the prior weekend.  Fortunately the bird has stuck around long enough for me to go for it.  After a short wait the near-breeding plumaged male Ruff made it appearance.  A terrific photo of the bird can be seen on friend Andrew Baksh's blog.

click image to enlarge


We also saw Boat-Tailed Grackle, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Snowy Egret, Great Egret, Willet, Lesser Yellowlegs, Dunlin, Least Sandpiper, and Tree Swallows.

April 12 - Point View Reservior

A late season storm brought with it reports of several birds being seen at unusual locations in the area. Thanks to Dan Paolillo who told me about some sea-ducks that he had found on the large municipal water supply locatined in Wayne,  known as the Point View Reservoir.

I made a brief stop here after work in fading light & drizzling rainfall and was able to tally several County-Records of species that are typically found on the ocean and it's bays.  These were  Long-Tailed Duck, Red-Breasted Merganser, Horned Grebe.

April 7 - South Amboy and Garret Mountain

On a very chilly day due to the high winds friends Bill, Andy, and Jen accompanied me to the Rariton River waterfront in South Amboy. Here we were able to view the Black-Headed Gull that had been reported here.  This was my first sighting of this species in a few years.  Other gull species seen were Great Black-Backed Gull, Herring Gull, Ring-Billed Gull and Bonaparte's Gull and Laughing Gull.
Other birds seen were the spring arrivals of American Oystercatcher and Osprey.

On the way home we stopped at Garret Mountain and had some more spring returnees of Phoebe, Blue-Winged Teal, Rough-Winged Swallow, both Kinglet species, and warblers of Pine, Palm and Louisiana Waterthrush.