February 9 - Common Murre, Brigantine NWR, and Western Grebe

Out by myself this morning I decided to take the long ride down toward Cape May because there was a rare bird being seen in Wildwood Crest.   A Common Murre had been reported a few days earlier om the bay side in Sunset Lake.
I arrived just after first light and quickly got on the bird. Although it was actively feeding at first, the bird was very close to shore.   Later after the feeding frenzy was completed, the bird then was a little farther out into the lake, but then was staying above the water for long periods, offering great looks at this species.   This is my first record of Common Murre in New Jersey !

Here's a crappy 'documentation-purpose' only pic that I took with my cellphone.

Also seen here today is another rarity for the area in the bird of Rough-Legged Hawk.  This bird was quite distant on the other side of Sunset Lake, but it's perching & flight-style are easy identifiers for this species.

After birding the local Cape May area for a bit and not seeing anything unusual, I headed back north toward home.  First I stopped at Brigantine to look at some ducks and to get views of Tundra Swans, and the Snowy Owl which has been staying here for quite some time now.  I also spotted a Red-Shouldered Hawk.

I resumed my way north and made one last quick stop in Monmouth Beach.  Here I was able to see the Western Grebe which was found by friend Tommy Boyle a few days earlier.  I had not seen this Grebe in a few years so it was nice to put my eyes on this species once again !

January 18 - Overpeck Park's Greater White-Fronted Goose

After birding on Long Island today, we made a quick stop at Overpeck Park to get a brief view of the Greater White-Fronted Goose that has been here for a few days now.

credit: Larry Scachetti




Earlier today we were out at Jones Beach and we connected with this Northern Shrike

Credit: Bill Elrick

January 17 - Ramsey Barnacle Goose

I made a quick stop at the Ramsey High School after work tonight to get a quick look at the Barnacle Goose.  Likely this is the same bird I saw nearby in December.

Credit: Larry Scachetti

January 12 - North Shore Trip

This morning I was out with friend Bill E. and we birding the areas of the North Shore, basically the coastline & ponds between Point Pleasant and Sandy Hook.
We started at the Manasquan Inlet for a seawatch and here we had the gulls of Iceland & Bonaparte's, and Glaucous, all 3 Scoter species were seen. plus we spotted a Pacific Loon !


Later up in Deal, we had very nice views of a Pacific Loon (possibly the same bird seen earlier in Manasquan ?) and Bill spied a Lesser Black-Backed Gull at Wreck Pond.

Lastly in the Belmar Marina I located a drake Eurasian Wigeon amongst all of the American Wigeon.

January 4 - Meadowlands Owls

This evening I went to the Richard W. DeKorte Park in Lyndhurst to look for the Short-Eared Owls that has been sen here for a few weeks now.  About 4:30 pm the first of these Owls was seen.  Later we saw a second Owl as well.  Here's a picture by friend Kevin Watson that shows the beauty of these birds.

Credit:  Kevin Watson


Surprisingly we also had a Barn Owl that took a long flight very close to us.  When I saw the completely white underwings I knew this was a different species, and then I saw the heart-shaped facial disk that's characteristic of this species.

Credit: Ashok Khosla


Earlier on the drive in I had seen a light morph of the Rough-Legged Hawk

January 1 - Eastern Long Island

This first day of 2014 brings a trip out to the easternmost point that one can drive to in greater New York.  With friends Andy, Jen, & Bill we began the New Year with a sunrise view from Montauk Point.

Unless one were to be there its difficult to explain how over 100 people are doing the same thing, so here's a photo of the parking lot a few minutes before 7:00 am.

Here's the same view 90 minutes later !

On to the birds....as expected the water was filled with sea ducks flying all about.  Most numerous are the Scoters and we saw all three species of Black, Surf, and White-Winged quite well.  There were dozens of Razorbills and a single flyby Dovekie !
Other species seen here are many Common Eider (unfortunately we did not see any King Eider), Red-Breasted Mergansers, and several Gull species of Bonaparte's, Ring-Billed, Herring, and Greater Black-Backed.  Several other species of sea ducks were represented in smaller numbers.

After visiting a few other spots in the Montauk area we headed back west to the Shinnecock Inlet.
Here we had wonderful views of Glaucous Gull, and a confiding Iceland Gull which eventually ended up in the parking area.

click to enlarge

credit: Bill Elrick

Finally, once much closer to home, we stopped at Cedar Beach.  Here we were able to see the Gyrfalcon (perhaps the returning bird from last winter?).  This time the bird was perched in a Cedar Tree. After a short bit the Gyrfalcon was harassed by it's smaller, yet no-less fearless, cousin named the Peregrine Falcon.  After strafing the Gyr a few times the 'Grine got its target bird to flush. We then watched a fantastic showing of the two birds interacting in flight for quite some time as the much larger & more powerful Gyr easily avoided the annoying attempts of the attacker.  Soon after the Gyrfalcon flew too far and low into the march for us to see it any longer.
This was a great end to a very good day as it's quite rare to see these two birds together outside of their Arctic homes.

December 29 - Local Spots

Because I had just a half-day of free time today I decided to do some local birding.
It had been a few years since my last sighting of Glaucous Gull so once friend Dan P. had reported one on the Passaic River in the vicinity of Garfield I decided to try for it.  My first attempt was a short try back on Tuesday December 26 but I did not see it.

When the gull was reported by friend Mike W. on Saturday, I made a second attempt on Sunday at first light.  I arrived about a quarter past 7, just before sunrise, and there was enough ambient light to start looking at the group of gulls.  Fortunately the Glaucous Gull is a big all-white bird which makes it easier to find in darker conditions.  Within a few minutes I had located the Gull !

credit:  Dan Paolillo.

credit:  Mike Wolfe


When I was watching the big white Gull I then noticed a smaller white gull, it was an Iceland Gull.  The Iceland Gull took off after less than a minute and flew downstream to the Dundee Dam area.

The Glaucous stayed in sight the entire time I was there and at times came quite close.  Other species seen in my half-hour there were Bufflehead, Common Merganser, and Gulls of Ring-Billed, Herring, and Greater Black-Backed.

I could see that rain was going to come soon but I continued onto my next stop at Hatfield Swamp.
Along the walk under the power lines I saw such sparrows as Dark-Eyed Junco, American Tree, Song, Swamp, Field, and White-Throated. I heard a Towhee call a few times as well.   I came across a pair of Blackbirds, yet these were not Rusties but of the Red-winged variety.  Here woodpeckers abound and I saw numerous Downy & Red-Bellied along with many Northern Flickers, plus a few each of Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker and Hairy Woodpeckers.  Surprisingly there weren't any Red-Headed Woodpeckers even though this place looks to be perfect for this species' liking...

During my walk I spotted a Barred Owl, which is the first time I have seen this species here.

I think that's it for my birding adventures in 2013.  I do hope to get out on New Year's Day and start the 2014 chases !