2013: Week of August 18th – 24th

Bountiful butterflies

       More visuals than text this week as the butterflies are out in full force and in truth are soooooo much more easily photographed than my usual avian fare.  All of today’s images were captured at the butterfly garden at Stonykill Environmental Farm in Wappingers Falls.  The beautiful sunlit gardens were as attractive to this photographer as they were to the butterflies and I ended up spending a fair amount of time wandering through the beds and maneuvering around to get just the right lighting conditions and hopefully finding those specimens that were not too much the worse for wear.  Below is the collection of images from this day’s outing.

Great spangled fritillary

Pearl crescent pair

Tiger swallowtail

Pearl crescent

Gret spangled fritillary

Black swallowtail

Monarch butterfly

2013: Week of August 11th – 17th

Shorebird migration

     

       We spent two days at two excellent habitats in search for migrating shorebirds.  It’s the middle of August, and the migration of these birds should be just about peaking.  Last week, we spent some time in Brigantine Unit of the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Smithville, New Jersey.  Already, it seemed, many of the migrants have moved through.  The Dunlin which were so profuse a couple of weeks ago were not to be found and the Dowitchers seemed to be diminishing in numbers as well.  Others, however, were here in the northeast in big numbers.

       Among those were the Semi-palmated sandpipers which we found by the thousands as the Brig.  This week, however, we visited two other areas of note….. White’s Bogs, where last week we had the Scissor-tailed flycatcher, and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. 

 

White's Bogs, Pemberton, NJ

       At the bogs, we found a nice number of Solitary sandpipers (not so solitary after all!), good numbers of yellowlegs, and quite a few Short-billed dowitchers. 

       

       

The other bird of note at the bogs were the large numbers of Gull-billed terns flying about in large flocks.  It is often somewhat of an arduous task to be able to locate these birds, but this week, they were the default tern at White’s Bogs.  The birds exhibited a great deal of social behavior, working in concert as they hunted the surface of the bog ponds.  What a beautiful sight to see the large numbers flying as if the entire display was choreographed by an avian Twyla Tharpe.

       We were hoping to locate some Pectoral and Stilt sandpipers at this site, but our survey of the property came up empty.

       Later in the week, back in our home state of New York, we checked out what has always been a hotspot for finding migrant shorebirds, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge.  Last year’s “Superstorm Sandy” devastated the refuge, breeching one of the dikes which isolated the West Pond.  There were far fewer birds than we have come to expect at the refuge this week, and we could not help but wonder what the future holds for the area.  How long will it take, if ever, for the refuge to once again become the magnet it had been before being ravaged by the storm.

       

       Still, we found some fine birds to hold our attention.  Several first year Black-crowned Night-herons were found including this one which was either bathing or simply keeping cool on this warm day by spending and extended period of time half submerged in “Big John’s Pond”.  Being close to the photo blind made for an excellent opportunity to shoot this youngster.   A group of Glossy ibises were also visible from the blind and remained perched above the Night-heron.

       Short-billed dowitchers were also common and were not afraid to come within great photo-op distance.  These seen below happened to be feeding in the reflection of a mute swan, making for an interesting backdrop.

       Oystercatchers were moving through and we counted over thirty on one sandbar out in the bay. 

 The Stilt sandpiper we had sought down in Jersey was finally found here in Jamaica Bay and gave us nice extended looks as did a less common bird here in New York, the American avocet. 

Stilt sandpiper

       A far more common bird (although not found in great numbers in the refuge today) is the Semi-palmated plover.  This bird gave us a great show as it bathed no more than 30 yards from us in the shallows of the north end of the East Pond.  In an effort to really shake that excess water off, the bird made a vertical leap at one point and shook vigorously in mid-air.  I had the camera trained on the bird at the right time and captured the acrobatic move.

       Well, it is August.  And after a few weeks lull, things are picking up once again as the first waves of fall migrants begin to move through Southeast New York.  We’ll keep an eye on the continuing movement of the shorebirds as well as the “confusing fall warblers” in the upcoming weeks.  Watch for upcoming reports on our finds.

2013: August 4th – 10th Jersey Scissor-tail

        We are wrapping up another enjoyable week with our son’s family here in Long Beach Island and now await the arrival of our daughter and her family.  We’ve been able to squeek in a little birding time between beaching, miniature golf, fishing, and so on and in fact had a successful chase after a Jersey rarity, the Scissor-tailed flycatcher.

       This flycatcher should be in the south-central region of the country during the summer months and around this time of year should be gathering in large flocks to begin their migration to Mexico and points south.  So, why did this bird decide to make an appearance in central New Jersey?  Only God and the bird know.  In any case, the bird chose some pretty nice digs to settle into, making her summer home the cranberry bogs of Brown’s Mills. 

       Having noticed the reports of this elegant flycatcher on eBird, Sharon and I took a brief trip northwest to White’s Bogs, an historical cranberry producing operation about an hour from where we are staying in LBI.  We found a group of Jersey birders on site, but they had already seen the flycatcher and were off on another quest.  We asked where we might be able to locate the scissor-tail and were given explicit directions to “Bog 5” where the bird has been recently sighted.  We were rewarded for our efforts in no time as we drove up to the bog, got out the scope and had the bird fly in and land on a sprinkler head.  As I went for the Nikon, the bird left as quickly as it had appeared and I figured I might have last my one chance for a decent shot at the quarry.

      

         We continued to scout out Bog 5 and surrounding areas with sightings of other flycatchers but not the scissor-tail.  Finally, after another hour and a half, we returned to said bog and found the desired bird perched out in the middle of the bog.  As luck would have it, we were blessed with brightening skies as I began to shoot.  After a day of misty overcast conditions, the timing could not have been better.  Shooting from the portable blind known as the RAV4, I was able to get better and better shots as the bird flew in closer and closer.  Eventually, he departed, but only after giving us a great look for an extended time.

      

Semi-palmated sandpiper

        We ended the week with an afternoon down at Brigantine NWR.  We met a friend of ours who we bird the Brig with each August and headed out onto the wildlife drive in the heat of the day.  Mid-day in mid-summer is not the greatest time for birding, but we did OK with about 40 species.  We noted once again how the cast changes from week to week as we head towards fall.  Two weeks ago, it was all about the dunlin.  Last week, the dowitchers took over.  This week, it was thousands of semi-palmated sandpipers that dotted the mudflats. 

       Probably the best shot of the day was of the grand Caspian tern which we found hunting over the first impoundment.  We watched a shot for at least 10 minutes before leaving the bird behind, still plunging into the depths for its lunchtime meal.

      

        Other terns we found on site included the omnipresent Forster’s terns, a few Least terns, and several Gull-billed terns.  The usual assemblage of herons and egrets were of course on-site as well and this little snowy flew by to check us out as we drove around the impoundments.

       Finally, we had a nice comparison of two of our more common "peeps" which were found together on the jetty off of South 31st Street in Beach Haven.  Both size and plumage differences were evident, but of course the most obvious difference was the bright yellow legs of the Least as opposed to the black legs of the Sanderling (actually a bit too large to be a true "peep")  The Least is one of our really long distance travelers and is likely to be headed down to South America in the immediate future.  We'll keep an eye out for him on the jetty.

Least sandpiper

Sanderling

       We’ll keep track of what develops down here over the next week or so and keep you informed via the blog.  Stay in touch!

2013 - Week of July 28th – August 3rd: Back on the Plains

South Jersey Coastal Plains, that is……

       Can’t get away from the flatlands lately.  After a week out on the great plains of North Dakota, we find ourselves birding the coastal plains of south Jersey.  As we wend our way through the sultry heat of the summer season, we find subtle changes in the natural world.  Young baby birds are slowly maturing and becoming more independent (to a degree).  Small flocks of birds are seen moving south.  Signs of initial migratory movement, or did we just happen to see them when they were flying in that general direction?  When we see groups behaving this way, like the Cedar waxwings flying in mass with a seemingly definitive purpose, we assume migration.  We also found a collection of Tree swallows which had set in for a little rest among the reeds of the marsh.  Once nesting is complete, these birds become very social.

       

       The tree swallows we saw today showed signs of molting, and while most birds do not molt during migration, tree swallows are in the select group which do.  After nesting, groups of these swallows will begin migrating towards Florida and points further south by way of a series of short trips down the east coast, moving in units of up to 200 miles from one large marsh to the next.  These marshes provide a great deal of food in the forms of bugs, and believe me, if you have ever been in the Brigantine NWR in July and early August, you know what we’re talking about.  We found it necessary to bird from the car with the windows rolled up in order to prevent the little green-headed monsters from extracting their pound of flesh as we moved through the wetlands. For more interesting facts on these wonderful swallows, visit http://www.treeswallowprojects.com/cafter.html.

        Other products of the recent nesting period which we had the privilege of seeing this week included Clapper rails, American oystercatchers, and fluffy little Common yellowthroat chicks.

 

Clapper rail

Juvenile American oystercatcher

Common yellowthroat chick

       While the yellowthroats were among the most diminutive birds we saw on the coastal marshes this week, the Great black-backed juveniles were already birds of pretty major proportions.  With the parent looking down from above, these two young birds called plaintively looking forward to their next feeding.  I mentioned these two to Sharon and she looked right past them because I had referred to then as chicks.  “Chick-size” they are not!

      

         As we move through mid-summer, we will gradually note a changing of the cast of characters which make up the population along the north-east regions of the coastal plain.  The default gull at this time of year is the Laughing gull.  Anyone who has vacationed along the Jersey Shore during July and August knows that the raucous call of this part is a major part of the experience.  As the seasons march on, these birds will all but disappear as they head down the coast to warmer climes.

      

       

 Another summer visitor we had the pleasure of watching and photographing were the Blue grosbeaks.  These birds will summer and breed in this area, but will later move on, pretty much vacating the United States for the entire winter season.  For know, we’ll revel in their beauty and be thankful for their presence in these warm marshes and woodlands.

       We'll continue to watch the evolution of the natural world here in Brigantine over the next several months knowing that each time we visit, we can expect to find something new.