2013: Week 21 – Birding the Jersey Shore

May 19^th - 25^th

       We took a break from the woodlands and the warblers to check in on waders, gulls, and shorebirds during this time of optimum breeding plumage.  Among the choice locations to find these birds within a few hours of home is the Jersey shore.  Good friends of ours have a home in Manahawkin near Long Beach Island and we were fortunate enough to be able to use their summer home as our base of operations for this week. 

      

     Our first port of call was the Brigantine unit of the Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge lies just outside the old historic town of Smithville and is made up of 47,000 acres of coastal habitat managed for use by migratory avian wildlife.  The “Brig” as it is known to birders all along the east coast is easily accessible by an 8 mile wildlife drive around the impoundments.  Tuesday’s drive was under sunny skies if not a bit windy.  The great thing about the Brig is that even if you know what to expect depending upon the time of year, there are always surprises.  Our first sighting of the day was of a elusive Marsh wren which chose to perch up high and sing out its warbling call  only several feet from the boardwalk.  A second wren was calling from the other side of the trail and the exposed bird was probably calling to either ward off a potential rival or to simply “touch base” with another local inhabitant. 

Dunlin

       Moving further along around the drive, we were amazed at the number of Dunlin feeding in the massive mudflats.  Several weeks earlier, we found similar congregations of these waders at Bombay Hook NWR.  We wondered if we possibly could be now looking at some of the same birds we saw down there in Delaware.  Most of these birds will continue their journey north to the Canadian arctic where an abundance of insects found during the summer months helps sustain the birds during their breeding season.

       The Ospreys have returned from their wintering grounds and have already set up their nests along the Jersey coast.  Many have already had chicks and those who have not will by the beginning of June.  This male of this pair had been out foraging and was bringing back some nourishment for his “bride” as she lay incubating her eggs.  Throughout the week, we came across many ospreys in virtually every shoreline habitat we searched.

       The other birds we took special interest in were the American oystercatchers.  We found this pair feeding along the water’s edge, only to be interrupted by a second pair.  A short squabble ensued ending in the intruders being driven off by the two who had been here at the beginning.  Having seen only one or two of their species during out entire three and a half months in Florida, it was a real pleasure to be able to watch this interaction.

   

         The next day, we headed up to the north end of Long Beach Island where the  Barnegat Lighthouse is located.  We know that gulls are notorious for eating anything and everything, but we finally found one staple that even the Herring gull found less that palatable.  Perched on a algae-encrusted boulder on the jetty below the lighthouse, a stately looking gull had managed to secure a starfish for its lunch and began tearing the echinoderm limb from limb.  It finally had ripped one leg off and gulped the morsel down.  But wait…..up and out it came as the gull was having some difficulty ingesting the limb.  Try, try, again and down the leg went once again.  The seabird quickly dropped down into the inlet to grab a quick drink, but even that did not seem to make the star any more appetizing.  Finally, the gull flew off, leaving the remains of the starfish lying on the jetty.  Nothing seemed interested in the ort as long as we watched and we can only assume that starfish are not on the top of the epicurean delights list of gulls….at least not the one we watched.

      

       Leaving the jetty, we drove down along the marina near an area called Viking Village to see what might be swimming, flying, of foraging along the sandbars.  Our first sighting of note was a pair of Common loons in full breeding plumage.  As I zoomed in on the closest bird for a nice shot, he dove.  I waited for at least 5 minutes and never saw the bird resurface.  Loons can stay down for a long period of time, and this one was apparently electing to do just that.  Meanwhile, an Oystercatcher came flying out of the reeds on the sandbar and circled the area loudly calling its warning to all other birds in the area. 

       Must have a nest on the island, we thought.  Before long, we found out what all the commotion was about as the mother emerged with a young chick in tow.  Oystercatchers aren’t always easy to find, but to see one with a youngster, that was special!

       

       Later that afternoon, we headed south to Tuckerton and Great Bay Boulevard.  The long STRAIGHT roadway out through the marshes is a great place to observe herons, egrets, dunlins, dowitchers, and other shorebirds.  Our main target this afternoon, however, was the Seaside sparrow.  This sparrow is a skulker, and is more often heard than seen.  It was quite some time that we had been in the field for the past two days and had yet to see OR hear one.  Then, when we weren’t really thinking about the bird, we heard part of its call as we drove by. 

         We slowly backed up and got to the spot where we thought we had initially heard the sparrow.  We pulled off to the side of the road and parked the car.  Getting out as quietly as possible, we began the vigil.  It did not take too long before the bird flew by, but when it landed, it simply disappeared.  Only after another 10 minutes did we finally catch sight of the bird down on a bare patch of ground within the reeds.  I managed to get off several shots before it jumped up onto an overhanging branch to give me a little better shot.  Then, the bird disappeared once again and was not seen again.  Still, we had our target bird for the day and a new bird for the year-list.

      Another bird on our list of desired sightings for the day was the Stilt sandpiper.  As with yesterday, we had plenty of willets, and plenty of dunlin, and plenty of semi-palmated sandpipers.  But finding the Stilt was a different story.  Finally, the sought after bird flew into a shallow pond among the semi-palms.  I watched with the scope and then switched over to the larger lens.  Still at some distance, I attached the 1.4X teleconverter and used the tripod to steady the camera.  As if to pose, the bird reared back and opened its wings, exposing its barred underside.  A fine finish to a fine day.

     

       Our final day here in New Jersey was spent checking for a rare Eurasian bird, the Curlew sandpiper.  Each year, a vagrant shows up in south Jersey and this year was no exception.  Our friend Warren who is a volunteer with NJ Audubon offered to help us find the bird as he led a weekly birding tour through the area of Heislerville Wildlife Management Area in Cumberland County.  As luck would have it, when we arrived at the impoundment where the bird had been seen over the course of the previous week, it was flooded to the point that all the mudflats were under water.  No mudflats = no Curlew sandpiper.  As the day grew colder, windier, and wetter, we concentrated on a rookery of Black-crowned night herons, Great egrets, and Double-crested cormorants as well as searching for Red knots.

 

Red knots with Ruddy turnstones

       The knots are only here briefly, feeding on the nutritious horseshow crab eggs.  The knots are headed north and in preparation for their breeding ritual, they have taken on their rich rusty plumage.  At Cook’s Beach in Cape May County, we found a major flock of these birds which are presently in the process of completing a 9,300 mile journey from the southern tip of South America to the regions above the Arctic circle.  Although is was cold and rainy, and we were obligated to see the birds from quite a distance, it was still an exciting experience to see them in the wild.

       At the end of the week, we headed back to New York through a miserable rainy and cold (mid 40s) late May day.  Hopefully, the weather will finally change for the better and become more spring-like next week.