Fall Birding

We drove up to Lily Lake looking for Canada Geese. Not for the Geese themselves (not that there is anything wrong with Canada Geese) but for the visitor who may be dining with them. A stop in the morning produced a Tundra Swan, lots of American Wigeon and Hooded Merganser male and females but no Geese. This time, at around 1:30 PM the Geese were present. Now with a little luck we would see our first Barnacle Goose. This one had been reported around Cape May for over a week but I had struck out in my previous attempt. So we were happy to quickly find him/her and got some pretty good pictures despite optimal sun conditions.

I started the afternoon out in Cape May with hopes of seeing the Barnacle Goose or Bullock’s Oriole. Neither showed with 30-40 mph winds so I decided to stop off at the Brig on the way home. Some waterfowl and loads of Dunlin and Snow Geese throughout and the nice immature Bald Eagle above made appearances.

Townsend’s Solitaire

What an amazing day! The first day of December brought a clear sky, a bright sun, and delivered all of the reported rarities in just under three “birded hours.” Along with fellow birders Andy and Ramsey from PA, we tracked the Townsend’s Solitaire, Ash-throated Flycatcher, and Western Kingbird all at their previously reported locations. The looks afforded were stunning and all three birds were super cooperative! Andy and Ramsey also saw the Great Crested Flycatcher and a large group of Snow Bunting which I later stopped and enjoyed as well. Who knew December birding would be so great!

Ash-throated Flycatcher:

Western Kingbird:

Today I got up early and headed out to Sandy Hook to try and see some of the recently reported “Western Rarities.” Townsend’s Solitaire, Western Kingbird, and Ash-throated Flycatcher had all been reported in the last week near the Sandy Hook Boy Scout camp. I arrived around 8:45 AM and met up with other seeking birders. Reports were that the Flycatcher had been seen around 8 AM but no Solitaire or Kingbird was seen yet. So with the rest of the group I wait and looked and waited some more until around 10:30 AM. I then decided to take a quick walk past a half up/half down fence located about 25 yards away from the flag pole itself. As I stepped through the opening in the fence a bird popped up and stood briefly a few feet from my head. I quietly called the other birders over as I knew this was the Ash-throated. Of course, as things go, most only got a quick glance as the bird took off seconds after everyone arrived. He didn’t fly far and myself and two other birders re-found the bird and I snapped a few pictures before he tore off for good. So one out of three is sure better than 0-3. Fun day for sure.

Today we got a call from our birding friend Paul Murray that a juvenile Northern Shrike was actively hunting the area around the Scott’s Mountain Hawk Watch. Jeanette and I had not seen the bird (after trying multiple times in multiple locations for others) so we rushed over and hoped we had enough daylight left. The bird had thankfully stayed around but was now on the other side of the reservoir after earlier being only 10s of feet from the gathered “Hawk Watchers.” The bird was scoped and given positive ID. However, our attempts at photographing the bird only provided the far-too-distant picture above. Happy to have seen it but look forward to better looks in the future.

Persistence and a great tip that the Somerset Sandhill Cranes were back paid off today. We got great looks at the three birds as they walked around and then lifted off . Life birds for Jeanette and Jersey bird for me! Thanks Charles Smart for the info!

We decided to start a “Black Friday” tradition of our own this year and headed out to make a pretty good run at some quality birds seen recently in New Jersey. Unaware of the apparent ramifications of a Thanksgiving night cold front we had visions of birds such as Calliope Hummingbird, Sandhill Crane, Evening Grosbeak, White-winged Crossbill, Harlequin Ducks and Western Kingbirds. Turned out, we struck out on all but the Harlequin. As if by consolation, Long-tailed Duck, Common Eider, Red-throated Loon and my first Purple Sandpiper made appearances. It was cold and rather windy but the array of birds kept “spirits” warm. Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Common Loon, Northern Gannet and a flock of Scoter kept me company and provided a worthwhile ending to our first, mediocre Black Friday birding excursion. BTW, the Harlequin seen for the first time are as stunning as one imagines.

So I decided to take my lunch hour to drive about 5 miles away to see this previously reported Calliope Hummingbird. My second of the year (Karen and Brian Johnson in Cape May county had one that I saw on October 3rd) this Calliope is thought to be a first year male and as such is without the more “extravagant” jeweled necklace like gorget (throat feathers). I was there for about 20 minutes and he showed up 3 times. The bird is at a feeder at the house of John & Carol Knapp in Denville and they have been unbelievably receptive and open about letting fellow birders access to their yard for viewing. Thanks John and Carol!

The weather held off enough to have some great looks at this Eurasian Wigeon at one of our favorite birding spots in Cape May; Lily Lake. Also stopped by Cape May Point for Cave Swallow and the Avalon Sea Watch for Long-tailed Duck and Red-breasted Merganser. Quite a productive day indeed.

We got a great long look at a hunting Belted Kingfisher. The pictures above are the sequence of events that followed.