Palm Warbler
I mentioned that the pictures get better as we move through the Spring and more birds are around to be seen. Today proved that out. There were 20+ Palms around Garret today with the stunning guy above one of the many. Some nice bright male Pine Warblers and 2 Rusty Blackbirds (FOS). The Red-headed Woodpecker was around and 5 Winter Wrens. Not bad for early April! (No Waterthrush again today :()
Pine Warbler
Winter Wren
Rusty Blackbird
Eastern Towhee
Palm Warbler
Today was another nice day for a walk around Barbour’s pond at Garret Mountain. Early in April the birds you will see can be estimated and hoped for, but you never know what has blown in or picked up and moved on.
The last few days of March and the first week and a half are usually pretty consistent for Pine Warbler, Louisiana Waterthrush (first/second week of April), Winter Wren and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker and at the end of the run Palm Warblers. Lots of Palm Warblers. 🙂 It is rare for me to make multiple trips to Garret during this time period and not see some or all of these. It is always a nice feeling to hear the first Pine Warbler song, see the Mourning Cloak fluttering past and watch the first Waterthrush bob its tail picking through the steam’s edges. All feels right with the world when these timings we become used to play out as expected in front of us with no human intervention required (or desired for that matter).
The second and third week of April usually bring in the next “wave” of migrants. This time is always interesting because an “early” member from the later groups can make guest appearances wetting your beak for the pending invasion you know sits waiting on waves of weather from the south. May is when those flood gates usually open, unleashing the traveling hordes through our borders. (happily mind you :)) So, the second and third weeks of April can bring Black-and-white Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Ovenbird, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Rusty Blackbird, Blue-headed Vireo, Lincoln’s Sparrow (uncommon), and circling Broad-winged Hawks.
Near the end of the third week (20s and on) comes the opportunity for Northern Parula and Black-throated Green Warblers. American Redstart is close behind as well. Orchard Oriole is also a bird that can make an early appearance at this time. Soon, Black-throated Blue and Green Warblers will serenade your entrance at the top of the park on Early May Saturday mornings welcoming you to a day of wonderful migrants abound. Orioles, Grosbeaks, Warblers, Vireos, Tanagers and Flycatchers scour the trees for inch worms and active bugs while eager Cuckoos pick through Tent caterpillars. It really is a wonderful time. So, the schedule is out there. Time has shown the migrator’s hand and its only up to us to show up and see it played! My favorite time of the year to be sure!
Today was “a” Palm Sunday as we came across a conservative estimate of 12 Palms flocked with Golden-crowned Kinglets (seemingly exclusively as no Ruby-crowned yet). Not much else “new” but nice to see fellow birding friends and catch up and prepare for what lies ahead. 🙂
Fun facts: In looking at my photos of 2008-2014 here are a couple of the possible April early birds and their dates: Hooded Warbler, April 10th, 2010, Northern Parula – April 7th, 2011. Keep your eyes open and Good Birding!
Palm Warbler
Palm Warbler
Red Fox @ Great Swamp
Louisiana Waterthrush
Ahhh Spring. For some time now it is been “technically” Spring, but it sure hasn’t felt like it. We are just getting through a very cold and long winter and it was a nice relief today to simply take a walk around Garret in a light coat and take in the sun.
The first week of April is a great time at Garret to seek out some of the early Spring arrivals. Pine Warbler, Winter Wren and Louisiana Waterthrush are some of my favorite birds and can be found precisely this time of year at Garret. I parked at the top of Wilson and had 2 of the 3 within the first 10 minutes of my walk. A Winter Wren popped out of a pile of broken logs and twigs (very Winter Wren appropriate!) and hopped along the stream’s edge at the bottom of Wilson. (We saw at least 3 Winter Wrens around Garret today) Then, a bright yellow male Pine Warbler came into my view testing my small movement periphery skills. The bright yellow stood out, but the size compared to the many Golden-crowned Kinglets around also was telling. He didn’t call or sing at all so I will have to wait for my first Pine song of the year but I was happy with my first male (I had a female @ Charles H Rodgers in Princeton which was a FOS yesterday). The path on Wilson turned up more Golden-crowned Kinglets and a single Yellow-rumped Warbler and 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers.
We then headed down towards the stream behind the boat house hoping to see the regular Louisiana Waterthrush. Sure enough, not even yet onto the path one popped into view and began working the rocks and stream sides for food pumping its tail all the way. Its officially Spring once I see a Louisiana Waterthrush. 🙂 Awesome bird. There was also a Winter Wren here and more GC Kinglets. No Killdeer here yet for me and no Palm Warbler.
We continued our walk and had 3 awesome (slightly later than normal) Fox Sparrows working with a flock of White-throated Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos. Pretty orangy, (yes that’s an official color description I made up :)) none of them were the deep brick red but they were a pleasure to see! We also came across a pair of Eastern Phoebes on our walk past the picnic area and a first for me at Garret, a young male Red-headed Woodpecker!
A nice start to the spring walks at Garret.
(Early pictures of the spring are usually some of the worst due to minimal birds and fleeting views. These represent that to be true. 🙂 Here they are anyways. If history proves true they will improve as the Spring moves on.)
Pine Warbler
Louisiana Waterthrush
Brown Creeper
Winter Wren
Eastern Phoebe
Red-headed Woodpecker
A really nice week of birding this week at Garret! I had 26 different Warbler species and had Blackburnian, Bay-breasted, Blackpoll, and Cape May almost daily (in my experience these are all tough to get). Although not the big fallout days where birds were dripping off all the trees, there have been strong large flocks of birds that can be found and then identified. I am sure my improved song recognition has helped this year as many were found after hearing them sing and then tracking them down. On Thursday, a pair of Wilson’s Warblers and finally a Lincoln’s Sparrow. On Friday, nice looks at Tennessee and an Olive-sided Flycatcher!
Always fun seeing the birds and birders at Garret in the Spring! Also, at the end of this post I am including a map of Garret with suggested birding routes for people new to the park. I know I would have like to have this information starting out as the big park can be frustrating when the part you are at is quite yet people keep reporting great birds! Just keep on moving along through the park and you are bound to come across singing flocks. The green, haphazardly done lines are for morning (I like to start at the top of Garret if you are there early) and then the red if you get there in the mid-day or afternoon. Of course it is always variable and any part of the park can be amazing but this is based on my experience and the places I like to bird. I will put up another post next week with a final list of the Garret birds seen. For today just some pictures from the week and the map. Good Spring Birding All!
Tennessee Warbler
Lincoln’s Sparrow
Blackburnian Warbler
Wilson’s Warbler
And below finally just some of my suggestions on Garret Mountain birding routes: (Green if you start in the morning and then do Red. If you start in the afternoon/mid-day I usually just do the Red)
More Pics at our Flickr Site!
Black-throated Green Warbler
Some of the numbers:
Nashville Warbler (1), Blue-winged Warbler (2), Chestnut-sided Warbler (1), Northern Parula (10+), Yellow Warbler (2), Prairie Warbler (1), Palm Warbler (1), Magnolia Warbler (4), Yellow-rumped Warbler (10+), Black-throated Green Warbler (10+), Black-throated Blue Warbler (10+), Bay-breasted Warbler (1), Blackpoll Warbler (1), Black-and-white Warbler (10+), American Redstart (10+), Common Yellowthroat (5+) , Ovenbird (10+), Hooded Warbler (1).
Yellow-throated Vireo (1), Blue-headed Vireo (3), Red-eyed Vireo (5), Warbling Vireo (5)
Both Baltimore and Orchard Oriole, Scarlet Tanager and Rose-breasted Grosbeak. Many Veery and Wood Thrush a single Swainson’s Thrush.
Scarlet Tanager
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Bay-breasted Warbler
More Pics at our Flickr Site!
Some pics from this past week and today:
More Pics at our Flickr Site!
Black-and-White Warbler
Another nice day at Garret. Still waiting for the next big push of migrants to bring in the variety of Warbler and Orioles and Grosbeaks. With some southern winds coming after days of northern winds (presumably a warm front coming in after a semi-cold front) I am hoping this weekend should bring some new migrants in. Today had a FOS (First of Spring) Baltimore Oriole (1) and Louisiana Waterthrush (I missed the early weeks at Garret when they are regular). Also had quite a few Black-and-White Warblers again along with Palm Warbler and Yellow-rumped Warblers. Had Warbling Vireo singing (yesterday was FOS) and quite a few Blue-headed Vireo still around. Had a great look at a Broad-winged Hawk near the top of Garret which was awesome. Reports of single Northern Parula and Black-throated Green Warbler are as expected (I missed these) and I hope to see them this weekend too!
A few more pics from today.
Palm Warbler
Nice grouping of the usual’s for this time. I had two Blue-headed Vireo and a number of Palm, Yellow-rumped and Black-and-White Warblers and heard an Ovenbird. There were reports of Black-throated Green that I did not see. Winter Wren, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Ruby-crowned Kinglet and a Pileated Woodpecker were also seen. Over the next 14 days Garret Mounting will turn into migration super highway and this calm before the storm is exciting! My absolute favorite migration trap in New Jersey in the Spring! Happy its back again.
Blue-headed Vireo
Went down for the reported Tufted Duck and was not disappointed. The duck was easily visible from the path that circles it although the lighting made viewing tough at some points. My interpretation throughout was the Tuft was obvious and the all white flanks separated it from the surrounding Ducks. It seemed to me to sit a little lower in the water too. Awesome bird!
I had to get out for a reported Scissor-tailed Flycatcher in my local patch! Only the second I have seen in New Jersey in my brief birding career, this one was super active and provided great looks for all. The bird was also actively feeding and took time for preening in nearby trees. It was a beautiful day and many people were out and about, so there were lots of non-birders curious what all the commotion was. I imagine the many cars and birders lined up on the side of the road with scopes and bins pointed into an apparently empty field would be curious to passers by. One passing car just questioned…”UFOs?” and kept right on going. Nope. (Lucky for him as I am not sure what he planned to do if I had shouted back “Yes!”) Just a great bird to share with anyone who appreciates nature! A lot of smiling people. 🙂 Nice day for birding! Got a few hazy photos.
