Snowy Owl

         I was so excited to finally find one of the elusive Snowy Owls seen all around the New Jersey, Pennsylvania area.  After looking for one reported only 50 minutes away from our home in the Dredge Spoils in National Park, N.J., and not finding it because it was scared away by a dirt biker and a man riding an A.T.V., it immediately rose to the top of my nemesis bird list.  This is one of the now two Snowy Owls in Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Preserve.  This lifer Snowy Owl was about 300 yards out in the marsh standing on the ground.  It was occasionally being harassed by a variety of gull species but it would not budge.  There was apparently one other Snowy Owl in the impoundment that we did not see for it was reported just after we finished the loop.  In the whole trip we finished the day with 48 species total including some lifers for my other family members such as Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal and Tundra Swan.

Snowy Owl (Digiscoped)

Snowy Owl (Digiscoped)

Snowy Owl being harassed by a Great Black-backed Gull

          By the looks of this year so far it is definitely a major irruption year for Snowy Owls.  As of 11/30/13, there are about eight Snowies in New Jersey and about four in Pennsylvania.  Below are the pictures of Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal and Tundra Swan.

Tundra Swan

Northern Pintail

Green-winged Teal

 

Over-all, it was a great way to spend one of my days off from school on the Thanksgiving break.

ABA Camp Avocet

 

 

          I just got back from the young birders new ABA camp called Camp Avocet.  It took place in Cape Henlopen located in southern Delaware from August 11-17th.  It was an age group ranging from 13 to 18.  There were many counselors every day.  The counselors were Bill Stewart, Bill Schmoker, Holly Merker, Gwen, George Armistead, David La Puma Jeff Gordon, the Apples to Apples champion Liz Gordon, and for one day we were accompanied by National Geographic Illustrator Jonathan Alderfer.  We stayed over night at the Biden Center in Cape Henlopen State Park.  We all had a dorm with three campers in it.  We woke up very early in the morning, usually around 6:00, but once we had to wake up at 4:45, and then we would take a trip to a different place every day. 

On the first day, Sunday, we went over to the beach at the point of Cape Henlopen State Park.  There I got one lifer, a Royal Tern.  We also got black scoters, a Yellow-crowned Night Heron, and a Common Loon.  Before leaving, we turned the scopes towards the sky and looked at the moon and Saturn.

Blurry, digiscoped Saturn

The picture of Saturn above looks like there are multiple Saturns, but that is just because of me shaking with the long exposure shutter speed. 



The second day, Monday, we changed our plans from going to Prime Hook to going to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Assateague, Virginia because there was a report of a  Bar-tailed Godwit.  Throughout the whole day I got seven lifers.  At Chincoteague,  I got six lifers, Bar-tailed Godwit, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Sandwich Tern, Long-billed Dowitcher, and Pectoral Sandpiper.  Earlier that day I got my lifer Brown-headed Nuthatch at the Biden Center.

 

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Blue Grosbeak

Bar-tailed Godwit (Center)

 

 

On Tuesday we went out to the Great Cypress Swamp in south-western D.E.  There I didn't get any life birds but it was flooded with Red-headed Woodpeckers and I got one lifer Five-lined Skink and a lifer Southern Leopard Frog.  There were also many Common Grey Tree frogs.

 

Red-headed Woodpecker

Southern Leopard Frog

Common Grey Treefrog (Dark Green Phase)

Common Grey Treefrog (Light Green Phase) 

Five-lined Skink

 

 

After the Great Cypress Swamp we went to Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge.  There I got three lifers, a Black-necked Stilt and a White-rumped Sandpiper.

 

White-rumped Sandpiper

 



Black-necked Stilt

 

 

On Wednesday we had to wake up extra early to do a night call walk.  We didn't get much, but we got a ton of Common Nighthawks.  After that we went to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge.  There I got three lifers, a Tundra swan, American Avocets, and Western Sandpiper. After that we went to the Dupont Nature Center in Mispillion Delaware.  There I got one lifer, a King Eider.

 

Tundra Swan

American Avocet

 

 

On Thursday we took a ferry over to Cape May, New Jersey.  There I got one lifer, a Euraisan Collared Dove.  We also saw many Great Black-backed Gulls fishing behind the Ferry on the way over.

 

Euraisan Collared Dove

Great Black-backed Gull







 

 

On Friday, the last day before we were picked up we did a Big Green Hour.  This was in the state park.  We were given just one hour to find as many bird species as possible with out using a car or any motorized vehicle.  We were arranged into teams of 3 to 5.  My team consisted of four people, me, Eamon, Brenden, and Noam.  During this I surprisingly got one life bird a Prarie Warbler.  The rest of my team also got a life bird, a Lesser Black-backed Gull.

 

Prairie Warbler

Prairie Warbler

 

 

After the Big Green Hour we went to Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge but didn't see much.  After that, we went swimming in the ocean.  Friday evening we finished up the day with a photo quiz held by Bill Schmoker, and we listened to a few "birderized" spoofs of prominent songs.  The photo quiz is pretty self explanatory, there were photos of birds in unusual plumages or in odd positions that we had to guess what species of bird it was.  There were 32 possible points.  First place, Brendan got 28 out of 32, second place, Silus, got 26 out of 32, and third place, Mike and I tied, got 24 out of 32.  Like I said, after the photo quiz, we listened to song spoofs performed by Brendan, and Caleb.  They sang 5 songs, Moves Like Jeager, originally Moves Like Jaeger, Chase Me Maybe, originally Call Me Maybe, Flight Calls, originally Thrift Shop, Migrants Go By, originally American Pie, and Bill Stewart, originally Piano Man.  Then we went to bed.

 

The next morning we watched a Black Widow eat a Lady Bug then sadly packed up our things, said our goodbye's and then left.



         



Belleplain, NJ

 

 

 

On Saturday, 6/8/13, there was a birding field trip to Belleplain State Park in southern New Jersey.  Mainly the only thing we could hear were 17 year cicadas, but we did see a lot of great birds.  We did not only see good birds, we also saw good reptiles. 

 

 

 

These two birds, a Hooded Warbler and a White-eyed Vireo, were very exciting to see because they came very close and they are two beautiful birds.  The vireo was seen first while we were watching a Painted Turtle lay eggs.  We heard it first and then I set out to find it.  It was not far off of the trail, so I got some good looks of it.

 

This pair of bluebirds were very active building their nest at the Belleplain State Park visitor center. 

This is a very bad shot of a lifer Mississippi Kite flyover at the visitor center.  There was a large group of about ten that flew over probably following the cicadas up north.  The ones that I saw were all immature birds. 

There were not just good birds on this trip but also very good reptiles.  This lifer Spotted Turtle was a very exciting rare animal on the trip.









Migration

Migration is Finally Here

 

This adult male Yellow-rumped Warbler is a more common warbler migrant.  The warblers were late this year, not seeing one until the very end of April.  The vireos, flycatchers, tanagers, orioles and gnatcatchers came right with them though. 

 

This Blue-grey Gnatcatcher was one of the couple migrants that came on time this year.  They are very tiny slender birds that I have even confused with a cicada! 

This lifer Yellow-billed Cuckoo also came on time.  Our group observed him during the migratory bird count on May 10th this year.  We heard him about thirty minutes before we saw him.  He was towards the top of the tree eating tent worms out of their nest visible in the picture to the cuckoo's right.  He would pick one out, toss it up and swallow it whole.





Three Way Food Chain

 

Heislerville, NJ Birding Area

Three Way Food Chain:   4/13/13, there were hundreds of Dunlin swarming the mud flats.  A Merlin comes in and spooks them up.  The Merlin singles out the weakest flyer.  The Dunlin fly right at the Merlin as if to protect the weaker one.  It does not work and the Merlin chases the weakest one and grabs it.  The Merlin flies off with his prize to eat it, but out of nowhere comes a Peregrine Falcon bulleting in and steals the Dunlin from the Merlin. The Peregrine Falcon goes off to a nearby telephone pole and eats it.      

 

 

 



 

 



 

                                                                                                                                                                

 

 

Barnegat Lighthouse NJ

 

                   

                     Male Harlequin Duck showing off his beautiful plumage on the rocky jetty


 On what felt like a never ending jetty, about 40 yards out, my mom and I were desperate to see one of the beautiful ducks. Finally, on the edge of the jetty I saw the heads of two male Harlequin Ducks popping out, one adult and one immature. I crept up slowly to try and get a better look at them. I kept walking towards them until I was practically on top of them. My mom soon followed when she realized that they were not going to be scared off easily. We both got very close and watched them for a while until they meandered off into the surf.

 

Male Long-tailed Duck, winter plumage, coming close to the jetty diving, looking for food.

This is one of the more common winter ducks at Barnegat Lighthouse.  They are very beautiful and their long tail really makes them look elegant.  On our visit to Barnegat, they were much easier to see than the Harlequin Ducks.  They stayed near the beginning of the jetty, but they did follow the jetty rocks the whole way down.

 Although we still saw many amazing birds, the weather just happened to be horrible.  There were 40 mile per hour winds and it was blizzarding like crazy.  We did not end up walking out all the way, but we still saw cool birds.  Other birds we saw on the trip were Black-bellied Plover, Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, Purple Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Brant, both Scaup species, Bufflehead and Red-breasted Merganser.