Close Encounters of the Peregrine Kind

Diane and I took a trip to Forsythe NWR today. Our goal was to see if we could add another Snowy Owl to my list for the year. Forsythe NWR is famous for it's "Wildlife Drive" which is an 8 mile loop road that goes out onto the marsh and back again. The road acts as a dike that allows the inside to remain fresh water while the outside is salt water bay. The refuge is a great place to see ducks in winter however the numbers are few due to the fresh water being frozen solid.

The weather was cold and overcast with a forecast of snow later in the day (it is snowing as I type this). We drove the whole loop very slowly looking for any sign of the Snowy Owl but failed to see it. We stopped along the way any time we saw anything interesting like ducks or geese. At one of our stops, we noticed that all of the shorebirds were flying around in a big ball. That only means one thing - they are being attacked by a raptor.  Here is a video of some of the action (you need to click on it to make it play). Diane is your camera woman for this one and I have no idea why it goes sideways half way through.

The raptor on the attack this time was a young Peregrine Falcon.  Here he is as he fly past the car. The first is full size. He came pretty close to the car. The second is cropped so you can see the markings.

Peregrine Falcon flying past the car

Peregrine Falcon

Here is looking pissed off because he couldn't grab one of those Dunlin. Better luck next time buddy.

Peregrine Falcon on S-6

We decided to get some lunch at Wawa and drive around the loop again to try for the Snowy Owl. So after about a 45 minute break we headed back out on the loop road. We parked at the first corner to eat our lunch and look for the owl. Just as we were about to get going, Di goes "Um, Lin. Look at that".  Just then, our friend the Peregrine landed on the road sign right outside of the car. I mean - right next to the car! This photo is taken with my iPhone. You can see the pretzel rods on the dashboard.

Peregrine outside of the car

After a few minutes of trying to not scare it away, we decided to get bold and try to get some photos with the real camera. This first one is taken from inside the car.

Peregrine Falcon - windshield view

A few other cars drove by and it didn't move so I stuck the camera out the window and snapped a few shots. Then I got really bold and got out of the car to take a few more.

Peregrine Falcon on road sign

I hid behind the car but believe me, the bird knew exactly where I was. Here is looking directly at me - gulp!

You lookin' at me?

He really didn't seem to mind us or any of the other cars that stopped to look at him. He even did a little preening while sitting on the sign. Here is waving at us.

Hi there!

He finally took off after some other poor shorebirds. Di took this video with the iPhone too.

Just when we thought we had enough of the Peregrine - he showed up again. This time he caught a goose right in front of us.

Peregrine Falcon

We didn't have the heart to tell him that the goose was made out of wood. He'll figure it out. We left without seeing the Snowy Owl, but boy did we get a show!

Mud Birding

Late July and early August might not seem like "Fall" to anyone else except us crazy birders.  We know that Fall Migration starts in July when the shorebirds start heading south after a brief nesting season in the arctic.  They leave their babies to fend for themselves and high-tail it south in July.  By August, the number of shorebirds in NJ and DE starts to build up. Don't get me wrong, they keep coming until late October but the crazy people start looking for them in July.  By early August, a handful of warblers start to make their way south too.  I spent the birding part of my weekend with my birding buddy Harvey looking for these early migrants.

Harvey is an expert birder and also an expert about where to find them at Forsythe.  He knew right where to look for each species. I added 2 birds to the list for the Stupid Contest at Forsythe - Stilt Sandpiper and White-rumped Sandpiper.  We only heard the White-rumps but the Stilts put on a great show as evidenced by this photo. They even have reddish patches on their face which is leftover breeding plumage.  I know that they don't look like much to the average person, but they are pretty cool shorebirds - and a sight for sore eyes to me since I missed them in Spring migration for the Stupid Contest.

Stilt Sandpipers

Another good bird for the day was this Caspian Tern who really put on a show fishing in the channel next to the road.  This is the best photo that I have of one of these birds.  They are giant compared to all other terns and have that terrific red/orange bill that you can see from a mile away.

Caspian Tern

I ended the day on the beach at Cape May sorting through the hundreds of Common Terns hoping for a rare Sandwich Tern. No luck on the Sandwich Tern but Connie and I got to observe the Common Terns up close.  This guy brought a fish back for one of his babies.

Common Tern with fish

Harvey might be the expert at Forsythe, but you-know-who has a few tricks up her sleeve too ya' know.  I suggested that we check out the dike at Higbee for shorebirds.  This is definitely out of the ordinary, so he looked at me like I was crazier than normal.  The dike is really just a big pile of mud that is about 2 stories high next to the Cape May canal.  This is where they dump the goo that they dredge out of the bottom to keep the canal deep enough for the ferries.  Birders climb to the top of the dike to see birds like warblers and sparrows flying by during migration, not shorebirds.  Ah, but what I noticed earlier in the summer was big cranes and bulldozers up there.  That means that the dredge was on!  That means oohey, gooey, mud.  And that, my friends means shorebirds!

Here are some of the birds that took advantage of the muddy mess at the dike - including Northern Watherthrush which is a warbler but likes goo anyway.

Least Sandpiper

Lesser Yellowlegs

Northern Waterthrush

(un)Spotted Sandpiper

Needless to say, I got kudos for dragging Harvey and George up the muddy hill. We will definitely make this a regular stop this "Fall".

We're Flying Now!

Figuratively speaking - we are really starting to add birds to our total for the contest.  I've added over a dozen new birds to the list over the weekend with new birds coming along at a rapid rate.  Spring migration is heating up now and will continue to go at a dizzying speed until June. 

Literally speaking - here are some photos of birds in flight that I snapped over the past week or so.  Enjoy!

Here are Bald Eagles at Bombay Hook.  The first shows a full adult (right) and sub adult (left) soaring together.  The next photo shows another immature bird that joined the show and started to swoop on the adult.  The adult is flying upside down facing the attacker!

Bald Eagles

Bald Eagles

 Here are American Avocets flying past.  They now have that cinnamon head.  Check out the up curved bills.

American Avocets

Next up are a few terns seen at Forsythe NWR yesterday.  The first is the largest tern that we see in our area - Caspian Tern.  This bird has a big red bill which can be seen if you zoom in on the photo. 

Caspian Tern

 Here is a pretty cool shot of a Common Tern hovering over the channel at Forsythe right next to my car.

Common Tern

 The last 2 photos are of large birds - Great Egret and Great Blue Heron in flight.

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

I'll post more from last weekend soon.  Honestly, I have more photos . . .

REEG - NO, Brig Update

What the heck is that title about?  Some of you may know EXACTLY what the title means while most of you might be asking yourself if my keyboard is working properly.  My keyboard is working just fine. The world of birding has definitely evolved since the advent of the Internet. Birders can join email lists and check websites for information about who is seeing what, where. There are websites that allow us to log in our  sightings and get reports - www.ebird.org and Smart Phones have taken the bird community to the next level too. Text messages and "tweets" give us instant access to information about birds being seen. Because this communication is done on a tiny phone keypad and because it usually costs money to send the alerts, birders have taken to using shorthand and codes to describe what they are seeing and where. 

Text messages and Tweets were going around last weekend about a Reddish Egret, which is a rare bird being seen at Forsythe National Wildlife Management Area Brigantine Unit.  The rare bird is abbreviated as a REEG and the place is simply called "Brig" by birders.  You can see how difficult it would be to use a phone keypad to type "Reddish Egret being seen at Forsythe National Wildlife Management Area Brigantine Unit" rather than "REEG - Brig" .  The new etiquette for this type of communication is for birders who chase this bird to continue to provide updates such as "REEG - YES" or "REEG moved to new location" or, in my case, "REEG - NO" meaning that the Reddish Egret hasn't been seen.  This keeps everyone informed. 

So, REEG - NO for me on Tuesday when I swung by Brig on my way to a client appointment.  But FOTE (Forster's Tern) and BCNH (Black-crowned Night Heron) - YES, along with others.  Here are a few photos:

Its kind of cool to see both immature and adult birds together.  This immature Black-crowned Night Heron will turn into the stunning adult next spring.  Here is the immature bird coming in for a landing on the bank of the impoundment:

Immature Black-crowned Night Heron

Here is the adult BCNH on the adjacent bank.  Check out that blood red eye!  These birds are called "Night Herons" because they are usually resting during the day and active in the evening/night.  These 2 birds must have had their times mixed up.

 Adult Black-crowned Night Heron

Forster's Terns are our most abundant terns along the Jersey coast in summer.  They have a full black cap during spring and summer, then molt to show black just around the eye in fall and winter.  You can see that this bird has already lost his black cap.  He flew overhead with this fish in his mouth calling for his youngster.  The young bird got a pretty good meal.

 Forster's Tern

Late August is also the time when blackbirds and swallows start to amass for migration.  Here is a shot of hundreds of Starlings erupting from a tree. 

Starlings

I hope to have more for you after the Labor Day weekend.  I don't think we will be affected by Hurricane Isaac until late Monday so we may even get out on the boat!

Seeking White on Black Friday

It is now clear to me that I will never see a Snowy Owl. Until recently, I assumed that Snowy Owls were only found waaaaay up north in the Arctic and that it would be a reeeeaaallly long trip and we would neeevvveeer spend that kind of money to see an owl. Then came the Internet. Postings, reports and photos abound on the Internet about Snowy Owls in New Jersey, New York, and even Delaware. In the past, I would see the posting long after the Owl had left the area and be mad that I didn't check the web sooner. Last year, Connie and I read that there was one at Forsythe so we drove down to see it but didn't see anything. And this week, I tracked the Internet postings of a Snowy Owl at Liberty State Park. It was seen as recently as Wednesday. I figured that the omission of Thursday was due to Thanksgiving.

As of Thursday night, I couldn't decide whether to risk another let down or go chasing the bird. I didn't decide to actually go until 6:30 AM. Maybe that was too late. I got the Google directions, the "gear" and the dogs (yes, I still have Sammy) and headed up the NJ Turnpike to Liberty State Park. I arrived at 8:30 and found no other birders. No scopes of other birders pointed out at the wharf. Nothing but fisherman launching their boats in search of Striped Bass.

I did see the Statue of Liberty from the ferry dock. And, I did find a park ranger. I asked him if he knew anything about where the Snowy Owl was. "What?" "Snowy Owl, you know hoot-hoot." Yes, I said "hoot-hoot". He said that he hadn't heard any hooting. OK. I headed back to the boat launch. I barely parked the car when the ranger pulled up beside me. "There used to be a white owl. Is that what your looking for?" Let's see. . . Snowy Owl, white owl . . . He went on to tell me that he got real close to one - 3 years ago. Thanks for nothing. ( I think it was sweet that he tracked me down to help but the sarcasm sounds better in a blog)

I took the opportunity to explore the north Jersey area and decided to check out Sandy Hook. Another thing that I learned about on the Internet. I have been reading the Rare Bird Alerts for years and read alot about Sandy Hook. Now, thanks to eBird's rare sighting connection to birdcapemay.org, it's even easier to find birds in any state that are deemed "rare" either because they shouldn't be there at all, or not at this time of year. That's how I found the Snowy Owl this time. That's how I knew that it was at Liberty State Park near the boat launch. Lapland Longspurs were reported at Sandy Hook. That's why I decided to check it out today since I was already in north Jersey.

Sandy Hook must get mobbed in summer, but it was pretty empty today. I met another birder, Ken who helped me get the lay of the land out at the end of the hook. Ken grew up around Sandy Hook but lives in New Hampshire now. He was searching for an Orange Crowned Warbler in the brush. I took the dogs and headed for the beach. Ken told me that I had a good chance at Snow Buntings, Horned Larks and the Longspurs. I did see a pretty good swirling flock of little birds. They came pretty close and I could tell be the black and white wing patterns on some of the birds that they were definitely Snow Buntings. That was worth the drive. I also saw plenty of Yellow Rumped Warblers and Horned Larks. Seems like I can't get enough Horned Larks this year.

I stopped at another beach parking lot on the way out and got good looks at Surf Scoters close to shore in the rough surf. One adult male with his big white and orange schnoz and white patch behind the head, and about 8 immature male and females. It was too windy for the camera, so no photos today.

It was alot of driving, but I got gas for $1.69/gallon. I cannot remember the last time that happened.

Oh, did I mention that I ended up down the Parkway at Forsythe again? Third time.

Forsythe - Take Two

The weather was much better today but the company was much worse. It was only me, my dog Cocoa, and Di and Barbara's dog Sammy. Neither one of my companions are any good with spotting or identifying peeps or ducks. They never call out an Eagle or Harrier. They just sit in the back and pant. And Sammy can't sit still. And I have to walk them and pick up their poop. Enough about that.

My sister and Barbara decided to cruise the "Eastern Caribbean" - hence Sammy's company today. They better send photos and lists of the birds that they see from the ship or don't bother coming back. Lori decided that she needed a new lamppost and today was the day to do it. And poor Connie was sick. So I took the dogs and went back to Forsythe in search of big head ducks.

I got 2 big head ducks - Hooded Merganser and Bufflehead. Here is the best photo that I got of the Mergansers. The Bufflehead were too far away for any chance of a photo.



I also got a pretty good shot of a sleeping Ruddy Duck.

The Peregrine Falcon was sitting out on the platform today. I also saw one sitting on an Osprey platform close to the road eating some scraps of something.

Another wonderful sighting today - Laura and Stu (and his little dog too). I was quite surprised to see them today and it was fun talking through the car windows. I hope you guys saw the Widgeon. Stu had reports of Snow Buntings near the end of the wildlife drive. We didn't find any.

I wanted to check out some of the other roads to the bay today so I drove out to the end of Great Bay Blvd. It was kind of a bust. It's kind of a long road to the edge of the bay but you can't really see the bay from the end of the road and there were a lot of fishing boats screaming around so I imagine that there aren't any ducks anyway. Oh well.

Forsythe NWR for Ducks - in the rain

Well, Lori and I were the only ones that could make the trip to Forsythe NWR today but we went in sheer style and comfort in her new 2009 Ford Expedition. Sweeeeeet ride! We set up Connie's spotting scope on a tripod between the bucket seats in the back and had clear views of everything without getting wet.

The scope is a hand-me-down from Connie's dad. It's a Baucsh and Lomb Discoverer 15-60mm scope that he used for hunting. We also have a pair of hand-me-sown Zeiss 15x60 - yes, 15x60 binoculars that we lovingly refer to as "The Big Boys". They are huge. They almost look like a prop from a comedy show or something but they bring those distant ducks into view.

We got pretty lucky with the weather. Not much rain, but ferocious wind coming from the south sent wave spray over the road at times. We came to Forsythe looking for what Lori refers to as "big headed ducks": Mergansers, Bufflehead and the like. We didn't get any big heads today but we did get plenty of Brant, Pintail, Black Ducks, Mallards, Green Wing Teal, Northern Shovelers and cute-as-a-button sleeping Ruddy Ducks. We were also surprised to see hundreds (if not thousands) of Black-bellied Plovers with thousands of Dunlin. We also had 4 Lesser Yellowlegs which were good to identify by size next to the plovers.

Lori found us Meadowlarks in the grass near the Peregrine platform. The yellow chest and black V really stood out in the overcast setting. Great spot by Lori. We also saw dozens of Eastern Bluebirds on the drive out. They are planting alot of trees in the field near the "experimental pool". The bluebirds were sitting on those protective tubes for the young trees.

We decided to go out to Barnegat Lighthouse to see if we could find any sea birds blown in by the storms. Barnegat Light sits at the top of Long Beach Island at Barnegat Inlet. I thought that we might see some scoters or gannets. Nothing like that though. We did see Purple Sandpipers and Ruddy Turnstones on the rocks along the inlet. Purple Sandpiper is a life bird for both of us. We were also surprised to see 6 or so Yellow-rumped Warblers in the bushes behind the lighthouse.

Gulls are really difficult for me to identify. I'm not that advanced in my skills. I also had a hard time differentiating the terns in the inlet. One type had dark on the coverts of the wings, white on the primary and secondaries with a black edge. Another had dark primaries and was pretty big. I marked that one down as a Royal Tern. Then, there was a really small tern which I would normally mark down as a Least Tern but the range maps make it look like they should be gone by now. eBird doesn't have it listed for Barnegat Light in the "Most Probable Species" list either. So, I'm stumped by Gulls and Terns again. . .