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!
I have lived near Tyler Park nearly all my life, it's all of 10 minutes away, but have never really birded there. There's never any ebird reports from there, and Linda and I always wondered why.
Well, I am determined to bird there and report from there, number 1, because it is only 10 minutes away, and 2 because dogs are allowed anywhere in the park, unlike Peace Valley, where they are limited to the paved paths only.
So, with Everette and Tara in tow, I went Sunday am to see what I could find.
Got there around 7am, was treated to Canada warbler, black and white, redstart, magnolia, red eyed vireo, white eyed vireo, and baltimore oriole, to name a few. We found a really pretty trail that is open to the tree line. Woodfield trail i think it was. Anyway, really good vegetation for warbling. Lots of viney things hanging off the trees.
Also walked on some horse trails thru the woods and had a lot of wood thrush and a veery.
Overall very pleased.
So now we know. Tyler does have birds.
I spent 3 mornings at Higbee Beach this past weekend hoping for migrating warblers. The good news is that we did get to see some "eye candy". The bad news is that I didn't get any good photos due to the low light conditions, so bear with me here.
Blue-winged warblers must like to migrate in August, because I saw one each day this weekend. They are handsome birds and can be found at Lake Nockamixon in spring and summer where they nest.
Blue-winged Warbler which is identified by the eyeliner
Black and White warblers are one of my favorite warblers even though they aren't colorful.
Black and White Warbler
Blackburnian warblers have bright orange throats in summer. You can see that this guy has already started to molt into winter plumage but you can still identify it by the 2 bright wing bars and yellow eyebrow. This bird entertained us by catching and devouring a moth while about a dozen birders watched.
Blackburnian Warbler eating a moth
This is one of the best photos I have of an Ovenbird. This bird popped up out of the bushes after I scared away a Cooper's Hawk that was hoping to have this bird for a meal. I guess this guy was thanking me by posing.
Ovenbird
I also got photos of some non-warblers like this Black-billed Cuckoo. We usually see Yellow-billed Cuckoos. Black-bills are not seen as often on migration so this is a pretty good find.
Black-billed Cuckoo
Speaking of cuckoos, Diane grabbed the camera and snuck a photo of me in a typical birding pose. You can just imagine the bubble coming out of my head - "what kind of bird is that?"
Speaking of "what kind of bird is that?" I am still not sure what kind of bird that this one is. I called it Blue Grosbeak but frankly, it could be a bunting or some kind of blackbird for all I know. Just when I thought I was getting good at this - BAM, I'm stumped.
It's that time of year again - early migration in Cape May. Late August is the time of year that we get to see the return of our shorebird friends as I told you about last week. It's also the time of year that warblers start to head south for the winter. And, it's the time of year that relatives start to panic about the end of the summer and visit us at the shore before it's too late. That's what happened this week with Deb, Jay, Meaghan and Brendan. The kids start back to college and school next week, so they took the opportunity to spend a few days in the Villas.
Brendan and I got the chance to go birding before dinner on Monday and were rewarded with quite a good list and also met some nice people along the way. We met a guy who lives in Cameron County PA and volunteers at the Elk visitor center - yes, there are Elk in Pennsylvania; and an older lady who recently lost her eyesight in one eye, so she was happy to talk to us about her bird feeder and other birding adventures of her youth; and a family who had 5 sons all under the age of 10 who were dressed alike for the cheesy beach photo. The boys were really excited to look through my binoculars at the Mute Swans and ducks. Each one of the exclaimed that they could see the swan!
In August, we also get interesting terns like these Black Terns which usually spend their time on freshwater lakes up in Nebraska and Alberta and places like that. Each year, a few show up in Cape May for some reason. This year, there have been reports of up to 31 Black Terns flying around the Concrete Ship and the Lighthouse.
Brendan and I were fortunate enough to watch these 2 flying around Bunker Pond in front of the Lighthouse on Monday night. These terns are really small and unmistakable to identify by the overall dark color.
Black Tern close-up. Not a great photo, but it shows the black and gray markings.
Black Tern spitting something out of his mouth.
The Black Terns were a bonus find, but the real show was put on by the Black Skimmers! We heard them before we could see them on the pond - "yipping" like dogs. Honestly, it sounds like a pond full of puppies with them yipping away at each other. The old lady with the reduced vision was enjoying the barks for sure.
Last weekend was Mark's annual Farmstock weekend at Dove Harbour Farm. This is my 3rd one and they are always a great time. Check out posts from past years.
View of the cabin and barn from the lower field
This year as in the past, he volunteered me to lead the "Bird Walk" which is really a nature walk where we hopefully see some birds.
Here is a recap of this year's walk:
Weather - spectacular!
Time - way too late for a card-carrying member of any bird club but late enough to make it palatable for most of the group.
Participants - only the fun people and the cool kids.
Trail - down through the woods, through the marshy meadow on the newly blazed path and along the train grade to the Buffalo Lick. Click here for the map.
As for the birds and nature - well we did pretty well. We started with well, Doves sitting on the wire. Next, we spotted a few Field Sparrows and headed into the woods. Everyone got hear the Eastern Wood Pewee calling - "pee-wee" by the boy's camp. Once we got into the field and marsh, the insects were our focus.
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Monarch Butterfly
We also saw and heard alot of Goldfinches which made me hungry. Not because I wanted to eat the Goldfinch, but because they sing "potato chip, potato chip" when they fly. And because it was getting near lunchtime.
Goldfinch
Other interesting birds that I was able to get photos of:
Common yellowthroat skulking in the bushes
Eastern Kingbird
Juvenile Swamp Sparrow
Check out this wasp. It's a female Ichneumon (say that 2 times fast). Follow the photo all the way down to the bottom to see her tail. This wasp is about 6 inches long which is mostly her tail.
Ichneumon Wasp
From an article titled The Amazing Ichneumon by Connie Hjelmeng-Johnson:
Ichneumon
wasps are truly a study in contradictions. They look frightening, but
they are harmless to people. They are highly numerous, but seldom seen.
They are great allies against insect pests, yet few people know about
them. Females penetrate wood with tiny ovipositors, but scientists don't
fully understand how. And while they are common in the world of
insects, they are certainly "uncommon" to those of us who have observed
their amazing behavior first hand.
The female has an extremely long ovipositor capable of
piercing through several inches of insect-infested tree trunk to the
caterpillars and other larvae within. When the eggs hatch, the
ichneumon larvae feed on the body of the host. Eewwwww!
Most of the group got to see a Woodcock on the way back through the woods even though I missed it. I think people had fun and we got to eat potato chips at lunch!
The shorebirds are back in the Villas picking worms and other things out of the mud at low tide. They are southbound already from their arctic nesting sites. Imagine, they left the Villas on June 1, flew all the way to the arctic, laid eggs, raised babies and are already back in the Villas on August 1. Quite a feat.
I managed to photograph some banded birds along the beach over the past few weeks. And guess who's back? Stumpy! He/she made the trip despite only having one foot. Way to go Stumpy! Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of Stumpy this week but I hope to see him/her again before the bird departs for Florida or South America.
Speaking of South America, here is HM2 - a Semipalmated Sandpiper that was banded in Suriname (which used to be Dutch Guiana). In the first photo from May of this year, he is surrounded by larger Sanderlings. You can also see that he has a back toe which is a good way to ID this bird as Semipalmated Sandpiper since Sanderlings do not have a back toe.
HM2 - Semipalmated Sandpiper - May 31, 2012
The second photo is from July 30. I think it is pretty cool that this little bird travels from Suriname to the Arctic and back each year and uses our little beach in both directions as a rest stop. I mean, these photos are literally from the same beach - at the end of Ohio Ave in the Villas. I am still waiting for the full report from my friend who runs the bandedbird.org data project to learn more about this bird's travels.
HM2 - Semipalmated Sandpiper - July 30, 2012
Did you ever wonder where the name Semipalmated came from? It is used for both the Sandpiper and Plover. It indicated that the birds have partial webbing between their front 3 toes. Here is a photo of 54J showing that characteristic:
54J - Semipalmated Sandpiper - August 4, 2012
That concludes your shorebird lesson for today. Keep your eyes open for early migrants. Warblers such as Waterthrushes and Yellow Warblers are starting to get sick of the north and heading south now. Unfortunately, one less Louisiana Waterthrush will make the trip this year as I found him dead in the yard last week. Sad. Of course, I have him in the freezer so that I can drop him off at the Academy of Natural Sciences at the next DVOC bird club meeting. NERD!
This week, I have been working with Tuckerton Seaport Museum to set up a new cash register system for their gift shop. Tuckerton Seaport is a cute place in Tuckerton - north of Atlantic City on Route 9 - that shows visitors the back bay lifestyle from years past and today. They have displays in the museum and also a village set up of old houses and storefronts which is pretty cool. Out back, they have a dock and various boats that baymen use for clamming and duck hunting (yes, duck hunting). They also have a chicken coup and 2 goats in a pen to show how people would have kept their own livestock for eggs, milk and meat. The gift shop is terrific too with lots of duck decoys and other nautical items to purchase.
This year, the Seaport was asking to help raise Bobwhites to repopulate some areas of NJ with the bird. They had over 100 eggs which hatched and now they have the Bobwhites in a "flight cage" out back. Here is a photo of some of the birds:
Bobwhite fledglings
The guy that I am working with to set up the cash registers had to go feed the Bobwhite on Friday and of course, I said that I would help. We both went into the pen. While I was snapping photos with my iPhone, Nick went to refill the water dishes. I was just happy to keep shooting photo and video like this:
Bobwhite in the shelter
Little did I realize that the back door was open while I was filming - look again - and the little birds were escaping one by one in single file like school kids during recess! Aahhhh! I yelled for Nick but I couldn't get close to the door without scaring the rest of the birds out, so I just stood there watching them go outside one by one until Nick ran over and closed the door.
Next thing I know, the 2 of us are trying to herd the Bobwhites back into the pen where they obviously didn't want to be. Picture me waiving 2 pirate shirts - yes pirate shirts - at these little birds while Nick used a fishing net to catch them one by one. Hysterical! Meanwhile, other visitors are staring at us and other staff are trying to explain the situation by saying "this never happened before" and stuff like that. I think we got them all back into the pen. If not, keep your ears open for the sound of "Bob - white" next time you are near Atlantic City.
Well folks, I am officially at my lowest point ever. Rock bottom. In despair. Can't get over it. Need some sort of make over. Here I am at 48 years old and unable to complete a hike in the woods without sweating, gasping, and shuffling my way up the last "bonus" hill. Embarrassing is an understatement.
It started with an email from Frank stating that he was excited that Connie and I would be in Potter county over July 4th and could accompany him and Norm (both older than me) on the next leg of their hiking circuit on a trail called the Donut Hole. I was excited too. It was an opportunity for me to hike with some really nice people who had experience hiking these mountain trails. The trip was scheduled for 6 - 8 miles and we all anticipated being back to the camp in time for an afternoon swim in the stream.
We were all set to leave at 5:30 AM (which turned into 6:15) and get on the trail early (which turned into 8:40 AM) with a great group of hikers including Frank, his son Jamie and new wife Katelyn, Frank's daughter Erica and her husband John and their 2 children, Justin and his girlfriend (another, younger, stronger, faster, prettier Linda), and me (the older, slower, fatter Linda) - and of course Roxy and Jamie's new puppy were in tow too. Off we went - up, up, up, and up some more on a steady incline which lasted a loooong time. I was immediately the last one in line. The younger, faster, prettier people were soon out of sight . . .
I managed to pass Frank at one point during the long uphill (click the Play button):
Frank, Frank, Frank hiking the Donut Hole trail
Once we got up the first hill, we went up some more, then some more. Then finally, it leveled out a bit. The group was still way in front of me.
Hikers on the Donut Hole trail
The young and fit people kept going, following the trail which had not been used in quite some time. It was overgrown in most places forcing the people in the front of the group to look for the orange trail blazes so that we didn't end up lost (like they did last year). The trees with the blazes on them were missing in some places which made me glad that we were with experienced hikers.
Mind you, I was just huffing and puffing along in the back of the group. Frankly, they could have been going anywhere and I would have just followed along.
Good news - A Rattle snake crossed our path! How is this good news? It is GREAT news because it made everyone stop hiking for a few minutes while we watched the snake and I caught my breath. Good news because Justin saw it before he stepped on it. Good news because everyone in the group got to hear that sound that you know is a primal warning even though you never heard it before. Good news that young and old alike stopped dead in their tracks when the shshshshshshhshhhhhhhh broke the sound of our footsteps (and panting). Young and old alike instinctively grabbed the dogs and the kids (not necessarily in that order). Good news that the snake coiled up and sat there while we all got great views of this magnificent creature. Good news that I happened to bring the iPhone and my camera along too.
Rattle Snake - Part 1
And really Good News that Justin has a snake as a pet, so he knows how to approach them without getting bit or harming the snake.
Rattle Snake - Part 2
Rattle Snake close up
We spent about 5 minutes with the snake and then it was back to the hike at break neck speed. I spent some time in the afternoon acting like I was bird watching and taking pictures of bear poop just so that the group didn't think that I couldn't keep up (which I couldn't).
Bear Poop on the trail
By this time I was sweating so bad that I couldn't see through the salt that was streaming into my eyes. Roxy was panting behind me full of sticky sap from the ferns. It was beginning to look like I would hold up the group when Frank declared - "oh good, another bonus"! "Bonus" to Frank means another hill. I wanted to cry but I was too dry to produce tears. . .
Up, up, up we went. Then up some more. This time, it seemed like we were going straight up. Everyone was out of sight now - the pretty people, the children, even Frank. All out of sight. I shuffled along like an old woman. Frank broke the sound of panting and temple pulse by yelling that they had found the Fire Tower! This was good news. It was all down hill from there.
After another mile of downhill hiking, we came to the end of the 11 mile trail. There was an old, rusty pipe protruding from the side of the hill at the roadside with spring water streaming from it. I did the unthinkable. I filled my water bottle and drank it. Giardia be damned. I'll deal with that later. Water never tasted so good. Neither did the beer that Frank treated everyone to when we arrived at the Wharton Tavern.
Mortified doesn't begin to describe how I felt after that hike. But remember, none of the pretty people were having hot flashes! I had a great time. A hike to remember. We will be talking about the Rattle Snake forever. The pretty people won't remember that I was holding them up (I hope). I'll get over the hot flashes (I hope). I can't wait for nest year.
Have you missed the blog? If so, sorry about the lapse. If not, well maybe I'm wasting my time here. Oh well, I'll tell you a story anyway. It has been almost a month since my last post - mostly because there hasn't been anything birdy to report. Same old stuff happening in the yard at home and at the beach. There is only so much you can write about Laughing Gulls on the beach before it gets really boring. It is very interesting that late June and early July are pretty void of bird activity that is worthy of a post. The other reason for the lack of posts is that I have been walking/birding without lugging the camera due to the excessive heat here in the Philly area.
The good news is that Connie and I headed up to her cabin in Potter County over July 4th week in lieu of the shore. We had a great time birding, hiking and riding motorcycles. Guess where all of the warblers go after they pass through Cape May and Philly? You are correct if you guessed Potter County. We tallied 67 species of birds which included 12 species of warblers - Ovenbirds protecting their nest, Blackburnians all around the cabin, Black-throated Greens and Blues, Chestnut-sided along the mountain vistas, quite a few Magnolia warblers who obliged by sitting right in front of us, and good looks at Hooded warblers which are usually heard but not seen. We also heard alot of Cuckoos in the woods this year which is always a good sign since they are some of the only birds that eat those dreaded tent caterpillars.
Here is the Ovenbird defending its nest when Roxy and I got too close. I think this is the male since he was the first to object to our presence. Check out his orange crown feathers which are standing up to make him look fierce.
Ovenbird
Here is the other parent chattering from the other side of the trail trying to lure us away from the nest area. I never did find the nest - which I am told looks like an oven (hence, the name of the bird) and is usually on the ground near a tree trunk.
Ovenbird
Male Hooded Warbler - Potter County
We also get to see Black-capped Chickadees in Potter County. You may be thinking - "who cares?" Well these birds are different from the Chickadees that we see at home which are Carolina Chickadees. They look ALOT alike to the point that only really experienced birders would be able to tell them apart, but they sound different which makes it possible for amateurs like me to make a correct ID.
Black-capped Chickadee
My favorite sparrow - the Chipping Sparrow - had babies all around the cabin. I almost stepped on this one before it flew up into the pine tree.
Baby Chipping Sparrow - notice the short tail and dull color
We watched the parents scurrying around catching bugs to feed the growing babies. The birds even came up to the screen door to catch bugs. I thought they wanted to come into the air conditioning for a minute to cool off!
Adult Chipping Sparrow - with a bug in its beak ready to feed the baby
Lots more to tell you about the trip. Stay tuned for more in a day or so.
The trip was originally planned for today which I couldn't make but was rescheduled to yesterday - hooray. I had to send a copy of my driver's license and car registration and
swear that I was a U.S. citizen to even be allowed on the trip. We had to meet the Conservation Officer at 0700 (that's 7 AM) outside of the base. We carpooled to reduce the amount of traffic through the checkpoint. We remembered the Hindenburg disaster. Then, we entered the "Jump Circle".
What am I talking about? The DVOC birding trip to Lakehurst Naval Air Station to see Upland Sandpipers, of course. Each year, Upland Sandpipers nest in the Jump Circle at Lakehurst because it is one of the only places in NJ that has an expanse of low cropped fields which is the perfect habitat. The only reason that this exists in the middle of the Pine Barrens, is because the military keeps it mowed for parachute jumpers to practice. After all, you wouldn't want the paratroopers to land on pine trees.
If you are old enough, you may have heard the famously chilling radio account of the Hindenburg disaster. You have probably seen the 8mm film footage of the disaster no matter how old you are. Well, guess where that happened? Yep, Lakehurst Naval Air Base. Here is a link to more information www.airships.net/hindenburg/disaster . Here is a photo that I took of the hangar that housed the giant airship. The hangar is enormous.
Once we made it to the Jump Circle, we basically got out of the cars and started looking for our target grassland birds. We were immediately met with flying, singing Upland Sandpipers. These are shorebirds that never see the shore and don't act like shorebirds at all. They soar like hawks and live like songbirds for the most part. The weather was very overcast, so I didn't get a very good photo of any of the "Uppies", which is what the other group members kept calling them.
Once the Uppies settled down, the star of the show became this Grasshopper Sparrow who refused to quit singing from this stem despite the wind:
Grasshopper Sparrow close-up
Singing away
Wind blown from behind. We were all surprised to see yellow on the wings which does not appear in the field guide.
This is the basic habitat that attracts the Upland Sandpiper,
Grasshopper Sparrow, Horned Lark and Meadowlark which we also saw on
yesterday's trip. Pretty barren, but they all seem to like it.
Yesterday, Connie, Di and I joined the scientists on another banding effort to help track Red Knots and other endangered shorebirds that migrate to the Delaware Bay each May. You know that we are volunteering to guard the protected beaches, but yesterday we also had the opportunity to actually work with the scientists to band the birds. Connie and I did this last year too.
We showed up at 9 AM and helped set the net on the beach, then hid behind the dunes in the reeds until there were enough birds in the net area. Once enough of the target birds are in the area, the leaders shoot the cannons and make a catch. We sat and waited, and waited, and waited. It was hot, and hotter, and hotter. Connie got a migraine and had to get off the beach. We sat for another half hour, then at 11:25 - BOOM! the net was launched - without warning, without a countdown, just BOOM! The co-director who was sitting with us even yelled "Shit!". We all grabbed bins and other equipment and ran as fast as we could down the beach to the net.
Clive, the man on the left, invented the cannon netting system. Here, he is working to place the cannons
All hell breaks loose when the birds are under the net. We all surround the net and start putting sand around the edges to keep the birds from escaping. Another group of people grabs a "covering cloth" to put over the net so the birds calm down. Then the experienced leaders start taking birds out of the net and yelling out what species it is - "SANDERLING! Who has a Sanderling box?" TURNSTONE! Get me a Turnstone bin" "REDKNOT! Keep a count of how many are in your bin" "Who has the geo-locator bin?" And on and on until the bin that you have in your hands has the appropriate number of birds. Then you walk the bin and birds back down the beach to where we were hiding in the dunes.
In the meantime, other experienced leaders are setting up the base camp with canopies and "holding pens" for the birds. We bring the bins of birds back to base camp and then unload them into the holding pens. Each species of bird has their own pen. Once again chaos with people shouting "Where do you want these KNOTS?" and "Don't put those birds in that pen" and stuff like that.
All the yelling is necessary to ensure the safety of the birds. I know it seems mean to capture them, but the research that they provide to the scientists will ensure their survival as a species and help protect the horseshoe crabs at the same time. You just have to keep that in perspective as you watch these scared little birds under the nets and being carted around and . . .
finally being handled and banded. Once the birds are in their pens and the scientists have a plan, we set up "teams" of banders to process the birds. Yesterday's catch had over 100 Red Knots and 100 Ruddy Turnstones which is alot of birds to process as quickly as possible. Each team starts with a "bander" - the person who clips the little metal bands with identifying numbers around the ankle of the bird. That was me yesterday - holding endangered Redknots in my hand and using pliers to crimp the band around the bird's ankle and then reporting the number to the "scribe".
That's me holding a Red Knot. Look at the agony on my face from being so nervous!
The scribe documents everything about the bird such as the flag number which is put on by another member of the team aptly name "the flagger". Lime green flags with number/letter combinations are also put on the birds legs. These are easier to read at a distance and are shown in my last post. Then the bird moves around to "the measurer" which was Diane yesterday. She uses calipers to measure the bird's bill length and overall head length, then she uses a jerry-rigged ruler to measure the birds wing.
Co-director Mandy Dey teaching Di how to use the measuring instruments
Then she passes it to "the weigher" who puts the bird into a soup can that has both ends cut off and puts it on a scale to get the weight. The scientists are very interested in the weight of the birds and can tell if a bird is doing well or not based on the weight.
Once the bird is weighed, it is put into another bin and taken to the real scientists who gather samples of blood and other stuff in order to do the real research. Once the bird has gone through that, he/she is released and usually flies away squawking a protest.
Yesterday, our team banded over 50 Red Knots and 60 Ruddy Turnstones. Other teams were processing close to that many too which was really great for the scientists. So, remember to look for the little green flags and write down the code if you can see it. Send it to me, or enter it at www.bandedbirds.org
