Another weekend, another trip to the Barnegat jetty to see coastal birds. Every trip brings something new and exciting. This time, the waves were high and the waterfowl stayed closer to the jetty than they have in the past. I got the best looks at Harlequin, Long-tailed Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers and Common Loons than I ever have. The biggest “up-close” surprise, however, were the Scoters. We came across one or two as we were making our way up the jetty; as we got closer to the end, we noticed the large flock.
Flock of Black and Surf Scoters
As we got closer, they went a little bit out to see, so we waited at the end of the jetty.
Black and Surf Scoters
They ended up floating in closer once again and we snapped away.
Surf Scoters
Black Scoters
The birds would fly down the jetty…
Black Scoter Flying by
Surf Scoter Flying by
… float back out to sea and repeat.
Varying Plumages of Surf Scoters
It was fun watching them land – their form was different from what I’ve seen from other birds.
Surf Scoter Landing
Black Scoters Landing
They are not very graceful when they hit the water and look very goofy in the process.
Black Scoters Landing
Surf Scoter Landing
This was yet another successful trip with good friends and great photo ops!
I started my blog in February of this year so this will be my first “new year” with an audience. I am taking this opportunity to do what many others do this time of year – reflect on my year, with a focus on my best birds and experiences. Personally 2013 brought many changes to my life – I started the year in New York and am ending in Pennsylvania. As far as birds go, I got 36 life birds, a great oppurtunity to be a part of the birding community and unforgettable trips with friends.
I started out with a bang doing New Years birding with my friend; the first bird we spotted together was a life bird for me – the Northern Shrike. This bird eluded me any time I would look for it during the previous season. The scope views were great, but he was too far for good photos.
Documentation shot of the Northern Shrike
Halfway into the month, my friends and I went up to the Cayuga Lake region to search for a Townsend’s Solitaire that had been reliably seen. We searched for two hours and never found the bird. Of course, the bird was spotted about ten minutes after we left – go figure. As we were making our way back down the lake I received an email about a juvenile gray-morph Gyrfalcon that was spotted at Montezuma NWR. A Gyrfalcon?? We turned right around and chased this bird which would have been a lifer for all three of us. We had our sights on a bird that we thought was the Gyrfalcon, but it was too far even for scope views and concluded that it was a Rough-legged Hawk (shadows played tricks on us). We went to another area to get a better view and the bird we were looking at was, indeed, the Gyr. It was a great turn-around to our otherwise disappointing day!
I promise you that this is a Gyrfalcon
This month was the start of my interest in falconry. My friends caught and hunted with a handsome male Red-tailed Hawk who they named Rusty.
Rusty, my friend’s Red-tailed Hawk
I watched birds hunt for the first time at the New Jersey Falconry Club Annual Meet. I hope to have the time to hunt with birds one day in the future. For now, I will follow around my friends and photograph them with their birds.
Rogue, my friend’s Harris’s Hawk
January was also the start of my Redpoll invasion that ran well into February. I had over 100 birds at my feeders – they cleaned me out, but it was a great experience. Within the Common Redpoll flocks, I also spotted a couple of Hoary Redpolls.
Common Redpoll
Hoary Redpoll
The winter months bring tons of waterfowl to the finger lakes. This year was my first time seeing rafts of ducks swimming close together – this raft included great views at a life bird, the Eared Grebe.
Eared Grebe
In March, my friends and I did a winter big day where we found a flock of Red Crossbills at a residential feeder. My next lifer was seen on the very next day – a Lapland Longspur within a flock of Horned Larks.
Red Crossbills
Later in the month, after multiple attempts at finding Short-eared Owls both locally and further north, we finally had one fly over low as the sun was setting. I didn’t even lift my camera for it, because I did not want to lose this beautiful sight by playing with settings and focus.
My biggest highlight this month was not an actual bird – earlier in the season, I submitted a photo to Project Feederwatch that was recognized by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology on their Facebook page. An editor at National Wildlife Magazine saw this photo and asked me if she could use it in an article. The magazine arrived in my mail box on March 15th. I was published in a national magazine for the first time!
My photo in National Wildlife Magazine
April brought another really great life bird – the Bohemian Waxwing. A friend and I went up to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to photograph birds. As soon as we parked the car, I received an email that the Waxwings were nearby. We packed back up and headed to the location. We ended up getting permission to go in private woods and were surrounded by these beautiful birds!
Bohemian Waxwings
May was highlighted by The Biggest Week in American Birding. Back in February, I volunteered to be on the events blogging team. I ended up getting a bit more involved than last year, met many new friends and walked away with a lot of great memories – and 12 life birds.
This Long-eared Owl was the most unexpected life bird at Magee Marsh
Cape May Warbler at Magee
Things slowed down in June and July. We did, however, get to see the return of a local family of Barred Owls. At about the same time, I also had a guest Great Horned Owl in my own woods. All of these birds proved to be great subjects and were fun to watch.
Young Barred Owl
Great Horned Owl
In August, I added some more really good life birds – An American White Pelican who was out of range at Montezuma NWR and some Least Bitterns that I was able to self-identify in the field. A Black-billed Cuckoo also flew into my yard – this was a very unexpected visitor!
Black-billed Cuckoo
Then came September and our annual trip to Cape May. For me, this trip started last year and both visits were beyond my expectations. While the morning flight at Higbee was not as great as last year, we still went on a good day and saw many birds zip by.
Cedar Waxwings morning flight
I finally saw a Marsh Wren – a bird that I had previously only heard… many times… many many times.
Marsh Wren
We also found out where the Black Skimmer flock likes to hang out during the fall – a beach near the 2nd Avenue jetty. I was in Skimmer heaven!
Black Skimmers
Endless Black Skimmers
I moved to my new house in Pennsylvania – this was a big change for me. Leaving New York was difficult, but it had to be done. Before I left, however, I was given the opportunity to hold my favorite bird, the American Kestrel, for the first time thanks to my friends.
Me with an American Kestrel
Birding slowed down for me in October. I spent a lot of time settling into my new house and only went birding once with a new friend. Other than that, I watched as migrants passed through my yard. In November, this same friend also brought me to Barnegat on the coast of New Jersey – a first for me. The trip yielded five life birds including the Harlequin Duck – our target bird.
Harlequin Ducks
We stopped by Sandy Hook Gateway National Park to check in on some Snowy Owl sightings. Just as we were about to give up, a fisherman told us where to find the one of the birds on the north beach. The photo op was unbeatable. This was one of the earlier Owls from this years irruption.
Snowy Owl
Last week, my best Christmas present was in the form of votes – I won week 7 of Project Feederwatch’s BirdSpotter Contest. This was completely unexpected since I never asked anyone for votes – it just happened!
My winning House Finch photo
We visited Barnegat again in December with another friend to show her the Harlequins. Once again, the trip did not disappoint us. Not only were we rewarded with great views at Harlequins, we also had up-close looks at Northern Gannets and an unexpected visit from two Razorbills off shore.
Northern Gannet
I look forward to seeing new birds in new places for 2014. Every year keeps getting better as I add more places to visit. More trips to Cape May are already planned, the Biggest Week is already in discussion and we are even considering going to the Rio grande Birding Festival this year. Perhaps my post a year from now will be even better than this one!
I went back to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park the day after Christmas with two of my friends. Our main target bird was the Harlequin Duck – I did not get great photos of them during my last trip to the jetty and I wanted to fix that. It would also be a life bird for one of my friends. We ended up running into very cooperative subjects!
A pair if male Harlequin Ducks
The sun came out just enough for some great photos
We followed them down the jetty, getting ahead of them every time they would dive for food.
Cropped close-up
The female Harlequin is much more drab, but still a cute duck
The males stayed together, so it was difficult to get a single shot, but I finally did
We caught the three ducks again on our way back down the jetty where they were soon joined by a third male.
Three male Harlequin Ducks
The female had her picks from some very nice looking birds!
The trip was a huge success. My friends and I walked away with many great Harlequin photos!
This weekend, I went to Barnegat, New Jersey with a friend to photograph waterfowl, specifically the Harlequin Duck. Not only did I get to see my gorgeous life bird Harlequins, I also saw four more unexpected life birds.
My Harlequin Duck life bird
After finding this beautiful male, we came across some Sandpipers on the rocks. My face apparently lit up when my friend told me they were Purple Sandpipers.
One of my Purple Sandpiper life birds
Further down the jetty, a flock of waterfowl was floating not far from the beach. This flock contained three more life birds: Common and King Eiders along with Black Scoters.
Common Eiders with Scoters
First year male King Eiders
One of my Black Scoter life birds, there were also adult males further away
The King Eiders were a rare find and we got great looks! They are beautiful even though we did not see any adult males.
King Eider female (front) and juvenile male (back)
Another huge highlight was finally getting close to Long-tailed Ducks and Surf Scoter.
Long-tailed Ducks
Surf Scoter
The Sandpipers along the rocks also allowed us to get very close. There were a lot of Dunlin.
Dunlin on the Jetty
Lots and lots of Dunlin.
Flock of Dunlin
Along with Ruddy Turnstones…
Ruddy Turnstone
And even more Purple Sandpipers.
One of my Purple Sandpiper life birds
This turned out to be one of my best photo trips! The New Jersey coast has been very good to me!
Who would think that bad weather could equal really great birds? When birds are migrating through and run into poor migrating weather (storm, front), they will drop out of the sky, typically in good numbers, to the most convenient habitat that suits them. This is known as fallout. Serious birders will actually go out in the rain and look for these birds because many times, something rare is sure to show up.
On Wednesday morning it started with an early report of some Long-tailed Ducks and Bonaparte’s Gulls. It was before work, so I went out to find these birds with success. I had 27 Bonaparte’s Gulls and later in the day over 80 were counted in the same location. As the day went on, the reports started coming in quick from birders who were off from work — more Long-tailed Ducks (20+ in one location and 40+ in another), Red-necked Grebes in four different locations, Horned Grebes showing up in high numbers, Four Great Egrets foraging together in a local pond, Caspian Terns in two locations — it was too much to resist not taking a long lunch for these great reports! I went out and quickly found some of the birds with a friend, but did not have time to take photos or get all of the birds.
Four Great Egrets stop to rest for one evening
The next morning, I headed out with another friend to see if we could get the high number of Long-tailed Ducks. They were no longer around, but I did see two Caspian Terns, which I did not get the previous day.
Caspian Terns
We continued to get poor weather so many of the birds stuck around for the weekend. Bufflehead were in high numbers at every location.
Bufflehead Pair at Dorchester Park
Bufflehead at Lisle Park
For the first time, I saw Horned Grebes in every possible plumage — winter, transitional and full on breeding plumage. I was happy to finally get photos of them too!
Horned Grebe
Horned Grebes
Both birds were often together…
Horned Grebe and Bufflehead
The big Grebe news, however, were the Red-necked Grebes. It is rare in our area to see a single one – I had at least NINE in one location with great scope views (not so great camera views…)
Red-necked Grebes with other waterfowl in Whitney Point
Today, we also found a Common Tern actively fishing around a lake. Another great rarity.
Common Tern in Whitney Point
And, of course, our more usual waterfowl were also around.
Pied Billed Grebes and Blue-winged Teal
It was not just about waterfowl. I also believe we had a Kinglet fallout. Ruby- and especially Golden-crowned Kinglets were everywhere. At one point I was surrounded by at least 50 birds dripping from the trees. There was a Kinglet on every branch that I looked at. I failed at getting a decent photo of a Golden-crowned since they are so fast but I did manage to get a Ruby-crowned at one point.
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
This weekend also brought my first Warblers of the year! I had Pine Warblers, Palm Warblers (in multiple locations) and Yellow-rumped Warblers.
Palm Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Other great highlights included another rarity for our area, a Vesper Sparrow who has been hanging around with some of our more common Sparrows and many first-of-year birds. We also did a Woodcock walk and enjoyed a male in good enough light to follow his aerial display.
Vesper Sparrow (far left) among Savannah Sparrows, a Junco and American Tree Sparrow.
I also had my best looks at singing Rusty Blackbirds – close enough to see how they got their name.
Rusty Blackbird
It was a great birding weekend and I am sad that it is over. I will write about my more local yard and creek birds in another post later in the week. This next week will bring more new migrants… I can’t wait to see who shows up!
My friend and I made a trip up to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for some photo ops. My original reason for wanting to go up there were to see some Bohemian Waxwings that have been reported during the week. They were not seen all day yesterday, but we ended up going anyway to see other birds. When we parked the car at the Lab, I checked my email to see if anything interesting had been sighted and it turned out that Bohemian Waxwings were reported not far from us on Cayuga’s birding listserv. We hopped right back into the car and made our way to the birds.
When we got there, we ran into a Cornell Spring Field Ornithology class who led us to the right location, but the birds were slowly trickling away from sight into private property. At that point, I only had binocular views of them with no real looks at field marks – you could tell they were Waxwings, but I wanted to see the key marks of a Bohemian. My friend decided to go see if she could get permission to go on the property and the owner allowed us in!
We came across a flock high up in the trees and got very nice scope views of about 30 birds. We went further in for a closer look and suddenly we were surrounded by Waxwings.
Bohemian Waxwing pair
Bohemian Waxwing pair
This is a bird that I have wanted to see for a long time. We estimated that there could have been up to 80 individuals (though, I put 70 on our eBird list), plus one lone Cedar Waxwing. In our area, it is usually the opposite! We had satisfying looks from every angle.
Bohemian Waxwing
We were pleased to see some of the birds exhibiting courtship behavior by exchanging small pieces of food back and forth.
Bohemian Waxwings courtship
Bohemian Waxwings courtship
Bohemian Waxwings courtship
It was one of the best “life bird” experiences I’ve had, especially considering that I would have never expected to see so many.
Bohemian Waxwing
After this wonderful experience, we went out to look for waterfowl. While the numbers are down from the winter-waterfowl birding, we still did see a good variety including Lesser Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, Bufflehead, both Mergansers, Redhead, Ruddy Ducks, Common Loons, American Coot and a Pied-billed Grebe. I finally got some decent photos of Hooded Mergansers, thanks to another friend who joined us!
Hooded Merganser
All of us couldn’t help but get photos of this Mallard up close in the sun. As common as they are, you cannot dismiss their beauty!
Mallard
The last highlight was another good one. We went to find local nesting Great Horned Owls and did not come up empty handed.
Great Horned Owl
A great start to a birding weekend. I wonder what tomorrow will bring…
Last Summer, I went to Italy to visit family. I have been there before, but not as a birder. I used Birding Pal to find a local birder who may be able to take me around. Thankfully, I found a very kind birder and also met a couple other local friends of his. Since it was the middle of summer, we went looking for water birds. He took me around Castel Volturno, Riserva Oasi Dei Varicon and other areas to the north of Naples.
The first birds we saw were all Sandpipers – Common, Wood, Green – all of which look very similar to me! The most exciting early sighting was a Grey Heron. I was very happy to see the Eurasian counterpart to the American bird that I love so much!
Grey Heron with Eurasian Coots and Black-headed Gulls
The next location was full of Black-winged Stilts, Yellow-legged Gulls, Mediterranean Gulls, Little Egret and Moorhens. I also caught glimpses of a Eurasian Oystercatcher, Gull-billed Tern, Little Tern. I did manage some [bad] photos of some of the birds.
Black-winged Stilts
Eurasian Oystercatcher with Mediterranean Gulls and Black-winged Stilt up front
Yellow-legged Gulls with Black-winged Stilts
Common Moorhens
We stopped at a beautiful spot, Riserva Oasi Dei Varicon, which brought us many more great waterbirds. Here, we saw Redshank and Greenshank, Kentish Plover, Little-ringed Plover, Little Stint, Shelducks, Garganey, Ferruginous Duck, Little Grebe and Sandwich Terns.
Sandwich Terns
Shelduck
Redshank and Greenshank
While driving around, I got better looks at some of the birds and saw many others that I did not get photos of suck as a Eurasian Kestrel, Crested Lark, Turtle Doves, Magpies and Night-heron. Some that I did get photos of are below.
Little Egret
Squacco Heron
Cattle Egret with Cattle
Zitting Cisticola
We were staying in Sant Agata were I saw mostly common birds like the Italian Sparrow, Blackbirds, Eurasian Collared Dove and Hooded Crows.
Italian Sparrow
Eurasian Collared Dove
We took a tour to Pompeii and the Vesuvius and saw some other common birds such as swifts, Hooded Crows, Jackdaws and Magpies. The bird I was hoping to see, the Hoopoe, was no where to be seen even though they are known to breed in Pompeii.
Hooded Crow
Jackdaws
Common Swift
Alpine Swift
And on our way back home from that tour, we saw a beautiful Serin above the streets.
Serin (wild Canary)
Other birds were spotted around family’s property including Spotted Flycatchers and, one that I was very happy to see, the European Robin.
Spotted Flycatcher family
European Robin
We took a trip to Trieste to see cousins and were surprised with some good birds in the gardens. Even though these are common birds, I was very happy to see them! They were very attracted to the plum trees which made it easy for me to see them.
Eurasian Jay with a plum
Eurasian Jay
Blue Tit
Great Tit
Blackbird Fledgling
We also saw many colorful Chaffinches while out in the area.
Chaffinch
We made a last minute stop to Isola della Cona, South of Malfalcone. This reserve gave me the best surprise of the entire trip – a bird who was on my must see list that I did not think I would see – the European Bee-eater!
European Bee-eaters
The reserve itself was full of Camarague horses and Cattle Egrets who would hang out nearby.
Camarague Horse with Cattle Egret, Lapwing, Wagtail and Duck
Cattle Egret
Other great birds at this location included Northern Lapwings and White Wagtails. I never did have to go chasing any of the Lapwings who showed up on the east coast of the US since I already saw them here!
Northern Lapwing
White Wagtail
The reserve was also full of many birds I already saw, plus some new waterfowl.
Black-winged Stilt
Northern Shoveler
Mixed Ducks
Graylag Geese
Common Snipe
Black-headed Gull in winter plumage
Common Sandpiper
The sun was strong and heat made for poor far-away photos, but I am happy that I at least got these memory photos. The last good bird here was another common one that I was happy to see – the European Goldfinch.
European Goldfinches
Overall, I saw over 50 life birds, and even though I didn’t get to see a Hoopoe as I had wished, I really enjoyed the birds I did see!
Last Thursday, registration opened for the Biggest Week in American Birding. Hundreds of birders have already signed up to enjoy a 10-day week of some of the best Warbler birding in the country! It’s not just about the Warblers though…
What can you expect from going to the Biggest Week?
Today, two friends and I drove around the east shore of Cayuga lake in search of waterfowl – in particular an Eared Grebe and Tufted Duck. We had an exact location for the Grebe thanks to a local birder but we knew the Tufted Duck would be a challenge since it is mixed somewhere within the rafts of Aythya species around the lake.
We started at Allan H. Treman State Marine Park where the Grebe has been seen and were greated by a large raft of Redheads and other Aythya species. They were flushed up by the geese, but ended up landing right back where they came from, minus the skittish geese. We could not locate a Tufted Duck in this fairly close flock. (eBird Checklist)
Raft of Redheads and other Aythya sp.
Aythya flock
As soon as we set up our scopes, maybe ten yards in from the shore, we were surprised with beautiful looks at the very active Eared Grebe.
Eared Grebe
… who tried really hard to fit in with the Ruddy Ducks.
Eared Grebe with Ruddy Ducks
After spending over an hour with icicles for hands and feet, we headed farther north and saw more of the same types of rafts along with the usual Gulls. Our next real gem of a spot was on the northern end of the lake in Mud Lock. We had better looks at some of the duck species that we saw all along the lake. (eBird Checklist)
Gadwall
Ring-necked Duck
A nice surprise at this spot was having all three species of Swans – and being able to compare Trumpeter vs Tundra in one scope view.
Mute Swan
Trumpeter Swan
Tundra Swans
We started off with a bang (and a life bird for me) but never did locate the Tufted Duck. Maybe next time…
