Phoebe

This little phoebe greets us at Allaire State Park every time we visit.  The NJ state bird may be the goldfinch but the phoebe is very prominent in the spring.  We watched him carry nesting materials to a nest under the bridge today. 

We looked for warblers and other spring migrants but saw mostly the old winter standbys.  We did catch a glimpse of a common yellow-throat and we heard both Towhees and white eyed vireos.  The yellow rump warblers were in fine feather and quite showy today.

Hooked!

 Today we landed in Sandy Hook for a drive around the park.   We often land at our birding spots by total accident but today we had a plan.  We have been spotting the pine warblers around our usual haunts for a week or so. They are often accompanied by the palm warbler.  That little guy has been eluding us until today.  We caught wind of his presence at Sandy Hook so we took a drive and we were rewarded by this little palm warbler( pictured above). (Click on the pic for a larger image.)

The park must have been giving free ants to every flicker who showed up because there were lots and lots of flickers in the park today.  This one seemed to find an endless supply of ants in a sidewalk crack.










We can almost always catch a few killdeer this time of year.  They are always a favorite with their two necklaces.  They were not afraid of us but when a dog passed by they were feigning.

Our first thrush of the season (well of course if you do not count robins) was this hermit thrush perched just in front of our Jeep.  He was either tired or very tame because he stuck around for quite a while.

We left the park around noon capping off a morning of sun and relaxation.  This gull seems to be following our example.

Into the Woods

We are starting our real all out birding this week.  The martins have returned to our backyard and the phlox are blooming.  Both of these events signal it is time for a daily outing.  This morning was beautiful.  There was not a cloud in the sky and it was perfect "sweater weather".  Birds were not the only thing we noticed today.  We even caught a glimpse of the Easter Bunny.

We enjoyed seeing some of the winter birds and year round residents.

 This Blue Jay wanted to be sure to make my post.  He even smiled for the camera.

 The cardinal and the titmouse are always sure to welcome us to the woods.

Spring Signs

Coco thinks she can drive.

Open trout season starts April 7 in NJ

Our first official outing of spring 2012 sprouted several signs of spring.  It seems appropriate since the first day of spring was earlier this week.  We made several stops with Coco and Rose in the backseat of our Jeep Liberty.  Since my hip replacement surgeries in November and January I have a new woman and hope to be able to walk better and further this spring but for now I am still pretty unsteady.  Shooting with my long lens is a challenge because I try to do it without a tripod.  So here are my first feeble attempts.

Moss

This little stream borders a golf course.  While we were enjoying the view we were graced by a pair of eastern wood phoebe which are some of the earliest returning migrants. What I loved most about the stream was the moss awakening below the sleeping trees.

Pine Warbler

Pine warblers feeling frisky

Pine warblers are some of the first warblers of spring.  We found a pair at Allaire State Park.  These two were switching from ground feeding to feeding in the trees.  These warblers feed on seeds from the pine cones and are reported to frequent feeders. 

Cowbird

This cowbird is another early returning migrant.  It is bittersweet to see them return.  They are one of the heralds of spring but they also are villains, placing their eggs in the nest of smaller birds.  As the young foster cowbirds grow they oust the other chicks from the nest until they alone are the baby.

Spring Trips - Migration Fever

It happens every spring.  NOT baseball but massive bird migration.  And with the movement of the birds and the warmer days we cannot reisist taking little trips to some of our favorite places.  Last week we headed to Cape May which is where we spent some of our courtship.  For us it is a dual pleasure of a romantic getaway and a terrific birding spot. 

Cape May is sort of a wonderland of miracle birds.  We have seen our first of alot of species in and around Cape May.  Not so this year.  It was the right time of the year but the weather had not brought the usual flocks of warblers and shore birds into view for us.  We did catch a great look at laughing gulls feeding on horseshoe crabs eggs.  At least that is what we assume is at the bottom of this pile.

Spring rituals that happen every year assure that the laughing gull population will continue to thrive.

Birds everywhere are seen in twos.  These two oyster catchers were feeding in the mud on one of the many crowded beaches.

We did not neglect our little songbirds.  At Higbee Beach even a slow day has a few highlights.  This indigo bunting serenaded us from the treetops and the prairie warbler followed us around singing his chromatic scale.  We almost met up with an unwelcome mammal as this skunk crossed our path while our eyes were on the treetops!

This weekend sent us in search of the king eider that was spotted at Sandy Hook.  As we walked  a quarter mile on a soft sandy path each person carrying a scope or binoculars assured us that there was not one but TWO male king eiders.  Just as we were rounding the end of the path and heading out to the beach the story changed.  They were there until a couple of fishermen flushed them.  We were assured that they always return soon.  We stayed for over an hour looking at other shore birds but of course the eiders never returned.  We did catch a glimpse of oyster catchers, black skimmers, numerous gulls and terns and sandpipers.  The ruddy turnstones above were flying overhead.  By far our favorite little shore bird it the endangered piping plover.  We found a this pair flirting with our camera on the beach.   

The Gems of Spring

Warblers are the gems of spring for sure.  They are little and colorful.  We have a love/hate relationship with them.  When we see a warbler it is usually only for a few seconds.  They often perch high in a tree to sing and show us only their belly and legs as they throw their head back to serenade us.  In preparation for spring we listen to Birding by Ear CDs  and the Ohio Warbler Songs CD.  We review past seasons sightings of when and where we saw a particular warbler.  We look online at the sightings reported around the state to find the best spot.  It is a study that consumes late April and early May.  You may ask why not all summer?  Well these little gems are not only hidden by the leaves in the treetops that follow in late May but they are often transient and only in our area for a few brief days and then move north to nest and raise their young.

This week we traveled to several new locations and our old favorites in search of the early warblers.  Spring has been slow developing for us and we impatiently scurry around to our haunts listening and watching the treetops.  On Wednesday we caught the familiar Bee-Buzz song of the Blue Winged Warbler.  He is quite the stunning little fella and with great persistence and a bit of luck we caught him.

While searching for the little gems some of our old favorite non warbler friends welcome us to the woods.  When you speak of gems you cannot over look the Northern Cardinal.  He sings his welcome to all who enter his domain.  Our other frequent woodland distraction is the Catbird.  With his antics he rarely goes unnoticed.

Friday morning was eventful  at Manasquan Reservoir.While we were chasing after a belted kingfisher who never quite landed, we caught a spotted sandpiper on a stump.  He posed only for a second before moving on.  Standing in the very same spot we caught Mr. Mallard who was very friendly and beautiful against in the morning sunlight.  King birds were plentiful and this one was particularly beautiful. The bird of the day on Friday was the Warbling Vireo.  We found him on the trail at Manasquan Reservoir singing and flitting among the trees. 

On Saturday we found ourselves off to Brigantine looking for the plovers and sandpipers of spring.  Apparently they did not get the memo that migration was due and we really only saw egrets, whimbrel, yellow legs and terns.  While on the road leading out of the the marsh we caught a life bird for both of us, a yellow throated vireo.  He was beautiful and we got really good looks at him but the camera was already in the bag so we did not get pictures. 


Our final stop on Saturday was an after dinner stroll through Allaire State Park.  The woods were quiet and bicyclists, joggers, dog walkers and adventure seeking families had found their way home for dinner.  We were left in the woods with only the stillness of the evening and the birds finishing the last bits of food from the feeders and finding a place to tuck in for the evening.  There was a very busy pair of Blue gray gnatcatchers preparing for the arrival of their young.  When we realized that they were nest building, we were able to capture their nesting to share with you here.

Our brains have gone to the birds for the next couple of weeks.  We are planning a return to Garrett Mountain and a trip to Cape May.  It should be a great spring.

Easter Specials!

We were not able to be out and about as much as usual this week.  It rained and was generally gloomy some of the days and we were waiting at home for those infernal never arriving workmen some of the week.  We were out for a bit on Sunday and Thursday and Friday.  They were good days just because there is a spring migration in progress.

Sunday we tripped around Allaire and Manasquan Reservoir and found little to be interested in.  The birds were sleeping or they were not there.  On the tip of Rob Melone we caught a red throated loon on Lake Como.  The wind kept the loon moving in the waves - getting even a bad picture was hard.  And then to add insult to injury the loon blinked!


On Thursday we took our first ever trip to Garret Mountain.  What a treat that was for us.  The ridge was alive with kinglets, yellow rumped warblers and gnat catchers.  The Towhees were in abundance and flickers kept appearing.  I was not able to catch the flighty little kinglets for a picture but we did get a gnatcatcher, flicker and towhee.

It was a cloudy day when we went to Brigantine on Friday morning.  We saw a wood duck on the way into the park.  We found the areas around the parking lot very quiet but since we had driven all the way down we headed through the marsh.  With the cloud cover we were seeing only Great egrets and snowy egrets. Then the sun broke through the clouds and the marsh became alive with whimbrel, dunlin, yellowlegs, black bellied plover, and willet.

We saw Canada geese.  One goose family of three goslings crossed our path near the end of our drive.  The best bird of the day is shown above.  It is a Blue Goose, a dark morph of the snow goose and a life bird for both of us!