It has been quite some time since I’ve done any major birding to a new destination, and with recent talks here at the office of pelagic trips and birding in the tropics, I couldn’t help but sit back and wonder about what trips I wish to do in my near future, and in my lifetime. With that said, here is a set of lists for my birding trip wishlist. Enjoy, and feel free to share with us your destinations that you wish to make in the near future:

North America

1. Alaska (mainland and offshore islands)
2. Southeast Arizona (late summer)
3. Texas Hill Country and Big Bend National Park
4. Gulf Stream Pelagic, North Carolina
5. Southern Florida (Everglades to Dry Tortugas)
6. Churchill, Manitoba
7. Washington State (Puget Sound to Cascades)
8. Point Pelee, Ontario
9. Zax-sim Bog, Minnesota
10. Great Salt Lake, Utah

World 

1. New Zealand (Seabirds and Endemics)
2. Costa Rica
3. Galapagos Islands
4. Peru (Amazon to Andes)
5. Kenya
6. United Kingdom
7. Australia
8. Brazil
9. Japan
10. Chile & Argentina

Two weeks ago, I had the fortune of meeting up with Chat Happens Co-Founder, Ryan, as he paid me a visit in southern NJ, while I worked for the New Jersey Audubon Society. The visit, as always, was too short, and was shortened even more by the sporadic weather that we had on Saturday with heavy winds and heavy rain. However, despite having to work two of the days during his visit, and with the weather on Saturday, we had the ability to get out a few times and look for birds around various parts of Cumberland and Cape May Counties. Such southern NJ specialties as Yellow-breasted Chat, White-eyed Vireo, Acadian Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Prothonotary Warbler, and even Orchard Oriole came with relative ease. Other hopefuls like Blue Grosbeak, Whip-poor-will, and Chuck-will’s-widow were not detected, even though they are fairly common in the area, and are seen or heard on a nearly daily basis.

Well, Saturday morning (May 31), we decided to hit up Belleplain State Forest to try our luck with Prothonotary, Kentucky, and Worm-eating Warblers, as well as Summer Tanager. We had lots of luck with birds that afternoon, but of the previously mentioned targets, only Prothonotary was found. The looks of that bird were stellar, and certainly made up for a lack of other targets that morning. Have you ever seen a male Prothonotary singing to defend its territory while it had a bill full of grubs to feed its chicks? Such were the looks we had….

However, while looking at the Prothonotary Warbler, I noticed another bird singing in the background. I immediately called out: “Hood Warbler”, and got the attention of my friends and co-workers, if only for second. The bird was not quickly located, and many began to question my ID. “Well, it doesn’t sound quite right for Hooded?”, “Do you hear an extra note in there?”. I felt confident that my assumption was right, but I couldn’t deny the fact that the song was not a textbook Hooded Warbler. After about twenty minutes of searching for the bird, it finally was heard singing a reasonable distance from the road, and after scanning the understory and mid-canopy levels, I was able to find the bird in question singing from an open branch. It was a Hooded Warbler! And a beautiful one at that. I was then able to quickly get all the people in my party on it (Ryan, Cesar, David), and we then discussed the variation in song that we heard.

Now, the ironic thing about this bird is this: This past week, there has been some recent posts on Jersey Birding about a Swainson’s Warbler that was heard in Belleplain State Forest, in exactly the same area that we were in while looking for the Prothonotary Warbler. The bird of course (as is expected with this species), was not observed, only heard, yet many claimed the song was textbook Swainson’s. Before you could even consider driving to Belleplain to refind it, other observers talked about their detection of Swainson’s in another part of the park. The revelation for me came however, when several posters began to honestly discuss the presence of this bird. Obviously, a bird of this nature, would be a fairly big deal. Swainson’s come to southern NJ, and even southern NY, on probably an annual, or semi-annual basis. I don’t have the numbers to validate that, but I recall records from the past few years in each state. In fact, I actually heard a Swainson’s myself on Jake’s Landing Road in 2002 or 2003 I believe. That bird in particular was well documented, and even found visually. A fact that was easy to know due to the legions of birders lining the road for a look. At any rate, a Swainson’s in NJ is a GOOD bird! So care must be taken in making a claim of a detection. Now, while careful birders asked others to make detailed records of such sightings, one birder made a curious observation:

FYI,
Several times this spring in the Sunset triangle area during CMBO Walks we
heard, and saw, a Hooded Warbler with a very atypical song that could be
taken for a Swainson's. I think the Swainson's Warbler must be seen to
confirm.

Does this mean that the bird heard was NOT a Swainson’s? No, and I can’t speak for the quality of birders that made their observations. But it does suggest to me at least that something could have been misidentified. I do remember reading that one of the Swainson’s Warbler detectors went back to the area and heard a Hooded that had a TYPICAL song. Hard to say now for sure as to the identity of any of the birds.

I guess what I’m getting at is this: There are some astounding birders out there, and many of whom are very credible. But for our own ability to learn, what is it that we get from calling out a bird in question if we never SEE IT? Kind of a rhetorical question I guess. I mean, I called out “Hooded Warbler”…and while I felt good about it, what would I have learned from doing that if I never looked for the bird in the end. There are always the birds that we know we KNOW, but I certainly suggest to all that if anything is in question, do your best to find the bird visually. This is certainly how the birders that are at the top of their game: Michael O’brien, Rich Stallcup, Steve Howell, Keith Hansen, Pete Dunne, David Sibley, etc. have done it. It is something I know I must work harder on myself.

Thanks to the Hooded….a lesson learned.

It’s been a while since we’ve seen Ryan around Chat Happens way, but he is planning on paying a visit to Cumberand Co. NJ to visit Chad and to perhaps see another one of his old friends, Chatley the Chat. Look for some photos and a write-up for this upcoming weekend early next week.

This past weekend (Saturday), a party was held in honor of all the bird scientists working on the Delaware Bay (and all over the world) in hopes of learning about, and protecting shorebirds. Avian scientists attending the party called such places home as the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Peru, Belize, Mexico, and more! It was a great time, and fun was had by all, which was not hard with the great weather, beautiful surroundings, great food, and of course lots of cold refreshments. What follows below are some photos from the event showing a lighter side of all us on a well-received day off. Many thanks to Cesar Abrill for his endless supply of party photos to choose from. Enjoy,

~Chad

Due to time constraints with internet usage, I have not yet had a chance to update my South NJ Targets page yet. I do have the new species highlighted in that I have viewed (Prothonotary Warbler and Summer Tanager), but the accounts for those sightings have not yet been written. Look out for them soon!

~Chad

Today the crew and I banded at Thompson’s Beach once again in hopes of capturing a few more Semipalmated Sandpipers for the current study. As expected we did well, but in fact, we did better than we had hoped. I think all in all nearly 100 birds were captured, flagged, and released into the wild. Banding so many Semipalmated Sandpipers is certainly a treat, and I enjoy doing it day after day, but it is nice when you catch something that isn’t necessarily expected. Today was a good day for that…

Our first surprise bird of the day was an adult Red Knot that was caught in the mist net at Thompson’s Beach. This particular site is not typical REKN habitat and this individual was believed to have been the first banded there in the past 10 years. The bird was foraging apparently with a larger flock of Semis and Dowitcher, but when those birds made a move (and a counter move) towards the net, the knot was the only one stuck.

The bird was a joy to extract from the net, and as I was extracting it, it gave a nice surprise as it was actually a previously banded bird. By looking at the flag color (orange), we could know immediately what part of the world this bird was banded, and as it turns out orange means Argentina! This was great to see not only to know that this bird has migrated that far already, but it goes to show that the handling and research of birds has no detrimental effect as long as it is done with care, caution, and an attention to detail. Some photos of this wonderful bird are below:

So as I said earlier, the rest of the day was spent mostly catching Semipalmated Sandpipers, and we had the fortune of having a school group join us this day. The group was a nearby advanced science group (although none knew the conversion of ounces to grams!), and we spent part of the afternoon telling them about the research that we do, and why it is important not only to birds, but to the nearby Delaware Bay, which is essentially part of their backyard. We caught a lot of birds while the group was there so they got to see many Semipalmated and Least Sandpipers in the hand, and even got to let a few go themselves.

The next and last highlight of the day came when we were closing the nets to finish. As we were closing the nets I was taking out a Least Sandpiper from the nets as Cesar was taking out a passerine that he was unsure of its identification. As I looked over, there was no doubt to it, it was an adult sharp-tailed sparrow, and when the bird was extracted the final piece was in place as the lack of streaking gave way to its full identification, an adult Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow. The fact that we caught this bird was a rare and unexpected treat, but what made it even more so was that earlier in the day I pointed out to David that a NSTS was singing in the nearby marsh. Maybe it was even the same bird!

So all in all it was a great, sunny, fun day to be banding. too bad they all can’t be that way!

~Chad

Taking a walk near the house in the fading sunlight, I was looking to get some good photos of various birds, and in particular I was hoping to get an in-focus Blue Grosbeak (no luck yet). At any rate, I did happen to snag a few photos of an adult male Yellow Warbler as it was singing and foraging nearby. Enjoy! 

~Chad

Just two days ago I had the fortune of seeing two new (life bird) species, just a half mile from my house! If the title of this post didn’t give them away, they were Prothonotary Warbler and Summer Tanager, two species that I’ve been searching for in south NJ since my first trip here nearly a decade ago. The sightings were extremely rewarding and are now a part of my memory forever. It turns out that the roads near my house are extremely productive, and aside from those species numerous individuals of Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Blue Grosbeak, and Indigo Bunting were also present.

Look for special write ups regarding the life birds in my South NJ Targets page in the upcoming week

Below are an image of the author birding, as well as a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher nest that was found.

~Chad

Yesterday my housemates and I had our first opportunity to band at Fortescue Beach in NJ. As before with our site at Thompson’s Beach, our primary target species was Semipalmated Sandpiper. As luck would have it, we got to Fortescue and found thousands of shorebirds feeding on the beach looking for Horseshoe Crab eggs that were recently deposited. The frenzy was incredible as thousands of Dunlin, Sanderling, Red Knot, Short-billed Dowitcher, Ruddy Turnstone, and Semipalmated Sandpipers fought for space among the Laughing Gulls to find this ephemeral food source.

All in all banding was a great success, despite the terrible weather which started half way through the day (wind and lots of rain!). It was also a fun experience too because it was our first day using the whoosh nets to catch the birds. For those of you who aren’t familiar with that term, whoosh nets are similar to canon nets in the fact that they are a net that gets launched over the birds trapping them underneath The only real difference is that the net is powered by kinetic energy that is stored in the form of a bungee chord. Unfortunately I do not have photos of the nets or their firing yet because things were a bit too hectic for that type of photographic leisure. At any rate, what follows are some photos of the birds at least from yesterday before the rains came. Enjoy!

~Chad

Aside from the photos of the Curlew Sandpiper, we did take some photos of other things at Heislerville last night (May 13th) including thousands of Semipalmated Sandpipers and Dunlin, and a few happy birders! Enjoy!

~Chad