Sandy Hook Rarities

If you read this blog with any minimal frequency, you'll know that I spend a lot of time birding at Sandy Hook, NJ. From NJ Audubon: "Sandy Hook is an almost undeveloped barrier island with a variety of habitats: beach and dunes, mudflats, holly forest, deciduous woods, freshwater ponds, salt marshes, coastal scrub/shrub, and successional fields." This variety of habitats makes any day a good birding day at "The Hook." A major migration path in both spring and fall, Sandy Hook has attracted approximately 340 bird species to its varying habitats. This spring, NJ birders were treated to a smorgasbord of rarities - not that I saw a single one of them mind you! Darn work! The Sandy Hook Bird Observatory recently updated their rarity web page with info and photos on all of these rarities including Townsend's Warbler, Western Grebe, and Swallow-tailed Kite. Check it out.