Gull struck by winning hit in baseball game

Royals vs. Indians last night - story and video here.

CSA Bounty

Excitement abounds! We are members of the Rutgers Community Supported Agriculture program this year and today was our first pick up. The cold and wet weather here made the share a bit small this week, but it's still plenty for the two of us. I'm sure we'll have MORE than enough over the summer to make up for it. Our stash includes:

LOTS of salad greens including one that tastes remarkably like wasabi (some type of arugula maybe?)

Pea shoots

Kale

Scallions

Radishes

Lemon Balm

Sage

So, my first order of business was to address a craving I had for scallion pancakes. Consider it done.

"Lawrence's" Warbler

For the past month or so, a "Lawrence's" Warbler has been seen at the Kay Environmental Center in Morris County. I got to see it on Saturday. This is the rarer of the two Golden-winged Warbler x Blue-winged Warbler hybrids - "Brewster's" Warbler is the other. It was singing the bee-buzz song of a Blue-winged Warbler. Neat bird! Learn more about Cornell's Golden-winged Warbler Atlas Project which also tracks hybrids.

Monk Parakeets

As I reported a few months ago, Monk Parakeets have officially been added to the NJ state checklist of birds. The "lister" in me finally had a chance to see them and count them for my state list. There are two populations I know of. There's a fairly large population in Edgewater, about an hour and 15 minutes from me. There's a much smaller population in Carteret - about 20 minutes from me and within my county. My friend's grandson has been monitoring two nests in Carteret and I went to see one today. As is typical of this species in urban habitats, the nest is on a telephone pole. I saw one adult perched with nesting material next to the nest, but he quickly entered the nest. I waited about 10 minutes and two adults emerged and took off to points unknown. I waited a bit, but did not see any more activity. I had to get home, so that was that! Here's a look at the massive nest.

Trap, Neuter, and Release: Bad for Cats, Disaster for Birds

If you don't get the American Bird Conservancy's email newsletter, you may not have gotten a chance to see this video about the Trap, Neuter, Release programs implemented in many cities around the country.

Becoming a more local birder

When it comes to birding locally or having a "local patch", I am ashamed to say that it's not something I've embraced. Is it because I don't have any good habitat nearby? Not at all - there are some decent parks around and even a darn good one on a major river on my way to work. I've never once stopped there to bird before work. :( No I don't have any excuse. There are terrific grasslands 20 minutes away, marshes nearby, and a bayfront not too far away.

For some reason, I'm always willing to default to a 45 minute drive to bird at Sandy Hook. It's partially because I like the social element of birding there where I'm bound to run into other birders - and usually ones I know. It's also a place I feel comfortable and I know it well.

With Baby Julian (did I mention he has a name?) coming in September, I know that birding closer to home will become a necessity. I'm going to embrace it fully. I've already began researching local spots, checking out Google maps, and talking to friends. I'd like to concentrate on my home county of Middlesex County even though I'm on the border of a county that has a lot better habitat (and a fall hawkwatch). Middlesex County, in my opinion, is very underbirded except for a small handful of locations. It's mostly developed, but has some interesting waterfront areas, a major river, some nice swamps, and even an odd remnant piece of Pine Barrens habitat (more on that in a future post). It's a pretty large county by NJ standards too. So, stay tuned for future posts highlighting some of these locations and the birds I find along the way. My one big question is... Can someone tell me where there is decent grassland habitat in this county!?

GREAT Swamp Birding

Last week, an adult White Ibis was found at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. There are only a handful of inland records of this species and I had never seen one in NJ (despite there being a few sightings of one last year). Sunday was a beautiful morning, so I headed out early to the spot where it had been seen most regularly. A few other birders were around and we all waited patiently for the bird to show with no luck. Other birds were there for our enjoyment though. Lots of Yellow Warblers were around and I was able to get a good shot of one.

I also saw Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Yellow-billed Cuckoo (a pic not worth publishing - it's so bad!), Swamp Sparrow, and several Green Herons. The highlight while waiting for the Ibis was a gorgeous singing Mourning Warbler. I've never had such good views of this bird even on breeding grounds in the Adirondaks. He was a bit too skittish for my camera, but I was able to get a shot.

At this time, a gentleman with a camera approached us. He mentioned that he had seen the White Ibis from a blind a few miles away and showed us a photo on his camera. So, another birder and I zoomed over to the boardwalk trails where the blind is located. On a mission, we booked down the trail to the blind where a couple pointed us to the White Ibis. Albeit distant and hunkered down in the marsh, we were all able to enjoy great looks. See my horrid photo below. If you want great looks at this bird, the best place to see them is Disney World. They are EVERYWHERE there. All in all, a nice morning out.

Potential new birding TV show

Richard Crossley, birder and author, has been working on a proposal for a new TV show about birding in the city. Animal Planet is interested, but they are surveying people to see if there really is a market for the show. Watch the five minute preview and then fill out the survey to let them know what you think.