Google Maps and Birding

Google Maps now has a feature called "My Maps." With this feature, you can mark locations on a map, add photos, write captions, and draw lines/circles/etc. You can then share a link to the map with anyone. I think this has a lot of potential for birding. It could be used to show the exact location of a rare bird or to create a map of great birding spots in your area. Just a few ideas... I'm sure there are many more great uses. As an example, here's a link to every baseball park in the US.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=103763259662194171141.000001114c8ae7cac9869&hl=en&z=4&ll=36.738884,-96.767578&spn=34.132809,59.238281&om=1

Sunday: Garret Mountain with Mike

Mike from 10,000 Birds and I birded Garret Mountain this morning. Garret has become somewhat of a legendary migration trap on the east coast. Its geographic location along a ridge whose northern end drops off into the city of Paterson helps concentrate migrants. It's also heavily birded which helps in finding birds.

Mike and I met bright and early to start our birding adventure. The place was crawling with White-throated Sparrows, with about 1 per square yard. We quickly found two lovely male Baltimore Orioles singing from the treetops and several Ruby-crowned Kinglets practicing their bubbly songs. Barbour Pond hosted a group of Northern Rough-winged Swallows that Mike tried to photograph. Those buggers are fast and I'm not sure how successful he was. My first Spotted Sandpiper of 2007 was there too.

Warbler-wise the day started slow. A tip on an Orange-crowned Warbler and Nashville Warbler didn't work out for us, but the spot held many Hermit Thrushes and several Brown Thrashers. We made our way towards the upper areas of Garret to the old "castle" where we could look down into the canopy of trees. Here we found a nice group of birds: Blue-headed Vireo, Black-throated Blue, Northern Parula, Yellow Warbler, and Yellow-Rumped.

We worked our way back towards the parking lot. We paused for a moment and scanned the trees. I noticed a big blob in a tree that turned out to be a young Great-horned Owl! Cool! Here's my cruddy picture of it. Check Mike's blog for a better picture of it (if he posts it).



Our approach down the trail scared up the Pileated subspecies of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker. :) One of us must have smelled like peanuts because we managed to attract the world's friendliest White-breasted Nuthatch. He landed on a tree within 5 feet of us and "ank-ank"-ed at us while posing for some close-up photos. We walked down the trail and for the next 50 yards or so the nuthatch kept following us and landing very nearby. Here's a pic of Mike photographing the nuthatch. This is probably the furthest it got from us.



We visited nearby Rifle Camp Park, but the birding was pretty slow there. A Cooper's Hawk and a Hairy Woodpecker are the only birds of note that I really remember seeing there. We ended another great morning of birding with 5 species of Woodpecker, 3 raptors, 7 warblers, and 59 total species (according to my list). Check over to 10,000 Birds. Mike will put up his own report with much better pictures.

Saturday: More Sandy Hook Birding

On Saturday I led a trip for the National Parks Service to Sandy Hook. I was filling in for the usual guy who runs this trip. In a short 2.5 hour trip, our group saw 64 species - not bad considering we didn't really bird the wooded areas there. We had a group of 9 people, from beginners to more experienced birders. Since we had limited time, I decided to bird Spermaceti Cove (a boardwalk overlooking the bay) and the northern end where the hawkwatch platform is.

Spermaceti Cove always delivered and the participants were amazed at the diversity of birds that come to this spot if you just stand and wait. We had wonderful views of Green Heron, Great and Snowy Egrets, both Yellowlegs, Willet, Red-breasted Merganser, and Belted Kingfisher. We also had an opportunity to compare the vocalizations of Fish Crow and American Crow. Here I am showing the physical differences between the two species, which isn't much:



The north end delivered as well. We had excellent comparisons of Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, and Northern Rough-winged Swallow. Blue-gray Gnatcatchers were everywhere, but were really difficult to get everyone on. The hawk flight was decent with fly-by Merlins, Sharp-shinned Hawks, a Cooper's Hawk, and a really nice perched Peregrine Falcon. For a short walk, we had great weather, nice participants, and some outstanding birds.

Dinner with Kenn Kaufman (sort of)

Last night, Beth and I attended the annual Urner Ornithological Club dinner. The Urner Club is a NJ birding club that has been in existence since the 1930's. It's named for Charles Urner, a well-respected NJ ornithologist from the early 20th century and one of the founding members of the club. I've only been a member since October, but I've really enjoyed the monthly meetings. Most of the club members that I've met are "old school" birders. Most of these guys and gals have been birding since the 1950's and before. The tales they tell are incredibly interesting and their knowledge of birds and nature is astounding. I love to just sit and listen to everyone talk.

The dinner was held at a local restaurant. After some pretty decent food, the club held a short meeting where I was elected treasurer (uncontested!). We also introduced guests and distinguished members. One member present has been in the club since 1936! That received a well-deserved applause. When asked to come to a future meeting and tell some tales of his experiences in the club, he quickly retorted, "When I get older." Ha!

The evening's keynote speaker was Kenn Kaufman. His presentation was titled, "Birds and the Undiscovered World." It was a very engaging presentation relating birding to the adventures of Christopher Columbus. He tied in his childhood admiration for Columbus to his experiences with birding. He told us of how he learned more and more about Columbus and some of the truths he discovered that put a damper on Columbus's image. He was able to tie this into birding very well and he challenged the audience to expand their horizons to other things in nature and to help involve more diverse populations in our great hobby. It's a great presentation that you might have a chance to see in your area. Kenn seems to be all over the place.

Why do I look so buff in this picture?

When Kenn finished, the dinner was all but over. I took the opportunity to introduce myself to Kenn and we chatted briefly about his new Field Guide to Insects. I wish I had brought books with me for him to sign! I'll be sure to post an announcement about next year's dinner when time comes since guests are always invited.

Know Your Natives, Non-Natives, and Invasives

I thought about writing this post after seeing a ton of Celandine at a local birding spot on Monday. If you're into nature and teaching others about nature, it's your duty to learn the native, non-native, and invasive species of flora and fauna in your area. Most birders know about Starlings and House Sparrows, but may not be as familiar with plants like Celandine, Garlic Mustard, and Tree-of-Heaven. These three plants are among the many invasive species that probably occur in your area. Learning these species can help you identify problem areas in your favorite birding location or in your own backyard. You can take that knowledge and share it with family members, friends, and other birders. Hopefully, by identifying problem species in your area, you can help get the right people involved to control the populations where possible. The Plant Conservation Alliance, part of the National Parks Service, has an excellent web site listing the worst of the worst invasive plants. It's by no means a comprehensive list. Your may have specific plants that are unique to your area. Also, keep in mind that just because a plant is a native doesn't mean that it's non-invasive. Any plant can be invasive under the right (or wrong) circumstances.

There are many great resources out there on all types of invasive flora and fauna. The Invasive Species Weblog is a great place to start.

Landfill of Memories

I was reminiscing today about my spring 2005 trip to the Rio Grande Valley, a mecca for US birders. Aside from the Green Jays, Brown Jays, Chachalacas, Whooping Cranes, and other amazing birds of south Texas, two major spectacles stand out in my mind. One is a huge migrating flock of Broad-winged Hawks that flew over a restaurant parking lot during lunch. We estimated the flock to be 6000+ birds. The second spectacle was a trip to the Corpus Christi Municipal Landfill. When I returned from the trip and told my family and girlfriend that I had flown a couple thousand miles to visit a landfill, I got some interesting looks. But birders know that landfills are magnets for birds, especially gulls.

The Corpus Christi landfill is no exception. I have never seen more gulls in my life. The majority were Laughing Gulls - thousands of them as you can see in the above picture. There were Herring and Ring-billed Gulls in a multitude of plumages interspersed.



Visiting here can be hazardous, so we had to don our blaze orange vests so we wouldn't get run over by a bulldozer.



The sky is a cloud of gulls. We managed to find a lone Franklin's Gull among the flock. Lucky for us, it perched and showed some of its rosy coloration on its breast. When it flew, we could see its unique primary pattern. We searched for Yellow-legged Gull (or is it Yellow-footed Gull???) with no success. A small pond held some shorebirds including Greater Yellowlegs, Black-necked Stilt, and American Avocet. A young Crested Caracara was feeding along the shore as well.



So, if you hear about someone birding at a landfill, I say, "Don't knock it until you try it." You are bound to find some interesting birds in this most interesting habitat.

Field Trip Results: Beginner's Bird Walk

I led the "Beginner's Bird Walk" at Sandy Hook today for NJ Audubon. We had 8 great participants and many great birds! We saw/heard 50 species. The complete list is below. After reports of a great raptor flight yesterday and news about good migration through the state, I was hoping for a productive day. The migrants weren't as numerous as I was expecting, but a few highlights really made the day special.

Participants at Spermaceti Cove

We started birding at Spermaceti Cove where we saw Brant, American Oystercatcher, Snowy and Great Egrets, several Osprey including one eating a fish, Boat-tailed Grackle, Song Sparrow, and Savannah Sparrow, among others. A short walk along the scrub-shrub dune habitat near the Visitor's Center yielded a very cryptic first-year Pine Warbler - not an easy bird to identify, especially when it's feeding on the ground!

We then checked out the boy scout camp area which held quite a few Hermit Thrushes, a Downy Woodpecker, several singing Carolina Wrens, but not much else. A fly-by Sharp-shinned Hawk was our first raptor of the day. The big one was still to come!

Migration seemed a bit slow, so we headed up to the northern end of Sandy Hook where the spring hawk count is conducted each year. We were greeted by a Field Sparrow singing in a tree above my car.


Field Sparrow

The dunes around the hawk watch are full of bayberry and beach plum. Among the trees and shrubs we found several Yellow-rumped Warblers and both Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets. My mother, who joined us on the trip, pointed out a gull flying over. I think I scared the group with my excitement because it was one of the white-winged gulls - either a Glaucous or Iceland Gull. I didn't get an ID before it flew away. There had been an Iceland seen yesterday.

A tip from some fellow birders led us to the prize bird of the day - a stunning male Hooded Warbler. All of the group had very close views and it was a life bird for all participants. It even came within a few feet of my dad and Beth.


Hooded Warbler

We hung out on the hawk watch platform for a bit, but didn't see much. We headed down and made our way towards a small freshwater pond. We didn't make it very far before the hawk counter called, "EAGLE!" I hustled back towards the platform, inadvertently knocking Beth out of the way (sorry darling!) and we were able to get the group on a gorgeous immature Bald Eagle flying right over our heads.

We ended the trip by visiting the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory book store. The last few of us who left got to see an Indigo Bunting feeding in the grass near the store. Thanks so much to everyone who attended and special thanks to my girlfriend Beth for taking all of the pictures!


Indigo Bunting

Species List (some only seen/heard by leader):
Common Loon
Northern Gannet
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Snow Goose
Canada Goose
Brant
Mallard
Bufflehead
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Sharp-shinned Hawk
American Oystercatcher
Lesser Yellowlegs
Ring-billed Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
American Herring Gull
Laughing Gull
Rock Pigeon
Mourning Dove
Downy Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Tree Swallow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Barn Swallow
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Carolina Wren
Northern Mockingbird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
American Crow
Fish Crow
European Starling
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Hooded Warbler
Eastern Towhee
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Northern Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle
Common Grackle
Brown-headed Cowbird
House Finch
House Sparrow

IATB and a Bird Song Quiz

After you visit Jochen's exceptional edition of I & The Bird, check out this bird song quiz I created. Listen to each song and make your guesses in the comments. Sorry, I don't have any cool prizes to give away.

Song 1


Song 2


Song 3


Song 4