Big Sit Results

Well, let's just say our planned Big Sit on the porch of the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory didn't turn out the way we planned. We only saw 25 species but we did have a few nice sightings.

Beth and I arrived at Sandy Hook around 8:00 AM as planned. Unfortunately, the wind was unbelievable. A strong, cold, 30+ MPH wind was blowing from the west and the porch at Sandy Hook faces the bay - due west. Birds were barely flying and the ones that did were thrown all over. A Ruby-crowned Kinglet blew past me and all I could hear was a faint "di-git" call. Our original planned location in the front yard of the building was moved to indoors which conveniently fit more or less within the 17' diameter circle. The front and side windows would serve as my view and I left some room to step out on the porch to scan the sky periodically.



We spent 8:00 - 3:00 looking for birds while greeting and chatting with the visitors to the observatory. The first "nice" bird for the day was an adult White-crowned Sparrow followed quickly by a fly-over Osprey. Unfortunately, the bay was pretty much devoid of activity except for the standard gulls and some DC Cormorants. Brant have just arrived on Sandy Hook but were concentrated further south and did not show for us. Fly-by Egrets and GB Herons were noticeably absent too.

The real highlight of the day for me was what I found in a pine tree through one of the side windows. I saw a warbler-like bird flitting in the tree, but couldn't get a great look. Finally, the bird popped out less than 10' away on a bare branch. The field marks pointed only to one species - Cape May Warbler! Nice! Unfortunately, it flew off before Beth got to see it. This has been a jinx bird for me.



Other highlights included a Merlin, a White-breasted Nuthatch (suprisingly uncommon on Sandy Hook), and a Brown Creeper. Next year we'll be able to follow my original plan and station ourselves at the hawk watch platform.

Monday is Blog Action Day!

Monday is Blog Action Day - well over 10,000 bloggers will be posting about environmental issues. Make sure you sign up!

Autumn Meadowhawk

One of the most common dragonflies encountered this time of year in the northeast is the Autumn Meadowhawk, Sympetrum vicinum (formerly known as Yellow-legged Meadowhawk). They emerge in late summer and are typically the last dragonfly around into November.

The males usually have red adbomens, but they may vary from orange to brown depending on the temperature. The thorax and face are brown to black. The males have minimal black markings on the abdoment, separating them from another common red skimmer, Needham's Skimmer. The male's legs are yellow or brown, but never black. The females have a brown thorax and a brownish red abdomen.

They have a habit of flying far away from water so they can turn up anywhere. They also like to perch on clothing, so you may find one clinging to you on a late fall day. The Latin name for this genus, Sympetrum, means "with rock" and refers to their habit of basking on rocks to absorb heat early in the day.

A similar, less common species, that may be encountered is the Saffron-winged Meadowhawk.

Thanks to Susie from JerseyBirds for the pic.

King Corn

There's a new movie about our reliance on corn. Check it out here: King Corn

"Birding for Beginners" at Sandy Hook

On Saturday, I led my quarterly free "Birding for Beginners" walk at Sandy Hook for NJ Audubon. We had 4 participants signed up, but only 3 attended. Beth and I brought our 7-year old niece with us for her first birding experience. My mom joined us as well.

Beth and I woke up to an extremely foggy morning which concerned me. Lucky for us, the fog burned off quickly and it turned into a really nice, but hot, day. Migrants weren't abundant but we did find some really nice birds.

Showing the group a bird in my Sibley guide

At Spermaceti cove, we observed a perched Great Blue Heron, always a crowd pleaser. We also had distant Royal Terns, several Double-crested Cormorants, various gulls, and a few Black-bellied Plovers. I briefly saw a Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, but it disappeared before I got the group on it (as they are wont to do).


Distant Great Blue Heron

On a brief walk along the nearby bike path, we found a Red-breasted Nuthatch and a Black-capped Chickadee. The group needed a bathroom so we headed over to the beach pavilion. A trip to a nearby bathroom yielded a nice group of migrants with White-crowned Sparrow, Chipping Sparrow, lots of Palm Warblers, Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a Black-throated Green Warbler.

Our next stop was the area known as "Raccoon Alley" - a paved path through some woods. It was pretty quiet in there, unfortunately. I played my "other nature" card and pointed out butterflies and plants to supplement the lack of birds. Sandy Hook is working to eliminate the large Ailanthus and Japanese Knotweed populations. It was interesting to see the areas where they had obviously applied herbicide to kill these species. The only birds we managed to actually see were Cedar Waxwings and a Red-eyed Vireo.

Out last stop was the far north end. There we found our only raptors of the day - a Cooper's Hawk and a Kestrel, but not much else.

The day turned out to be pretty nice. Thanks goes out to our great group! Our niece also really enjoyed her day. She became quite adept at using her binoculars by the end of the day and she's looking forward to her next trip.

National Schoolyard Birding Challenge

Please share this with any educators or anyone that works with children:

"The National Schoolyard Birding Challenge is a monthly bird watching contest open to students in all public and private schools in the contiguous United States. Student participants in the NSBC will work together to observe, identify, and record various bird species found on their school grounds. NSBC's main objective is to get more young people outside and exploring nature via bird watching. While this popular hobby provides life long enjoyment for enthusiasts, it also holds benefits for many people, especially children."

This contest is sponsored by Fledging Birders, a component of the Education Programs developed by National Biodiversity Parks.

Empid ID Tips and Cape May

When the Cape May folks first launched their BirdCapeMay.org web site, I honestly thought that it would have a big launch but not stay current like many other web sites do. I was very wrong. They have a lot of wonderful content about Cape May birding, daily sighting updates, a nice online magazine, and lots of other great info. Their online magazine, Tigrina Times, has a two-part feature on identifying "Little Flycatchers" which has some great info: Part 1 and Part 2.

Another favorite section is "Migrants and Residents" which features interviews with well-known birding personalities. This month's interview is a particularly fun one for me since it features one of my birding mentors, Pete Bacinski. Check it out for some historical perspective on the Cape May Autumn Weekend and the World Series of Birding. Pete was on the first World Series winning team.

So even if you aren't heading down to Cape May for the First Annual Blogger Conference at the Cape May Autumn Weekend, you can still get a taste of Cape May birding through their site.

Big Sit - October 14

Busy on Sunday, October 14? Why not spend the day confined to a 17-foot diameter circle? That's what Beth and I will be doing for the 13th annual Big Sit hosted by Bird Watcher's Digest. It's a fun way to raise money for your club or other charitable organization.

My original intent was to spend the day at the observation platform at Sandy Hook where I would be sure to see a lot of species thanks to its varied habitats and elevated vantage point. Unfortunately, I realized that I have to volunteer that day at the Sandy Hook Bird Observatory. So, instead of sitting on the observation deck, we'll be sitting on the front porch of the Bird Observatory. The disadvantage of this location is that We'll have a building behind us, very few trees, and visitors to tend to. There are some feeders, a great view of the bay, and the few trees do attract some migrants on a good day. It'll make a good conversation piece with the visitors though. We expect to only see about 30-40 species whereas we might have seen 60-75 from the observation deck. It'll be fun though. We've named our "team" the "SHBO Stoop Pigeons." If you're interested, we'd love to have help!