In Spring, a Young Man's Fancy Turns to Heislerville

 [The lone dark bird at left in the flock of Snowy Egrets is the season's first Glossy Ibis, at Heislerville, NJ on Saturday. Click to enlarge photos.]

Zeroes are still data, and so I hereby report zeroes for Little Gull and Black-headed Gull and every other damn rare gull on the Delaware Bayshore from Norbury's Landing south to Cape May Point and back again on Saturday morning. Grrrrr. You can add a zero for the Glaucous Gull at Bivalve, which we dipped on Saturday afternoon after Brian Johnson showed me a photo of it he had taken Friday.

Heislerville was much more satisfying, with first of year (for me) Snowy Egrets, Glossy Ibis, Lesser Yellowlegs, Pectoral Sandpiper and Least Sandpiper and a riddling of 1200+ Green-winged Teal with smaller numbers of other ducks, including two pairs of Blue-winged Teal in the main impoundment. Heislerville is a happening place in spring. High tide is traditionally best here, because tidal shorebird habitat is flooded then, making the impoundments that much more attractive to the hordes.

If you go, be aware that Matt's Landing Road is closed for construction, so to access the impoundments you have to drive the loop backwards, heading through Heislerville and on towards East Point before picking up the dirt road for the wildlife loop on the right. The impoundment you come to first when going backwards is the one I always called the "second" impoundment, the one with all the phragmites in back of it. This one is tidal, and at high tide had almost no shorebird habitat. The main impoundment is partially drawn down already and good for shorebirds, and interestingly the impoundment along Matt's Landing Road (the one with the heron rookery island) is also low and has shorebird habitat in the upper end.

 [The PSE&G -built boardwalk at Bivalve was wrecked by Hurricane Sandy and remains impassable.]

While I'm giving out tips on birding spots, here's one: don't drive your car through the shells at Bivalve, which will impart a lasting south Jersey experience, that of rotten clam bits baking onto your muffler. Yum. Better to take a friend's car. Also, as you can see from the photo above, part of the boardwalk has been damaged.

An idea just popped into my head. With limited birding time, to maximize birds, a great spring 1-2 punch is Belleplain State Forest followed by Heislerville. I'm just saying.. . .you might see that combo here repeatedly this spring. A couple years ago I hit Belleplain every weekend for 9 straight weeks, why not add Heislerville to that mix?

 [This cooperative Brown Creeper entertained the crowd during the CMBO walk at Cox Hall Creek WMA on Sunday morning.]

[Red-winged Blackbird challenges my car at close range along the Nummy Island causeway. I once owned a red Jeep Cherokee, and in spring had Red-wingeds in fits when I drove by. The response to my current silver truck is much milder.]

Fri-D: Loon Feet + Western Sandpiper

The position of a loon's legs isn't exacly an i.d. mark, unless you want to stretch it to, "If it's walking or standing, it's not a loon." Might help a neophyte with cormorants, I guess. This Red-throated Loon, under the toll bridge to Nummy Island, NJ last Saturday, shows why loons can't walk: their legs are positioned all the way at the back of the bird, exactly where you'd want them when your priority is swimming.

A Dunlin (rear) and Western Sandpiper (front) share space at Stone Harbor last weekend. Compare size and bills. Why isn't the Western a Semipalmated? The easy answer is because it is March, and the first Semis won't be around until late April. Plus the bill is out of spec, too long and drooped, and the neck too thick.

Thoughtful Thursday - Jack-in-the Green

[Salem County, NJ Ring-necked Pheasant last weekend.]


Have you seen Jack-In-The-Green?
 With his long tail hanging down.
 He sits quietly under every tree ---
 in the folds of his velvet gown.
 He drinks from the empty acorn cup
 the dew that dawn sweetly bestows.
 And taps his cane upon the ground ---
 signals the snowdrops it's time to grow.

It's no fun being Jack-In-The-Green ---
 no place to dance, no time for song.
 He wears the colours of the summer soldier ---
 carries the green flag all the winter long.

Jack, do you never sleep ---
 does the green still run deep in your heart?
 Or will these changing times,
 motorways, powerlines,
 keep us apart?
 Well, I don't think so ---
 I saw some grass growing through the pavements today.

The rowan, the oak and the holly tree
 are the charges left for you to groom.
 Each blade of grass whispers Jack-In-The-Green.
 Oh Jack, please help me through my winter's night.
 And we are the berries on the holly tree.
 Oh, the mistlethrush is coming.
 Jack, put out the light.

- Ian Anderson, Jethro Tull

Wordless Wednesday - RB Merg

Another March Day

 [Male Pine Warbler forages on the ground in Cape May Point State Park, NJ this morning. Click to enlarge all photos.]

With the wind windy and the temp in the 30's and whitecaps on Delaware Bay, it sure still felt like March this morning, and I drove to Cape May Point thinking, yeah, there'll be like 2 birds around. And then when I saw two Laughing Gulls at the Cape May Ferry Terminal, I thought, great, there they are, my two birds.

I repeated the two-bird sentiment when I bumped into Scott Whittle along Lincoln Avenue, who agreed, it's March. When I told Scott I was headed over to the state park, he said, "Find some Pine Warblers or something." And happily, I did. One was the drabbest of females chipping along the blue trail, a good candidate for examination with Scott's new warbler book in hand - when it comes out, I'll compare his and Tom Stephenson's photos with the one below, and read their i.d. tips. This is a great practice, looking up supposedly familiar birds in new guides.

 [Always a good quiz warbler: female Pine Warbler, Cape May Point State Park today.]

Besides the Pine Warblers, there were birds around. If two Ospreys constitute a movement, then there was a movement of Ospreys at the point in the northwest wind. Northwest is just always good at the point. Though most ducks have moved out, a diverse smattering remains around Cape May, and the shovelers were courting and doing their funny, chuckling "dook - dook" calls.

 [Male Northern Shoveler shows his powder blue wing patches, revealing the similarity of this bird to Bue-winged Teal. Cape May Point State park today.]

 [Osprey overhead takes a look at the photographer before. . .]

 [. . .whirling and plunging for a sunfish in Lighthouse Pond. Note the band on the left leg.]

Besides the Ospreys and the Pine Warblers, a real sign of spring was an American Crow carrying a stick, i.e. building a nest. It flew off with its mate, headed to the interior of the state park.

[This young Harbor Seal was hauled out on the beach at the state park in CApe May. It moved and looked around, but I'm not sure if it was feeling entirely well.]

[I met a nice couple at the ferry terminal while I was photographing these Laughing Gulls. They asked if the gulls were Laughing or Bonaparte's, and after I told them I got thinking about all of the reasons I used to tell they were not Bonies that would be unavailable to a new birder, because the reasons involved cues only experience gives. Like, a Bonie wouldn't be standing on a piling, and would look obviously tiny, and wouldn't have a full hood yet at this time of year. The couple had been puzzled by the black looking bill, which is typical of newly arrived Laughers (it will turn red). And I thought what a lousy observer I am because I didn't really look the gulls over much at all. I'm sure I didn't look at a single detail like bill or leg color or back color or tertial crescent or any of that, but I'm sure Laugher's larger jizz penetrated my skull.]