May 16 - King Eider

Today I made a trip to Canon to have a lens worked on. While down the turnpike I decided to go to Sandy Hook to search for the Little Gull and King Eider. While I had no luck with finding the Little gull, I did find the Eider and many assorted sandpipers and plovers. A few Piping Plovers were on the beach as well as Black-bellied, Semi-palmated Plovers and Red Knot. I'm using King Eider as my bird today. As you could see from my friend Peter Burke's wonderful photo, this is a breeding plumage bird.

May 15 - Least Sandpiper

This morning we got the results of the WSB. We finished second in our category just 2% behind. That's 5 birds from a tie for first. I spent the morning at DeKorte looking for the Black Scoter we heard had dropped in. No luck. Rain started so I guess I'll use the Least Sandpiper today for my bird-a-day.

May 14 - Saltmarsh Sparrow

Today's the World Series of Birding day. Woodcock and Barn Owl were 2 of the first birds we saw, both just outside of DeKorte Park, our starting point. We had no luck with any of the Great Horned Owls scouted. Starting at Halifax Rd. in Mahwah, we struggled for passerines all morning. Things didn't get much better on the east side of the county. We were starting to get a little punchy and our hopes of a real good day were fading. In the afternoon were made a boat trip down the Hackensack River and things turned around. Boat-tailed Grackle, Moorhen, Clapper Rail, Yellow-crowned Night Heron and Marsh Hawks were seen in Saw Mill Creek WMA. Wilson's Warbler was found at the boat launch before heading out to MRI. MRI is a secure area on the Hackensack River we have access to because of Mike at NJMC. Upon stopping to put on boots for out trek into the marsh, our first Ring-necked Pheasant called. Within 5 minutes we had our target bird, Saltmarsh Sparrow as well as 3 Wilson's Snipe and Swamp Sparrow. We continued on, spending the remaining time in The Meadowlands, finishing around 8:30 PM with Common Nighthawk and Black Skimmer as our last 2 birds. Our total for the day was 127 species, a little short of our goal, but considering the weather and lack of warblers we felt we did well. Saltmarsh Sparrow will be today's bird. Photo is from the Harrier Meadow banding station a year ago.

May 13 - Black-throated Blue Warbler

Today was some final scouting for the WSB on Saturday. Mike and I made a trip to Palisades Interstate Park to get a feel for the trip. 10 Species of warblers and finally Cedar Waxwings were seen. At least 15 Worm-eating Warblers were seen and heard. Black-throated Blue Warbler will be my bird today.

May 12 - Bobolink

I spent the early morning at harrier Meadow. Upon arrival I heard at least a dozen Boblinks on the landfill. They flew to a large cottonwood and continued to be vocal. I saw Northern Waterthrush out there in Harrier. Mike and I went to the Barn Owl building to be able to view the Barn Owl for our World Series of Birding list on Saturday. Missed him!! But today the Bobolink is my bird.

May 11 - Wilson's Warbler

I spent the early morning at Harrier Meadow. I walked the Erie Landfill first seeing only a few Savannah Sparrows and many blackbirds. After while walking Harrier to help out with the mist nets if needed, I saw Scarlet Tanager, Swainson's Thrush, Ovenbird, both Orioles and a few shorebirds. A Wilson's Warbler was seen near the far nets in Harrier. I believe it was caught and banded a bit later. Wilson's is today's bird. Photo is of a banded bird.

May 10 - Golden-winged Warbler

I started out early today at Halifax Rd. A dozen or so warblers were seen, 50+ bird species seen in 1-1/2 hours. I met up with Rich and while birding the lake, we saw that the Hooded Merganser had only 4 babies left. We continued around the lake and spent a bit of time between the lake and the stream where we heard an odd bird song. Rich called out Golden-winged! This would be a life bird for me. We crossed the stream and followed the song. After 10 minutes we finally located a singing male bird and watched it in 2 trees before it flew off. This has to be my bird today!