Since we had to head north for some errands today, we figured we should try and see the Roseate spoonbill again. As luck would have it, the spoonbill was nowhere to be found. Not even a Least bittern in flight to enjoy. Surprisingly, Gull-billed terns were absent as well. When we were there a few weeks ago the gull pond area seemed to be filthy with them.
We did however, find a Don Freiday who happened to be up there birding a bit before a meeting. He mentioned finding a few good birds but had no luck with the spoonbill either.
Mentioned in the log book were a Red-necked phalarope on 8/6 and a Hudsonian godwit on
8/5(?), neither of which we saw today. We did have one nice find, a Sedge wren was sounding off not too far down on the left after the start of the loop. This is about the time you should expect a Sedge wren to just show up in the proper habitat. Unpaired or failed nesters are known to move around in the mid to later summer. In fact,the grassland I worked on prior to working for NJAS, we had two males take up territory in late July. These birds furiously (with song) defended their territories for about a month, maybe a bit longer.
It was a lower tide so the channels on the right were filled with sandpipers. Also abundant were the ubiquitous greenheads! And as usual, they pushed the mind toward the breaking point with bounces and bites. Why should there be such good birding in the same vicinity as these lovely insects, is anyone's guess.
While between the increasing heat and the green heads we did not stop to count every singe bird, we did happen to rack up some large totals of some species.
One last point, go out and buy your 2007-2008 Federal Duck Stamp http://www.fws.gov/duckstamps/stamps.htm . Help to preserve some much needed habitat. It boasts a beautiful image of a drake and hen Ring-necked duck. The new year for the duck stamp just stared on 7/1/07 by the way.
A list of species is below;
Location: E B Forsythe NWR--Autoloop
Observation date: 8/7/07
Number of species: 60
Canada Goose 65
Mute Swan 8
Wood Duck 3
American Black Duck 16
Mallard 12
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 10
Great Egret 84
Snowy Egret 39
Black-crowned Night-Heron 11
Glossy Ibis 7Osprey 8
Northern Harrier 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Clapper Rail 4
Black-bellied Plover 1
Semipalmated Plover 93
Greater Yellowlegs 26
Lesser Yellowlegs 46
Willet 4
Spotted Sandpiper 2
Whimbrel 1
Semipalmated Sandpiper 1175
Least Sandpiper 230
Pectoral Sandpiper 2S
hort-billed Dowitcher 123
Laughing Gull 310
Herring Gull 25
Great Black-backed Gull 6
Common Tern 50
Forster's Tern 35
Black Skimmer 4
Mourning Dove 8
American Crow 4
Purple Martin 35
Tree Swallow 25
Barn Swallow 46
Black-capped Chickadee 1
Carolina Wren 3
Sedge Wren 1
Marsh Wren 23
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 1
American Robin 6
Northern Mockingbird 3
Yellow Warbler 4
Prothonotary Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 15
Eastern Towhee 3
Field Sparrow 8
Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow 1
Seaside Sparrow 2
Song Sparrow 12
Northern Cardinal 6
Blue Grosbeak 1
Indigo Bunting 4
Bobolink 2
Red-winged Blackbird 250
Common Grackle 6
Boat-tailed Grackle 15
American Goldfinch 23
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/)
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