January 17, 2004 - Cape May

It was a beautiful winter's day as Wyncote Audubon went to Cape May for our annual winter field trip. The really cold temperatures from earlier in the week had moderated and the wet weather that was coming for the Eagle's game on Sunday held off until well after we got home. Our first real stop was the Schellenger Tract of the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge. The group of 16 walked all the way to the end of the trail and in the dead trees there found both the adult and immature red-headed woodpeckers that had been reported on the hotlines. With the disappearance of the breeding individuals at the park next to the Cape May Country Zoo this has become a tough bird to find in New Jersey unless you luck into them during migration so the group was happy to find them. This was a lifer for at least two participants.

In one of the hedgerows of multiflora rose we had a handful of sparrows as we got back to the car. This included white-throated, song, swamp, and field sparrows as well as a "fifth" sparrow in a female eastern towhee. We then headed to the concrete ship for a scenic lunch spot and the hope of some birds. The cold weather earlier in the week had left the in-shore area and the concrete ship ice covered. Two intrepid members of our group took a walk along the beach and were rewarded with a peregrine falcon.

From here some of us made a quick stop at Lily Lake where we had a few ruddy ducks, greater scaup and a ring-necked duck. The group met up again at the Lighthouse and while scanning the jetty from the picnic pavilion, had the best birds of the day. Someone spotted three large white birds flying in a line out over the ocean and announced that they thought they had three gannets. This made a great deal of sense but as we all got on these birds, we realized that yes these were large white birds and yes, they did have black wing-tips but no they weren't gannets. These three birds were three American white pelicans! We watched these birds for at least 10 minutes, got them in our telescopes and have no doubt that they were pelicans but given where we were and the time of year, these certainly were an out of place surprise.

A look at bunker pond found gadwall, American Wigeon, ruddy duck, ring-necked duck, American coot and scaup. A walk along the trails, yielded a nice group of 3-4 hermit thrushes, a brown thrasher and a gray catbird. We also had several yellow-rumped warblers in the park. We then went to the jetty at St. Mary's where a male common goldeneye was found earlier in the day. Just as promised, the goldeneye was there as were a few red-throated loons, a female surf scoter and nice close-up sanderlings, purple sandpipers and ruddy turnstones.

It was then starting to get late and we headed to Champlain Lake in the Villas for see what ducks and gulls could be found there. The black-headed gull that has been seen there on and off during the week was not to be found but, several pairs of wood duck, hooded merganser, northern pintail and a pair of common mergansers were there.

We made a quick stop at CMBO before heading to Jake's Landing Road for the days last stop. As we were getting out of out cars we had our first short-eared owl up hunting in the meadow just across the creek. We continued to see 2-3 of these owls throughout our stay and since we got there a bit before 4 o'clock, we had plenty of daylight to see them. We then started scanning the treetops and found numerous red-tailed hawks, several adult bald eagles and one dark-phase rough-legged hawk. We also had several northern harriers out hunting. One of the last owls we had was a "shortie" perched out in the open for a few minutes until a harrier chased it away. All in all it was another great trip to Cape May when the locals claimed "there weren't really many birds around".

February 21, 2004 - Sandy Hook to Manasquan, NJ

Persistence finally paid off as we finally had a good weather day at Sandy Hook. Over the years we had been met by some rather blustery and down right wet days when we’ve headed out to Sandy Hook. In that regard, this year was vastly different than trips in years past. We had an un-seasonably warm winter’s day with plenty of sunshine.

Unlike most Wyncote trips where we birds an area and figure covering multiple-habitats will yield good birds, this trip we did a little chasing of some of the rarities reports along the north shore with varying degrees of success. Although we gave it the old college try we were unsuccessful in finding the Bohemian Waxwing(s) that had been reported at Sandy Hook for the better part of the previous week. Two or 3 field trip participants had glimpses of them in flight but a long study of a large flock of Cedar Waxwings feeding and coming to a roadside puddle for a drink didn’t uncover any Bohemians although we did have marvelous looks at their smaller, more familiar cousins.

This isn’t to say that we didn’t have any birds at the Hook because we did! While waiting for everyone we were able to get good looks at Great Cormorants on the sandbar opposite the visitors center. In Horseshoe Cove we had a tremendous flock of Common Goldeneyes and about a half dozen of us were able to pick out the female Barrow’s Goldeneye that was in this flock. Unfortunately, it was just choppy enough and the birds were actively feeding that it was very difficult to get people on this bird and impossible to have someone jump in and use a scope was someone actually found it. However, the goldeneyes were a treat as were the Red-breasted Mergansers, Long-tailed Duck and Horned Grebes that also frequented the cove.

Lunch was at Lake Takanassee just north of Asbury Park and we were able to enjoy Ring-necked and Ruddy Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, American Wigeon, American Coot and Green-winged Teal on the back section of the lake. A quick scan of the gulls on the ice on the front section of the lake, revealed the big three (Herring, Ring-billed and Great Black-backed). From here we went to the end of Pullman Road to scan the ocean. A Harlequin Duck had been reported infrequently from this overlook and this too proved elusive to us. However, there was a nice group of Surf Scoter with one or two pairs of Black Scoter mixed in.

Scanning the distant horizon, yielded Northern Gannets but the western winds kept them far off shore. A trip to Marconi Road produced some pintails, lots of mute Swans, a few Great Blue Herons the expected puddle ducks. A stop at the Shark River Yacht Club allowed us to find the Pied-billed Grebe that had been spending most of the winter here but no Eurasian Wigeon.

We then decided to head to the Manasquan Inlet in hopes of the Razorbills and Nelson’s Gul that had been reported there. The Nelson’s gull was a first or second year bird and is a hybrid between Glaucous and Herring gull. A walk out on the jetty didn’t produce the Razorbills but did produce lots of Common Loons and just as we were starting to walk back in, a small flock of Purple Sandpipers. From the end of the jetty we could see a large group of gulls in the area where the Nelson’s had been reported so we eagerly headed there. Unfortunately, when we first arrived, a handful of small children had been play right where we waited to be and the flock of gulls we had seen from the end of the jetty had dispersed. We walked around to the Shrimp Box restaurant to see if the Red-necked Grebe was still in the channel behind the restaurant, no luck here.

This trip was beginning to prove why sometimes you win and sometimes you loose when you chase birds. As we got back near the cars, I noticed that the gulls had returned to the seawall and there was this HUGE, immature gull in with the Ring-billed and Herring Gulls. This immature had a two-tone bill like a 1st/2nd year Glaucous Gull and was buffy but it had very, very dark primary tips. It also dwarfed the Ring-billed Gulls next to it and was much larger than the Herring Gulls too. Darn it if we didn’t find the Nelson’s! While this may only be a hybrid and not everyone gets excited by gulls (myself included) this was a remarkable bird to see and a highlight of the day.

Nelson's Gull Herring/Glaucous Gull hyrbid Manasquan Inlet, NJ photographed by Naomi Murphy

From here we made quick stops at Sunset Lake and Old Sam’s Pond. We had a nice Red-throated Loon and 5 Canvasbacks on Sunset Lake and a few Northern Shovelers at Old Sam’s pond. We then called it a day. Although we missed almost as much as we saw, it still was a good day.

Martin Selzer

May 1st and 2nd - Ft. Washington and Belleplain, NJ

Wyncote Audubon ran two field trips in hopes of catching some the spring migration of songbirds. On May 1st we visited Fort Washington State Park. The park can be a wonderful place to witness migration and, while we got a taste of it, it was a somewhat quiet day.

The group met at the Hawk Watch platform and, as we assembled, we were treated to several Baltimore Orioles in the nearby trees. Our walk up Ridge Road was quiet and it wasn’t until we crossed Joshua Road that we found a few migrants. Here we stumbled across a small flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers, maybe 5-6 birds, along with a Black-and-White Warbler. While working this flock, we heard a Veery and at least two Scarlet Tanagers. With some persistence, we were able to see these neo-tropical migrants and, as always, the tanager was a big hit. Besides, singing right over our heads, we heard it give its “Chick-burr” call several times.

Crossing back across Joshua Road and walking the loop road, we had wonderful looks at multiple Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, many of whom were paired off and busy building nests, a few Chipping Sparrows, an Eastern Bluebird, more orioles, a singing Yellow Warbler and a Common Yellowthoat. When we returned to the Hawk Watch platform a Ruby-throated Hummingbird was seen at the feeder.

While the 1st was a beautiful spring day, the morning of May 2nd started off overcast and drizzly. That didn’t stop four intrepid club members from joining me for our walk at Belleplain State Forest. Although we were looking for migrants at Belleplain too, the real target birds here were the nesting warblers. We certainly heard all of the expected nesters and saw many of them.

Driving in along the road off of Route 347, we quickly heard Overbirds and Blue-winged warblers signing. At our first stop we had dueling Overbird and Prothonotary Warblers singing and we able to see both of them close to the road. We also had the first of numerous Worm-eating Warblers calling. Although we heard them at each and every stop, we never could get on this bugger. We also had lots of White-eyed vireos. We quickly picked up Black-and-White and another Blue-Winged Warbler before heading to the bridge on Sunset Road. At the bridge, there were calling Hooded, Prothonotary and Worm-eating warblers, just as you would expect to have there.

A walk down the road yielded Scarlet Tanager and Great-crested Flycatcher, Praire Warblers building a nest, Blue-gray gnatcatchers, Yellow-throated Warbler, Ruby-throated Hummingbird and singing Louisiana Waterthrush. While it would have been great to have seen everything we heard, we did manage to see some of the Belleplain specialities.

February 18, 2006 - Delaware Inlet North

It’s hard to beat a winter trip to Delaware. On the day of the field trip, eight brave birders, Cliff and Nancy Hence, Randall ?, Rick White, Pam Seretny, Lynn Jackson, Jane Henderson and leader Martin Selzer, gathered in the parking lot near Indian River Inlet at 9:00 AM. They had left the Philadelphia area around 6:30. It was cloudy, and not as bitter cold as some had anticipated, so everybody was pretty well bundled up. This is never a mistake at Indian River Inlet. It is often very windy.

We knew it would be a great day when the first birds we saw from the parking lot were two Razorbills working the bay. We all got on them and had great views. Evidently, they stuck around and were seen by others later on that day.

When we’d gotten over our excitement about the Razorbills, we walked out toward the beach, armed with scopes, binoculars and cameras. The first birds we saw were Surf Scoters. Rafts and rafts of Surf Scoters – we estimated up to 1000 birds. We enjoyed listening to the sounds they make as they take off from the water. None of us had heard that before. A few Black Scoters were among them. Lynn found the Harlequin Duck that had been reported, and everybody got a good luck at it.

Then we began counting Common and Red-throated Loons. We estimated at least 25 Common Loons, and 10 Red-throated Loons, most at close range. And then we started seeing huge numbers of Northern Gannets, first near the horizon, and then closer and closer to shore. None of us had ever seen anything like it. They were mostly adult birds, and numbered in the thousands. We couldn’t help wondering what had driven them so far south in such big numbers.

Other birds there included Long-tailed Duck, Ruddy Turnstone, Purple Sandpiper, and Great Cormorant. We wondered how Martin would top this. There were several more stops on the schedule. As someone said, we’d peaked early. Shortly after we left Indian River it began to snow, and there was actually some accumulation on the ground, though none stuck to the road. The temperature remained in the low thirties for the remainder of the day.

Brrr........
© Jane Henderson

Other stops included Cape Henlopen, where birds were few and far between – no Brown-headed Nuthatch that day, and Silver Lake in Rehoboth, where Rick found a Redhead among the hundreds of Canvasbacks.

There were many birds at the feeders at Prime Hook. Randall was the first to discover White-crowned and Fox Sparrows among the White-throated and Song Sparrows.

Our final stop was at Bombay Hook, where we found big numbers of Northern Pintails and some Tundra Swans. We tallied 64 bird species for the trip..

April 22, 2006 - Coastal Delaware to Bombay Hook

It drizzled, it rained and then it poured but that didn't stop some intrepid and enthusiastic Wyncote birders from exploring the marshes of coastal Delaware and seeing some spectacular birds.

We had ducks, we had a very bedraggled Peregrine Falcon, we had numerous Bald Eagles and we had lots of shorebirds. One of the highlights of the day , however, was the extraordinary sighting of a Woodcock strolling leisurely across Rt 9. We got great looks!!!

Shorebirds are starting to return with numerous Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, tons of Dunlin and Semi-palmated Sandpipers. We also had great looks at a Black-necked Stilt leaning into the wind on its incredibly skinny legs.

While woodland birding was out, none of the other birds seemed to mind the rain but we finally called an early end to the day and went home to dry off.

July 22, 2006 - Coastal Delaware to Bombay Hook & Port Mahon Rd.

Despite threats of rain we had only a few brief showers in the early AM. The overcast skies and slight breeze made for a perfect day of birding and, fortunately, the birds cooperated.

Some of the highlights of the day included numerous Bald Eagles, 3 Yellow-crowned Night-Herons, great looks at a Clapper Rail with 3 partially grown chicks, a surprise Bonaparte's Gull, excellent views of 3 Black Terns roosting on a sandbar, Black Skimmers skimming, and, of course, the shorebirds. The numbers of shorebirds are steadily increasing with lots of new arrivals: we had over 100 American Avocets, tons of Short-billed Dowtichers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, over 100 Stilt Sandpipers, lots of Semi-palmated, Western and Least Sandpipers, Pectoral Sandpipers, Black-necked Stilts with their young, plus Sanderling and Ruddy Turnstones at the newly re-paved Port Mahon Road.

Non-birding highlights included 10 species of Butterflies including great looks at Bronze Coppers. We also had amazing close-up looks at an incredibly tame kit fox.

Once again, a great day in Delaware with about 83 species for the day

Sept 16, 2006 -
Early Morning Drizzle Fails to Dampen Spirits on Saturday Morning Walk
by Jane Henderson

Eighteen people turned up for the Saturday, September 16 bird walk at Fort Washington State Park in spite of the weather. We met on the new hawk watch deck and started the morning by identifying the birds that were feeding at the station below. Several of the participants were new to birding, and they enjoyed the close look at cardinals, towhees, song sparrows, American goldfinches, Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice and song sparrows.

At about 8:15 we started up Ridge Road. About halfway to the circle we came upon a feeding flock. We found black-throated green warblers, a black-and-white warbler and a northern parula. As it turned out, they were the only warbler species we found that day.

When we were walking up the road back to the top of the hill we met Bill Murphy, who said he had not seen any warblers that day. That made us happy that we had seen the few that we did see. But he had found a red-headed woodpecker, a rarity for FWSP. We were sorry to have missed that one.

We wound up with 15 bird species, including chimney swifts, cedar waxwings and three species of woodpecker. Back on the hawk watch deck, a very nice brunch, thanks to Cliff and Nancy Hence, Pam Seretny and Marlene Morano welcomed the bird walkers.

February 17, 2007 - Indian River Inlet North through Delaware

Eight members and friends of Wyncote Audubon Society joined me on a beautiful winter's day as we birded southern Delaware. We started at Indian River Inlet and were immediately treated to a red-necked grebe, 100s of long-tailed ducks, horned grebes, buffleheads, common loons and a few surf scoters. Up the beach, feeding in the breaking surf along with a flock of sanderling was a small group of Bonaparte's gulls along with a single common black-headed gull. These gulls were a far distance away so we took a walk in hopes of getting a better look at the gulls. We eventually got close enough to the gulls so that some of the group got good looks at the black-headed gull.

From the inlet, we then checked out the marina before heading to Silver Lake in Rehobeth where wintering flock of canvasbacks numbered in the 100s. No redheads could be found but there were quite a few black duck, mallards, ruddy ducks, northern shovelers and a pair of gadwall on the lake. Next stop was Cape Henlopen State park. After a quick lunch we walked the camp ground in search of brown-headed nuthatches. We had almost made it back to our cars without see them or any birds when we heard them and we had a group of about a half-dozen fly into the trees near the entry area. We also had fox sparrows, golden-crowned kinglets, brown creeper and red-breasted nuthatch in this flock.

Continuing our way north we next stopped at Prime Hook NWR. We stopped at the recycling center and while we didn't find northern shrike that had been frequenting this area, we did have eastern bluebirds, eastern phoebes, a hermit thrush and field sparrow. We continued into the refuge and DID find the northern shrike, very cooperatively perched up in its other favorite spot in the refuge. At the butterfly garden by the headquarters we did have 2 white-crowned sparrows. We ended our day on Cartanza Road with a huge flock of horned larks as the sun was setting. An unofficial species count by one of the participants was 76. Thanks to everyone for joining me for the day!

~ Martin Q. Selzer

April 21, 2007 - Coastal Delaware

What a gorgeous day for a field trip! Sunny skies and mild weather coupled with great birds adds up to just another day in Delaware. We started at Dragon Run Marsh with Wood Ducks, Green-winged Teal and Ring-necked Duck . Water levels everywhere are extremely high from all the heavy rains. We also got to observe the active eagle's nest across the marsh.

© Lynn C. Jackson

We then headed south stopping at Fort Dupont for a walk in the woods. It's a bit early for migrants but we did get the first Blue-gray Gnatcatchers and a Ruby-crowned kinglet plus Field Sparrow, Blue-winged Teal and a fly-over Common Loon and Little Blue Heron. We also were able to get long study looks at a flock of Glossy Ibis while searching for a White-faced Ibis seen earlier in the week. No luck with the White-faced but the Glossy's were incredible with their irridescent lilac and green sheen.

Glossy Ibis © Lynn C. Jackson

© Lynn C. Jackson

We then drove along the C & D Canal stopping at the base of the bridge to watch a very vocal Peregrine Falcon. This road also gave us looks at Wilson's Snipe, stunning Cattle Egrets and both Vultures. We then meandered down route 9 making stops at Augustine Beach for a snipeless snipe hunt, the south to catch the first Cave Swallows arriving and working our way to our lunch stop at the Aquatic Center just north of Taylor's Gut. We enjoyed a leisurely lunch while Barn Swallows and Caspain Terns flew overhead and Common Mergansers swam in the impoundment.

We picked up most of our birds at Bombay Hook with both Pied-billed and a Horned Grebe with full "horns". We also had Pintails, Shovellers, 17 Black-crowned Night-heron and 1 Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Ospreys, Harriers, lots of Kestrels, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Short-billed Dowitchers, Least Sandpiper, lots of Dunlin (many coming into breeding plumage), Avocets, lots of Black-bellied Plovers and about 6-8 American Golden Plover, Wilson's Plover and Killdeer, 4 Bonaparte's Gulls, Forsters' Tern, Eastern Bluebirds, Purple Martins, tons of Goldfinch, Chipping Sparrow and lots more.

After a brief stop at the Stipple Road hedgerow we tried to make it out to Port Mahon road but found it closed, probably for repairs so we finally called it quits around 4PM.

It was a fun day with about 85 species plus 4 species of butterflies: Cabbage White, Orange Sulphur, E. Tiger Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail.

Lynn Jackson

April 28, 2007 - Wyncote Fort Washington Park Trip

Eighteen people, including Wyncote members and a group of fifth graders from Germantown Academy, along with their teachers and parents, took a morning bird walk along the trails and roadways of Fort Washington State Park on Saturday, April 28. The weather was perfect for a springtime walk, and the birds cooperated.

We met on the hawk watch platform at Militia Hill. While watching the birds at the feeders, we found several species which included Brown Thrasher, White-throated, Song and Chipping Sparrows, Eastern Towhees, American Goldfinches, Carolina Chickadees, Tufted Titmice, and House Finches. At the top of a tree adjacent to the parking lot a Baltimore Oriole sang lustily.

© Lynn C. Jackson

We started the walk down the main road in hopes of seeing the Eastern Screech Owl, which had been using a hole in a rotted tree near the power cut. It had not been seen for a few days, but we still had hopes that day. But the owl had not been seen since the previous Tuesday, and was not there that day.

Undaunted, we continued down the road and found a group of migrants including the following warblers: Blue-winged, Nashville, Yellow-rumped, Black-throated Green, Palm, American Redstart and Ovenbird. We also had nice looks at Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Wood and Hermit Thrushes and Veery.

The kids, members of the Science Club at school were all very enthusiastic. They all had binoculars, and many took notes.

By Jane Henderson

May 6, 2007 - Belleplain State Forest

Well the weather wasn’t quite as spring like as it had been the day before in Delaware but that is the way it goes sometimes. Again we didn’t come across many migrants and again not many things were singing but we still managed to get most of the specialty birds of the area including outstanding looks at yellow-throated and hooded; reasonably good looks at worm-eating warbler and absolutely drop-dead crippling looks at 3 pairs of summer tanagers. We also had a 2-3 yellow-billed cuckoos, ovenbird, black and white, yellow-rumped, blue-winged, black-throated blue, black-throat green and pine warblers.

© Jane Henderson

Other birds seen included two fleeting looks at bald eagle, phoebe, snowy egret, wood duck, red-belled and downy woodpecker, chipping sparrow, blue-gray gnatcatcher, tufted titmouse, Carolina chickadee, cardinal, catbird, cowbird and the list goes on….. I believe we tallied up about 55 species on the ride home with every seen and heard. It is amazing what you end up with at the end of a day when you think about everything you have seen and heard even on a “quiet” day.

~Martin Selzer

Sept. 15, 2007 - Fort Washington State Park

Thirteen eager birders were not scared off by the overcast skies and we were treated to a small taste of fall migration as we walked up Ridge Road. Along with the Downy and Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice that are common in the park; we found a small migrant flock consisting of several Northern Parulas, American Redstarts, Black-throated Green Warblers and Red-eyed Vireos. The birds were busily feeding. The light was not the best so there may have been something else mixed in with this flock but at least there was some evidence of migration. We continued walking up Ridge Road and came across a second group of migrants. The species mix in the second group was similar to the first group. As we neared the top of the Ridge, an Osprey was observed and talk began to turn to the coffee and muffins that awaited us at the end of the walk.

We crossed over Joshua Road in hopes of finding another group of migrants and found a few other birds including a Black and White Warbler and White-breasted Nuthatch although it was rather quiet. By the time we had looped back to the main part of the park, the sky was beginning to clear and Carolina Wrens were calling in full force. We continued to walk the main auto loop as the overcast skies began to completely clear. Feeding with the American Robins and Catbirds was a Scarlet Tanager. By the time we had made it back to the Hawk Watch platform, it was a sunny day and the coffee and muffins were out. Goldfinches were feeding and some of us again found at least part of that flock of Redstarts, Vireos and Parulas.

With the sunshine, raptors were beginning to fly. Anyone who stayed the entire day at the Hawk Watch, would have been treated to over 1200 Broad-winged Hawks, 12 Ospreys, 6 Bald Eagles, over 30 Sharp-shinned Hawks along with Red-tailed Hawks and Black and Turkey Vultures soaring from their near-by roosts. As those of us who bird at the park regularly have said more than once, it is a great place to bird.

~ Martin Selzer

October 13, 2007 - Fort Washington State Park - Flourtown section

Five participants met in the parking lot of the Flourtown section of Fort Washington State Park on Saturday, October 13. The weather had turned cold, for a change, and everyone was bundled up. The temperature at 8:00 AM was a nippy 40F when we started out.

When the newsletter and calendar were published, this field trip had been billed as a “Sparrow Walk”. However, in the intervening period, a large part of the park had been dug up to make way for a wetlands mitigation project. The grasses that the sparrows had favored the previous season had all been removed.

So we made the best of the situation, and walked toward the pavilion, instead of toward the stream, as originally planned, and checked out all the sunny spots along the loop trail back to the parking lot. We did see some sparrows along the way. Shortly into the walk we found a large group of White-throated Sparrows and a few Song Sparrows. Later on, a couple of participants got a fleeting glimpse of a Swamp Sparrow.

Other notable birds along the trail were a number of warbler species: Palm, Prairie, Nashville and Yellow-rumped; also a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Eastern Towhee, White-breasted Nuthatch, and Great Blue Heron. There were also several American Goldfinches, Northern Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees and Tufted Titmice.

~ Jane Henderson

November 17, 2007 Field Trip to Barnegat and Brigantine

On a surprisingly mild Saturday in mid November, Rick White led the annual Wyncote field trip to Barnegat Light and Brigantine (Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge). The 10 participants met in the Barnegat parking lot at 9 AM. We walked over to the inlet and found Royal and Forster’s Terns, American Oystercatchers, and assorted gulls. We returned to the main parking lot, scanned the trees around it, and found a Brown Creeper and several Yellow-rumped Warblers.

© Jane Henderson

Overdressed for winter, as it turned out, and armed with binoculars, scopes and cameras, we began walking out the jetty. There really wasn’t much to be seen until we were pretty far out on the rocks. Then Martin found a single Snow Bunting, after which we all got good looks at a Common Loon, and several Ruddy Turnstones and Purple Sandpipers.

Ruddy Turnstones © Jane Henderson

Near the end of the jetty we found Northern Gannets, both full adult and juvenile, plunge diving in the ocean. A Great Cormorant perched among the Double-crested Cormorants atop a channel marker.

It wasn’t until we had stepped off the rocks and onto the sand that we found Harlequin Ducks and a few Common Eider. A single Horned Lark was found in the grasses on the way back to the lighthouse. Northern Harriers and Brant were all over the place all day in both places. We had lunch at the picnic tables and then left for Brigantine.

There had been reports of an Ash-throated Flycatcher on the way into the refuge, and also American Bittern and Wilson’s Snipe near the road to the observation tower. We had to settle for the snipe, seen, flying, at a distance.

On our tour around the impoundments we found Tundra Swans, Snow Geese, and several species of ducks, but none in great numbers: Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Northern Shoveler, Mallard, American Black Duck, Bufflehead, Hooded Merganser and Ruddy Duck. Shorebirds included thousands of Dunlin, and also Greater Yellowlegs, Western Sandpiper, Black-bellied Plover.

A Merlin perched on one of the Osprey platforms, and two distant Peregrine Falcons could be seen at a distance on the hacking tower. At one spot we found a group of sparrows foraging in the grasses, and had good looks at Song, Swamp and Savannah Sparrows. At the end of the day we schmoozed with other field trip leaders: Bob Mercer, Tom Reeves and Pete Bacinski, and compared notes. All in all, it was a very nice day.

~Jane Henderson

Bird list, Barnegat: Red-throated loon Common Loon Northern Gannet Double-crested Cormorant Great Cormorant Brant Common Eider Harlequin Duck Long-tailed Duck Red-breasted Merganser Turkey Vulture Northern Harrier American Oystercatcher Black-bellied Plover Ruddy Turnstone Sanderling Purple Sandpiper Ring-billed Gull Great Black-backed Gull Herring Gull Royal Tern Forster’s Tern Rock Pigeon Mourning Dove Horned Lark Tree Swallow Northern Mockingbird Brown Creeper American Crow European Starling House Sparrow American Goldfinch Yellow-rumped Warbler White-throated Sparrow Dark-eyed Junco Snow Bunting

Bird List: Brigantine Pied-billed Grebe Great Blue Heron Great Egret Black-crowned Night-Heron Tundra Swan Snow Goose Canada Goose Brant Green-winged Teal Mallard American Black Duck Northern Pintail Northern Shoveler Bufflehead Hooded Merganser Ruddy Duck Turkey Vulture Osprey Northern Harrier Red-tailed Hawk Merlin Peregrine Falcon American Coot Black-bellied Plover Wilson’s Snipe Greater Yellowlegs Western Sandpiper Dunlin Ring-billed Gull Great Black-backed Gull American Herring Gull Belted Kingfisher Northern Flicker American Robin Yellow-rumped Warbler Savannah Sparrow Song Sparrow Swamp Sparrow

February 16, 2008 Field Trip to Indian River Inlet and points north

Ten people joined me on the combined Wyncote Audubon and DVOC field trip this Saturday as we visited southern Delaware. Starting at Indian River Inlet and working our way north, we enjoyed a rather successful day birding many of the spots highlighted on the newly completed Delaware Birding Trail. At the inlet we were treated to a pair of common eiders, multiple red-throated and common loons, long-tailed ducks, red-breasted mergansers and a less than cooperative red-necked grebe. A trip to the marina and the Burton’s Island trailhead, produced bufflehead, greater yellowlegs, horned grebe, and brant.

Common Loon © Jane Henderson

Red-throated Loon © Jane Henderson

From here we started heading north with a stop at Silver lake in Rehobeth Beach. The flock of canvasbacks must number around 500+. Smattered amongst them were a few mallards, double-crested cormorants and ruddy ducks. We found one drake ring-necked duck but couldn’t manage to find any redheads. Well, there really isn’t much else to hope for here after giving the flock a couple healthy searches so we were moving north again, this time for the Nature Center in Cape Henlopen State Park.

© Jane Henderson

Here we took advantage of the facilities and watching the feeders. Eventually, several brown-headed nuthatches made an appearance. Somehow, it isn’t a field trip to Cape Henlopen if you don’t find these guys. There were also a few red-breasted nuthatches, goldfinches, white-throated sparrows, juncos and house finches here.

Red-breasted Nuthatch © Jane Henderson

Before heading over to the campground for a lunch stop and a search for crossbills and other passerines we went out to the point at Henlopen. While searching the waters around the breakwater for ducks we noticed 100s of gannets feeding close to shore. We had started to work on another red-necked grebe and on the gannets when someone spots a whale. Turns out those 2 fin whales had followed the fish into the area just as the gannets had. We quickly lost all interest in the possible grebe and focused on watching the whales. We had repeated sightings of spouts and a couple surfacings. The DOS trip to the park earlier in the day had observed them too. Both groups unofficially awarded the “best bird of the trip honor” to the whales.

The campground was quiet although we did find one mixed flock of birds with Carolina wren, and chickadee, tufted titmouse, yellow-rumped warbler, palm warbler, red-breasted and brown-headed nuthatch, golden-crowned and ruby-crowned kinglets and several sparrows.

We then made a quick trip to Herring Point where we again witnessed the ongoing gannet show, caught another glimpse of one of the whales, had purple sandpipers and ruddy turnstones on the jetty and sanderling on the beach.

Our next stop north was Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge. Here we had a couple northern harriers, white crowned sparrows and a great study of rusty blackbirds on the boardwalk trail. We still had lots of ground to cover so we headed off to Ted Harvey Wildlife Management Area and added some waterfowl to our day’s list: hooded merganser, gadwall, green-winged teal, northern shoveler, northern pintail, American wigeon, and American coot.

The farm fields along the way held snow geese and we flushed horned larks from the side of the road. We were seriously loosing light now so we headed straight to Port Mahon road in hopes of catching short-eared owls hunting. It took a while but eventually we had 3-4 of them, several harriers and two American bitterns to end our day.

Thanks to everyone for joining me on what is my favorite winter field.

~ Martin

March 22 , 2008 Field Trip to Middle Creek WMA

Field trip regulars and several guests, including two persons for whom it was their very first birding trip, joined me as we set out in unpredictable weather to ply the usual route. While this trip can be somewhat predictable as to what species one will encounter; the weather on this day was anything but. It included rain, snow, sun and a mix of each throughout the day. Fortunately for us it was mostly the latter. Because of quirks in the calendar and the scheduling of Wyncote meetings on the third Friday of the month with the field trip on the following Saturday (not meant to be instructive, but nonetheless true in this case), the trip occurred one week later than usual. So the question on my mind was where are the snow geese? WMA officials had been reporting 80,000 birds at their peak. Had they continued their northern journey along with the tundra swan, which for the most part had moved on except for few stragglers?

Once the snow stopped we had good looks at many species of waterfowl including: green winged teal, blue winged teal, pintail and ringed neck duck, lesser scaup, hooded merganser, common merganser, and horned grebe. We also spotted a longtailed duck in mixed raft a good ways out from Willow Point. In my experience, this is not one of the ducks usually found at Middle Creek. On our way out to the point, we enjoyed a phoebe foraging among the milkweed pods on the back edge of the brush Snow was still falling, but no snow geese except for a few birds some of which were noticeably injured.

We enjoyed the birds off the point for about a half hour. Pointing out what to the seasoned birder is an expected “find” to a new birder is a real privilege. You can see that they are obviously both struggling to focus on what you are trying to show them and also the look of wonderment on their face as they encounter nature at whole new level. Exciting! The sky was now clearing as we made our way back to the cars for the auto tour of the rest of the WMA.

As we were making our way along the trail, a familiar call came from the distant horizon; yes it was the snow geese! As they snaked their way through the sky we turned our attention toward them. I rounded up those who were further down the path alerting them to look up and see the many birds that were now settling down with their familiar sound and titling glide, landing both in the water and on the grass around Willow Point. Like the birds, birders return to the same spots every year and if we are patient the birds turn up, well at least most of the time.

We had a total of 46 species; not bad considering the trip is basically a half day. One of our last stops included a look at some mixed flock of snow geese and canada geese grazing by a pond on the field edge, The birds were a couple of hundred yards away as our progress was curtailed by a boundary sign stating the area beyond the sign was off limits. Martin pointed out a bird on the back edge that looked like a pale version of a canada goose. After some discussion of certain field marks the bird was identified as a cackling goose. A first for me!

All in all, good way to spend the Saturday before Easter. Enjoying the creation with old friends and making some new friends as well.

See you on the trail
-Rick White

April 19, 2008 Field Trip to Coastal Delaware

It was a great day for a field trip – sunny and warm weather, mild winds and lots of birds. What more could anyone want? We began the trip at Dragon Run Marsh which was alive with Coots and Wood Ducks. We also got great looks at Ruby-crowned Kinglets, House Wrens, Little Blue Heron and Pied-billed Grebe.

Dragon Run Marsh
© Lynn C. Jackson

We then drove south to Fort Dupont visiting the Grass Dale Center on the west side of Rt 9. This is a lovely area of open fields and woody edges where we got White-eyed Vireo, Bluebirds, tons of Tree Swallows, lots of Chipping Sparrows and Goldfinches, Common Yellowthroats, elusive Field Sparrows and a very cooperative Brown Thrasher that demanded our attention.

Grass Dale Center at Ft. Dupont
© Lynn C. Jackson

Water levels were high along the C & D Canal so not a lot of birds but we did get great looks at newly arriving Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage.

Rt 9 Bridge over the Canal
© Lynn C. Jackson

After a brief stop at August Beach, we continued south on Rt 9 stopping to watch Cliff Swallows returning to their nests under one of the many bridges, just below the many fisherman who were quite amused at our intense interest at the underside of their bridge.

We then stopped for a lovely picnic lunch at the Aquatic Center and views of Bufflehead and Barn Swallows before stopping off at Woodland Beach WMA to find a lone Greater White-fronted Goose that’s been hanging out with the Snow Goose. The bird was easily found feeding along the pond edges.

Tree Swallows © Lynn C. Jackson

Then, it was on to Bombay Hook. Purple Martins have just arrived in force. All the expected waders are present: Great Blue Herons, Great and Snowy Egrets and lots of Black-crowned Night-herons. Water levels were high and the tide was in so we didn’t get huge numbers of shorebirds but we did get good looks at some large flocks of dunlin, Black-bellied Plovers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Willets and a few Short-billed Dowitchers. About 50 Avocets were showing off their breeding plumage as well. Ducks were in force with Shovelers, Green and Blue-winged Teal, Pintails, Mallards and Black Ducks. With scopes we checked out the Great Horned Owl nest across the marsh and clearly saw an adult sitting patiently; no sign of the chicks buried below. Other birds seen at the Hook included Black and Turkey Vultures, Bald Eagles, American kestrel, Clapper Rail, Forster’s Terns, American Goldfinch, Swamp Sparrow, and the ever present and very vocal Red-winged Blackbirds.

It was also a good day for butterflies: at the Grass Dale Center there were tons of Spring Azures and Eastern Tailed-Blues along with at least 3 Falcate Orangetips. We also had Cabbage whites, Orange Sulphurs and Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

A great day was had by all.

~Lynn Jackson

May 4, 2008 trip to Woodlawn Trust and Brandywine Creek State Park

This is one of my favorite places to catch both spring and fall migration and a group of 11 people joined me on this early May visit. As soon as we arrived in the parking lot we had singing Field Sparrows, Warbler Vireos, Orchard Orioles and Bobolinks. By the time we had walked down to the trailhead at the creek we had picked up Yellow Warbler, Yellow-rumped Warbler and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. Our walk along the Brandywine allowed us to hear and see Rough-winged, Tree and Barn Swallows, Black and White, Parula and Common Yellowthroat Warblers, Indigo Buntings, Baltimore Orioles and Yellow-throated and Red-eyed Vireos.

At Thompson’s Bridge Road just before entering the State Park proper we had Scarlet Tanager, American Redstart and Black-throated-blue and Black-throated green Warblers. We crossed Thompson’s Bridge Road and entered the park proper where we were greeted by an Ovenbird and a pair of very obliging Louisiana Waterthrushes along the creek.

From here we took a “healthy hike” over what seemed to be the largest mountain in all of Delaware until we came upon another mixed flock of warblers: yellow-rumps, black-throated blues, black-throated greens, redstarts, black and whites and a Hooded.

We finally made our way to the old orchard where a House Wren’s chatter greeted us and singing White-eyed Vireo and Prairie Warbler sang out in the open for us as if on cue. This is nesting territory for both species. Three Cedar Waxwings were also in the trees in this field. We worked our way back to the cars enjoying looks at Common Yellowthroat, Swamp Sparrow and Eastern Towhee along the way. As we were saying our good-byes and a Bald Eagle flew overhead to round out our day. Even a bicyclist getting his gear together took the time to enjoy this bird.

Thanks for joining me, hope to see you next field trip
~ Martin

May 4, 2008 trip to Belleplain State Forest

Our group met at the WaWa at 47 and 347 and then headed off to Belleplain State Forest. We turned into the forest and quickly had a group of birds made up of Pine, Black and White and Blue-Winged Warblers. Ovenbirds were again calling all around us and today were we bound to finally find one perched in the open. It may have taken us another stop or two before we finally got a cooperative bird but we finally had one and were able to get everyone who had been teased now for the better part of two mornings to see one. We also encountered the first of several Great Crested Flycatchers. When we reached Sunset Road, several Northern Parulas greeted us along with a Black-throated Blue and several Black and White and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

We had great success at the “bridge on Sunset Road” with Louisiana Waterthrush and Hooded Warbler but no luck with Prothonotary Warblers. A walk around the campground turned up Eastern Wood-Pewee, Chipping Sparrow and a very cooperative Worm-eating Warbler. We hadn’t had much luck at this point yet with Yellow-throated Warblers and this might have been because they all were in the pine by the second bridge. We heard several singing birds and caught varying degrees of success in seeing them here. We then headed off to Lake Nummy for a quick lunch break. After lunch we tracked down both Scarlet and Summer Tanagers before finally calling it a day.

Thanks for joining me, hope to see you next field trip
~ Martin

July 19, 2008 trip to Bombay Hook

It was hot, very hot as five of us went looking for shorebirds at Bombay Hook on a steamy July Saturday afternoon. Raymond Pool had a nice mix of birds with close to 100 American Avocets, 20+ Black-necked Stilts, 100s of Short-billed Dowitchers, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs, Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers and a few Stilt Sandpipers. In the far back corner of the pool, Lynn found 3 Wilson’s Phalaropes to start the day off on a high note.

There had been reports of the Little Egret during the week so every white long-legged wader had to be scrutinized and there were several hundred Great, Snowy and immature Little Blue Herons to look at throughout the refuge. Despite giving it a noble effort, we did not find the Little Egret. While searching through the egrets at Shearness Pool we noted several large, dark lumps in the grass that turned out to be an adult and two immature Bald Eagles. While these birds can be rather majestic when they are soaring, they are not the most elegant creatures hoping around on the ground.

We did find three Yellow-Crowned Night Herons trying to stay out of the sun at the far end of Bear Swamp along with several Black-Crowned Night-Herons along with a Pectoral Sandpiper feeding on the mudflats. Also here were a few Spotted Sandpipers and some Killdeer.

As we came out of Bear Swamp we found Blue Grosbeak, Indigo Bunting and Eastern Kingbird. We decided to check out Finis Pool and have lunch there as there had been reports of some good birds there in the recent weeks. As we arrived at the turn around we heard one of the refuges resident Barred owls. A photographer pointed one out but it flushed before the group could see it. While eating lunch the owl called again and it was answered so using our cars as blinds we searched hoping that one or both of these calling birds could be found. It took some effort but we found one of them and were able to set up a scope on it. It was a great way to end the day.

Scope views of Barred Owl - it dosen't get much better

~ Martin Selzer

September 8, 2008
Swirling Swifts Stun Spectators

Fifty or so people turned up for the annual Chimney Swift Extravaganza at John Story Jenks School in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia on Monday night, September 8, 2008. People, as well as swifts, began arriving around 6:30 PM. Spectators included veteran birders as well as newcomers to the spectacle. At first, the birds came in two’s and three’s, but soon more and more arrived and began tentatively circling the chimney. People began counting them. Every year, Chimney Swifts migrate through our area on their way to their winter destinations in northern Chile, Peru and western Brazil. After flying around all day, eating insects en route, they roost for the night in whatever tall, hollow structures happen to be available along the way. In our general area, tall chimneys fill the bill. The birds cling to the rough walls of the chimney and overlap like shingles. c. Doug Wechler/VIREO c. Jane Henderson Over the years, the swifts have used chimneys at three elementary school buildings: Jenks, at Germantown Avenue and Southhampton Streets; Shawmont, at Shawmont Avenue and Eva Street in Roxborough; and Dobson, at Umbria and Nixon Streets in Manayunk. Some scouting needs to be done in advance of the field trip to find out which of the chimneys will be the roost of choice that year. By 7:15 PM several hundred swifts had materialized, and had started swirling around above the chimney. The funnel of birds became tighter and tighter, and at 7:30 they started going down. “There they go!” someone shouted. When the last swift dropped into the chimney, at 7:45, the crowd spontaneously applauded. That happens every year. Chimney Swifts will be in our area for the remainder of September and into early October, possibly in greater numbers than we saw on Monday, September 8th. ~ Jane Henderson

2009