May 3 2008, Allaire State Park

MEETING PLACE: Main parking area
TIME: 8:15 AM
LEADERS: Dena Temple, John Temple
BIRDS SEEN: Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Parula, Pine Warbler, Yellow Warbler, Common Yellowthroat, Black and White Warbler, Blue-winged Warbler, Ovenbird, Gray Catbird, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Great Blue Heron, Great Crested Flycatcher, Rose Breasted Grosbeak, Eastern Bluebird, Eastern Phoebe, Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue-headed Vireo, Warbling Vireo (heard at flea market on site, not during field trip), Baltimore Oriole, White-throated Sparrow
HIGHLIGHTS: Allaire was quieter than I can remember it ever being for this field trip, perhaps due to cold temps in the morning. Our group of ~15 ran into several waves of birds, but numbers were overall much lower than usual. Highlights were a beautiful Baltimore Oriole; several Ovenbirds (common at Allaire) and Yellow-throated Vireo. Misses were Scarlet Tanager (reported by others but not seen/heard by our group) and Wood Thrush, usually a gimme here. As always at Allaire, we had a great group of enthusiastic participants, and everyone had a great time.

April 12, 2008, Sandy Hook

MEETING PLACE: Visitor's Center
TIME: 9:00 AM
WEATHER: Partly Cloudy, 60 Degrees
LEADERS: Linda Mack, Scott Barnes, Donna Juettner
BIRDS SEEN: Common Loon, Double-crested Cormorant, Great Blue Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned Night Heron, Glossy Ibis, Canada Goose, Mallard, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Kestrel, Merlin, Greater Yellowlegs, Ring-billed Gull, Herring Gull, Great Balck-backed Gull, Belted Kingfisher, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Downy Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, White-eyed Vireo, American Crow, Fish Crow, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Hermit Thrush, Northern Mockingbird, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Eastern Towhee, Field Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal, Red-winged Blackbird, Eastern Meadowlark, Rusty Blackbird, Common Grackle, House Finch, American Goldfinch.

HIGHLIGHTS: The morning started out with a heavy fog. We started our trip at Horseshoe Cove. Walking down the bike path we came upon a group of Cedar Waxwings. One pair was feeding each other and dancing their mating dance. Migration was beginning. We kept on walking and came upon a yellow-bellied Sapsucker working on one of the trees. The Townesend Solitaire seems to have left us for parts unknown, but we did come across a Rusty Blackbird.

Our last stop was at the North end of Sandy Hook. We visited the Hawkwatch just in time to see a brief hawk flight. A red-shouldered hawk circled with a Cooper's Hawk. A merlin raced past to find his next meal. In the trees below an early White-eyed Vireo,ruby-crowned kinglet and a blue-gray gnatcatcher flitted in and out of the branches. A wonderful way to end a day that turned out Sunny and warm.

March 29, 2008, Beginners' Bird Walk, Turkey Swamp Park

MEETING PLACE: Rangers Station
TIME: 9:00 am
LEADERS: Greg Cantrell
BIRDS SEEN: Eastern Bluebird, Osprey, Belted Kingfisher, Great Blue Heron, American Crow, Pine Warbler, Tree Swallow, Eastern Phoebe, Dark-eyed Junco, Song Sparrow, Golden-crowned Kinglet, White-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Brown-headed Cowbird, American Robin, Canada Goose, Mallard, and Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker. and Eastern Towhee.

I had 7 people at today's walk. We braved cool temperatures and windy conditions for great views of most birds. We heard, but did not see, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker. and Eastern Towhee.

February 12 , 2008, Sandy Hook

MEETING PLACE: Visitor Center
TIME: 10:00 am
CONDITIONS: Cloudy, drizzle, snow showers
LEADERS: Linda Mack, Donna Juettner, Dave Larsen
BIRDS SEEN: Horned Grebe, Great Cormorant, Canada Goose, Greater Scaup, Common Goldeneye, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Merganser, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Downy Woodpecker, Carolina Wren, Hermit Thrush, American Robin, Cedar Waxwing, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Song Sparrow, White-throated Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, House Finch, Townsend's Solitaire

HIGHLIGHTS: The day was damp and cold, but that didn't stop us. From the Visitor Center we crossed the street to visit Spermaceti Cove to begin our trip. There were hundreds of Greater Scaup blanketing the water, a welcome sight in a winter when the number of waterfowl has been low. We all enjoyed the calming sounds of their wings flapping in the wind.

Great Cormorants stretched their wings to dry them on the other side. They proudly posed as we looked through our scopes.

The call of the Cedar Waxings and the hope of finding a reported Bohemian Waxwing was our next stop. No luck. The flock was just out of our reach, so we decided instead to search for the ever cooperative Townsend 's Solitaire. Success! It was a nice ending to our trip.

January 19, 2008, Barnegat Light / Cedar Run Dock Road

MEETING PLACE: Barnegat Light State Park
TIME: 12:00 noon
CONDITIONS: Partly cloudy, mid 30s, calm winds
LEADERS: Michael Casper, Dena Temple, John Temple
BIRDS SEEN: Common Loon, Red-throated Loon, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Brant, Mallard, Scaup sp., Long-tailed Duck, Harlequin Duck, Common Eider, Red-breasted Merganser, Northern Harrier, American Oystercatcher, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Purple Sandpiper, Dunlin, Herring Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Short-eared Owl, Horned Lark, Carolina Wren, American Robin, European Starling, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Northern Cardinal, House Finch, Song Sparrow.

HIGHLIGHTS: The Monmouth County Audubon Society held its annual field trip to Barnegat Light today and were delighted by the calm winds, moderate temps and flat seas at the Barnegat Inlet. The birds weren't bad, either.

We got great looks at a MYSTERY SCAUP that had some field marks of Greater and some of Lesser. No determination was made as to a positive ID of the bird.

We had good numbers of HARLEQUIN DUCK, probably in the 20s total, plus one COMMON EIDER, lots of LONG-TAILED DUCK, both COMMON and RED-THROATED LOON, and R/B MERGANSERS. Noticeable in their complete absence were BUFFLEHEAD - there's a real mystery! We also had fair numbers of PURPLE SAND, SANDERLING, RUDDY TURNSTONE and a huge flock of DUNLIN asleep on the jetty. Several participants got a look at some HORNED LARKS that were flushed by a dog in the dunes.

LOW-light of the day was when one of our junior attendees took a header INTO the rocks while trying to collect a sample of "jetty water" from a puddle. He landed completely upside down wedged in the rocks with his head in the water and his legs straight up in the air, flailing. While he lost his Giants hat, I am delighted (and completely amazed) to report that other than a wet head, he didn't have a scratch on him. What a miracle.

Our plans were to finish at the Bridge to Nowhere, but three different sources reported to us that the road is now completely impassable and quite dangerous, so after a break at the Dunkin' Donuts in Manahawkin we took the group instead to Cedar Run Dock Road to look for Short-eards. We were not disappointed with two SHORT-EARED OWLS flying over the road before we'd even parked the cars! I estimate that there were 3-4 owls in all, putting on quite a show, plus 5-6 NORTHERN HARRIERS, a GREAT EGRET flyover (!!) and great looks at a GREAT BLUE HERON.

As usual, a fine time was had by all.

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