BirdCountPage

EAST BRUNSWICK NATURE NOTES

– Big Day Bird Count –

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known."

-Carl Sagan

The third East Brunswick Big Day Bird Count is over and a new record has been set. (I don't think we'll ever get bored saying that.) This year, (2007) our team encountered a record number of species of birds in, on or above East Brunswick. We spent nearly 12 hours in the field and covered about 40 miles, a very substantial portion of the town from the far north at the Edgeboro Landfill, to the south at Weston Mills Pond at the South Brunswick border, east to Keystone-Chagnon Park, and west at Farrington Lake.

Enthusiasm, dogged determination and the participation of some amazing birders contributed to our breaking past a major resistance point in number of species tallied. Our sincerest thanks to all the team members

Below is the report of our efforts.

The next major birding event, the East Brunswick Winter Bird Count, will take place in late December of 2007 or early January in 2008. We invite students and other interested groups to participate and would be more than happy to provide instruction and guidance.

East Brunswick Big Day Bird Count 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
— by Anita Gould —

     The 2007 Big Day Bird Count tallied 104 species seen or heard in or from East Brunswick on May 12, blowing away last year's record of 88. This year’s count was a week later than last year’s—which meant that it conflicted with the New Jersey Audubon Society’s World Series of Birding (fortunately we didn’t lose any participants to it), but let us share the date’s peak diversity of migrants. We lost a few early-migrating species that were seen last year, such as Palm and Prairie Warblers and Ruby-crowned Kinglet, but the later-moving ones more than made up for it.

     We also added some fresh talent this year, which may have helped boost our tally. We had five people in the main team: Rich Wolfert, Dana Beaton, Dan Brill, Ray Deeney, and Anita Gould. Dave Moskowitz was sorely missed; he was unable to attend this year owing to family obligations. However, he sent us Dan, a World Series-caliber birder whose keen ear and knowledge of birdsong gave us many species we would otherwise have missed. Dana and Rich both had cameras with telephoto lenses, and got some super shots over the course of the day. Dana's photos can be seen at http://www.flickr.com/photos/danaman/tags/bigdaycount/, Rich's through a link on this page.

     We had sparklingly beautiful weather—and more importantly, weather that brought us some birds. Migratory birds come in waves, because the birds move when they can take advantage of favorable winds. Spring birding is thus very much a 'surf's up!' kind of activity. Birders tell stories for years afterwards of legendary 'fallouts' brought by the 'perfect storm' confluence of weather conditions.

     While raptors migrate by day, soaring on thermals, songbirds migrate at night. They're no fools: there are songbird-eating raptors migrating by day! So it's always an adventure getting up bright and early (where's my coffee?) to see what the night winds have blown in. In recent years, researchers have begun studying migratory birds using weather radar—there are so many birds on the move that clouds of them are visible, lifting off at dusk and going to ground at dawn. And the birders have not been far behind the researchers. Many birders will check the wind forecast at night and the previous night's weather radar at dawn in order to decide whether to go birding, and if so, where.

     The Big Day, however, is scheduled ahead of time, so we have to take the luck of the draw. In the couple of days before this year's count, favorable winds here and to our north had allowed migrants to clear out, while unfavorable ones south of us had kept new ones from arriving. However, the night before the count the winds shifted, bringing us better fortune. When we arrived to start the day at Dallenbach Lake on Dunham’s Corner Road, we found migrants present in modest numbers but good variety.

     Dallenbach was our big site for songbirds and other forest species, so we started there, as these birds are most active in the early morning. Anita arrived at 6:15, with the main party meeting at 7:00 and Ray joining us a little later. As she pulled her car into a parking space, a Hairy Woodpecker landed at eye level on a tree not 20 feet ahead. This larger cousin of the Downy is less common in East Brunswick, requiring sizable tracts of woods (unlike the Downy, which is willing to visit suburban shade trees), and could easily have been a 'miss' for the day—we only had one other one, and that one was heard but not seen—so the day was officially off to a Good Start.

     Two ‘hotspots’ at Dallenbach were especially productive: the peninsula near the aquatic center and the grassy trail on the other side of the lake near the maintenance building parking lot. As we walked the water's-edge trail along the peninsula, we did our best to avoid disturbing the Canada Geese incubating their eggs (as much for our own welfare as theirs!). Green Heron had been seen here over the past few weeks, but was not in evidence on count day. However, a surprise bonus in the lake was an American Coot. A couple of Great Blue Herons in flight rounded out the waterbirds here. Songbirds around the lake included Warbling Vireo, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, House Wren, Brown Thrasher and a courting pair of Eastern Kingbirds. Abundant and vocal migrants du jour included Baltimore Oriole and Gray Catbird. (Either that, or—we could swear—there was only one Gray Catbird, but it kept following us!)

     On our way through the woods to the 'grassy trail' hotspot, we heard Belted Kingfisher, Eastern Wood Pewee, and Wood Thrush and spotted two other thrushes, Veery and Swainson's Thrush; the last two were not heard singing. We also ran into fellow birder Dominick Petrellese. He filled us in on his sightings, contributing to the count two warblers we didn't end up getting ourselves: Black-and-white and Canada. Then we reached the hotspot and spent some very productive time there. We ended up with a total of eleven warbler species for the morning, including American Redstart, Magnolia, Pine, Northern Parula, Black-throated Green, Black-throated Blue, Blue-winged, and Chestnut-sided. The highlight was a Bay-breasted, a 'life bird' for a couple of us. This large (for a warbler, that is!), handsome bird breeds in the boreal forests of Canada, & it's a specialist: its main source of food there is the spruce budworm. The budworm has 'boom and bust' population cycles, and thus so does the warbler.

     We were also pleased to score a lone White-throated Sparrow via its whistled 'Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody' song—most of these common winterers have already moved north to their breeding grounds. Sparrows migrate early, as they are seed eaters, exploiting the bounty of last fall's grasses and flowers. Insect-eaters such as warblers, by contrast, must wait until the trees leaf out. Only then do the insects that feast on the greenery appear.

     The call of a Yellow-billed Cuckoo rounded out the haul. This insect eater specializes in tent caterpillars. And judging by the fat, juicy tent caterpillars we were seeing in their weblike tents between tree branches, it was prime time for cuckoo migration.

     En route to our next main stop, we detoured past the known Great Horned Owl nest. The two owlets had fledged and were no longer in the nest, but they were close by, attended by a parent. And low overhead two Red-tailed Hawks screamed—probably harassing the owls, their sworn enemies.

     Then it was on to Edgeboro landfill. We are very grateful to Administrator Richard Fitamant and Superintendent of Operations Brian Murray for access to this site. While a landfill may not sound too appealing to us humans, many species of birds take advantage of the rich habitat here. In particular, it was our only chance at grassland birds. Grassland is New Jersey's fastest-declining habitat, so the grasses covering the large capped portion of the fill are a treasure for these species—and for the birders who seek them. Here we found good numbers of Killdeer, an upland bird in the shorebird family, and of Indigo Bunting, impossibly blue. And we scored two township firsts: flocks of the striking Bobolink, and a lone Grasshopper Sparrow singing his little heart out from a low perch atop a methane relief valve. However, we struck out on Savannah Sparrow, a species we got here last year.

     From Edgeboro we were also able to survey the South River marshlands, so it was our site for shorebirds and marsh species as well. It was kind enough to yield one each(!) of Spotted Sandpiper, Solitary Sandpiper, Greater Yellowlegs, Glossy Ibis, and—after we had already exited the main gate and were milling around, talking about going for lunch—Lesser Yellowlegs. There were smaller shorebirds feeding on the mudflats, but we were forced to tally those under The One That Got Away. They were too distant to ID, and by the time we were able to circle around and get a better look at the area, they were nowhere in sight.

     Osprey were nesting on the platforms provided for that purpose out in the marsh. This magnificent 'fish hawk' coexists fairly well with humans and has made a remarkable recovery since the DDT era, except that it suffers from a shortage of suitable nest sites: Osprey and human both covet waterfront property. Wooden nesting platforms are thus a simple, cost-effective way to help this species. Other nice sightings out over the marsh included a pair of Forster's Terns, Great Egret, and a Great Black-backed Gull far out in the river channel. The Great-Black-backed is our largest gull and, apparently, the least fond of garbage, so despite the thousands of gulls present at the landfill, this was actually our best sighting of this species.

     Two more waterbirds were seen at Edgeboro: a Double-crested Cormorant drying its wings on the shore of a pond outside the fence and a pair of late-lingering Gadwall in an unpromising puddle on top of the landfill. The Gadwall were a real coup, our only duck other than Mallard. Mallards breed in this area, but most other ducks just winter here and have long since left for their breeding grounds on North America’s rich northern prairies, forests and tundra.

     While at Edgeboro we were joined by our newest birder, City Council member Nancy Pinkin. She insisted she’d seen a large raptor on the way in. “Probably a Red-tailed Hawk or a Turkey Vulture—we saw several of those when we got here.” But she said she knew what those looked like, & she didn’t think it wasn’t either of them. “Maybe it was a Black Vulture.” We had tallied our only one of the day at the same spot. The Black Vulture is a bird of the Southeast; unlike the Turkey Vulture (much more common here) it doesn’t migrate, so it sticks to warmer climates. Older birders remember a time when the lower Delaware Valley was the only place in NJ where they could be found, but now they are regular in our area. However, the one we saw had been soaring high overhead. She was positive her bird wasn’t the tiny American Kestrel—a grassland raptor and the day’s only falcon, a handsome male that we watched hovering, then dropping to seize a tidbit (perhaps a grasshopper).

     Well, as we continued toward the exit, we passed the active part of the landfill. Mixed in with the huge concentration of gulls here were a few raptors. And lo and behold, one of the raptors… “wait, that’s not a Red-tail… immature Bald Eagle!!” (The immature lacks the iconic all-white head and tail of the adult, which take five years to develop).

     A final bonus during the drive to the exit was an excellent look at a Black-billed Cuckoo in a low tree next to the road, making us 2 for 2 on New Jersey's cuckoo species for the day.

     After the landfill we headed to Keystone Park, which offered both forest and freshwater marsh. Here we added Chimney Swift, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Blackpoll Warbler, Marsh Wren, and Swamp Sparrow. Duhernal Lake followed; this was less productive for us, as we had already seen most of the species present, and by this point it was mid-afternoon and the birds were less active. We had been hoping for late-migrating waterfowl to supplement our Gadwall, but no luck. We did, however, get a nice look at a Ruby-throated Hummingbird.

     After Duhernal we made a quick stop at a bird-friendly farm that Rich knew of on Fresh Ponds Road. We got the two species we came for: Purple Martin and Mute Swan. We also picked up a bonus bird: Chipping Sparrow, heard singing its distinctive chip-train song. The martins (a type of swallow, excellent for control of flying insects) live here because the owner has put up a Purple Martin 'apartment house' for these communal nesters. The little pond was also home to a trio of Mute Swans—quite likely a mated pair and last year's offspring, like a teenager still hanging around the house. But swan teenagers can earn their keep: this one is about to be drafted for help in childcare, because we discovered mama on nest.

     Despite their grace and beauty, the swans are not necessarily birds were are happy to see breeding here. They are a European introduction, and tend to displace less aggressive native species. But one of our missions is to document such trends.

     The last stop of the day was Ireland Brook County Park (aka 'the old pig farm') off Riva Avenue. This is a wonderful spot with a variety of rich habitats for birds; we saw Snowy Egret in Farrington Lake across the street and a wide variety of species in the overgrown fields, scattered trees, wood margins, and woods. Indigo Buntings were abundant here. New species for the day were Scarlet Tanager, Orchard Oriole, and Eastern Towhee (this usually common and vocal species had eluded us until now). House Finch was also heard, although this species can be tough to identify by ear, so we were happy to get additional sightings called in by Dave Moskowitz and birder par excellence Bob Dodelson. Bob birded Dallenbach in the afternoon & filled another gap for us: at the end of the day the main team had still been left with the downright embarrassing lack of a White-breasted Nuthatch. (There always seems to be one common bird that's AWOL on any given day!) And Steve Albert called in sightings that included Yellow-rumped Warbler, an early migrator that had been abundant a couple of weeks before but was now quite scare.

     Our last bird of the day was a low-flying Cooper's Hawk, capping off a great day for raptors. Our only miss among the more common species was Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper's little cousin. Other misses for the day included Field Sparrow and Eastern Phoebe.

     In our 'blue sky' dreams, we thought that we could break 100 species if we were lucky enough to get a banner day for migration. We were thrilled to reach 104 even without the benefit of an unusually good flight. So who knows what next year will bring! And there's plenty of room at the top. This year's World Series of Birding was won by a team that tallied 230 species, birding from midnight to midnight and covering the entire state of New Jersey during the same 24 hours as our more modest effort.

     In addition to birds, the group was treated to an excellent showing of spring butterflies: the large and showy Eastern Tiger Swallowtail and Black Swallowtail; down through a variety of mid-sized species including Painted Lady, Juvenal's Duskywing, Clouded or Orange Sulfur, and Cabbage White; to the tiny but brilliantly colored Spring Azure and Eastern Tailed-blue. There were two nice dragon- and damselflies, Springtime Darner and the tiny Sphagnum Sprite (very early for this species, only one day later than the earliest statewide record). And Pink Azaleas, a showy native wild shrub, were in full bloom in the forest understory.

     As well as informing local conservation efforts, the observations made by East Brunswick counters have been contributed to the International Migratory Bird Day database. IMBD <http://www.birdday.org/> is held annually on the second Saturday in May to celebrate & support bird conservation in the Americas. Its theme this year is "Birds in a Changing Climate." Data gathered by participants is entered via eBird <http://ebird.org/content/index.html>, an ongoing citizen-science project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Click here to see Rich Wolfert's photos of the 2007 East Brunswick Big Day Bird Count.