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Cape May, NJ, 1/6/2026 - Townsend’s Solitaire and Black-headed Gull

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     On Tuesday I took a ride down to Cape May with a friend who wanted to see the Townsend’s solitaire that appeared at the state’s southern most community a few days earlier.  I have seen this western species as recently as October when I was in Arizona, where they should be.  I have seen one in New Jersey in my home county of Ocean back in 2019.  My friend wanted to see one for New Jersey so when she ask if I wanted to take a ride I agreed.  The solitaire is always a neat bird to see outside of its normal range, plus you never know what rare bird will show itself in Cape May at any given time. On the way to Cape May, before leaving the confines of Ocean County, we made a brief detour stop at a park in Manahawkin.  My friend Larry had recorded 17 greater white-fronted geese there on Sunday.  The birds had dispersed before anyone else could find them but reappeared at some time yesterday.  When we arrived there at about 8:30, all 17 w...
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Southern Ocean County, 1/4/2026: Rule #3 and a pair of Ross’s Geese

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     On Sunday I headed down to Long Beach Island at the southern end of the county to help a friend who was doing the beach portion of the annual Holgate Christmas Bird Count. I normally don’t participate in CBC’s only because I like to bird on my time, at my pace and where I want.  My friend had asked me a couple of times, so I didn’t want to diss him.  He already had enough people to help him which allowed me to meet up with them well after they started.  The ocean was very flat, and it didn’t take me long to realize that there was not going to be very much to find on this walk.  That was also about the time that Rule #3 came into play. Rule #3, actually Law #3, comes from Zirlin’s Laws of Birding.  You won’t find these laws published anywhere as they come from the mind of my friend, Larry.  They are his own personal axioms, that over time have proven their salt with me.  Law #3 states, “ Wherever you are, you should be somewhere els...
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2025 Year in Review

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     Another year, as they all seem to lately, went by quick.  Winter is officially not even a month old, and I am already fed up with the cold and wind outside.  With warmer weather months (or a plane flight, or daydream), away, there are no planned excursions yet on my horizon.  To make use of the down time, I thought I might as well reflect back on what I saw and shared in 2025.  I did manage a few trips this year outside of New Jersey (252).  With family, I made several trips to Rhode Island (64); two to Florida (101); and one trip each to California (92), Arizona (63) and Massachusetts (20).  Of course, driving to Rhode Island also took me through New York (9) and Connecticut (1), but those were not destinations.  I also found my way in Maryland (4) waters on one of my pelagic trips.  On the birding front, I racked up 334 species.  The parenthesized numbers represent the number of species I saw in that state for 2025. New ...
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Possible Trumpeter Swan in Ocean County, NJ

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     A few days before Christmas, someone eBirded an interesting swan at Stafford Forge WMA in Southwestern Ocean County.  This observer, and many others since, strongly believe it fits the profile of a juvenile trumpeter swan .  The day after Christmas, I went out to see the bird and am also leaning heavily toward trumpeter swan.  Since trumpeter swan is a review species in New Jersey, the NJ Bird Records Committee will have to vote to accept it as a trumpeter swan, not a trumpeter swan, or inconclusive.  The record committee’s decision will not be known until March or April of 2026. Currently, based on my extensive research, Ocean County has recorded 421 bird species of wild origin.  Trumpeter swan sightings in NJ have been mostly limited to Assunpink WMA in Monmouth County.  If it holds up as a trumpeter swan, then that will improve the county list to at least 422.  There have been at least three other bird species eBirded this y...
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12/8/2025 - Another Named Humpback Whale

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      Several weeks ago, I went on a 12-hour pelagic trip out of Cape May, NJ.  I had been looking forward to getting out on the water specifically to look for marine life instead of fishing and incidentally noting the wildlife.  It was mid-November and while I was hoping for many different marine species, realistically I knew that there likely would not be as much as I hoped.  November is a ‘tweener month.  It was getting late for many of the summer species to still be around and yet a little too early for many of the winter species to have arrived. I knew the storm-petrels and most of the large shearwaters had already departed.  It was a little early for our winter alcids to be around, but razorbills could start filtering in at any time.  Many of our terns had vacated, but Bonaparte’s gulls were already around and maybe so would some black-legged kittiwakes .  Being that was only a 12-hour trip, I knew we would not get out far enough...
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