Birds and Other Nature Sightings

     2022 turned out to be an impressive year for birding firsts in New Jersey.  The state species list grew from 486 species of natural origin (including now extinct species) to 494.  The New Jersey Bird Records Committee (NJBRC) reviews,  confirms and maintains the records of all reviewable bird species sightings in the state.  A complete New Jersey State List can be found at  http://njbrc.com/documents/NJStateList.pdf  .  Most of these new bird sightings fell into the one day wonder category, and as such, I personally added only one to my life list (one was already a life bird outside of New Jersey).  A brief chronological recap of New Jersey’s newest birds follows. At Sandy Hook, Monmouth County on January 23, my friend Jason found the state’s first Common Gull .  Jason is considered by me and many in the birding community as the state’s leading gull and tern expert.  Common gull (formerly Mew Gull ) is an Eurasian species that bears extreme likeness to the local Ring-billed Gull.

     A few posts ago, I talked about finding one of Ocean County’s ghost birds, the Pileated Woodpecker.  Well, Friday I finally found my nemesis bird for Island Beach State Park, the otherwise ubiquitous Tufted Titmouse! Yes, tufted titmouse; pretty much common across New Jersey, but actually rare on barrier islands.  I see at least two every day in my yard, but not a one at my second most birded spot.  So, on my 1,315th checklist for Island Beach since 2001, it got got.  Since I rarely submit multiple checklists for the park for the same day, the math says that equals to roughly three-and-a-half years of daily lists. When I saw a small bird moving in the upper half of a pitch pine, I raised my binoculars to see what it was.  Instantly my inner voice said, “ Oh my, it’s a titmouse! ”  I lowered the binoculars and switched over to my camera to fire off some documentation photos.  I texted a pic to some friends who know what a bane this bird has been for me at the park.  It felt like a

      On Thursday, I got down to Reeds Road at Island Beach State Park a little earlier than I normally do, and as such, it turned out to be a good thing.  First, it got hot early. Yes, mid to upper 80s hot in April in New Jersey.  So I was able to leave the park while all the beach-goers that were entering had to sit in traffic that was backed up due to the ongoing new sewer line installation project.  Secondly, when I reached the western end of the Reeds trail at Barnegat Bay, I noticed three chunky black-and-white birds flying south over the bay.  They got my attention because with the naked eye they didn’t seem right for waterfowl, nor shorebirds.  When I picked them up looking through my binoculars, I realized they were razorbills. Razorbills, Barnegat Bay, NJ 4/13/2023.   © S. Weiss Three late razorbills heading south over Barnegat Bay.  The trio were likely on the way towards Barnegat Inlet, about eight miles to the south, to head back out to sea and, hopefully, to their norther

     On Friday I saw an alert on my phone of a Yellow-throated Warbler at my favorite birding location, Island Beach State Park.  Yellow-throated warblers are difficult birds to get in Ocean County and even harder to get at Island Beach.  This is a bird that I had yet to find at the state park.  Unfortunately, I did not see the alert until about an hour after it was sent.  In the past couple years, I had missed it twice when one was reported.  I happened to be at the park on each of those occasions, but at the opposite end from where the birds were, and each time they were gone when I reached their reported locations.  This time I was home and on my way to assist my daughter with moving furniture.  I figured I missed one again. Later, while I was loading my car with furniture, I got another alert that the bird was still around.  I picked up the pace and completed my obligation.  My daughter granted me my release so I could go get the bird.  I texted my friend who had sent the last ale

     The year of alcids continued this week when a Common Murre was found at Manasquan Inlet along the border of Ocean and Monmouth counties.  Common murre is a difficult bird for Ocean County, as well as much of New Jersey.  It is considered rare, and most sightings are pelagic.  As such, common murre is a NJ Bird Records Committee r eviewable species for land-based sightings.  The last common murre for Ocean County was at Manasquan Inlet in February 2011.  If accepted by the NJBRC, this would be the second latest date for a common murre in New Jersey ( http://njbrc.com/documents/ARL.pdf ). This alcid was discovered late Monday afternoon.  I was already in for the day and chose not to go for it.  It was still around on Tuesday, but I had family obligations and could not get over to the inlet.  However, since a few people reported seeing the murre after sunset, I felt that was a good sign it would stay around for at least another day.  As I prepared to head out Wednesday morning to f