Birds and Other Nature Sightings

   Since the start of October, I have turned my birding attention to mostly Island Beach State Park.  My years of birding there have shown that October is the best time to find local rarities like American golden-plover, Baird’s sandpiper and lark sparrow, or fall specials like jaegers.  This October has not disappointed me because not only did I find all of these species so far this month, but I also added a black-headed gull to my park list. Back on October 3, I found a pair of lark sparrows in a grass field just outside of the park’s main gate.  This field hosts a weekly farmer’s market during the summer, but in the fall, sparrows enjoy the vacated lot.  In past seasons there have been clay-colored sparrows, dickcissels and meadowlarks occasionally mixing in with the regular song sparrows, white-throated sparrows, chipping sparrows and dark-eyed juncos.  The lark sparrows, along with a clay-colored sparrow, lingered at the field for several days to allow other birders to add them to