Check out the fantastic Gabriel Foley’s exciting new avian adventure and blog!
In his own words:
I’m currently studying how Common Nighthawks choose their habitat in northern forests (cliff notes: they like burned forest). I’ve had two field seasons working on that project, and that research i…
Source: New Opportunities Coming Up!
September 6th is World Shorebirds Day: a day bird lovers celebrate the monumental migrations undertaken by shorebirds such as Red Knots (well known for their dependence on Horseshoe Cab eggs), Bar-tailed Godwits (as many as 9 days without rest), and Arctic Terns (pole to pole migration). It’s the launch of fall migration.
I celebrated #WorldShorebirdsDay with the start of classes and participating in the hashtag by uploading some of my recent photos from a few days spent on Long Beach Island, NJ.
September 6th is also a day conversationalists rally around shorebird conservation, particularly the focusing attention on stopover grounds, the important refueling refugia. Which is why it was so alarming that this week a piece was published out in Washington questing the value of radio-tags, geolocators and other tracking technology. Without the use of such technology in conservation we wouldn’t know that Bar-tailed Godwits don’t stop as they circumnavigate the globe. We wouldn’t be able to identify stopover migration hotspots in remote regions. In larger organisms we wouldn’t be able to see how they are internally responding to the stresses we are putting on their bodies through the changes we wrought in the environment.
These are important lessons.
These are the reminders being shared right now in Hawaii at the IUCN Congress (#IUCNCongress), an international meet up of governments, scientists, policy makers, NGOs, to take a harsh look at the human impact on wildlife. But to merely describe it as such is limiting to the scope of what is on the table and what is at stake.
Every morning I get up and I read these messages and the longer articles that come along with them. If you were to sit down and read them all, your heart would break. But this isn’t all I read. Interspersed with these updates are the #NoDAPL updates. Which seems ironic really because this struggle is exactly what the IUCN Congress is all about. The controversy surrounding #NoDAPL is that a corporation has decided the most expedient route for the pipeline is through indigenous lands in the Dakotas. This land is steeped in great environmental and cultural heritage. Within the proposed corridor pipeline are at least 27 burials, 16 stone rings, 19 effigies & other sacred sites (link). The juxtaposition is striking.
What is nature without clean water? Without clean air? Without unspoiled land?
The shorebirds we’re valuing today depend on clean water, clean air, clean land. So do the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and all the indigenous groups around the world responsible for stewarding 24% of earth’s land (link). We also depend on these things.
Without nature, there is no life. Later is too late.*
Suggested Reading List:
Check out my ongoing research.
The official window to survey for woodcock displays ended earlier this month. As I have time between finals, grading, and preparing for my qualifying exam, I’ve been entering data. So far it looks promising (?)…. But I’m curious to begin exploring the possible explanations for why we found woodcock in some locations and not in others. I don’t want to wait until next season!
One thing worth noting is that New Jersey has been in a mild, prolonged drought state most of the spring. Perhaps this has some impact on woodcock distribution (impact of drought on woodcock has been studied elsewhere). Earthworms are sensitive to soil moisture levels. They don’t like it too wet (they come up out of the soil in the rain and then fry when the sun comes out), but they probably don’t like soil that’s too dry either.
Drought map showing northern New Jersey (where all…
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A clearing along the Franklin Parker Trail to the South Conservation Area at Schiff Nature Preserve. Photo on March 23, 2016 by Kathleen Farley. Edited with Snapseed.
On March 23, I returned to Schiff Nature Preserve. This time I surveyed the Franklin Parker Trail leading to the South Conservation Area. Along with me was a recent undergraduate recruit.
We found a clearing that was much closer to water (promising) and hid ourselves in a central brushy area. We gave it a good hour after the sun set. We probably had deer rustling in the brush near the water, a number of dogs barking, two very determined, unidentified mammals rooting about in the brush across the way, several bats swooping overhead and a mouse nearly ran over his foot. But no woodcock. The joys of fieldwork!
Check out my new blog following my research!
Moon rise at Laurel Hill in Secuacus. Photo taken by Kathleen Farley on March 22, 2016. Edited Using Snapseed.
So I gave away the punch line. Last night three teams were out from Woodcock Watch NJ and we all struck out. There were no displaying woodcock to be had at Plainsboro Preserve, Lenape Park in Union County, or Laurel Hill in Se caucus.
Despite the beautiful full moon and the warm weather, none of us could see a single spiral or hear a single peent. Hopefully we will have better luck throughout the remainder of the week – stay tuned! Like many other organisms (but not all!), woodcock are typically more active when there’s a full moon.
Learn more:
How the Moon Affects the Nocturnal World – livescience.com
6 Wild Ways the Moon Affects Animals – livescience.com
Lunar Phobic Bats Dodge the Moonlight – BBC
On the following Sunday, I joined the Boonton Christmas Bird Count. I did it last year as well and it’s a very different experience from the LSP bird count in that we survey multiple localities throughout the day.
We began at Troy Meadows in an obscure fog. (Not just from the early hour!) The marsh could have been filled with silent, stalking birds and we never would have known. The fog insinuated itself between the reeds and wrapped itself around every tree and high tension structure on the meadow. With the silence, it was not the most promising of mornings, but at least it was warm!
We did pick up a few ducks (mostly Mallards, with two American Black Ducks) as the morning wore on along with Canada Geese, Red-winged Blackbirds and Common Grackles in flight.
From the boardwalk in Troy Meadows we made our way to an abandoned airstrip where we were able to begin picking up some song birds. We got Song Sparrow, and Fox Sparrow, American Robin, Northern Cardinal, Northern Mockingbird. Things were beginning to look up even if we had yet to see the sun.
The place, like most abandoned places, seemed deserted — save for the flock of black birds at the far end of the strip. We made our way back there as the flock kept fluttering out of view. It was here we picked up 100’s of Common Grackles (to supplement the ones we worked so hard for earlier!) and interspersed in the flocks of grackles were clumps of Rusty Blackbirds. We probably had a conservative 60-70 Rusty Blackbirds there.
After Troy Meadows, we tried our luck in Montville and Lake Valhalla which was surprisingly devoid of waterfowl despite the open water. It seems as though all the water fowl decided to stay north this winter. We did pick up Red-headed Woodpecker mid-day though, that was a nice find!
It was a pleasant day, albeit a bit quiet and slow. It wasn’t horribly cold or sunny or windy. It was a good way to ease back into birding and brush up on the birds. It was also nice to get to chat a bit with other birders and learn about what birding everyone else does in between Christmas Bird Counts.
Fox Sparrow surveying the abandoned landscape. Boonton Christmas Bird Count. Photo taken December 27, 2015.
Song Sparrow clinging to the reed. Boonton Christmas Bird Count. Photo taken December 27, 2015.
Common Grackle attempting to consume an acorn. Boonton Christmas Bird Count. Photo taken December 27, 2015.
We contributed 46 species across our sites. We got nearly all the woodpeckers in the state. We only missed Pileated. (We got Downy, Hairy, Red-bellied, Red-headed and Sapsucker!)
On a recent Sunday, I participated in the Lower Hudson Christmas Bird Count surveying Liberty State Park for the third year running.
While we did not find a skeleton this year, it was still an atypical day. We did not stumble across any crows, wrens, robins, or blackbirds. So, what did we see?
Well, we did see a dead mouse on a castle. And this…
Not actually a Great Blue Heron. Wood Stork would be more appropriate for this bizarrely placed lawn ornament. Liberty State Park, NJ. Photo taken December 20, 2015.
We may have had to modify our tally after a closer view. They say to expect the unexpected, but who expects to find fake herons on their bird count?! Fake ducks I’m cluing into and fake owls are at least owls, but this is a whole new consideration when playing bird/not bird.
We did find Yellow-rumped Warblers basking in the rising sun: our only warbler. Liberty State Park, NJ. Photo taken on December 20, 2015.
Herring Gull, silhouette, flying with food. Liberty State Park, NJ.Photo taken December 20, 2015.
Everything seemed bathed in golden light for at least an hour following sunrise, but we could have used more birds. Some Golden-crowned Kinglets or very Common Goldeneyes would have made our eyes shine. Perhaps a glowing Ruby-crowned Kinglet or want-to-be gleaming Orange-crowned Warbler? We would have even settled for a Rusty Blackbird, or any blackbird really. Or any bird.
Hardy House Finch. Liberty State Park, NJ. Photo taken December 20, 2015.
Male and female Buffleheads recorded during Lower Hudson Christmas Bird Count. Liberty State Park, NJ. Photo taken December 20, 2015.
Baffled by Buffleheads without any Common or Hooded Mergansers we did one final pass for ducks around Liberte Point. We dipped on Wigeons over the course of the day, but were good with Gadwalls.
We looked really hard for birds. Here we were scouting for coots and mergansers, but how many birders can you see? Liberty State Park, NJ. Photo taken on December 20, 2015.
Having examined the shoreline and the open water. Failing on Great Cormorant, Long-tailed Ducks, and Loons, we headed inland to The Interior.
Then I tweeted this because it was true:
Every year I go into the interior and spend so much time gazing into every evergreen I find every poky stick, but never any owls. Clearly I need to spend more time looking.
The afternoon lighting was strong and it made for beautiful sightings of what little we did see. As we walked through, the silence seemed very apocalyptic. Other than the drumming from the downy and chittering of the chickadee…
The bird team crossing The Interior after our numbers dropped by three. Liberty State Park, NJ. Photo taken December 20, 2015.
The afternoon light provided bold colors on the woodland birds we could find, such as this Downy Woodpecker. Liberty State Park. Photo taken December 20, 2015.
And Black-capped Chickadees came so close, they were nearly too close for the lens I was using. Not a complaint! Liberty State Park, NJ. Photo taken December 20, 2015.
So, for a day of birding with no crows, wrens, robins, or blackbirds, we got a total of 44 species. Record low, replacing 46 after Sandy when apparently things were Just Bad.Total number of individuals across all species: 1226. Roughly 33% lower than the previous low record.
So why were there so few birds? Who knows. A quick guess may be that it was linked to weather patterns. We had some cold weather earlier in the season, but the fifth warmest November in the state this year. We were in short-sleeve weather the week before. Then the temperature dropped, requiring winter gear for this outing, so perhaps the birds that might have lingered this far south had already headed out and birds that might have traveled down here, are hanging our further north? That’s my guess: it’s a bird void.
See all the birds? Nope we didn’t either. Instead, Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from Liberty State Park, NJ. Photo taken December 20, 2015.
So, somehow, getting out to bird and blogging about birds has not happened as much as I would have hoped for 2015 (but I think all birders feel that way!) So here’s to more birds on 2016! The resolve of birders worldwide.
For the last two years, I resolved that I would…
Reviewing the resolutions:
New bird resolutions for 2016:
Male and female Buffleheads recorded during Lower Hudson Christmas Bird Count. Liberty State Park, NJ. Photo taken on December 20, 2015.
Truth be told, I am actually surprised I birded and generated a list at least once every month! I did cut it rather close with February and November. Perhaps I should change my handle to badbirder…. Anyway 27 minutes until the clock strikes 12….
So how many lists did I submit? It was an up and down year, but over all lower than in years past. This was also the first year that I was in grad school for the entirety of the year. Grad school and birding do not go as well together as one would think!
Lists Submitted to Ebird by Month
| month | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| January | 50 | 2 | 26 |
| February | 34 | 4 | 1 |
| March | 25 | 4 | 4 |
| April | 22 | 26 | 12 |
| May | 24 | 36 | 13 |
| June | 16 | 10 | 15 |
| July | 5 | 3 | 19 |
| August | 22 | 6 | 6 |
| September | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| October | 8 | 17 | 4 |
| November | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| December | 8 | 9 | 5 |
| Year | 223 | 131 | 109 |
So still respectable? In regards to species, it became even more extreme with ups and downs. I had a drop of 98 species between September 2014 and September 2015, but an increase of 101 from January 2014 to January 2015. Travel makes a difference!
Species By Month
| month | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| January | 70 | 30 | 131 (65) * |
| February | 52 | 39 | 17 (0) |
| March | 60 | 46 | 40 |
| April | 48 | 87 | 52 |
| May | 114 | 162 | 101 |
| June | 64 | 85 | 54 (0) ** |
| July | 37 | 32 | 48 (0) ** |
| August | 65 | 40 | 45 (13) ** |
| September | 72 | 102 | 10 |
| October | 57 | 114 | 34 |
| November | 63 | 86 | 6 |
| December | 79 | 90 | 65 |
| Year | 200 | 222 | 287 (169)*** |
* Includes Florida birding efforts.NY/NJ totals in ()
** Includes Honduran birding efforts. NY/NJ totals in ().
*** Global total. NY/NJ totals in ().
In Florida, Tara and I picked up 100 species, and while I don’t have all the records updated yet, I believe I also observed 100 birds in Honduras (ebird currently has 81 listed).
As I compile this review, what surprises me the most is now many life birds I picked up. Traveling for nearly 3 months really helps! So 91 new lifers added to the list. I won’t bore you by listing them all.
However, I will close with some of my favorite photos already shared this year:
And my clock warns me that I have less than 5 minutes remaining…
I suppose it began with renditions of “Merry Schismus” and “O! Schismus Tree” during lab meetings earlier this month, but trudging through an empty Liberty State Park today on our annual Lower Hudson Christmas Bird Count, I began to sing the following in my head.
Sung to the tune of “The 12 Days of Christmas” (or not, if you’re ill-favored like me) because there weren’t enough birds in it already.
On the first day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the second day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: two Coopers Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the third day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: three Moorhens, two Coopers Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the fourth day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: four Mockingbirds, three Moorhens, two Coopers Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the fifth day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: five Goldeneyes, four Mockingbirds, three Moorhens, two Coopers Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the sixth day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: six Hooded ‘Gansers, five Goldeneyes, four Mockingbirds, three Moorhens, two Coopers Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the seventh day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: seven Orange-crowned Warblers, six Hooded ‘Gansers, five Goldeneyes, four Mockingbirds, three Moorhens, two Coopers’ Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the eighth day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: eight Northern Pintails, seven Orange-crowned Warblers, six Hooded ‘Gansers, five Goldeneyes, four Mockingbirds, three Moorhens, two Coopers Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the ninth day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: nine Cedar Waxwings, eight Northern Pintails, seven Orange-crowned Warblers, six Hooded ‘Gansers, five Goldeneyes, four Mockingbirds, three Moorhens, two Coopers Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the tenth day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: ten Ring-necked Pheasants, nine Cedar Waxwings, eight Northern Pintails, seven Orange-crowned Warblers, six Hooded ‘Gansers, five Goldeneyes, four Mockingbirds, three Moorhens, two Coopers Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the eleventh day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: eleven Piping Plovers, ten Ring-necked Pheasants, nine Cedar Waxwings, eight Northern Pintails, seven Orange-crowned Warblers, six Hooded ‘Gansers, five Goldeneyes, four Mockingbirds, three Moorhens, two Coopers’ Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the twelfth day of CBC, Audubon sent my way: twelve Pileateds, eleven Piping Plovers, ten Ring-necked Pheasants, nine Cedar Waxwings, eight Northern Pintails, seven Orange-crowned Warblers, six Hooded ‘Gansers, five Goldeneyes, four Mockingbirds, three Moorhens, two Coopers Hawks and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
On the 13th day of CBC, Audubon sent to me frostbite, warbler neck, blisters, and a runny nose so the song ends here.
Please do add your own verses and variations in the comments!
Image sources: Pileated Woodpeckers, Piping Plovers, Ring-necked Pheasants, Cedar Waxwings, Northern Pintails, Orange-crowned Warblers, Hooded Mergansers, Goldeneyes, Northern Mockingbird, Common Moorhens, Coopers Hawks, and a Saw-whet in a pine tree.
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