March 2022

Although my schedule has been absolutely non-stop as of late, I did manage to make it down to New Jersey this evening for a special evening of naturing. Early every spring when the temperatures rise into the 40’s and drenching rains soak eastern forests, a phenomenon of amphibian movement happens during the nighttime: frogs, toads, salamanders, and newts all move to the fish-less pools of the forest to lay their eggs for the next generation. So far this spring, the two nights that have produced migration (Feb 22 & Mar 7) in the NYC area, I have either been busy or out of town.

Tonight, though, was shaping up to be different as temperatures were to hold steady around 43F and there should be intermittent rain throughout the evening. So, I took the subway, NJTransit, and an uber to Beekman Road in rural Middlesex County, NJ to hopefully observe amphibian migration. Spotted Salamanders, Eastern Newts, and Spring Peepers are the most conspicuous migrants here, though occasionally one can find less common species such as Four-toed Salamander, Pickerel, & even New Jersey Chorus Frog (the latter two would be lifers).

Upon arriving, I heard a smattering of “peeps” from Northern Spring Peepers in the vernal pond deep in the woods. Hopefully a good sign!

As it happened though, the rain showers turned out to be more intermittent than I would have hoped (early spring is pretty much the only time a herper hopes for rain!), and it became evident that after an hour of walking the road fruitlessly, amphibians would be hard to come by tonight.

Therefore to my amazement, after walking up and down the road for nearly two hours in the cold rain showers, I was rewarded with a beautiful male Spotted Salamander s l o w l y making his way across. He was cold!

I had studied a map of the vernal pools nearby early today and interestingly enough, this salamander was migrating east, away from these particular pools — meaning breeding has already taken place and I had come for the tale end (and usually less exciting part) of salamander migration.

Even though I ended up only finding this one salamander, I consider tonight to be a success because shortly after moving the salamander off the road, two cars cruised by from both directions — there is a good chance it would have been crushed had I not been there. Here he is after being moved off the road:

A conservation organization closes off the road to vehicular traffic on large migratory nights but apparently they had the foresight to understand that there would be fewer amphibians out tonight, so therefore cars would occasionally whiz by.

A quick uber and long train ride back to the city landed me back to the dorms by 2am, so let’s just say it wasn’t your average weeknight. Even just seeing one salamander migrating was an amazing phenomenon, and I pray that these remaining population fragments of these vulnerable species will be here for us to see and appreciate for many generations to come.

Bird-wise, I may have seen an owl at one point but I wasn’t sure, so my bird-of-the-day designation will just have to go to some distant Canada Geese I heard honking while I was walking the road!

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1128 Species

TUESDAY, MARCH 8:
During my five-day stay in Chicago over spring break, I was able to bird once — Parker and I made a bee-line for Sagawau Environmental Learning Center in Palos to chase a continuing Lesser Goldfinch which was a first record ever for Illinois!

There were plenty of songbirds around, including AMERICAN TREE SPARROW:

And a number of AMERICAN GOLDFINCHES:

But despite our (and over a dozen other birders’) efforts, we were unable to locate the Lesser after over an hour of searching. So, Parker and I continued on to a few more reliable Palos birding spots — Saganashkee Slough held a MUTE SWAN:

As well as a fair amount of diving ducks very far out — picture here are RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, RING-NECKED DUCKS, GREATER SCAUP, and Greater/Lesser Scaup:

COMMON MERGANSERS:

Next stop was the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center where in Long John Slough behind the center I had HOODED MERGANSERS along with more Ring-necked Ducks:

And right in the corner of the slough, I heard quite a ruckus, and despite twigs obscuring my view, I figured out that it was the pair of TRUMPETER SWANS mating!

We left Palos and had one more stop before calling it quits: Miller Meadow Forest Preserve. Here I checked the fluddles for Wilson’s Snipe but came up empty, instead finding the more ubiquitous CANADA GEESE and MALLARDS, along with my first-of-the-year KILLDEER! I’m sure had I waded into the marshy north meadow I would’ve flushed a few Snipe, but I didn’t have that kind of time.

Nobody had the Lesser Goldfinch for the rest of the day, but annoyingly, others did find it the next day. So bird-of-the-day goes to the Trumpeter Swans, by far the most quality species found today.

I’m back to New York now but probably will not be doing much birding until warbler season starts in late April due to an incredibly busy performance schedule.

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1128 Species

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 2:

As I am on spring break now, of course I have to carve out some time for birding! So with the warmer temps today, I thought it would be the perfect day to head out to Jamaica Bay National Wildlife Refuge in Queens, one of the most scenic places in NYC. It is quite a commute to get there — three subways and a bus — but the birds and scenery are always worth it. I was hoping to see the large flocks of wintering Snow Geese, a continuing, semi-rare Eurasian Wigeon, and if I was very lucky, maybe one of the resident Barn Owls!

Upon arriving, I did my usual route: a clockwise circuit of the West Pond followed by checking the lookouts at Big John Pond and East Pond. West Pond had a lot of waterfowl, including GADWALL:

MUTE SWANS:

HOODED MERGANSER:

BRANT:

And the winter-resident SNOW GEESE did not disappoint! There was a massive flock that kept noisily shifting between Jamaica Bay and West Pond. Awesome!

Passerines were also present, the best of which was a heard-only ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER, though this GRAY CATBIRD was more cooperative:

As was this SONG SPARROW:

Try as I could, the Eurasian Wigeon was nowhere to be found so I just had to settle for its AMERICAN cousins (drake American Wigeon center):

DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS with CANADA GEESE:

On a clear day like today, there is a beautiful, albeit distant, view of the downtown Manhattan skyline from Jamaica Bay:

Looking out into the actual bay, I picked up a few new species for the day like this distant RED-THROATED LOON:

And a COMMON:

As well as a HORNED GREBE (center), the first one I’ve seen in New York in a long time!

NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD:

RUDDY DUCKS:

Next, I headed across Cross Bay Boulevard to bird the other side of the Wildlife Refuge. Looking into the owl box, I was most shocked and thrilled to see the beautiful, heart-faced silhouette of a BARN OWL peering back at me! Wow!!!! This is an endangered species in the state and it is harder to find these guys here out east, by an order of magnitude, than out in Idaho where I’m used to seeing them. Absolutely amazing!

Can you make out its silhouette in this picture? This is how it looks for real — I may have missed the owls had I not yanked the exposure way up like in the previous shot.

A beautiful female HOODED MERGANSER was swimming on the pond below the owl box:

Then, I discovered why the owl was being so cooperative: it was protecting its territory from a pesky Eastern Gray Squirrel! I tweaked the exposure here again so you can see the owl better. It was not happy with the squirrel’s presence, and in the first photo you can even make out a second owl squeezed inside too!

AMERICAN BLACK DUCK:

Male BUFFLEHEAD:

Female:

Flyover FISH CROW — this midwesterner always gets a kick out of this primarily east coast species (though its range has been greatly expanding, including into parts of Illinois and even Michigan):

With the exception of the no-show Eurasian Wigeon, I had seen about all there was to see in Jamaica Bay, so I decided to make the commute back into the city to try to photograph an American Woodcock at Bryant Park before sunset. These poor birds always get stuck in this particular park this time of year, as indeed it was also the last bird I chased in Manhattan prior to the pandemic in 2020, almost exactly 2 years to this day!

I arrived at Bryant Park around 5:15 and immediately set out to search for the Timberdoodle. Upon arrival, it took me about thirty seconds to find a woman pointing her camera into the bushes, and sure enough, right where folks said it was, there was a derpy little AMERICAN WOODCOCK hanging out at the corner of 40th & 6th Ave in Bryant Park. Awesome — I will never tire of these guys!

Bird-of-the-day to my New York lifer Barn Owls with runner-up to those impressive flocks of Snow Geese. Next week I will be heading home for five days and I will surely find a bit of time for birding, so stay tuned!

Good birding!
Henry
World Life List: 1128 Species

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 23:

I didn’t have class till 2pm today so this morning I took the train and bus deep into Queens to bird and herp Alley Pond Park. It is home to woodland birds such as Red-shouldered Hawk and Tufted Titmouse and I figured that after the mild temps and rains last night, I might be able to find some of the resident Spotted or Two-lined Salamanders, also.

I started at the far northern end of the park where there was a pond hosting a good bit of waterfowl such as this GADWALL:

AMERICAN COOT:

MUTE SWANS:

NORTHERN SHOVELERS:

AMERICAN COOT, AMERICAN WIGEON, PIED-BILLED GREBE, and MALLARD:

A nice FOX with a WHITE-THROATED SPARROW:

GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET:

And the surprise of the day came in the form of five RUSTY BLACKBIRDS foraging the edge of a vernal pool in which I was searching for salamanders.

Never found any herps today other than a few heard-only Northern Spring Peepers, so I guess it was too early in the season after all! (despite rains last night and 60-degree temps). Bird-of-the-day to the Rusty Blackbirds with runner-up to the Pied-billed Grebe.

Good birding,
Henry
World Life List: 1128 Species