We visited family in New Jersey for Memorial Day weekend. On May 28 Dave, BB (Baby Birder), and I spent the morning at Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge. It was a lovely morning with loads of shorebirds and seabirds. We observed 48 species and added 2 new birds to our life life: a Marbled Godwit and Bank Swallows. Here are some of the highlights:
Seabirds: Common Terns, Forster Terns, Least Terns, Gull-billed Terns, Black Skimmers, Great Black-backed Gulls, Herring Gulls, Ring-billed Gulls, Laughing Gulls, Double-crested Cormorants
Forster’s Tern (Image by Michelle Horowitz)Black Skimmers (Image by David Horowitz)
Ruddy Turnstone breeding adult (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
Other Highlights: A Clapper Rail running across the mudflats, 24 Osprey, Marsh Wrens, lots of Red-winged Blackbirds, a horseshoe crab, and many Diamondback Terrapins
Diamondback Terrapin (Image by David Horowitz)Diamondback Terrapins basking in the Sun (Image by David Horowitz)
I found a fun sequence while looking through old Barnegat Light pictures: a second year Great Black-backed Gull getting ready to eat a small dead shark. Gulls are omnivores and will pretty much eat anything, including small sharks. Just type “daring seagull eats live baby shark” into YouTube if you want to watch a gull in action. The bird on the right in the two top pictures is a Herring Gull. The captions are what I imagine they were saying to each other :-).
“A shark?…Looks like a treat!”Herring Gull: ” Hey Black-backed, you gonna eat that?”“Of course I’m gonna eat it!”“This shark is mine! ALL MINE!”
The Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) began World Albatross Day in 2020 to honor these amazing seabirds while educating the world about the conservation issues they face. June 19th was chosen because it was the date the Agreement was signed in 2001. 2020’s theme was “Eradicating Island Pests”. 2021’s theme is “Ensuring Albatross-friendly Fisheries”.
There are 22 albatross species in the world. According to the IUNC Red List of Threatened Species, 6 species are vunerable, 6 are near threatened, 7 are endangered, and 2 are critically endangered. Only one 1 species out of the 22, the Black-browed Albatross, is considered a least concern due to an increasing population trend. Currently the two of most threaten species are the Tristan and Waved Albatrosses, which are being featured by the ACAP in 2021.
Albatrosses, like many other species of seabirds, are facing considerable challenges that threaten their survival. One of the main issues is plastic pollution and marine debris which is accidentally being ingested by the birds at an alarming rate. Longline fisheries are perhaps the albatrosses’ great threat. Lured in by the bait, approximately 100,000 albatrosses are killed by longline fisheries each year. Invasive species and lead paint are also issues that are harming albatrosses.
There are many actions we can take to help albatrosses and other seabirds. These include:
Reducing single-use plastic consumption, as well as recycling
If you spot these birds in the wild keep your distance to avoid disturbances
Educate yourself and others! Knowledge is power!
We have the power to make great changes that can benefit our planet. If we all take action, even if it is something small, then we can make a difference and help not only albatrosses and seabirds but other species as well.
What is your favorite species of albatrosses? Tell me in the comments! (Mine is the Laysan Albatross)
January 6th is an important day to me for a few reasons. One reason is that it’s my wedding anniversary. Of course birds were part of the wedding design- my dress had birds on it and some of our photography was featured at the tables at our reception. But one year before our wedding on January 6th 2017, I had a significant birding experience with my mom and sister. January 6th will always be “Day of the Pelican”. The American White Pelican was our first bird we found from the NJ Rare Bird List.
American White Pelican (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
I lived in New Jersey at the time and the range of the American White Pelican is the Western/interior of North America and the Pacific and Gulf Coasts. So it was quite a surprise to NJ birders when in late December/early January a juvenile American White Pelican showed up at Stanley H. “Tip” Seaman County Park in Tuckerton, NJ. The pelican was observed skating over the ice and befriending Mute Swans and Canada Geese for about a week or two before leaving the area. I’ve seen American White Pelicans a handful of times since then, but January 6th 2017 will always be a really special day for me.
In honor of my personal “Pelican Day”, here’s a few fun facts about American White Pelicans:
American White Pelicans usually work together when hunting for food. They gather in large flocks and coordinate their movements to herd fish to shallow areas of the wetland. By cooperating, it makes it easier for them to scoop up large amounts of fish.
Adult American White Pelicans have white bodies with black wingtips. During breeding season adult have a distinct “bump” or plate on their yellow-orange bills. Immature birds are mainly white, but have some dusky patches on their backs, heads, and necks.
American White Pelicans have a 9-foot wingspan.
They usually forage for food at night during breeding season.
American White Pelicans are colonial nesters who are seasonally monogamous.
American White Pelicans are amazing birds to observe. Have you seen an American White Pelican before? Where did you see it? Tell me about it in the comments!
American White Pelican (Image by Michelle Horowitz)
Last weekend, Dave and I went birding at 4 locations searching for waterfowl . One of our locations was Manasquan Inlet, where there was an abundance of loons. Naturally, I just assumed they were all Common Loons, checked out a few, and kept looking for different species. However, when I got home that evening I learned that a Pacific Loon was there when we were. What a bummer! I was annoyed at myself because we could have potentially seen it, but didn’t look hard enough. But it just wasn’t meant to be that day.
Pacific Loons are one of the most abundant North American loons. However, they are considered are rarity in New Jersey because…well…a Pacific Loon should be on the Pacific Coast. This particular loon has been observed all week by numerous birders so I was hoping it would still be there by the time we could go back.
On Sunday February 3, we spent an hour watching at Manasquan Inlet. There were significantly less loons this time…only about 9 compared to about 30 last week. But nobody seemed to have the dusky black chinstrap that distinguishes the nonbreeding Pacific Loon from the nonbreeding Common Loon. We did see a lot of bird around though…Red-breasted Mergansers, Long-tailed Ducks, Ring-billed Gulls, a female Common Goldeneye, a Double-crested Cormorant, Ruddy Ducks, and Boat-tailed Grackles. There was even a Harbor Seal hanging around. But after an hour, still no Pacific Loon.
Gulls on a railing (Image by BirdNation)
Boat-tailed Grackle female (Image by BirdNation)
Common Goldeneye female (Image by BirdNation)
Harbor Seal (Image by BirdNation)
We were watching the seal for awhile, but we had other plans in the afternoon so we decided it was time to go. Sometimes you find the rare bird you’re chasing and sometimes you don’t. On they way back to the car we scanned a few loons that were congregating. Dave noticed one seemed a little smaller/thinner than the others. As we approached it dived underwater, and after a few seconds it popped up in front of us. The Pacific Loon! We could see the black chinstrap clearly. We informed some other birders who were around and we all watched the Pacific Loon for a few minutes. So cool! What an elegant and beautiful bird.
Pacific Loon (Image by BirdNation)
The Pacific Loon and Common Loon in nonbreeding plumage look pretty similar at a glance. However, the Pacific has the black chinstrap, shorter neck, and is slightly smaller (the chinstrap may sometimes not be visible).The Common has a larger, flatter bill and a “collar” around the neck that the Pacific lacks.
Pacific Loon nonbreeding (Image by BirdNation)
Common Loon nonbreeding (Image by BirdNation)
Mission accomplished! The rare NJ Pacific Loon is our 3rd life list bird of 2019.
Seabirds are some of the most fascinating creatures on Earth. Over millions of years, these birds have mastered life on the open ocean. Seabirds are an elusive group; it’s hard to study them because they only come ashore to breed.
A seabird is any bird that spends the majority or part of its life out on the open ocean. While the term “seabird” can describe a wide variety of birds, this group is most often used to describe the orders of Procellariiformes and Suliformes. Procellariiformes include petrels, albatrosses, shearwater, and storm-petrels, which are more commonly known as “tubenoses”. Suliformes include cormorants, boobies, gannets, and frigatebirds. Gulls, jaegers, skuas, auks, and penguins are also seabirds.
I recently read The Seabird’s Cry: The Lives and Loves of the Planet’s Great Ocean Voyagers by Adam Nicolson. This beautifully-written book explores the lives of 10 species of seabirds. For each species, Nicolson explores not only how these birds live from a scientific standpoint, but how they touch the lives of people in emotional and spiritual ways. I particularly enjoyed reading some of the myths that native cultures tell about these fascinating creatures.
It’s clear that Nicolson loves the subjects he writes about. Adam Nicolson was born in England. During his childhood his father actually bought the Shiant Islands in the Outer Herbrides of Scotland, where Nicolson would watch puffins, fulmars, razorbills, shags, kittiwakes, and other seabirds breed. The Seabird’s Cry offers intimate accounts of the specie’s life, but also reminds us how fragile their lifestyles can be in an ever changing world of climate change.
I learned so many interesting facts in this book, so I wanted to share some of them with you. Below is one fact from each of the 10 species. You’ll just have to find out the rest when you read The Seabird’s Cry. 🙂
Fulmars were known as the “foul gulls” to the Vikings, since they would vomit the oils from their food as a defense mechanism.
An adult puffin raising a chick will dive between 600 and 1,150 times per day to get sandeels, sprats, or capelin.
Kittiwakes are the most populous gull, with approximately 18 million individuals in the Northern Hemisphere.
Some gull species have black heads instead of white heads. Studies found that gulls with black heads/faces actually scare other gulls, most likely to space out the breeding territory. Therefore, when black-headed gulls mate, they face away from each other to show their white bodies and use other senses during courtship such as smell and touch.
A Newfoundland study found that “extramarital affairs” were fairly common among guillemots. However, females who had these affairs would typically end up being less successful breeders than males who had affairs.
Cormorants and shags are most likely the closest in lifestyle and body-type to the first fossilized seabirds from about 100 million years ago.
Shearwaters, like other “tubenoses” have large olfactory bulb and therefore a strong sense of smell. Phytoplankton, which is eaten by the shearwater’s prey krill, emit dimethyl sulfide (DMS). Young shearwaters are exposed to DMS in the burrow, so they are able to locate krill by smell when they go foraging. Unfortunately, plastics also emit DMS, so seabirds are accidentally eating plastic not because it looks like prey, but smells like prey.
Gannets regularly fly over 350 miles or more while fishing.
Razorbills are the living representatives of the largest seabird that ever lived in the Northern Hemisphere, the extinct Great Auk.
Albatross have a lifespan of 60-80 years depending on the species. (Not from this book, but Wisdom, the 68-year-old albatross, laid an egg in December!)
Double-crested Cormorant (Image by BirdNation)
Northern Gannet (Image by BirdNation)
Great Black-backed Gull portrait (Image by BirdNation)
What’s your favorite seabird? Tell me in the comment section! Mine is the Laysan Albatross.
January 6th is a special day for me. On 1/6/17 I saw my first rare bird, the American White Pelican, with my mom and sister in Tuckerton, NJ. 1/6/18, Dave and I got married!
American White Pelican (Image by BirdNation)
wedding photo (Image by BirdNation)
January 6th continues to be as special day because in 2019, it’s the day of the Razorbills!
Dave and I decided that we wanted to spend our 1st wedding anniversary birding at a new location. Sandy Hook is an area that I’ve wanted to explore for a while, so we decided that it would be the perfect time. Sandy Hook is a barrier island peninsula and the northern tip of the New Jersey Shore. You can see the Manhattan Skyline across the ocean. Sandy Hook is part of Gateway National Recreation Area, run by the National Park Service.
I heard through my NJ birders groups that there were some Razorbill sightings, so I was hoping we would spot a few. However, whether or not we found Razorbills, Sandy Hook always has interesting sightings.
We started our adventure at Lot A and B Beaches. Black Scoters, Surf Scoters, and Long-tailed Ducks surfed the waves. A few Northern Gannets flew by. We spent about 10 minutes watching the flocks fly by when we spotted our first Razorbills. Razorbills look like little black-and-white jet planes in flight. They fly low to the water in lines and individuals usually rock side-to-side out of sync with their flockmates. The Razorbills were our first life list birds of the year.
Lot C Beach brought us some more Razorbills, Red-breasted Mergansers, Long-tailed Ducks, Black Scoters, a variety of gulls, Northern Gannets, and Common Loons (as well as a nice view of the Manhattan Skyline).
Common Loon (Image by BirdNation)
The other side of the peninsula runs along Sandy Hook Bay and Spermaceti Cove. You get a pretty view of the Atlantic Highlands as you walk across the beach. According to Sandy Hook’s website, the Highlands are the highest point on the eastern seaboard. We observed a group of adult and juvenile Mute Swans, American Black Ducks, Brant, Canada Geese, and many gulls.
Mute Swan Goslings (Image by BirdNation)
We also had the opportunity to see a colony of Atlantic Harbor Seals relaxing on a sandbar. It was fun watching them frolic in the water and spend some time sunning. (Speaking of seals, we had a cool seal experience in Cape Cod, MA last summer!)
Sandy Hook Seals (Image by David Horowitz)
Before leaving, we spent time exploring some of the historical sites and the lighthouse. I definitely plan on birding again at Sandy Hook.
Dave and I spent New Years Day morning at the 8th St. Jetty in Avalon, New Jersey. The 8th St. Jetty is the location of the Avalon Sea Watch, run by New Jersey Audubon.
Avalon Sea Watch is a migratory bird count that occurs from September 22 to December 22 each year. The 8th St. Jetty in Avalon was chosen as the bird count site because it extends a mile farther out into the ocean than the northern coastline. Therefore, many seabirds pass close to the beach. Fall is the best time to visit the Sea Watch, because any seabird that migrates across the Atlantic Coast can be a possibility. Winter brings rafts of seaducks, wintering loons, gulls, alcids, and grebes. New Jersey Audubon’s Sea Watch page states that around 800,000 birds are counted annually at this location.
January 1st was our first time birding at the 8th St. Jetty, but we did have a motivation to check it out: Razorbills. Razorbills are seabirds that are members of the alcid family (the auks). These black-and-white birds are well adapted for ocean life and only come ashore to breed. They are residents of the North Atlantic, and sometimes in the winter can be seen offshore as far south as North Carolina (rarely to Florida).
We’ve been having a record winter this year for Razorbills in New Jersey. Since late December, Razorbills have been spotted at a few Jersey Shore locations in the hundreds to thousands on some days. They mainly fly by in the mornings around sunrise (from 7:00am-10:00 generally). It’s been quite an event, and has been widely discussed in Jersey Birder circles.
Razorbill (Image via bbc.co.uk)
So Dave and I figured that we should check it out. Who knows, maybe we would see some Razorbills? Well, we ended up not seeing any that morning, but did see Long-tailed Ducks, Common Eiders, Black Scoters, Common Loons, a Brant, and some Herring Gulls. It’s definitely a great birding location and I would like to visit the Sea Watch again.
After the Sea Watch site, we went to Stone Harbor Point. At Stone Harbor we saw some more Long-tailed Ducks, Common Loons Herring Gulls, and Brant. We also observed Purple Sandpiper, Sanderlings, and a Northern Gannet.
Our first hike of the year is usually at Palmyra Cove, so it was nice to head out the Jersey Shore for some New Year birding.
By the way, my first bird of 2019 was a Ring-billed Gull at the local Wawa (a good convenience store/food market for those not lucky enough to live near one lol).
What was your first bird of 2019? Tell me in the comments!
Exciting news! Wisdom, a Laysan Albatross who is at least 68-years-old, has laid another egg in December on Midway Atoll. This amazing Albatross is the world’s oldest wild bird.
Wisdom and her mate Akeakamai (Image by Kiah Walker via friendsofmidwayatoll.org)
Wisdom was banded on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge in 1956 by biologist Chandler Robbins. Wisdom was already around 5 or 6-years-old at the time of banding. 46 years later, in 2002, Robbins was back on Midway Atoll to study albatrosses and re-sighted Wisdom.
Scientists who have track Wisdom believe that she’s laid over 40 eggs in her over 6 decades. She had successfully raised at least 35 chicks.
Laysan Albatrosses are large seabirds with a 6-foot-wingspan and weigh between 5-9 pounds. They lay one egg per breeding season and spend 5 1/2 months raising their chick. Laysans mate with the same partner for life, usually at the same nesting location. These albatrosses typically take a year off after rearing a chick. However, Wisdom and her current mate, Akeakamai (whose name actually means “lover of wisdom” 😊), have raised an egg every year since 2006.
Albatrosses are master ocean travelers. They spend a majority of their lives out at sea. After fledging, young albatrosses will spend about 3-5 years exploring the oceans before returning to land to breed. It’s estimated that over her six decades so far, Wisdom may have flown over 3 million miles.
Seabirds are facing a number of challenges these days, including plastic pollution, warming oceans, and invasive predators at nest sites. To me, Wisdom is a symbol of resilience and hope in an ever-changing world. The fact that she has survived over six decades and is still raising chicks is a testament to how intelligent and adaptable seabirds can be in a world of increasing challenges.
I wish Wisdom and Akeakami the best of luck and safe journeys!
LaysanAlbatrosses are one of my favorite bird species. Check out some of my other posts about how amazing they are and what you can do to help them in the face of plastic pollution.
We are on Thanksgiving break, so Dave and I took a one-day getaway to Chincoteague, VA. Thanksgiving weekend is Waterfowl Weekend at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. Being a waterfowl enthusiast, I thought it was a perfect time to head down to Virginia’s Eastern Shore to seek out winter visitors. (We went to Chincoteague for our honeymoon in March, check out that trip here).Tom’s Cove Beach Highlights
Snow Geese! Over a thousand of them! The longer we watched the flock, the more Snow Geese arrived. They circled above us as they joined the huge flock resting on the beach. Mixed within the sea of white were “blue morphs”, a color variation of the Snow Goose. Individuals will mate for life, choosing the same color morph as their family members. Two white morphs will have white offspring, a pure dark with a white morph will likely have dark morphs (sometimes with white bellies), and two blue morphs will likely have blue offspring, although white offspring are possible. Dave spotted two individual with bands, one in which he got a clear picture of.
Snow Goose Parade (Image by BirdNation)
Snow Goose Flock (Image by David Horowitz)
Banded Snow Goose (Image by David Horowitz)
Snow Geese soaring overhead (Image by David Horowitz)
Shorebirds: Black-bellied Plovers, Dunlins, Sanderlings, Willets, and Yellowlegs
Black-bellied Plover nonbreeding (Image by BirdNation)
Dunlins on the go (Image by BirdNation)
Lots of Gulls (Ring-billed, Herring, Great Black-backed), Common and Red-bellied Loons, Surf and White-winged Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Bufflehead, Forster’s Terns.
No Parking Gull (Image by BirdNation)
Great Blue Heron (Image by BirdNation)
Extended Wildlife Loop Highlights
Chincoteague NWR has a 3.2 mile wildlife loop for walking, bicycling, and driving. For Waterfowl Weekend, the refuge opens up a 7.5 mile service (15 miles round trip) road to extend the drive. I’ll admit it was a little strange at first because it just seemed like a road with dead trees. However, further down the trail there were pools and dikes with many birds.
American White Pelicans!: We saw 2 American White Pelicans floating and flying over a pool. It was Dave’s first White Pelicans (I saw my first in NJ, read about the awesome experience with Mr. Pelican here). I discovered while entering my checklist on e-Bird that the pelicans were considered rare in our location, so we were lucky enough to have some “rare” birds on this trip. At this time of year American White Pelicans are usually in Florida, the Gulf Coast, Mexico, or parts of California.
American White Pelicans (Image by BirdNation)
Yellow-rumped Warblers, more Bufflehead, Northern Shovelers, Northern Pintails, White-breasted Nuthatch, Snowy and Great Egrets, Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagles
And of course, the famous Chincoteague Wild Ponies. In March we had a cool experience of the wild ponies parading past our vehicle. There were a lot more visitors this time, so the ponies caused quite a spectacle (and traffic!). We again had a pretty “up close and personal” encounter with the ponies, although I don’t think the actually realized how close they came to our car. They were too busy just being wild ponies to notice how close they were.
Chincoteague Wild Ponies cause a commotion
I’m so thankful that we had the time to head down for a fun-filled day at Chincoteague NWR. There’s always something amazing to see on Chincoteague Island.
BirdNation 