Decade’s End

Hello friends! I’m here writing you at 8:50 pm on 12/31/19, the end of the year and the decade. I can’t believe 2020 is already upon us. 2019 was a very exciting birding year for us and 2020 is going to be just as, if not more, amazing! My New Year’s Resolution is to get back to blogging frequently again because to be honest, 2019 was a little rough to stay on task. At the end of June Dave and I moved from New Jersey to New Hampshire and its been quite an adventure. Here are BirdNation’s 2019 highlights.

Life List Birds (19 for me, 17 for Dave)

• Razorbill: 1/6 at Sandy Hook Beach, NJ (on our 1st wedding anniversary)
• Canvasback: 1/27 at Manasquan Reservoir IBA, NJ
• Pacific Loon: 2/3 at Manasquan Inlet, NJ

Pacific Loon (Image by David Horowitz)

• Pine Siskin: 2/10 at Cloverdale Farm County Park, Barnegat, NJ (Dave was not here for this lifer, it was a lifer for my mom and sister though)
• Red-breasted Nuthatch: 2/17 at Cloverdale Farm County Park, Barnegat, NJ

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Image by BirdNation)

• Northern Saw-whet Owl: 3/1 at undisclosed location

Northern Saw-whet Owl (Image by David Horowitz)

• Winter Wren: 3/1 at Palmyra Cove Nature Park, NJ
• American Woodcock: 3/13 at Rancocas Nature Center, Westampton, NJ
• Yellow-throated Warbler: 4/26 at Flag Ponds Nature Park, Lusby, MD
• Red-headed Woodpecker: 4/27 at Calvert Cliffs SP, Lusby, MD
• Prothonotary Warbler: 4/27 at Battle Creek Cypress Swamp, Prince Frederick, MD

Prothonotary Warbler (Image by David Horowitz)

• Scarlet Tanager: 5/8 at Maria B. Greenwald Park, Cherry Hill, NJ
• Eastern Meadowlark: 6/19 at Chincoteague NWR, VA

Eastern Meadowlark (Image by David Horowitz)

• Bobolink: 7/28 at Parker River NWR, Newbury, MA
• Common Nighthawk: 8/30 at Moores Crossing Railroad Bridge, Manchester, NH
• Nashville Warbler: 9/1 at Miller SP-Pack Monadnock, Peterborough, NH
• Black Guillemot: 11/10 at Odiorne SP, Rye, NH
• American Tree Sparrow: 12/15 at Concord, NH (Dave wasn’t there for this one either, I saw this in the Concord Christmas Bird Count)
• Virginia Rail: 12/26 at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR

My current life list total is 227.

Year List 2019

This is the 2nd year I kept a Year List. 2019’s total was 189, 14 more birds than 2018 (175). The Year List will continue into 2020.

Bird Counts

We participated in many bird counts this year:

• Great Backyard Bird Count: We counted at Amico Island , Haddon Lake Park, Palmyra Cove, Barnegat Lighthouse SP, Cloverdale Farm, and then Haddon Lake again (lol) to find 52 different species and over 1,500 individual birds
• Global Big Day (May 4): 55 species (11 of them warblers) between Rancocas Nature Center and Palmyra Cove
• 2019 Great American Arctic Birding Challenge (March 15-June 1): It was Team BirdNation’s 2nd year participating and we saw 56 species
• October Big Day (October 19): 20 species in Cape Cod, MA
• Concord Christmas Bird Count (December 15): I participated in the Concord CBC. Last year I did the Moorestown, NJ count with my friends from Rancocas, but I wanted to start getting involved in the New Hampshire birding community. I had a blast being on the team and we totaled 51 species at the time (not including a count we were waiting on from 1 person and count week birds).

Birding States

We went birding in 2 new states in 2019: New Hampshire (where we moved to) and Maine, bringing our total to 11 birding states. Other states we visited this year were Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.

Onward to 2020…

I’m so excited to start our birding adventures in 2020! There are some pretty cool opportunities coming up, so I will keep you posted on all our new expeditions (and I will catch you up on some of the events of the past few months.) Happy New Year! See you in 2020!

Bye Winter, Hello Spring!

Winter is my favorite birding season. A common misconception is that nothing is really around in winter, but that couldn’t be more wrong! You can find a large variety of species around if you know where to look. Dave and I had a great winter bird-wise.

A New Challenge

I was inspired to try the eBird 365 checklist challenge for 2019. The grand prize for three lucky eBirders is a pair of Zeiss binocular, so I figured I would go for it. Even if I don’t get the binoculars, I’m still contributing valuable data to scientists, so it’s a win-win. So far I’ve submitted 86 checklists (as of writing this there’s been 84 days in 2019), so I’m two lists ahead. Off to a good start!

Year List 2019

This is my second year keeping a year list. We recorded 81 species from January 1- March 20 2018. This year we beat that record with 85 species. We did have some interesting life list rarities this season, so I’m thinking those rarities put us ahead of last year.

Life List Additions

• January 6: Razorbills! Seen at Sandy Hook, NJ. New Jersey had a large influx of Razorbills off the coast this year, with numbers in the thousands over a few weeks.
• January 27: Canvasbacks at Mansquan Reservior IBA.
• February 3: Pacific Loon at Manasquan Inlet. This is an NJ rarity.

Pacific Loon at Manasquan Inlet (Image by BirdNation)

• February 10: Pine Siskins at Cloverdale Farm County Park.
• February 17: Red-breasted Nuthatch at Cloverdale Farm County Park during the Great Backyard Bird Count.

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Image by David Horowitz)

• March 1: Northern Saw-whet Owl and Winter Wren at Palmyra Cove. I think the Saw-whet was my favorite 2019 life list bird so far. It was so cute!

Northern Saw-whet Owl (Image by David Horowitz)

• March 13th: American Woodcock displays at Rancocas Nature Center.
• March 17: Red-necked Grebe in a pond near the mall in Toms River.

Red-necked Grebe (Image by BirdNation)

Great Backyard Bird Count

For this year’s Great Backyard Bird Count, we counted 52 different species (over 1,500 individuals) at 6 birding locations. We beat our 2018 count by 19 species.

2019 Great American Arctic Birding Challenge

Team BirdNation is participating again in the Great American Arctic Birding Challenge run by Alaska Audubon. In 2018 our team found 62 species on the checklist between March 1- June 1. This year, the Challenge occurs between March 15-June 1. The Challenge is open to anyone, so get a team together and start birding!

Moving forward…

Spring has already been off to a good start. Spring migrants, such as Ospreys, Tree Swallows, and American Oystercatchers have returned to New Jersey. Dave and I have very exciting news coming in the next month or so. I can’t tell you yet, but you’ll know soon enough! (And no…everyone automatically assumes kids, but that’s not the case at the moment lol). In the meantime, happy spring birding!

What was your favorite winter birding moment? Tell us about it in the comments!

2018 Review: Year of the Bird

Happy New Year’s Eve! 2018 was official the Year of the Bird, and it was quite a year! Here are some of the highlights from our birding year.

January

• Dave and I got married on January 6, the anniversary of my first rare bird, the American White Pelican!
• Added Common Goldeneyes to the life list.

February

• Great Backyard Bird Count: 33 species, 793 individual birds. Plus 2 Life Birds: Tufted Duck and Redheads

Tufted Duck (Image by BirdNation)

• 2 Snowy Owls at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR.

March

• Birding honeymoon to Chincoteague Island, Virginia. We visited Blackwater NWR in Maryland,Chincoteague NWR in Virginia, and Prime Hook NWR in Delaware.

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  Ponies on Parade (Image by David Horowitz)

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  Snow Geese (Image by David Horowitz)

• Added 2 Life List Birds at Chincoteague: Brown-headed Nuthatch and Lesser Black-backed Gull
• Snowy Owl at Forsythe (totaling to 3 Snowies this year)

Snowy Owl 3/18/18 (Image by David Horowitz)

• Saw 81 species from January 1 to the first day of spring for Year List

April

• My first dolphins!
• Added Wilson’s Snipe to our life list at Taylor’s Wildlife Preserve

May

• Global Big Day at Forsythe NWR: 60 species
• Our first Red Knots at Delaware Bay
• Participated in the 2018 Great American Arctic Birding Challenge with 62 species recorded between March 1 and June 1
• Added 4 Life List Birds: Caspian Tern, Northern Parula, Canada Warbler, and Red Knots
• Added 71 species to Year List, bring total to 152 by the first day of summer

June

Started working at Rancocas Nature Center

July

• 200th Bird: Roseate Spoonbill!

Roseate Spoonbill juvenile (Image by David Horowitz)

• Also added to life list: Yellow-crowned Night Heron, Saltmarsh Sparrow, Chimney Swift

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron pair with eggs (Image by BirdNation)

August

Cape Cod vacation! Added 3 new Life List birds: Roseate Tern, Black Tern, Great Shearwater. Also saw my first Grey Seals. Went birding on the way home in Connecticut.

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  Seal Head Shot 2 (Image by David Horowitz)

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  Marsh Land (Image by BirdNation)

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  Black Tern juvenile (Image by BirdNation)

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  Common Loon on land (Image by BirdNation)

September

• Had my last birding trip of my 20s at Forsythe on 9/16 😂
• Added 14 species to Year List for summer, making total 166

October

• First October Global Big Day at Cape May: huge Tree Swallow flocks and Western Palm Warblers. 31 total species

• Gave my first birding presentation at Rancocas Nature Center, “The Miracle of Avian Migration’, on October 13 (World Migratory Bird Day)

November

• Chincoteague Waterfowl Weekend: huge Snow Geese flocks and American White Pelicans

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  Snow Goose Flock (Image by David Horowitz)

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  Black-bellied Plover nonbreeding (Image by BirdNation)

• Added 9 more species to Year List for fall, making final total 175

December

• Participated in my first Audubon Christmas Bird Count on 12/23 in Moorestown, NJ, with 35 total species for our count. Unsure of total count for other teams in the “Moorestown” circle. (Fun fact: Moorestown, NJ was one of the 25 towns to participate in very first Christmas Bird on December 25, 1900)
• Close-up seaducks at Barnegat Light: Surf Scoters, Common Eiders, Black Scoters, Harlequin Ducks, and Long-tailed Ducks

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• Final hike 2018: Taylor’s Wildlife Preserve

Final 2018 Stats

• Year List: 175 species
• Life List: 16 new additions, current total 207.
• Birding in 7 States: New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Massachusetts

Looking forward to birding in 2019!

Finally Fall!

Happy Autumn Equinox, my friends!

I’m back!

I missed writing on here. After our Cape Cod vacation mid-August, life got really crazy real fast. There were a lot of major transitions going into September (work/college starting up). Being a teacher, September is always chaotic and exhausting for me, so as much as I wanted to write I haven’t had the time. But I’m very happy that we finally made it to my favorite season.

The Autumn Equinox is taking place here in the United States today, September 22. Since we live in New Jersey, the equinox is occurring at 9:54 EST. “Equinox” is a Latin word that translates to “equal night”. Fun fact: the day and night are almost equal, but not quite. There are actually about 8 more minutes of daylight than of nighttime during an equinox.

Since we are now in a new season, I thought it was the perfect time to reflect on my summer and my year list. Here are the highlights:

• I was lucky to spend a majority of my summer outside as a summer camp intern at Rancocoas Nature Center. I worked with amazing staff and students and learned so much about nature beyond birds. I started a Butterfly/Moth life list, saw tons of really cool fungi, went birding everyday (as well as taught the kids about birds), and learned to identify more plants/trees/insects. I also have occasionally been leading hikes on the weekends since camp ended, and am running my first birding program in October. 
  

  Rancocoas Creek (Image by BirdNation)

  

  Monarch Butterfly (Image by BirdNation)

  

  Fungi (Image by BirdNation)

  

  Pine Forest (Image by BirdNation)
• My 200th bird: the Roseate Spoonbill! July 1, 2018 was an fantastic birding day for me. We started by seeing our first Yellow-crowned Night-herons (#199) at Ocean City, NJ. Afterwards we visited Forsythe, where the juvenile Roseate Spoonbill was with the other wading birds. I couldn’t have asked for a better 200th bird! We also saw our first Saltmarsh Sparrow in the same trip.

 

Yellow-crowned Night-Heron pair with eggs (Image by BirdNation)

Roseate Spoonbill juvenile (Image by David Horowitz)

• Cape Cod birding vacation. We spent a few days birding in Cape Cod, Massachusetts during mid-August. We added 3 new life list birds: Roseate Tern, Black Tern, and Great Shearwater. In addition to tons of birds, we went on an amazing seal tour. (I actually have a few more Cape Cod posts coming soon!)

 

Black Tern juvenile (Image by BirdNation)

Flock of various Terns (Image by David Horowitz)

Seal Head Shot 2 (Image by David Horowitz)

• This summer was also special because I started studying a subject again that I haven’t thought about in a long time: astronomy.  I have loved learning about space since I was a little kid. I had a telescope, and I enjoyed looking for and learning about constellations, planets, and meteors. At Nauset Beach in Orleans, MA, we had a chance to see 4 planets in an arc with the moon: Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars. Ever since that night, I subscribed to some astronomy sites, and spend each day looking up at the night sky and reading about space. Now I look for planets and stars in the sky in addition to my birds :-). (If you look closely in the picture below, you can see a faint Venus coming into view over the clouds)

The Moon with a faint Venus coming into view at Nauset Beach, MA (Image by BirdNation)

I added 14 birds to the Year List this summer, bring the total to 166 species so far this year. 7 of those 14 were life list birds: Yellow-crowned Night-heron, Roseate Spoonbill, Saltmarsh Sparrow, Chimney Swift, Black Tern, Roseate Tern, and Great Shearwater.

I can’t wait to “fall” into some autumn birding (Sorry, I couldn’t resist 😂).

Goodbye Spring, Hello Summer!

Happy Summer Solstice!

I can’t believe summer is already here. This will be an interesting summer for me. I’m usually off for 10 weeks, but this year I have a summer job. Here’s a picture of my workplace:

I’m a nature summer camp intern at Rancocas Nature Center. I’m excited that I get to spend the next few weeks working outside and learning more about nature 😁.

Now that it’s a new season, I’ve been reflecting on my year list. Since winter (where we observed 81 species) I’ve added 71 species to the list, bringing my total to 152 species in 2018. We had a great spring migration this year. Here are some of the highlights.

• Team BirdNation participated in the 2018 Great American Arctic Birding Challenge from March 1-June 1. Overall we observed 62 species on the checklist.
• 60 species, including our first Caspian Tern, at Forsythe NWR during Global Big Day

Willet on Global Big Day (Image by BirdNation)

• Added 2 warblers to our life list: Northern Parula at Amico Island and Canada Warbler at Patuxent Research Refuge
• Took a “mini vacation” to Patuxent Research Refuge in Maryland. Saw Pileated Woodpeckers for the first time in 3 years

Patuxent Research Refuge on a rainy day (Image by BirdNation)

• Red Knots for the first time ever at Fortescue Beach as well as thousands of other shorebirds and Laughing Gulls

Semipalmated Sandpipers (Image by BirdNation)

• Our first Wilson’s Snipe at Taylor’s Wildlife Preserve
• Met Pete and Phoebe, the resident pair of Piping Plovers at Barnegat Light SP

Pete McClain (Image by BirdNation)

Phoebe Cates (Image by BirdNation)

• Had an awesome trip to Forsythe with my friends Deborah and Bella, where we saw 51 bird species, some snakes, and tons of turtles

Black Skimmers and Laughing Gulls (Image by BirdNation)

Spring migration was awesome this year. We got 5 life list species (Wilson’s Snipe, Red Knot, Canada Warbler, Northern Parula , and Caspian Tern), and went on lots of great birding trips.

Summer always ends up being a little slow due to the heat, but you never know what will show up. We are also heading to Cape Cod, Massachusetts in August, so that’s something to look forward to. Can’t wait to see what the summer will bring!

How was your spring migration this year? What birds did you see? Tell us about them in the comments! 

Also, don’t forget to join the flock on Instagram, @birdnation123

2017: A Year In Review

There’s something about the end of a calendar year that puts people in a reflective mood. Many people like to think back on the past year and establish goals for the future year.

2017 was a wonderful birding year for Dave and I. We went birding in 5 states, saw some cool rarities, and spent tons of time enjoying nature. So since it’s New Year’s Eve, I wanted to share my favorite birds and birding moments of 2017.

January: A Rare Experience

My mom, sister, and I observed a American White Pelican at the Jersey Shore on January 6th, a rarity at that time of year!

American White Pelican (Image by BirdNation)

February: Great Backyard Bird Count

We had our most successful Great Backyard Bird Count so far, by observing 45 different species and over 5,000 individual birds in 4 days!

Male Northern Shoveler (Image by David Horowitz)

March: Goodbye Winter

Our first Barnegat Light trip of 2017 included our first time seeing Red-breasted Mergansers at the lighthouse, our first ever Ipswich Savannah Sparrows, and a lone Black Skimmer!

Red-breasted Merganser (Image by David Horowitz)

April: A Strawbridge Surprise

A surprise Pied-billed Grebe at Strawbridge Lake!

Pied-billed Grebe (Image by BirdNation)

May: 

May was filled with tons of great birding moments! Some favorites included: our first Prairie Warbler and hearing a Barred Owl, going on vacation in Maryland and Delaware, and seeing our first Great Horned Owlet.

Prairie Warbler (Image by David Horowitz)

June:

In June we got to reconnected with one of our favorite local celebrities, American Oystercatcher T2 of Barnegat Light, who had a family in tow. We also saw our first Northern Bobwhite and a Least Tern nest!

Northern Bobwhite (Image by David Horowitz)

July

Three words: Double Day Trip!

Spotted Sandpiper (Image by David Horowitz)

August

Surprise Rhode Island vacation!

Sail Boats at Dusk (Image by BirdNation)

September

Wood Stork for our birthdays and our first American Birding Expo!

Wood Stork (Image by David Horowitz)

October: Call of the Grackle

Our first Boat-tailed Grackles on our 9 year anniversary!

Boat-tailed Grackle on sign (Image by BirdNation)

November: Island Beach State Park

Our first Northern Gannets and the return of winter visitors at Island Beach State Park! Also our first Short-eared Owl at Palmyra.

Sanderling (Image by BirdNation)

December: A Snowy Christmas Eve

Our first ever Snowy Owl at Holgate!

Snowy Owl (Image by David Horowitz)

We had a fantastic 2017! I’m looking forward to more amazing birding adventures in 2018. Happy New Year!