Wetlands

Today is February 2nd. Do you know what that means? It’s World Wetlands Day! (Did you really think I was going to say Groundhog’s Day??)

Wetlands are one of the most important ecosystems in the world. They support a countless number of animal and plant species. Wetlands are beneficial to us as well. The plants in wetlands help against erosion. Wetlands help keep rivers at normal levels and filter the water.

So I thought I would talk about a bird that is common in wetlands: the Great Blue Heron. As we mentioned in the last post, the term “greater” means the largest of a species. The Great Blue Heron is the most abundant of the 6 heron species found in the United States. They have beautiful blue-gray feathers and a black and white crown. Their legs and neck are long and slender. They can bend their neck into an S-shape due to the way their vertebrae are shaped. As big as the Heron looks, it’s bones are hollow, so it only weigh 5 to 6 pounds! A Great Blue’s bill is sharp like a dagger, and they use it to spear fish. If you’ve ever seen a Great Blue Heron at a lake or pond, you would notice that it usually stalks around slowly. Sometimes it stands still like a statue. But don’t be fooled: when that heron spots a fish it moves swiftly to catch its meal.

Great Blue Heron at Edwin B. Forsythe NWR (taken by David Horowitz)

Great Blue Heron at Strawbridge Lake (taken by David Horotwitz)

In addition to fish, Great Blue Herons also eat reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, and insects. Sometimes they will take the prey they catch and shake it or hit it against the water before swallowing it. I once observed a Great Blue catch a frog at a lake and slam it against the water before consuming it.

Great Blue Herons are usually by themselves when they hunt, but when it comes to breeding they will nest in pairs by the hundreds. These nesting colonies are called rookeries. They nest in trees and make large stick nests. Great Blues are monogamous during breeding season, but will find a new mate each year. When it comes to mates, pairs will do pair-bonding rituals such as courtship dances. Great Blue Herons usually have between 2-6 eggs.

It’s always wonderful to see a Great Blue Heron. They are such striking and majestic birds. I also enjoy watching them fly overhead, with their large, fluid wing beats. One of my favorite Great Blue Heron moments was at the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia last December. There were 6 Great Blues hanging out in the same pond! Since they are very independent I was shocked to see that many in one place. By the end of the walk that day we saw 10 Great Blue Herons! It was certainly a record for me.

Do you see Great Blue Herons in your local wetlands? Remember, if we want to continue seeing amazing birds like the Great Blue Heron, we need to protect our wetlands. If you want to find out ways that you can help protect wetlands check out this link: http://www.habitat.noaa.gov/protection/wetlands/whatyoucando.html

Palmyra Cove

Yesterday, my fiancé Dave and I went birding at Palmyra Cove Nature Park.  The park consists of woodlands, a cove, ponds, wetlands, meadows, and a shoreline along the Delaware River. There weren’t many visitors due to all the snow around, so it was nice and quiet. We added two new birds to our life list.

At the beginning of our walk we saw two woodpeckers pecking around some trees. I am a big fan of woodpeckers, so I am always excited when they are around. There are 10 species of woodpeckers in New Jersey. Dave and I most commonly see Downy, Hairy, Red-Bellied, and Northern Flickers, although I did see a Pileated once (more on that another time!). So when we saw two medium-sized woodpeckers we assumed that we were seeing two Hairy woodpeckers. One of them was a female Hairy because she did not have the red spot on the back of her head.

On closer investigation we realized the other looked a little different. It didn’t have a white belly like a hairy would, but mottled with more of a yellow hue. It had a red crown on its head. It was a Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker! Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers are called this because they create sapwells into the inner bark, and suck up the sap from the tree with their tongues. Like other woodpeckers they will also eat insects that get stuck to the sticky sap. They breed in Canada down through New England to North Dakota and will winter throughout the East Coast and the Midwest. The male Yellow-Bellied has a red crown and throat, while the female only has a red crown. We were able to see our female Yellow-Bellied check the small holes in the trees that she made. If you look close to the image below (it’s cropped) you can see the holes she made. Every once in awhile the female Hairy and Yellow-Bellied would fight and chase each other from tree to tree. The Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker is a new “Life bird” for us, meaning it’s the first time we’ve seen it, so we added it to our “Life List”.

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker (taken by David Horowitz)

Other birds on our walk included: a Cooper’s Hawk soaring over a meadow, a Double-Crested Cormorant, Downy Woodpeckers, numerous Ring-Billed Gulls, male and female Buffleheads, a male Northern Cardinal, a Mockingbird eating bread found in the parking lot, and our other new life list addition, the Greater Scaup.

Male and female Buffleheads (taken by David Horowitz)

Northern Mockingbird enjoys some bread (taken by David Horowitz)

The Greater Scaup and its relative the Lesser Scaup are diving ducks that are almost identical. The term “Greater” means it’s the largest of a species, “Lesser” is the smallest of the species. Male Scaups of both species have black heads/chests/rears, white sides, gray feathers on top, and a bluish bill with a black tip. Females are brown with a white patch at the bill. The different between Scaups is not only size, but Greaters have rounder heads, while Lessers have a bump/peak at the back of the head. Greater males can have a greenish iridescence on their heads while Lessers may should purplish or greenish heads. We decided the male we saw was a Greater Scaup since his head looked rounder.

We did have one bonus animal that was not a bird: a River Otter! It was running across the path so unfortunately we didn’t get a picture of it.   Another great birding day.

Feeder Frenzy!

It has been quite a week weather-wise here in New Jersey. Last Sunday we were recovering from Snowstorm Jonas and this Sunday it was 50+ degrees. Typical New Jersey!

Although I wasn’t able to venture out to bird watch during the snowstorm, I was able to enjoy a lot of company at my feeder. We received many of the regulars: house sparrows, Carolina chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, downy woodpeckers and blue jays.

This blue jay was checking out peanuts I put out from its perch on a cedar tree.

White-breasted Nuthatch (All photos by David Horowitz)

We also had some new feeder guests: dark-eyed juncos!

Slate-colored Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed juncos are winter visitors here in New Jersey. They breed throughout Alaska and Canada in the summer and disperse throughout the country in the winter. There are many variations of plumage (feathers) colors, depending on what region of the country you live in. Slate-colored juncos, like pictured above, are found throughout the country. Gray-headed, White-winged, Red-backed, Pink-sided, and Oregon subspecies are found throughout the Western United States. Up until recently these variations were considered different species, but are now all categorized as one species. Juncos are usually found in woodlands, parks, roadsides, and feeders. Their tail feathers are white and they have short pink bills. As mentioned, their upper body feathers vary dramatically. We know our feeder guests were slate-colored subspecies because their very dark upper bodies. Other sub-species would include more pink, brown, and gray feathers. Most of the junco’s diet is made of a variety of seeds, but during breeding season juncos will eat insects as well. They are ground foragers, so they will hop around, kicking and pecking leaf litter. At our feeder we were able to watch them kick the snow around to find seeds that I tossed out.

The following day my fiance and I headed out to see to see the results of the storm. We stopped at two of our frequent hotspots, Boundary Creek and Strawbridge Lake. Boundary Creek was busy with mallards, Canada geese, American goldfinches, dark-eyed juncos, Carolina chickadees, blue jays and mockingbirds. Strawbridge Lake was quieter, but we saw two great blue herons and a belted kingfisher.

Great Blue Heron

It was about 30 degrees out at the time so it makes you wonder: how are all these birds out in such cold weather? Aren’t they freezing? Most birds have a layer of fine feathers underneath their exterior feathers called down. Down acts as an insulator to help birds avoid heat loss. So while we may be freezing out in the cold, our feathered friends have down to help them stay warm.

People tend to think of winter as a down time for birding. Spring and fall are migration times, so there are birds galore. But birding in winter can be just as exciting. Many species stick around, and new species arrive. I encourage you to bundle up and visit your favorite parks in the winter too. You never know what you’ll see!