Blog post

September 9, 2016 [LINK / comment]

Birding in the urban northeast

Birding was not a high priority during my recent quick trip through the northeastern states, but I did come across some interesting birds in various places. Crossing some bridges in the Wilmington, Delaware area, I saw quite a few Greater Black-backed Gulls, as well as Double-crested Cormorants perched on light posts or dock pilings. While I was walking around Philadelphia on Sunday morning (September 4), I saw Canada Geese, Mallards, and Double-crested Cormorants on rocks along the spillway of the Schuylkill River. The biggest surprise came when I was at the Rodin Museum in front of the famous sculpture "The Thinker," as I saw a family of Common Yellowthroats darting around the garden in search of insects. After a few minutes, I managed to get a good photo of one of them.

The next morning at a rest stop near Darien, Connecticut, I saw a few Herring Gulls and Ring-billed Gulls, and took a few photos. The first actual nature area I visited was the cranberry bog (owned by the Ocean Spray Company) in Foxborough, Massachusetts, just south of Gillette Stadium. There is a nice boardwalk trail across a lily pond, and signs that explain how cranberries are grown and harvested. But the only birds I positively identified were a Killdeer and a Blue Jay. Approaching Boston in the early afternoon, I saw more of the above-mentioned Gulls and Cormorants.

On Tuesday (September 6), I decided to take a detour around the New York metropolitan area, which gave me the opportunity to stop at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey. Jacqueline and I were hoping to visit there on our way to New York in 2004, but never could find it. This time, I had no problems with navigation, as there were plenty of signs. I talked to a worker in the visitor center, and based on what he told me, I had high hopes for seeing migratory neotropical birds. Here are the bird highlights:

• American Goldfinch (M & F)
• Northern Harrier (prob.)
• Eastern Phoebe
• Acadian Flycatcher
• White-breasted Nuthatch
• Black-throated Blue Warbler (F)
• American Redstart (M & F)

So, it was a fair but not spectacular outing, about two hours total time spent. That was my last major stop before returning to Virginia that evening.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Herring Gull*, Northern Harrier (prob.), Acadian Flycatcher (prob.), Common Yellowthroat (F)*, White-breasted Nuthatch, Double-crested Cormorant, and in center, Black-throated Blue Warbler (F).

* Enlarged images of those birds, along with a juvenile Herring Gull, can be see on the Wild Birds yearly photo gallery page.