This group of birds are common visitors to most wetlands and watery areas in our country. Their large size and noticeable behavior makes them recognizable to even many non-birders. They run a wide variety of sizes from the smaller white egrets to the larger Great Blue Heron, and a range of habits from the open fishing habits of the GBH to the more secretive lifestyles of both species of bitterns. Similar in form, they represent a mostly common set of feeding habits, focused mostly on fish but taking opportunities for a wide variety of other prey including small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and anything else that gets too close to their large bills.

Herons

The largest of the group, the Great Blue Heron is also one of the most recognized by most early birders. Their large size and dramatic coloration make them extremely noticeable in a variety of habitats, and they are one of the more common of the herons, though the white morph of the species has a more limited range to southern Florida (where I was lucky enough to see a single specimen).

The medium-sized herons – Tricolored Heron and Little Blue Heron – are more common further south, although I have seen them both in NJ.

However, my best opportunity to see both species occurred in Texas – this immature little blue at Laguna Atascosa…

…and an incredibly close-up and personal view of the tricolored at Estero Llano State Park, where Shari and I were treated to a clinic as this heron deftly plucked fish after fish out of the water in front of us.

The more secretive Green Heron is a relatively common bird in our area – but common does not mean very often seen. They manage to blend in with their surroundings – wooded marsh and stream edges – and flush suddenly when disturbed, often giving a birder a quick view as the bird disappears. I’ve been lucky a couple of times to sit and watch them as they slowly walked along a shoreline or branch searching for food.

Note: there is also another species of heron – the Western Reef Heron which has been seen several times in the U.S., including in my general area. I’ve never seen one, and since they essentially an accidental species I didn’t include them here.

Egrets

Similar to herons – and in most ways essentially the same except taxonomically – egrets tend to be more primarily white birds with longer plumes during breeding. However, like everything birding this isn’t a hard-and-fast rule – the Reddish Egret has a strong coloration although they do have a white morph. Of the four species of egret in U.S., most of them tend to be on the small side. However, the aptly-named Great Egret is a large white bird with a dramatic yellow bill. I love visiting Forsythe NWR where these birds can run into the dozens and possibly hundreds during breeding season.

Mixed in with the large flocks of great egrets are usually large numbers of Snowy Egrets, relative miniature versions of the former bird. Snowy white – as per their name – they are smaller with black bills and black legs with gaudy yellow feet which give them a comical look. But when seeing them in full breeding plumage with their long plumes, they are a truly beautiful bird.

A more rare species is the Cattle Egret, a once-common bird in the NJ area that has become a rarer site – to the point where it usually makes the birding lists when sighted. A less dramatic white than the other two egrets, its brownish breeding plumage creates a unique and interesting outfit. Sadly, while I used to see these all the time as a kid, I’ve only had a couple of chances since I started birding.

The last of the egrets is a species that is rarely seen as far north as New Jersey, but was common during our visit to Texas a few years back – the Reddish Egret. This bird is notable in that it has two very distinct morphs – the colorful purple, mauve and blue dark morph and the snowy white morph. I’ve had a chance to see the dark morph as an adult, but have only been able to see the white morph as an immature bird.

Note: Another accidental bird that has been seen in our area is the Little Egret, which has been seen a few times at nearby Bombay Hook NWR, but I’ve never been able to make there during their short visits. Again, as an accidental it was worth a mention but not listed in my count.

Night-herons

I’m not sure how the night-herons fall into the whole heron group genetically, but since they’re broken out in all of the guides… Both of these species are common in my area, with several roosts located throughout the area – particularly one at the shore near Stone Harbor. The Black-crowned Night-Heron is the more common of the two, seen in many wet and wild spots throughout PA, NJ and DE.

Yellow-crowned Night Herons are less common to see but still semi-plentiful in the area, although I’ve seen more of them in the west and south. Most of the yellow-crowns I’ve seen have been immatures.

Bitterns

The last group of birds in this family are the very secretive and hard-to-spot bitterns Both American and Least Bitterns are found in my area, most often hidden in the high grasses along various bodies of water (mostly ponds and lakes). I’ve seen both species but their secretive nature and the fact that they blend so masterfully into their environment makes them hard to see even when they are right in front of you (to the point where I was literally standing only 2-3′ from one and missed him until someone kindly pointed it out to me).

The American bitterns are common at Forsythe NWR, where they breed and sometimes come out onto the mud flats to feed.

However, my best opportunity was when we found a bittern hanging out by the pond on Jen’s Trail. I’m not sure if the bird was ill or just didn’t care about us, but we were able to get within a few feet of it (I was told that he was there for a few days afterward not looking all that worse for wear so he might have been just very tolerant). It was a great experience, especially for such a hard-to-see bird.

Most of my chances to see the least bittern have also been at Forsythe NWR, although the aforementioned ‘hidden-in-plain-site’ bird was seen at John Heinz NWR. Frustratingly, even though it was so close I was unable to get any pictures so it represents one of the only 2 birds of this group I don’t have a photo record of.

I was walking home from work when I heard a call that I didn’t recognize in my neighbor’s yard. I had heard the same call yesterday from our yard but wasn’t able to find it in the trees – kind of like a robin, similar to a cardinal but not quite. At the risk of looking like a creep, I tried to spy the bird from the sidewalk but a flash of yellow piqued my curiosity enough for me to step closer. But the bird was singing high in the tree, just too far to get a good look.

I asked my neighbor if he minded if I came back with binocs, and he was fine with it (though uninterested in the bird once he knew what I was looking at). Between the binocs and my camera, I finally figured it out – a dicksissel, an unexpected find and a lifebird. They are uncommon east of the Appalachians, and rare in NJ – especially in spring.

He was gorgeous – a broad yellow eyebrow leading to a thick bunting-like bill (but longer), and a deep yellow breast topped with a dark black bib surrounded by white flashes on the chin and on either side of the throat. The brown plumage on the back was accented by a rusty brown, accenting the already colorful bird.

I watched him singing that distinctive song for a while, admiring his vigor and the way he chased the male house sparrows into the bushes, and in one case into the dirt. He flew from the magnolia to a fence where he perched for a short time. Things got even better as it flew practically to me and offered me even better looks from only a few feet away.

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The Pelecaniformes are probably the most diverse group on this list, encompassing 5 families of distinct birds. The whole group consists of fish-eating birds who live and spend a majority of their time in or around water, across the United States. I’ve been lucky enough to see a large number of them although I’ve yet to have a quantifiable ID of any of those in Sulidae yet.

Pelicans

I get to see Brown Pelicans every year in NC flying over my parents beach house — and yet it’s still hard to get a really killer shot (at least one that I find to be killer). White Pelicans are less common – I have to head much further south to see them. But either one is very cool – these huge, lumbering tanks of birds flying low over the waves, wing tips just barely touching.

Anhinga

Anhinga are a rare bird for me – I’ve only seen them in Florida and Texas, and only had a single change to photograph them – not my best work.

Cormorants

Cormorants are a frequent visitor to NJ, so I’ve had lots of chances to see Double-crested and Great Cormorants, the latter usually hanging out at Barnegat in winter. I had never realized how common the double-crested cormorant was until I started birding in earnest and realized that they are pretty much anywhere there’s a decent-sized river, lake or coastline.

A visit to Texas got me a chance to see the Neotropic Cormorant handing out at Estero Llano State Park, actually within a few yards of the place where I saw the Anhinga pictured above.

My trip to California with my friends Patty & Al Bruno gave me awesome sightings of Brandt’s Cormorants nesting along the Monterey pier, as well as their great locating of the beautiful Pelagic Cormorant right below my feet at the Monterey Aquarium.

Gannets & Boobies

I’m fairly sure that I’ve seen Gannets at the Jersey shore, particularly at Barnegat Lighthouse, but never had an absolutely confirmed sighting – until I went to Cape May the other day. There I got to see them in several places and finally had them fly close enough for some decent pictures.

Frigatebirds

Nope, sorry – never seen one.

For many of those remaining on my list, I’m going to have to make it to Florida again, especially the keys…

The notice that this beautiful bird was being seen here in NJ was put out on the Jersey Birds list. I took the (gorgeous) day off today to head to Cape May and my last stop was to see if I could find this rarity. I showed up at the property and waited 45 minutes. I was getting up to leave when I saw a flash of red in the trees at the edge of the property – it was him! I waited quietly for a while and he came to the feeder where I could get a better look. All of those colors were just a spectacle.
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Tubenoses: Albatross, Petrels, Shearwaters and Storm-Petrels

Families:Diomedeidae, Procellariidae and Hydrobatidae

# of Albatross Species: 2

# of Petrel Species: 4

# of Shearwater Species: 5

# of Storm-petrel Species: 6

Species Seen / Photographed: 0 / 0

The “Tubenoses” are a group of pelagic birds who spend much of their lives in open water, rarely coming to shore except to nest. There ranges tend to keep them away from most birders who aren’t willing to board a ship, except during migration or when storms force them toward land. Unfortunately, that has resulted in me not having seen a single species in this group – I am fairly sure I was a storm-petrel in North Carolina on evening but can’t be sure.

Sigh… one of these days…

Grebes

Family:Podicidpedidae

# of Species: 7

Species Seen / Photographed: 5 / 5

Grebes are found throughout the United States, primarily in marshy and coastal areas. Pied-billed Grebes are the most common of the group, the only species that can be found in all states at some point of the year. The majority of the grebe species breed at least partially in Canada, with only the Clark’s Grebe and Least Grebe breeding only in the U.S., the latter restricted to only a few specific locations in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas.

I’ve always enjoyed grebes, although there only few times I get to see them other the most common pied-billed grebes.

In New Jersey, we are lucky enough to get 3 species commonly – the Pied-billed, which breeds in the state and Eared Grebes and Horned Grebes, which winter and migrate through the state. Rarely, Red-necked Grebes also make appearances. I’ve never seen a Red-necked Grebe, but I’ve been lucky enough to see the other two in winter close up, and in breeding plumage from a distance a few times.

I’ve tried several times out west to see the ‘western’ grebes, but so far have only see a Clark’s Grebe in a bay in Monterey Bay, California. It popped up as a surprise amidst a group of sea otters to make an already very cool situtation even better.

But my most special grebe sighting was when we found the rare (in fact, endangered) Least Grebe at the now (sadly) closed Sabal Palm Audubon Center. The center was known to be a place where they were seen, and we found a pair of them near the beginning of our visit and had some great chances to get wonderful looks at these interesting birds.

But the highlight was that we watched the pair building their nest, dragging sodden reeds from the water and pushing them into place. We watched and photographed them for a while, then decided to give them some peace. After wandering around the park for a while, we wanted to check in on the pair on our way out — and were surprised to find that they had laid an egg! It was a great experience that remains one of my most treasured birding moments.

Hornsby Bend

My first full day there, Bev (@BirdingBev) and I decided to taxi our way 10 miles out of town to a local wastewater treatment plant known for a good congregation of birds around this time of year.  Entering into the facility, a bunch of Boat-tailed Grackles were manning the fields, with a few Eastern Meadowlarks mixed in. A lone Crested Caracara flew overhead as we were walking toward the ponds.

The ponds were actually quite full of waterfowl, particularly Northern Shovelers which were everywhere (probably 2,000 or so).  There were also a bevy other other ducks – Redheads, Lesser Scaup, Mallards, Ruddy Ducks, American Coots, Eared Grebes, Green-winged and Cinnamon Teal.  Along the edges of the ponds were a number shorebirds: mostly Lesser and Western Sandpipers, but with an occasional surprise: a single Dunlin, a Pectoral Sandpiper and a  bevy of Killdeer – probably close to 2 dozen flying around.  

But the most maddening shorebirds were the number of Wilson’s Snipe which were nearly impossible to see … until they flew up in front of me.  I knew where they were and I’d be staring right at them, only to have them flush when I took one step too many.

Mixed in with the shorebirds were some sparrows – Song and Savannah mostly, including a leucistic specimen that had Bev and I struggling to identify.  I later found that one of the sparrows was actually a Vesper sparrow*, a new species for me.  And running along the muck was a small thrush-like bird with a bobbing tail – an American Pipit*, another lifebird!

We found a few songbirds and other species flittering around, including a hunting Merlin, a pair of Great Blue Herons, some cardinals, chickadees and “butterbutts”. Not a lot of great photographic opportunities but a good day in any case.

Emma Long Metro State Park

The next day, Bev and I joined up with another birder visiting Austin to go looking for the Golden-cheeked Warbler*. An endangered species that breeds only in the US only in Texas, they had been seen at Emma Long Metro State Park so we tried there to see if we would be lucky enough to see one. It turns out that we saw several, although they were a real pain to locate even when they were singing clearly and often. I would say that we heard or saw nearly a dozen of the little colorful birds, their distinctive calls buzzing from high in the trees. I managed a few shots but it was tough to get a good one – still, these beautiful birds were simply worth seeing at all. The park was populated by a number of other cool Texas birds, including the gregarious Black-tufted Titmice, White-winged Doves and a Spotted Towhee but these warblers were by far the highlight of that trip.

Lady Bird Lake / Austin Trail

My last day in Austin, I went out early morning to see what I could find down along the river. The weather wasn’t great – a bit chilly and overcast – but the birds were still fun to see. Several Mute Swans floated down the river, along with several rafts of Lesser Scaup. Another set of waterfowl were along the opposite shore of the river, too far for me to ID immediately but I would later ID them as Greater White-fronted Geese, a fourth new species for me on this trip Turns out they were just domestic geese. Walking along the path, I saw several other species of waterfowl (mallards, Canada Geese, Gadwall, Pied-billed Grebe and a single Eared Grebe), lots of boat-tailed grackles, cardinals and song sparrows and a pair of nest-building Carolina Wrens. Near the end of my hike, I came across two surprises: an Orange-crowned Warblers and a Black Swan, which was beautiful but obviously an escaped bird.

The first category of birds in the guide is the LOONS.

Loons

Family: Gavidae

# of Species: 5

Species Seen / Photographed: 3 / 3

Loons are primary northern birds, with 4 of the 5 species spending the majority of their time in northern climates (Maine, Washington, Canada). For me, the majority of my loon sightings are at Barnegat Light, where I have seen quite a number of Common Loons and Red-throated Loons. Common loons are just what the name implies – the more commonly seen version, and the source of the famous loon call heard in many movies.

The red-throated loon is a less common visitor to Barnegat and a joy to see. They’re sleeker than the common loon, with a more bullet-like form.

I’ve also been fortunate to see a Pacific Loon in Monterey Bay, CA during my visit there last may.

Here is my list as I’ll tackle it over the next few months.

I. Loons (3/23)

II. Grebes (4/9)

III. Albatross, Petrel, Shearwaters & Storm-Petrels (4/9)

IV. Pelicans, Anhinga, Cormorants & Gannets (4/13)

V. Herons, Egrets & Bitterns (5/2)

VI. Wading Birds (Ibis, Spoonbills & Stork)

VII. Swans & Geese

VIII. Ducks

IX. Sea Ducks

X. Raptors
X.A Eagles
X.B Falcons
X.C Hawks
X.D Vultures

XI. Gamebirds

XII. Coots, Cranes & Rails

XIII. Shorebirds
XIII.A Large shorebirds
XIII.B Peeps

XIV. Jaegers & Skuas

XV. Gulls

XVI. Terns & Skimmers

XVII. Alcids

XVIII. Pigeons

XIX. Doves

XX. Parrots

XXI. Cuckoos, Anis & Roadrunners

XXII. Owls

XXIII. Goatsuckers & Swifts

XXIV. Hummingbirds

XXV. Trogons

XXVI. Kingfishers

XXVII. Woodpeckers

XXVIII. Tyrant Flycatchers

XXIX. Shrikes

XXX. Vireos

XXXI. Jays & Magpies

XXXII. Crows & Ravens

XXXIII. Larks

XXXIV. Swallows

XXXV. Chickadees, Titmice & Bushtits

XXXVI. Nuthatches & Creepers

XXXVII. Wrens and Dippers

XXXVIII. Old-World Warblers, Gnatcatchers & Kinglets

XXXIX. Thrushes

XXXX. Catbirds, Mockingbirds and Thrashers

XXXXI. Starlings & Mynahs

XXXXII. Wagtails & Pipits

XXXXIII. Silky Flycatchers & Waxwings

XXXXIV. Wood Warblers I

XXXXV. Wood Warblers II

XXXXVI. Tanagers & Cardinals

XXXXVII. Grosbeaks

XXXXVIII. Sparrows

XXXXIX. Juncos

XXXXX. Towhees

XXXXXI. Blackbirds, Grackles, Cowbirds & Bobolinks

XXXXXII. Meadowlarks & Orioles

XXXXXIII. Crossbills

XXXXXIV. Old World Sparrows

XXXXXV. Other International Species

Birding

And I had a good year – I saw 170 total species of bird, bringing my lifelist total to 437 species, including 16 new species (* = NJ list, too; ^ = new to NJ only). Not only did I add a bunch of new birds, but I had a great guided tour around Monterey Bay, and got to take some nice pictures:

Butterflies & Moths

Butterflies were less successful this year – I was too early in San Fran for a good number of species and I wasn’t able to get out very often this summer and find local varieties. Still, my one ‘big’ trip to Tom’s River ended up yielding 3 new hairstreak species, while I added a new skipper and large moth species in NC.

Odonata

I had a really slow year for dragonflies and the like – again, my only big trip was to Tom’s River where I picked up the majority of my sightings and my only two new species for the year. Still, I got to see some other species that I haven’t seen much of recently, so it was nice in that way.