Today will probably go down in the annals of great Jersey birding stories. First it was a Black Guillemot at Sandy Hook; this would've gotten more respect except for the long-staying (in guillemot terms) bird at Barnegat last winter. Then it morphed into a Pigeon Guillemot; this would be an East Coast mega. Finally the word settled on Long-billed Murrelet, a first state record (obligatory disclaimer: if accepted).
Harvey Tomlinson's post on JerseyBirds provides a good discussion of birding "in the heat of battle," when an identification can be more fluid than one would expect. Harvey analyzes which species names were in play and why.
This is on top of a Band-tailed Pigeon (it would be the second state record if accepted) that has outstayed the first state bird by two days now. It (briefly) reduced the list of NJ rarities not seen in Cape May County, but now the murrelet has redressed that balance.
Then there are the continuing Hunterdon County Ash-throated Flycatcher and Western Tanager. If you want a write-up bird, there are plenty to choose from.
Showing posts with label "monmouth county". Show all posts
Showing posts with label "monmouth county". Show all posts
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Ash-throated Flycatcher
On this day in 1984, an Ash-throated Flycatcher was found at Assunpink WMA in Monmouth County. Word did not get out for a couple of weeks, but the bird stayed until 9 January 1985, so many birders were able to see it (Boyle et al. 1985).
For a species with a relatively recent first state record, Ash-throated Flycatcher has quickly become an almost expected feature of NJ's avifauna. The lion's share of the 32 records to date are from the coast, most frequently Cape May. There are a mere handful of records from inland locations such as Assunpink (which got its second record of the species 12-16 November 2005). The December date of the first state record turns out to fall a little late seasonally; November is the month with the bulk of the records. Dates of occurrence run from 22 October to 12 January (no spring records), so Ash-throated Flycatcher demonstrates a marked season (although there are a few spring records from other Northeastern states). Many birds are one-day wonders, but some have lingered longer.
The relatively recent advent of NJ Ash-throated Flycatcher records is matched by nearby states: New York's first record was in 1970, Massachusetts' was in 1972 and Pennsylvania's was in 1997 (Levine 1998, McWilliams & Brauning 2000, Veit & Petersen 1993).
Boyle, William J., Jr., Robert O. Paxton, & David A. Cutler. 1985. The Winter Season, Hudson-Delaware Region. American Birds 39:150-154.
For a species with a relatively recent first state record, Ash-throated Flycatcher has quickly become an almost expected feature of NJ's avifauna. The lion's share of the 32 records to date are from the coast, most frequently Cape May. There are a mere handful of records from inland locations such as Assunpink (which got its second record of the species 12-16 November 2005). The December date of the first state record turns out to fall a little late seasonally; November is the month with the bulk of the records. Dates of occurrence run from 22 October to 12 January (no spring records), so Ash-throated Flycatcher demonstrates a marked season (although there are a few spring records from other Northeastern states). Many birds are one-day wonders, but some have lingered longer.
The relatively recent advent of NJ Ash-throated Flycatcher records is matched by nearby states: New York's first record was in 1970, Massachusetts' was in 1972 and Pennsylvania's was in 1997 (Levine 1998, McWilliams & Brauning 2000, Veit & Petersen 1993).
Boyle, William J., Jr., Robert O. Paxton, & David A. Cutler. 1985. The Winter Season, Hudson-Delaware Region. American Birds 39:150-154.
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