Sandy Hook
October 11, 2015
Leaders: Scott Barnes, Emily Heiser, Linda Mack, Sam Galick
October 11, 2015
Leaders: Scott Barnes, Emily Heiser, Linda Mack, Sam Galick
We had beautiful weather for our trip to Sandy Hook and a total of 20 people attending. Our trip began at Plum Island, where we saw arriving flocks of Brant, which winter here in large numbers, plus Royal Terns, and a secretive Lincoln's Sparrow. We watched the first of several migrating Monarchs float by and stop to nectar at Seaside Goldenrod flowers.
Heading north up the peninsula, we birded the tall hackberry trees and weedy fields around the old "Officers' Club" and hit a sizable mixed-species flock that contained Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, Brown Creepers, Blue-headed Vireo, Northern Parula, Palm Warbler, two Pine Warblers-including a very drab female-which made for a good ID lesson, and several Black-throated Green Warblers. Breaking away from tracking the roving flock, we were hailed to the nearby bird-banding station for a look at birds the team had just extracted from the nets. Dr. Richard Veit and his team explained the purpose of bird banding, the kind of data they are looking to collect at Sandy Hook (age of birds, fat content, molt details, and more), and a few lucky young birders were able to release an Eastern Phoebe and a Song Sparrow.
A trek out the fisherman's trail took us to the tip of Sandy Hook, and along the way through scrub-shrub and dune habitats where we got a brief look at a Clay-colored Sparrow and watched Sharp-shinned and Cooper's Hawks overhead. The open beach and tidal flat had several juvenile Black-bellied Plovers and a recently deceased sturgeon-the latter a rather prehistoric and interesting looking fish- in the wrack-line.
Thanks to Linda Mack, Sam Galick, and Emily Heiser for co-leading the trip.
-Scott Barnes