Nature.....a complete enigma at times. I have been birding for near 30 years and although not nearly the expert as those found around the Cape May parts...I like to think I have 'above average' birding knowledge. But as always, part of that knowledge gain comes at a price, or I should say a gift...a true gift...is when I have the time to simply observe birds, simply to observe and to gain that knowledge.

Too many times we are on an 'Audubon walk' or a 'field trip' or just a casual walk-about...with nothing in particular in mind for  we are out to see what we can see. But next time, take this challenge.....go out and with no pretense in mind, find one species and dwell on that species only. Learn from it, observe it.  I was just doing the usual this past walk-about....out looking for any-old bird and came across a Gull-Billed Tern (Originally called Marsh Tern by Bent in 1921). I decided to focus on this one bird and ended up with a few shots yet more importantly; questions. Slow down I tell myself......observe nature, watch wildlife., question nature...always question...brave the gnats and flies and while they are quite content on forming a bug halo around your head, just give them no bother. Take the time to observe. Slow down time, forget what else is to be had.....observe. 

Now...this Gull-billed Tern is found on all continents with the exception of our southern snow exposures one. This Tern differs in that while they have a preference for salt water marshes and habitat similar to other Terns, these Terns do not dive into the water but rather prefer mudflats for their food source. Look at the close-up shots below which merely mirrors the full sized ones above....the left one has the Tern fully placing it's  beak into the sand. You have to turn your head to grasp  this view.  The black portion is the cap/top of the Tern's head with beak encased in the sand. The second shot on the right has lead to 'success' as a crab has been plucked from the mudflat.  

Now....focus on the shot on the left. You can see the Tern has glided down from flight and forced it's beak up to it's eye's into the sand. This is all done in one continuous movement as it glides down in flight and as quickly as my lens can capture its 'in flight' glide down, the next frame shows the beak in the sand. Instantaneously and my camera shoots 7-8 frames per second.  While still moving and in flight....it snatches the crab embedded in the sand and flies off as evident by the second close up of the crab grasped tightly within the beak. There is no hovering....in fact I have no idea how the Tern even knows a crab is buried underneath the sand..yet the returns are greater that those on Wall Street as of late....See shot below as it rises with crab in beak. 

The mystery is....how does a bird in flight....know that a crab is mucking and buried in the mud?  I know how Robins find worms.....but they are on land themselves. I know how other Terns such as our Forster's Tern who can hover above the water and see prey near the water's rise. But IN THE mudflat? 

I can see if the mudskipper or small crab is a top the mud as eye sight would come into play. But how does it know when 'the same' is below the mudflat line and hidden from sight? I have no  idea and research does not offer any help nor does it address that issue. Past research will look at how Gull-Billed Terns might steal food from Common Terns (Sibley, 2000), or swoops down to pick small crabs, spiders, and even larger prey such as lizards (Parnell, 1995) from the mudflat, but no one addresses how they can determine food which is buried within the sand as evident by the the images included in this blog. A complete enigma as I stated a bit earlier.

Now...I have been a quasi-resident of New Jersey coming on 3 years, and feel like I am only beginning to tick off great birding locales.

Yet each time I manage to chat with my 'like kind' (birders), someone clues me in on a great spot. The latest one is the heron rookery on the wayside of the Information Center on the Ocean  City Bridge. There in the trees is a rookery full of Night Herons....fascinating birds. One just has to stand and observe over the railing near the parking lot and see the birds just perching in the  trees. Once in a while, one takes flight and moves from one tree to another.......not sure why. 

So visit this fine spot. Back in April I rejoiced at an opportunity to witness a Tri-colored Heron rookery when in Charleston, SC but little did I realize how close I am to this one, right on the bridge to Ocean City!. 

Here in Jersey, you are lucky....just take a minute and think a bit. Think of Atlantic County, Cape May, Ocean.....think of all of the little places you can name that have birds species almost endemic to that one area. Reeds Beach for Red Knots.....  Rae's Farm for Prothonotary Warblers, the recent sighting of the Black Rail at the end of Stetson's Road etc etc. In order to bird and to add to your Jersey Birding experiences, one has to be made aware of the multitude of Habitats within this state and exactly where they are. Being a non-native and attempting to work around Hurricanes (and aftermath within my house), green flies, snow, humidity and other weather related problems.....and navigate the diagonal numbered (never a name) main roads and actually find the spot one is looking for, is no easy task. It takes time.......

But you are lucky for here in Jersey the number of birds one can find is amazing...simple amazing. I am from the state of Washington on the dryer eastern side and I always used to say that I lived in a birding 'nuclear dead-zone' as the number of species was extremely limited to that which is found here in Jersey...go figure....in all spots!

Now...one spot I want to go is out to sea....out to the ocean young man. Seek out a pelagic trip and add to my Jersey habitat and experiences and birders. I not only have to fine a great pelagic trip here on the east coast but also mentally prepare for that upcoming 'vomit' day.... But for now, it is from the land and in this case, the rookery. 

 

Well now...to continue on with my 3 blog saga (read previous ones) on a Sunday birding day.....I find myself on Stepson's Island Road off Highway 47 just west or northwest of Belle Plain Forest. As it was....the nice couple I met back at Forsythe did tell me a bit about the location of the Black Rail but sadly, as I was so excited of hearing of an actual 'hearing'....that my mind turned off a bit as we talked. Quite similar to the Charlie Brown " wah, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah," as the adult speaks. 

I start down Stepson's and notice right off the bat that there are a few houses on this road.....so I kind of figured that 'nah'....can't be here, so I kept on a trucking. I passed a few open fields which were  possible candidates but finally saw a 'parking lot' which spurned some thoughts out of the 'wah, wah, wahs). Yes, the couple from NY did mention something about parking lots. Aha......

Now, right after the first parking lot on Stepson's Island Road, the road narrows and turns to gravel.....a hundred yards up is another parking lot as it ends at the river and mudflats. Reflecting upon the 'wah, wah's" I don't recall which parking lot I should post myself at so I immediately get out of my car and just hang out at the furthest one. Lots of rails a calling....mostly Clapper it would appear. And a few rather noisy Marsh Wrens chasing me away from  their near by nests as do Red-winged Blackbirds who often feign injury to lure the intruder away from their nests. Over-head a nice set of Ibis's do a fly by and no, they are not white-faced. I take out the iPhone and do a Black Rail call and wait.....I wait....a few minutes of waiting....and waiting.......no reply.

So...deciding to try the parking lot further inland, I travel the return leg 100 yards and park. There is a nice little walkway here that overlooks a nice little pond. Now.....that sounds like Black Rail territory with a pond, reeds but not pure marshland. Ok .....I get out the iPhone once more and do a call...again, no reply. So I walk down the path and run into a mudbank with the tidal being low. Lots of activity going on here with Clapper Rail calls going on all over and inter sprinkled with a few King Rails. Not bad....

As evident by the image introduced earlier on in this  blog....a pair of clapper rails are playing musical chairs around some exposed reeds. One eventually chased away the other as evident by below.....

So with obvious Clapper Rail 'visuals' and King Rails in audio form.....I still was absent the sound of the Black Rail. Wouldn't that  be an awesome experience to be in the presence of all three rails? Ooooooooooo......

Moving back towards the parking lot and narrowing my search between the trail and the pond, I stood.....played the Black Rail call once more and .....and....and...... 'THEre IT wasssssssssssss'......utterly amazing. I remember one time when I was a kid when I would read comics, the back page was always full of ads for army men and other odd toys to entice the average 8 year old. In fact, I can remember one army men set that were of Revolutionary War soldiers and the picture made them look great; I mean....I needed to have those army men for myself. I had my mom order them for me. And after a week or two I received a  box in the mail, no bigger than a 'check-book box' if anyone remembers the size of those, and as I held them in my shaking hands, I was in utter awe. Much like today....in utter awe but this time over the sound of Black Rails. Three notes....kee kee drr...with an emphasis on the second note. kee KEE drr.   I heard that call exactly three times in the next 10 minutes.

kee kee drr          kee kee drr          kee kee drr

Surprising what brings enchantment and contentment to a simple birder.  

The banner states it all....let's see some good questions:

How do birds sense the difference between a predator and just another bird? 

What birds are expected to cope and grow in population due to  Global Warming in our south Jersey area?

Belle Plain....the coveted Triangle........It is still Sunday and although I birded Forsythe in the morning, now it is towards evening and time for the Black Rail. 

Yes....You see....I usually travel with no maps and usually when traveling to Belle Plain and more specifically, to THE Triangle, I manage by hap chance to have a series of turns and I find myself at THE Triangle. I left my house at 4:15 hoping to do a bit of birding at THE 'Triangle' before heading on to highway 47 and Stepson's Island Road to seek out the 'call of the wild' ---the Black Rail. 

So....I traveled down the the Garden State Parkway and found I was low on funds in my EZ Pass....not sure why. Again, traveling without a map, I turned too soon off the Parkway and ended up way north on Highway 9 as I like to come into Belle Plain from Woodbine. 

So...I made it eventually down Route 9 to Woodbine (a long stretch) and turned left heading in the general direction of Belle Plain. Rather then taking the somewhat immediate 'right' to the Belle Plain Office I decided to head further down the main drag out of Woodbine so I could come into THE Triangle just ever-so perfectly. I had a rough idea to turn right sometime, but when or where to actually make the right turn was a bit on the suspect side of things. Well, bad idea....I ended up, somehow....not sure how...but I managed to do a nice perimeter of  Belle Plain Forest without ever really coming into contact with the place. I made it down south to Dennis and made it back up along route 347 and into Woodbine....all without seeing the actual forest. A complete mystery. 

But after hunting and pecking and driving about 30 miles to get from Woodbine to Belle Plain, I found THE Triangle and started to wander about. Almost immediately a nice couple from South Carolina came up to me as they were 'lost' from their trail and wanted directions on how to get back to the campsite. Well....I didn't have the heart to tell them of my little adventure of completely missing the forest, so I had them look at the map on my iPhone....you know, that little 1" by 1" screen that kind of shows something, without any detail.

I sent them on their way with my assurances that 'over there' is the direction to go. I think they made it.....

For me.....I was at THE triangle and it was quiet....not a peep and only a few vultures which managed to cast shadows over anything I looked at and immediately drew my attention to them. I did manage to find a nice Black and White Warbler down one of the side trails. But unlike the couple I met...I took the trail  back and actually found what I was looking for; that being my car. 

My main point of coming to Belle Plain was not Belle Plain, nor warblers or the like. I really wanted to hit further on down the road and see if I could 'hear' the Black Rail. I wasn't going to miss that opportunity as I have in the past 'looked to hear' the Black Rail, mainly up  near Lake MakePeace a few miles east of Hammonton and the Mullica area. I would venture into that Lake area around 10 at night, which was in itself a bit spooky. I always had the thought in my mind that here I was, alone....in a car.....in the dark, late at night and would come across a dead body, no rail. But after several tries at my night runs for Black Rails, I gave up on them. Until that nice couple from New York steered me to Black Rail country. 

In order to get to Highway 47, I had to turn left on 347 and someplace down there, they intersected. But these roads are busy on a Sunday evening as everyone makes it back from Cape May and into Philly. One feels like they are not looking at countless cars but more along the lines of a 'loooooonnnnnnngggggg parade of ants taking their stockpiles of leaf cuttings back to the main hole. Cars upon cars, and lines of cars and more cars. One is attempting to find that one moment in time when a hole between the rows of ants appears and then pull out between the lines and rev from 0-55 (no, this is New Jersey...more like 0-75mph). I found my moment and immediately fell in line with the ants. Now I just had to find that intersection which in reality shouldn't be too difficult since I just happened to be lost in that same country an hour or so past. So I knew in the general direction I needed and I wanted to be there around 7pm at the latest, which was the time the NY couple heard the Black Rail. I found 47 and made the right turn, but how far....I have no idea. I attempted to look at my iPhone to gauge distance but even with 3 bars showing, I had no map pop up. How dow that happen? When I finally say I am  going to use the map on the phone, the map fails to appear. So, I head down 47 on a slow pace and sure enough, a Jersey driver pulls in back of me and can't be satisfied with anything less than 75mph. But with my 'western' attitude.....I really don't give a rats' crap..... So we go slow. Jersey drivers may be impatient but westerners have this"you don't force me to do anything" attitude, so in this case, I won. 

Wandering down 47....I finally find Stepson's Island Road and take a left....but now....where? This is a long road and I didn't hear anything except, the Black Rail is on this road. Hmmmmmmmmm..... I forgot to query the New York couple that question. 

Back 'Forsything-it".....  Sunday.....    As you can tell, the Black Crown Night Herons were out and about. As to were the gnats. Now, a few weeks ago I was in South Carolina at one of the Plantations and someone provided us with a real awesome bug spray (non-deet). It was labeled No Gnat, or something to that effect  but wow, it really worked. So prior to heading to Forsythe, I headed to  Dicks. They had a lot of deet products and some others that I have tried before, with not much luck. So, I headed off to the neighboring sporting goods store just down the road and I felt like I walked into the same place....I mean, they look the same inside. Why are two stores--that close; that close? Beats me.  Even had the same products, none of which I wanted......So, I Forsythed it without bug spray.

A mistake............  The Boardwalk was fine with Ibis's galore. Funny, when you read the field guides, one begins to understand that perhaps, just perhaps....there might be a White-faced Ibis tucked in with the Glossy. Now the funny part is that down in Patagonia Arizona, they say that there might be a Glossy Ibis tucked in amongst all of the White-faced. So the moral of that little tidbit is that if you just go to where they are fairly 'native' to begin with, you  don't have to worry about finding that one lost soul amongst the others.  I spent the past few weeks in Arizona hunting for the Glossy, and here in New Jersey...I spend my time hunting for the White-faced. While .......I saw aplenty of each, just in a different locale. The same has occurred to me with Mississippi Kites. I would go down to Cape May and stare up, and find a few kites a few miles away, or so it would seem. Then I head down to Duro Canyon in west Texas and find they have permanent residence status. So....go to where they are, is my advice. 

I met a nice couple from New York on the Boardwalk who mentioned they heard the Black Rail down at Stepson's Island Road, hence....after Forsythe, I headed down to the Belle Plain area. More on that to come....

Gull pond and the tower....home of our Duck brigade of birders just the day before, hosted little to entice one. But down the first leg of the drive....oo la la....   That is, if one could have possibly managed to get out of the car or open the window a fraction without having been eaten raw by gnats. I would stop the car and roll down the window and I would slowly see this mist of gnats beginning to form like a cloud of dust. The longer the window was down....the more they came at me. Even after rolling up the window the gnats had already entrenched themselves all over the car and my body. Not having any bug spray at all.....they found me. 

But after rolling up the windows I would speed up to the max speed of 'whatever' and then roll the windows down once more. With my hat, I would be reaching around the car inners to wallop them away and out the window. I must have looked like a madman from behind with my arms flaying, hat swishing the car top....my car drunkenly pacing itself down the drive from one side to the other. Then, I would quickly roll up the windows....stop...gaze around to see the Dunlins, Dowitchers (I think short), Willets, and yes....this Night Heron basking in the sun. I tried to take a shot of this heron with the windows up (as I like to pretend I learn from my mistakes) but to no avail as the window was already smeared with dead gnats. So I unrolled the window---grabbed a few shots....and then sped up and did my crazy man routine once more. 

Along about the second leg.....hey mom, no gnats...... A few good birds such as the Black Bellied Plover though and a continuation of the Forster's Tern. As Don Freiday would say, one can always appear smart by knowing that they are Forster's Terns since they love these marsh waters while the Common Tern is the one you see at the beaches swooping around the waves. Remember that.... See below....a good shot of Forster's Tern.

The the return leg offered no such luck with the American Pelicans visibly absent among anything dressed in white and the Marbled Godwit apparently decided not to 'wait it out' until I returned from Arizona. Oh well....another day. But the osprey are out....and for some reason I was around right at feeding time as I saw 4 of them throughout the drive 'perched' pecking away at lunch. 

I ended up the drive by going to the Experimental Pond....looking for 'anything' and usually I find nothing there....pure experimental. One day I am going to be at the pond and I will be amazed. I know that day is coming. 

So.....on to Belle Plain.......