Somerset Naturalists Bird Walk

Annual Spring Migrating and Nesting Bird walk with Somerset Naturalists May 14, 2016 - Somerset County NJ
Click on pictures for a larger version.
Sorry they are a little blurry. I used a wide range zoom lens on my SLR that wasn't the best for birding.: Hike along the Millstone River at Zarephath NJ then across the Delaware and Raritan Canal to the ponds across the street.

web Yellow Warbler Canada Geese Painted Turtles

Harron Oriole nest Eastern Kingbird Red-winged Blackbird

A total of 59 species were seen (2015 plus 2016 list).

Bird	2015	2016
American crow	*	*
American kestrel	*
American robin	*	*
Bald eagle	*
Barn swallow	*	*
Belted king fisher	*
Black pole warbler	*
Black-billed cuckoo		*
Blue jay	*	*
Blue-gray gnatcatcher	*	*
Canada goose	*	*
Carolina wren	*
Catbird	*	*
Cedar waxwing	*
Chimney swift	*	*
Chipping sparrow	*	*
Common (?) Grackle	*	*
Common yellow throat	*	*

Bird	2015	2016
Cooper's hawk	*
Cowbird	*	*
Double-crested cormorant	*
Downy woodpecker	*
Eastern blue bird	*	*
Eastern kingbird	*	*
Eastern phoebe		*
European starling	*	*
Fish crow	*
Flicker	*	*
Gold finch	*	*
Great blue heron	*	*
Great crested fly catcher	*	*
Green heron		*
House finch	*	*
House sparrow	*	*
House wren	*	*
Indigo bunting	*	*
Killdeer	*
Mallard duck	*	*
Mocking bird	*	*

Bird	2015	2016
Northern cardinal	*	*
Mourning dove	*	*
Northern oriole	*	*
Oven bird	*
Pine warbler	*
Red-bellied woodpecker	*	*
Red-eyed vireo	*	*
Red-tailed hawk	*
Red-winged black bird	*	*
Rock dove	*	*
Rough-wing swallow	*	*
Solitary sandpiper	*
Song sparrow	*	*
Spotted sandpiper	*	*
Titmouse	*	*
Turkey vulture		*
Warbling vireo	*
Willow flycatcher - maybe	*	*
Wood duck	*	*
Yellow warbler	*	*

List courtesy of Doryce Wheeler

Abut 50% of the songbirds in New Jersey migrate south in the winter.
These include flycatchers, wrens, thrushes, vireos, warblers and sparrows.
Many of these birds are insectivores; they eat mainly insects. (Most insects do not survive the North American winters except in larval or egg forms.)
However, Many species of migratory songbirds that are primarily insectivorous during the breeding season consume large amounts of fruit during autumn migration.
Links:
NY Times report on URI article.
These birds remain on their non-breeding (wintering) grounds until April.
They migrate at night.
See:
Bird Migration
Chimney Rock Hawk Watch
Bird Watching
Birds of Middlesex County.pdf

last updated 10 June 2016