Went to the beach ...
Jan 23, 2018 08:52:16 #
Jan 23, 2018 09:08:19 #
Bill_de wrote:
... still looking for more snowy owls. I walked about a mile and a half and only saw about 1/2 dozen birds. And I don't think they were owls. 
maybe if you had walked another mile or so you would have hit the jackpot, bill...lol. at least you got your daily walk in
with some other pretty birds and shots. i would love to have a real beach nearby but have to be satisfied with ponds and
lakes and streams.
Jan 23, 2018 09:14:44 #
MJKilpatrick
Loc: Cape May, NJ
Hello Bill_de,
Nice shots, the Dunlin look like healthy birds. But, your sparrow is something special and it caught my attention immediately. Katy is correct, it is a Savannah but not just any Savannah, its the subspecies "princeps", commonly known as the Ipswich Sparrow. And, though I like a Snowy Owl as much as anyone, that sparrow, when comparing population numbers and range, is a rarer creature. You just happen to be located in its core wintering area but for most folks in North America it is a sparrow they will not see. This is the first photo of one I have seen on UHH since I have been a member.
Not to bore anyone, and only to offer context, the Ipswich sparrow is one of 17 identified subspecies of the Savannah sparrow. It is only one of two endemic island breeders in those subspecies. The Ipswich breeds exclusively on Sable Island out about 190 miles in the North Atlantic off the coast of Nova Scotia. The other island breeding subspecies is the Aleutian subspecies but where the Aleutian subspecies (Alaska) is found on several islands in the Aleutian chain, the Ipswich only breeds on Sable Island (approximately 18 square miles in area). The Ipswich breeding population is only 6000 to 6400 breeding adults. It winters along the Eastern seaboard from Nova Scotia to Georgia with its core wintering area between New York and Virginia.
Is an amazing bird.........and though has always been associated with the coastal dune habitat, it can be found not only on the dunes but out on the open beach and in the grasslands behind the dune lines including the salt marshes. If you compare sightings in mega data sets like ebird, you will likely see less sightings noted this year of the Ipswich sparrow versus the Snowy Owl but we are in a Snowy Owl implosion year. To date, no one has been able to account for the Ipswich sparrows total presence on the wintering area and little is known about there habits. Folks describe them as secretive but they are not..........just few in number and not understood. Come to know them and they are pretty easy to find.........but never in huge numbers as they are spread out over a large winter range.
It has a fascinating ornithological history littered with misguided common wisdom. One of which is the bird was not first discovered in Ipswich, Massachusetts but was first introduced into the ornithological record by Alexander Wilson, some time just after 1800 on the Northern tip of the Ocean City, NJ beach. Its also interesting that the bird's identity was not solidified till the 1970's when modern DNA testing confirmed it as a subspecies of the Savannah, up to that time it was listed as a distinct species.
You got a photo of a great bird.....smaller than a Snowy Owl, and maybe not as showy.......but just as special if not a bit more....its one of the least photographed and least seen of our sparrows and one that has an amazing character and history about it. Do you mind if I ask you the location you saw it and what you saw it doing and if you saw others with it? I would like to take a look at aerial signatures of the site and look at habitat and vegetation belts as I am doing that on sites in New Jersey for this bird and your photo was taken just across the Delaware Bay from Cape May. Also, have you ever seen others there?
With My Best,
Nice shots, the Dunlin look like healthy birds. But, your sparrow is something special and it caught my attention immediately. Katy is correct, it is a Savannah but not just any Savannah, its the subspecies "princeps", commonly known as the Ipswich Sparrow. And, though I like a Snowy Owl as much as anyone, that sparrow, when comparing population numbers and range, is a rarer creature. You just happen to be located in its core wintering area but for most folks in North America it is a sparrow they will not see. This is the first photo of one I have seen on UHH since I have been a member.
Not to bore anyone, and only to offer context, the Ipswich sparrow is one of 17 identified subspecies of the Savannah sparrow. It is only one of two endemic island breeders in those subspecies. The Ipswich breeds exclusively on Sable Island out about 190 miles in the North Atlantic off the coast of Nova Scotia. The other island breeding subspecies is the Aleutian subspecies but where the Aleutian subspecies (Alaska) is found on several islands in the Aleutian chain, the Ipswich only breeds on Sable Island (approximately 18 square miles in area). The Ipswich breeding population is only 6000 to 6400 breeding adults. It winters along the Eastern seaboard from Nova Scotia to Georgia with its core wintering area between New York and Virginia.
Is an amazing bird.........and though has always been associated with the coastal dune habitat, it can be found not only on the dunes but out on the open beach and in the grasslands behind the dune lines including the salt marshes. If you compare sightings in mega data sets like ebird, you will likely see less sightings noted this year of the Ipswich sparrow versus the Snowy Owl but we are in a Snowy Owl implosion year. To date, no one has been able to account for the Ipswich sparrows total presence on the wintering area and little is known about there habits. Folks describe them as secretive but they are not..........just few in number and not understood. Come to know them and they are pretty easy to find.........but never in huge numbers as they are spread out over a large winter range.
It has a fascinating ornithological history littered with misguided common wisdom. One of which is the bird was not first discovered in Ipswich, Massachusetts but was first introduced into the ornithological record by Alexander Wilson, some time just after 1800 on the Northern tip of the Ocean City, NJ beach. Its also interesting that the bird's identity was not solidified till the 1970's when modern DNA testing confirmed it as a subspecies of the Savannah, up to that time it was listed as a distinct species.
You got a photo of a great bird.....smaller than a Snowy Owl, and maybe not as showy.......but just as special if not a bit more....its one of the least photographed and least seen of our sparrows and one that has an amazing character and history about it. Do you mind if I ask you the location you saw it and what you saw it doing and if you saw others with it? I would like to take a look at aerial signatures of the site and look at habitat and vegetation belts as I am doing that on sites in New Jersey for this bird and your photo was taken just across the Delaware Bay from Cape May. Also, have you ever seen others there?
With My Best,
Jan 23, 2018 09:57:44 #
Jan 23, 2018 10:22:30 #
Jan 23, 2018 11:29:41 #
I was going to say Clear, crisp great photos but Katydid beat me to it. 
Jan 23, 2018 11:31:10 #
Jan 23, 2018 12:44:07 #
Thanks everyone for joining me at the beach. I appreciate the kind words.
MT - If I had walked much further I would have been inside somebody's house. I was afraid I might catch them feasting on an owl.
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MJ - Interesting info. I was on Fowler's Beach which is part of the Prime Hook NWR. If you look at a map I was southeast of where the road hits the sound. It was maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile.
There were 2 birds pecking at the sand slightly below the high water line. The second bird walked away as I approached and was out of sight behind a small dune. I couldn't confirm it was the same type. As I was lowering my tripod the bird I was shooting walked away. I didn't want to spook them into flight so I backed away and left the area.
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MT - If I had walked much further I would have been inside somebody's house. I was afraid I might catch them feasting on an owl.
----
MJ - Interesting info. I was on Fowler's Beach which is part of the Prime Hook NWR. If you look at a map I was southeast of where the road hits the sound. It was maybe 1/4 to 1/2 mile.
There were 2 birds pecking at the sand slightly below the high water line. The second bird walked away as I approached and was out of sight behind a small dune. I couldn't confirm it was the same type. As I was lowering my tripod the bird I was shooting walked away. I didn't want to spook them into flight so I backed away and left the area.
--
Jan 23, 2018 12:59:32 #
Jan 23, 2018 13:00:57 #
Bill_de wrote:
... still looking for more snowy owls. I walked about a mile and a half and only saw about 1/2 dozen birds. And I don't think they were owls.
They are fine images even if not an owl Bill.
Jan 23, 2018 14:13:34 #
Jan 23, 2018 15:57:52 #
Jan 23, 2018 20:23:36 #
Sylvia, Karin, Bev, Fran - thank you ladies for the kind words. You are all very much appreciated.
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Jan 26, 2018 08:05:23 #
MJKilpatrick
Loc: Cape May, NJ
Hi Bill,
Thanks for the info. I know Fowler's Beach. If you look at the aerial photos you will find some interesting characteristics of that stretch. First, the rear marsh areas have a constricted flow......they fill from one source creek into that rear basin. This habitat signature usually results in bands of low marsh to high marsh, then to a band of more mixed upland dune grasses that will usually have some species of Panicum grass and then the dune front that generally will have dune grass. You will note the blow out features along the front dune....its indicative of a succession dune front versus and engineered dune front........simply there is no brush or tree line just that natural transition from sea to dune to marsh grassland. This is the signature for the Ipswich Sparrow. I bet if you look for them you will find more along that beach.
It is also a key signature for black rail habitat. You can see where the refugee has dug little Y shaped pond like formations. This is a technique they use to try convert the higher marsh to more wet.......don't ask why it does not make sense but they did this extensively throughout areas of the high marsh in Foresythe NWR in NJ. But that band behind the dune line should have a high marsh band and I can see the light green vegetation signature patens grass (salt hay) on the aerial maps. You may want to listen for black rail in that spot come spring.........usually starting in April.......the spot is exactly the same signature I pick them up here and it is the same habitat that is described throughout the historical ornithological records for coastal NJ and Delaware. It should also be breeding habitat for the salt marsh sparrow.
Again thanks for the info, I appreciate it. With My Best, Mike
Thanks for the info. I know Fowler's Beach. If you look at the aerial photos you will find some interesting characteristics of that stretch. First, the rear marsh areas have a constricted flow......they fill from one source creek into that rear basin. This habitat signature usually results in bands of low marsh to high marsh, then to a band of more mixed upland dune grasses that will usually have some species of Panicum grass and then the dune front that generally will have dune grass. You will note the blow out features along the front dune....its indicative of a succession dune front versus and engineered dune front........simply there is no brush or tree line just that natural transition from sea to dune to marsh grassland. This is the signature for the Ipswich Sparrow. I bet if you look for them you will find more along that beach.
It is also a key signature for black rail habitat. You can see where the refugee has dug little Y shaped pond like formations. This is a technique they use to try convert the higher marsh to more wet.......don't ask why it does not make sense but they did this extensively throughout areas of the high marsh in Foresythe NWR in NJ. But that band behind the dune line should have a high marsh band and I can see the light green vegetation signature patens grass (salt hay) on the aerial maps. You may want to listen for black rail in that spot come spring.........usually starting in April.......the spot is exactly the same signature I pick them up here and it is the same habitat that is described throughout the historical ornithological records for coastal NJ and Delaware. It should also be breeding habitat for the salt marsh sparrow.
Again thanks for the info, I appreciate it. With My Best, Mike
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