By Linda Turi, Ph.D.

On November 22, 2003 a small and enthusiastic group of NJ OWLers toured Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge (known to birders as "Brigantine"). We hit the jackpot with warm sunshine, great company and over 25 species of birds. Led by naturalist Mike Bisignano, our driving tour of the refuge began with some pointers for distinguishing between two species of accipiters, the Cooper's Hawk and the Sharp-shinned Hawk. Just after the discussion concluded, a Sharp-shinned Hawk flew overhead, as if on cue, affording us great looks at its squared off tail, short neck and flutter-flutter-glide flight pattern. We were off and running in a big way!

While putting the spotting scopes on some Pied-billed Grebes, Scaup, and Ring-necked Ducks, an investigation of noisy, mobbing crows yielded spectacular looks at a pair of Red-shouldered Hawks, one of whom was practically posing for a picture at the top of a cedar tree, with the striking red of his body contrasted against the bright blue sky. Next we had the good fortune to see a Common Goldeneye - a life bird for me. Mike gave tips on identifying ducks by waiting to see whether they forage for food by diving underneath the water, or if they dabble (tilt their rumps up in the air with their head under water). Once you know whether they are dabblers or divers, you can eliminate the other family and narrow down the possibilities considerably. The different families of ducks can forage for food at different levels of the water, so that they are not directly competing for the same resources. Similarly, the Dunlin and Greater Yellowlegs we saw foraging together, managed to share the same feeding spot without competition as the longer bills of the Yellowlegs allow them to access food that is deeper in the mud than the Dunlin can reach.

Most of us learned to identify the call note of the Yellow-rumped Warbler and the"pishing" of the Tufted Titmouse, and some of us managed to do a pretty good imitation (although no one came close to matching Mike on this one!). We saw large numbers of Northern Pintails, Tundra Swans, Brant, American Black Ducks, Great Blue Herons, and two Red-tailed Hawks in flight.