Double Trouble State Park, in Ocean County, got an avian flyby.
Red crossbill WHAT WE'VE SPOTTED
* Sandhill crane, Montclair Hawk Watch* Black-headed gull, Forsythe (Brigantine) National Wildlife Refuge
* Red crossbill, Rockaway
* Cave swallow, Sandy Hook
* Dickcissel, Palmyra Cove Park
The bird is a cousin of white-throated and white-crowned sparrows, normally found at this time of year in the central and southern Great Plains. The Harris's sparrow nests in northern and central Canada, and can be seen at the tree line in places such as Churchill, Manitoba, in spring and summer.
The Jersey visitor was discovered at Double Trouble State Park in Ocean County. The Harris's sparrow usually appears in the Garden State every five or six years, and generally lingers here for more than a week.
A major puzzle for birders is what happens to birds that wander hundreds -- if not thousands -- of miles out of their normal range. In recent weeks, there has been a second state record of a tropical kingbird in Pennsylvania and, another extremely rare bird in the east, a Hammond's flycatcher in Massachusetts. Both are flycatchers of the American West.
When such birds show up in odd places, they bring joy to local birders, who are always looking for life bird and/or a new bird for the state list. Keeping lists is an important part of this hobby for many birders.
A calliope -- America's smallest hummingbird -- is visiting a garden feeder at a home in Cliffwood Beach. There are fewer than 10 records of this diminutive bird in the Garden State and it is one that most New Jersey listers would love to have on their state list. However, this particular bird cannot be seen from the road. Usually, an appointment must be made with a homeowner in such a situation, but the person who owns this property does not want any birding visitors, so many have been disappointed.
New Jersey has recorded seven species of hummingbirds. They include the common nesting ruby-throated hummingbird; the annually appearing rufous hummingbird, which can travel from as far as Alaska; the Allen's hummingbird, from the West Coast; and the black-chinned, calliope and broad-tailed hummingbird, all from the west. Last but not least is the gem of them all, the green violet-ear hummingbird, which hails from the tropics. Except for the latter, most of these birds can survive New Jersey's colder months, if they have a food source -- a hummingbird feeder filled with sugar water.
See a hummingbird in New Jersey? Report it to the Cape May Bird Observatory.