Brig & Barnegat

It doesn't feel like spring yet. We drove down to Brigantine today and it just got cloudier and windier as the day progressed. There are still lots of ducks (mostly black) and Snow Geese around. Notable birds  were Great Egrets swooping in, one Snowy Egret far out in one of the impoundments, Ospreys hanging around the nest platforms and, in the left-hand pond near the exit, a Blue-winged Teal among the Green-wing Teals and Great Blue Herons.

There didn't seem to be any point in make two circuits of the drive, especially since the wind was starting to pick up, and the woods seemed very quiet, so we decided to drive up north and stop in at Barnegat Light.

At the end of the paved walkway, Shari spotted 2 Harlequin Ducks (drake & hen) on the side of the jetty. Great to see them without having to take the horrible hops, skips and jumps along the uneven boulders of the jetty. Maybe if I had (there's no chance of Shari doing it again) I might have seen Purple Sandpipers but I'm 60 now and premonitions of mortality prevail.

2 lists.
Brigantine 
Number of species:    33
Snow Goose    300    One blue morph
Brant    10
Canada Goose    50
Mute Swan    2
Gadwall    20
American Black Duck    400
Mallard    10
Blue-winged Teal    1    Pond on left near exit
Northern Shoveler    50
Green-winged Teal    175
Hooded Merganser    2
Red-breasted Merganser    1
Ruddy Duck    50
Double-crested Cormorant    3
Great Blue Heron    8
Great Egret    10
Snowy Egret    1
Turkey Vulture    2    Rt 9, one f/o one eating carrion
Osprey    7
Red-tailed Hawk    2
Peregrine Falcon    1
American Oystercatcher    2
Herring Gull    100
Great Black-backed Gull    1
Mourning Dove    1    Heard @ Experimental Pool
Belted Kingfisher    1    Experimental Pool
American Crow    10
Fish Crow    6
Tree Swallow    5    Near Visitor's Ctr
Carolina Wren    1    Heard @ Experimental Pool
American Robin    3    Heard in woods
Song Sparrow    1    Entrance to Gull Pond road
Red-winged Blackbird    50
Barnegat Lighthouse State Park
Number of species:    9
Brant    300
Harlequin Duck    2
Long-tailed Duck    50
Red-breasted Merganser    20
Common Loon    2
Double-crested Cormorant    10
Herring Gull    100
Great Black-backed Gull    20
American Crow    1