Brigantine 9/11--Hudsonian Godwit

We thought we'd knock around Ocean County today, checking out various parks, but after looking over Harry Wright Lake in our township of Manchester and determining that it holds promise for winter ducks, we decided to head on down to Brig, taking advantage of our location, location, location.

On the way down, I look at the dashboard clock and said to Shari, "Just about now, 10 years ago, all hell was breaking loose in New York," and that's all I have to say about that disastrous day.

As we were driving the road along the Gull Pond to the observation tower, we saw a flock of crows mobbing a small hawk. When the hawk fought back, diving at a crow, I said that it was probably a Merlin; Merlins are extremely pugnacious. Later, from the tower we saw it perched on a branch and were able to study it for quite a while, determining that it was not a Peregrine--weak mustache and broad black stripe on the tail were diagnostic. Merlin was our falcon for the day because, unusually, we didn't see the Peregrine today--it wasn't on its perch between the two pools and we didn't see it flying, stirring up the peeps.

Peeps there were a lot of and I was able to pick out a few Leasts in the scrambling groups on the mudflats. But the really cool birds were seen at the dogleg, when, just after mentioning to Shari that Hudsonian Godwit had been spotted in that area yesterday she found it. That felt good to find this uncommon bird; what felt better was finding a couple of Wilson's Phalaropes in the same scope view, whirling around like sandpipers with St. Vitus' Dance.

We booked 44 species for the loop. Later at home, I saw an Ovenbird in the leaf litter beneath one of our feeders, picking at the broken and fallen seeds on the ground. I thought that was very odd; I didn't actually see it eat any of the fragments--it seemed to merely be flipping them over. Maybe it was looking for bugs underneath them.

Brig's list:
Canada Goose  65
Mute Swan  5
Gadwall  3
American Black Duck  20
Mallard  5
Double-crested Cormorant  45
Great Blue Heron  6
Great Egret  100
Snowy Egret  100
Black-crowned Night-Heron  1
Glossy Ibis  8
Turkey Vulture  2
Osprey  3
Northern Harrier  2
Merlin  1    Gull Pond
Clapper Rail  3
Black-bellied Plover  1
Semipalmated Plover  6
American Oystercatcher  1
Greater Yellowlegs  1
Lesser Yellowlegs  10
Hudsonian Godwit  1
Ruddy Turnstone  5
Semipalmated Sandpiper  700
Least Sandpiper  5
Short-billed Dowitcher  50
Wilson's Phalarope  2
Laughing Gull  200
Ring-billed Gull  1
Herring Gull  100
Great Black-backed Gull  35
Caspian Tern  4
Common Tern  1
Forster's Tern  50
Black Skimmer  3
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1
American Crow  8
Tree Swallow  5
Barn Swallow  1
Gray Catbird  1
European Starling  60
Seaside Sparrow  1
Red-winged Blackbird  15
American Goldfinch  1