Ocean County 1/29--Ring-necked Pheasant

We decided to bird a few spots around the county today and do some errands afterwards. By far the highlight of the day was found in transit along Lacey Road. Shari spotted 2 Ring-necked Pheasants foraging along the side of the road. She pulled the car over a few hundred feet down the road, made a U-turn and drove back and found them still picking away at the leaf litter. She got this photo.

Checking eBird I saw that these birds are rarely reported in the county--the last time was in April of last year. Before that there are only a few sightings listed every year.

After seeing these birds, everything else was anti-climatic. The next best sighting was our last stop, at Marshall Pond between the Ocean County Mall and Seacourt Pavilion, where there was a huge flock of honking Canada Geese, all getting ready to take flight. They went off in squadrons, probably to a nearby golf course. A Cackling Goose has been reported there-- we didn't find it today. But what a great place, where even the shopping centers have bird sanctuaries!
Our list for the day: 24 species with stops at Bamber Lake, Eno's Pond, Forsythe-Barnegat, Barnegat Beach, & Marshall's Pond.

Canada Goose

Mute Swan

American Black Duck

Mallard

Northern Shoveler

Long-tailed Duck

Bufflehead

Hooded Merganser

Red-breasted Merganser

Ring-necked Pheasant

Pied-billed Grebe

Horned Grebe

Great Blue Heron

Great Egret

Turkey Vulture Red-tailed Hawk

American Coot

Herring Gull

Great Black-backed Gull

Mourning Dove

Blue Jay

American Robin

Yellow-rumped Warbler Dark-eyed Junco