But you can include any area that you bird for the count--they define backyard very loosely. It is really just an extended, digital version of a Christmas bird count. So the walk I took in the WMA this morning is recorded too. The Ring-necked Duck, after not showing yesterday, was on the lake again. I saw him swimming toward the far bank when suddenly 6 Mallards I hadn't noticed started quacking and flew up and away from him. That duck is probably developing a complex.
I saw on Jerseybirds yesterday that someone had seen one of my wish list ducks in Toms River, so with an ulterior motive, I suggested to Shari that we go out for lunch this afternoon at a place on the water and then take the short drive to Riverfront Landing. And there, sure enough, were 25 Canvasbacks. These ducks are not uncommon, but for some reason I have a hard time finding them, so to see 25 all in one place, 10 miles from home, is a real treat.
When we got home around 3 o'clock, I looked at the feeder hanging outside the back windows and was very surprised to see 2 Brown-headed Cowbirds (m+f) plunked down on the tray gorging themselves. Just yesterday my neighbor had mentioned that he thought he'd seen a cowbird in the back but wasn't certain--he thought it might just have been a starling. He was probably looking at the female of the species.
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| Photo: Shari Zirlin |
The combined list for the day: 19 species:
| Mallard | 6 |
| Canvasback | 25 |
| Ring-necked Duck | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | 1 |
| Ring-billed Gull | 1 |
| Mourning Dove | 1 |
| Downy Woodpecker | 1 |
| Blue Jay | 1 |
| Carolina Chickadee | 10 |
| Tufted Titmouse | 10 |
| White-breasted Nuthatch | 1 |
| Carolina Wren | 1 |
| American Robin | 5 |
| Song Sparrow | 1 |
| White-throated Sparrow | 1 |
| Dark-eyed Junco | 6 |
| Northern Cardinal | 2 |
| Brown-headed Cowbird | 2 |
| American Goldfinch | 1 |
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