My plan today was to scout out a new spot in Allentown in Monmouth County--Heritage Park. Shari & I had seen the entrance to the park a few times but we never investigated. Another birder had recently seen a Baltimore Oriole nearby at the mill pond; during an email correspondence she mentioned that the park was a great place to bird when the paths were clear of snow. The park reminded me a lot of Prospect Park in Brooklyn. Trails along the stream that comes out of the pond gave the illusion of isolation, as you get in places in Prospect Park, but walk a hundred yards up a trail and you come to an expansive lawn, very reminiscent of the great lawn in Brooklyn.
I started out on one of the trails alongside the creek. It was muddy and in a few places pretty slippery, but generally a pleasant walk. I wasn't in the park five minutes before I saw my first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the year, so already the excursion was a success. I found a lot of the usual winter birds in there, including a dandy little Golden-crowned Kinglet. While I was in the woods I thought I heard the hoarse call of a Fish Crow, but with all the gulls around I couldn't be sure. I walked out of the woods onto the lawn and there, in some bare trees across the way, was a small flock of about 10 crows. Good to finally see them this year.
Before I went into the park I stopped at the mill pond to scan the impressive large flock of geese for anything unusual. The best I came up with were 8 Northern Pintails. The oriole wasn't around the mill pond or in the park that I could find; I didn't really expect to.
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| A small part of the flock |
Another nearby spot is the Mercer Corporate Center in Robbinsville (for an inexplicable reason, eBird lists it in Allentown, which is not even the right county). This is the site where the first Northern Lapwing was briefly seen by Sam Galick back in November after the first big snowstorm, and also the site where a Barnacle Goose was hanging out in December, so it's always worth checking. There weren't nearly as many geese there as in Allentown, but there were a good number of American Coots, Gadwalls, Ring-necked Ducks and one handsome drake Green-winged Teal (FOY). A Merlin swooped by.
I drove back to Allentown, had lunch at my new favorite diner (Woody's on Main Street), checked the mill pond again, then on the way home, I couldn't resist stopping in New Egypt to see the Northern Lapwings which have hung in there through frozen fields, snow storms, and birds of prey for nearly a month. Another month and their breeding season begins; that should be interesting. All 3 were hanging out near a mud puddle in the back of the cattle field. Good scope views, but I don't have the camera to take decent pictures of them.
For my wanderings in 3 counties I had 40 species on the day:
Locations: Allentown—Conine’s Millpond; Robbinsville--Mercer Corporate Park; Allentown--Heritage Park; New Egypt--Brynmore
/ Big Woods Rd. fields; Riverfront Landing
Canada Goose 1285
Gadwall 9
Northern Pintail 8
Green-winged Teal 1
Canvasback 43
Ring-necked Duck
37
Greater Scaup 2
Lesser Scaup 11
Bufflehead 15
Turkey Vulture 2
Bald Eagle 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
American Coot 14
êNorthern
Lapwing 3
Killdeer 3
Ring-billed Gull 6
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull
1
Rock Pigeon 25
Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied
Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 1
Merlin 1
Blue Jay 2
American Crow 3
Fish Crow 10
Carolina Chickadee
2
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch
3
Carolina Wren 4
Golden-crowned Kinglet
1
American Robin 1
European Starling
30
Song Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow
4
Dark-eyed Junco 20
Red-winged Blackbird 1
Common Grackle
1000
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