Almost a Spring-like day at the beach. With Shari spending the weekend in NYC, I took the opportunity to go to Barnegat Light SP--site of the dreaded jetty. I lucked out--I didn't have to rock hop to see the
Harlequin Ducks--there were four right at the end of the concrete walkway. One of the first ducks I saw today an FOY that I used for BAD (Bird-a-Day), a hen
Surf Scoter very far up the inlet, near the lighthouse, an unusual spot for scoters which tend to be out closer to the waves. And it was the only scoter I saw there. I guess it's getting late in the winter (yippee) and the winter ducks are moving north. The duck with largest numbers was
Long-tailed Duck, followed by
Red-breasted Merganser. There were a few
Common Eiders out in the ocean.
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| Surf Scoter (hen) |
Another interesting sign that we're late in the winter game (again, yippee), is that the gull population on Long Beach Island seems to have suddenly transitioned from Ring-bill Gulls to
Herring Gulls. I saw well over a thousand Herring Gulls, nary a one of Ring Bill.
I walked along the beach to the ocean, occasionally peering over the jetty to see if any interesting ducks or loons were on the other side. Another birder told me that
Purple Sandpipers were at the end of the jetty, but you had to find them from the beach because the surf was crashing over the rocks there. I looked for a long time before I finally found a few in the crevices of the boulders--not very satisfying looks, but then one sandpiper flew right in front of me and by stepping up onto a rock I got the "field guide" look at it.
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| Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich) |
That birder also alerted me to the presence of a an
Ipswich Sparrow which is a subspecies of the
Savannah Sparrow. I don't usually get too excited about subspecies, but the Ipswich variety is a pale copy of the nominate form. But I didn't see it going out. Coming back, another birder mentioned the Ipswich, so now I decided to really look for it--because they're so pale they blend in very well with the sand and light colored rocks. However, I did finally see it and was even able to photograph it.
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| Long-tailed Ducks |
After 3 1/2 hours walking the beach, the walkways, the forest trail, and occasionally jumping up onto the jetty, I left to have a look at the bay side of the Island. At the Bayview Marina I found a couple of
American Oystercatchers, so the day was pretty much complete in terms of favorite birds.
My last stop of the day was Double Trouble SP. Since I had the scope with me I thought I'd take a look at the lake--I always have the feeling I'm missing something when I scan it with just binoculars. I was also hoping the Tundra Swans were still there; they weren't, but I did turn up some distant ducks (
Bufflehead,
Ring-neck, and hen
Hooded Mergansers) as well as a
Pied-bill Grebe. Probably would not have seen any of them with just my bins.
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| Sanderlings |
For the day I had 38 species with 2 FOY, got my Ocean County year last up to 96 birds to vault into first place in the county listings and got a taste of what its like to bird without wearing gloves.
Brant 50
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Canada Goose 212
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Mallard 8
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Ring-necked Duck 35
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Lesser Scaup 2
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Common Eider 5
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Harlequin Duck 4
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Surf Scoter 1
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Long-tailed Duck 154
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Bufflehead 1
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Hooded Merganser 6
|
Red-breasted Merganser 26
|
Red-throated Loon 1
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Common Loon 26
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Pied-billed Grebe 1
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Great Cormorant 4
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Turkey Vulture 1
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American Oystercatcher
2
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Sanderling 2
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Purple Sandpiper 4
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Herring Gull 1550
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Great Black-backed Gull
110
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Rock Pigeon 29
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Mourning Dove 2
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Belted Kingfisher 1
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American Crow 10
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Carolina Chickadee 2
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Tufted Titmouse 5
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White-breasted Nuthatch
3
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Carolina Wren 1
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Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
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Northern Mockingbird 2
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European Starling 10
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Savannah Sparrow (Ipswich) 1
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Song Sparrow 2
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Northern Cardinal 5
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Red-winged Blackbird 3
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House Sparrow 20
|
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| Brants |
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