February Review

The beach at Barnegat Light SP

February was not nearly as dramatic as January. No life birds, no new visitors from another continent. There were a lot of ducks and a few shorebirds, the best being American Woodcock found in the seemingly unlikely suburban environs of Horicon Lake--though I do have a report of timberdoodles not far from here near the Crestwood Village Community Gardens. One of these dusks Shari & I will have to get over there to see if we can catch an aerial display.

Red-breasted Merganser, Long-tailed Ducks, Barnegat Light SP

I'm doing all right in my Bird A Day contest, but I've already had to use up some "easy" birds like Rock Pigeon, House Finch, and Carolina Wren. Starting the contest in winter complicates the strategy, because, while you want to list the winter ducks, geese and swans before they migrate, you don't want to use them all have and have nothing left over for the cold months at the end of the year. For instance, I'd like to keep Brant for the end of the year--it's an easy get--but I don't know if I'll find enough birds through the Spring to do it. Brant hang around through June and it might get tempting. I'm hoping for an early migration in March, not only for B.A.D. purposes but to relieve the winter monotony of chickadees, titmice and nuthatches.

For the month I saw/heard 90 species--10% below my arbitrary target of 100--but hey, I only had 28 days. 13 First of Year birds--4 ducks, 3 shorebirds, a woodpecker, a comorant, a couple of sparrows, a crow and a thrush.
The month list:

Species        Location

Brant       Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Canada Goose        Crestwood Village

Mute Swan        Cattus Island County Park

Tundra Swan        Colliers Mills WMA

Gadwall        Marshall Pond

American Wigeon        Marshall Pond

American Black Duck        Horicon Lake

Mallard        Crestwood Village

Northern Shoveler        Barnegat Beach

Northern Pintail        Cedar Run Dock Rd.

Green-winged Teal        Mercer Corporate Park

Canvasback        Riverfront Landing

Ring-necked Duck        Horicon Lake

Greater Scaup        Riverfront Landing

Lesser Scaup        Riverfront Landing

Common Eider        Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Harlequin Duck        Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Surf Scoter        Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Long-tailed Duck        Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Bufflehead        Riverfront Landing

Hooded Merganser        Horicon Lake

Common Merganser        Conines Millpond

Red-breasted Merganser       Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Ruddy Duck        Riverfront Landing

Wild Turkey        Crestwood Village

Red-throated Loon        Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Common Loon        Barnegat Beach

Pied-billed Grebe        Horicon Lake

Horned Grebe        Cedar Run Dock Rd.

Double-crested Cormorant        Riverfront Landing

Great Cormorant        Cattus Island County Park

Great Blue Heron       Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Black Vulture        Crestwood Village

Turkey Vulture        35 Sunset Rd

Northern Harrier        Brynmore / Big Woods Rd. fields

Cooper's Hawk        Riverfront Landing

Bald Eagle       Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Red-shouldered Hawk        Horicon Lake

Red-tailed Hawk        Stafford Forge WMA

American Coot        Marshall Pond

Sandhill Crane        Brynmore / Big Woods Rd. fields

êNorthern Lapwing        Brynmore / Big Woods Rd. fields

Killdeer        Brynmore / Big Woods Rd. fields

American Oystercatcher        Bayview Marina

Greater Yellowlegs        Stafford Forge WMA

Sanderling        Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Purple Sandpiper        Barnegat Lighthouse SP

American Woodcock        Horicon Lake

Ring-billed Gull        Crestwood Village

Herring Gull        Horicon Lake

Great Black-backed Gull        Horicon Lake

Rock Pigeon        Brynmore / Big Woods Rd. fields

Mourning Dove        35 Sunset Rd

Belted Kingfisher       Eno's Pond

Red-bellied Woodpecker        35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker        Heritage Park, Allentown

Downy Woodpecker        Crestwood Village

Hairy Woodpecker        35 Sunset Rd

Northern Flicker        Horicon Lake

Merlin        Mercer Corporate Park

Blue Jay        35 Sunset Rd

American Crow        Crestwood Village

Fish Crow        Heritage Park, Allentown

Carolina Chickadee        35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse        35 Sunset Rd

Red-breasted Nuthatch        Crestwood Village

White-breasted Nuthatch        35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper        Crestwood Village

Winter Wren        Horicon Lake

Carolina Wren        Crestwood Village

Golden-crowned Kinglet        Heritage Park, Allentown

Eastern Bluebird        Crestwood Village

Hermit Thrush        Crestwood Village

American Robin        35 Sunset Rd

Northern Mockingbird        Crestwood Village

European Starling        Crestwood Village

Yellow-rumped Warbler       Great Bay Bvld. WMA

Savannah Sparrow        Stafford Forge WMA

Fox Sparrow        Stafford Forge WMA

Song Sparrow        Crestwood Village

White-throated Sparrow        35 Sunset Rd

White-crowned Sparrow        Brynmore / Big Woods Rd. fields

Dark-eyed Junco        35 Sunset Rd

Northern Cardinal        35 Sunset Rd

Red-winged Blackbird        Brynmore / Big Woods Rd. fields

Common Grackle        Brynmore / Big Woods Rd. fields

Boat-tailed Grackle       Great Bay Bvld. WMA

House Finch        Crestwood Village

American Goldfinch        35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow        Horicon Lake

Gadwall, Toms River