Manasquan Reservoir 3/2--Common Redpoll

Today, Shari & I acted out an O Henry-like scene. We were at the feeders of the Manasquan Reservoir's Environmental Center, waiting for a rare bird to show up. After about a half hour, much of which was spent in pleasant conversation with another birder, Shari decided to go back to the car to get her apple--the fruit, not the computer. Sure enough, almost as soon as he disappeared around the curving path, the bird we were seeking--a Common Redpoll--showed up on the feeder the guy we'd been talking to said it preferred. I was elated. Common Redpolls are one of the finch species that have been having an "irruption year" in New Jersey and it's the only I've seen so far. The only other time we've seen them was on a very cold trip to our friends' home in the Berkshires. It's a beautiful little bird, with a red cap (hence the name) a surprisingly delicate beak for a finch, and on this one, just a hint of pink on the breast. I wish Shari had been there with her camera to take a photo.

But she wasn't there and the longer the redpoll stayed on the feeder the more frustrated I got that she wasn't there to see it. Meanwhile, on the other side of the building, Shari was looking at a bird on the ground near a little pool in front of the entrance. I woman passing by asked how she was doing. "I'm about to be deceased," she replied, "because my husband is going to kill me when he find out I'm looking at a Common Redpoll." So she thought I'd be angry because I hadn't seen the bird and I was angry because she wasn't seeing the bird. Only when she came back to where I was standing--just as the bird had flown off, of course--and we blurted out our stories simultaneously at the same time did the scene have a happy ending.

Other notable birds today were a Common Loon seen from Chestnut Point and a Bald Eagle near a nest. Rumor had it that the egg in the nest was due to hatch today--we didn't stick around to watch it on their nest cam.

Thirty species seen from various vantage points, not including a few gulls that were too far off to confidently identify:

Comments:    Environmental Center, Chestnut Pt, Visitor's Center, Bear Swamp trail.
Canada Goose  50
Mute Swan  1
Gadwall  25
American Black Duck  1
Mallard  4
Ring-necked Duck  5
Lesser Scaup  200
Bufflehead  25
Common Merganser  5
Ruddy Duck  20
Common Loon  1
Pied-billed Grebe  1
Great Blue Heron  1
Turkey Vulture  3
Bald Eagle  1
American Coot  30
Hairy Woodpecker  1
Blue Jay  1    Heard
American Crow  1    Heard
Fish Crow  25
Carolina Chickadee  10
Tufted Titmouse  10
White-breasted Nuthatch  3
European Starling  3
Dark-eyed Junco  4
Red-winged Blackbird  10
Common Grackle  2
House Finch  1
Common Redpoll  1    
American Goldfinch  4