New Egypt 3/21--Pectoral Sandpipers

On the loose, Brynmore/Big Woods Road, New Egypt, NJ

The cattle field on Brynmore/Big Woods Road continues to yield rarities. Today's was Pectoral Sandpiper, 8 of them that I counted, in a large muddy puddle in the back of the field. The lapwings, one of which had been reported yesterday after a week's absence (at least on eBird and Jerseybirds), were not in evidence, to the disappointment of some birders who had come up from Wilmington, Delaware. They were pleased to see the Sandhill Cranes I pointed out to them in the corn stubble field.

In truth, once I saw the Pectoral Sandpipers, I was done--it didn't feel like Spring out there on the road and I wasn't inclined to wait to see if a lapwing would pop its head up from behind one of the furrows. With today's pecs I've recorded 33 species on that farmland, and many more have been reported, making it an amazingly "productive" site.

On the way to the field, along Long Swamp Road, I came across a large flock of vultures roosting in a tree and alongside the road. While a few were the common Turkey Vulture, I was surprised to see that most of them were Black Vultures. There was a time, not long ago in this section of New Jersey, when Black Vulture itself would be considered a rarity. Now they're fairly common. This is an aesthetic judgement, of course, but without the red heads of Turkey Vultures, Black Vultures don't seem as creepy.

16 species for the 40 minutes I spent in New Egypt:
Canada Goose  4
Black Vulture  1
Sandhill Crane  2    Large gray birds with red caps, in usual place, corn stubble field to right of cattle field
Killdeer  10
Pectoral Sandpiper  8    brown medium size sandpipers with "vests" on breast, stopping abruptly at white belly. In mud puddle at back of field.
Rock Pigeon  20
Mourning Dove  5
Red-bellied Woodpecker  1    Heard
Blue Jay  1    Heard
American Crow  1    Heard
American Robin  2
European Starling  10
White-throated Sparrow  4
Dark-eyed Junco  1
Red-winged Blackbird  100
Common Grackle  500