Brigantine 1/25--Common Goldeneye, Brown Thrasher

We took a trip down to Brigantine yesterday with our dear friend SUZE, hoping to find her a lifer Snowy Owl. The temperature wasn't bad (mid-20's) compared to what it's been of late, but the winds were vicious--hard to open the car door, forget about using the scope vicious.

The trip started off well--at the entrance ponds we saw a Brown Thrasher skulking in the bushes by the side of the road. The operative word there is "we," since Shari most often finds these birds and they disappear before I can see them. She's probably seen twice as many Brown Thrashers as I have. Then in the parking lot I ran into a birder I know and he put me onto the largest flock of Fox Sparrows I ever seen--my official count is 8, but I think there may have been as many as a dozen other the cedar tree and flying in and out of the surrounding underbrush.

Fox Sparrow--one of many

Also feeding under the tree, scratching through the snow, were about 10 cardinals, as many White-throated Sparrows, and single Hermit Thrush (naturally).

It was cold, but manageable, so we struck out for the drive. Almost all the water was frozen, even the great stretches of Turtle Cove where you look out toward Atlantic City. I've been going to Brigantine for a long time now and I've never seen so much ice. This, of course, cut down on the duckage (sorry Sue). Some Mallards, some black ducks, and a great flock of Snow Geese were all we saw for the first 2/3 of the drive. We had to content ourselves with sparrows, blackbirds, and a few Northern Harriers. Toward the end of the north dike there was some open water and within were quite a few Tundra Swans with Canada Geese and other ducks that had to go unidentified because the scope was not an option. And no snowy owls.

One trip around the frozen wastes was enough for us; on the way out we made a stop at Lily Lake. I had read that Common Goldeneyes had been sighted there and standing on the shore where it was shielded somewhat from the wind, we found one hen repeatedly diving, making the identification difficult, but in time we all saw the rusty head and white wing patch along the back and were happy. 7 Common Mergansers were also on the water--1 drake with a harem of 6 hens.
Our lists:
Edwin B. Forsythe NWR (Brigantine Unit)
Jan 25, 2014 10:30 AM - 1:00 PM
8.0 mile(s)
Comments:  overcast and very windy
26 species
Snow Goose  500
Canada Goose  100
Mute Swan  4
Tundra Swan  20
American Black Duck  25
Mallard  5
Hooded Merganser  2    North dike
Turkey Vulture  6
Northern Harrier  3
Red-shouldered Hawk  1
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Dunlin  2
Ring-billed Gull  3
Herring Gull  50
Great Black-backed Gull  3
Carolina Chickadee  1    Heard, upland portion of trail
Carolina Wren  2    Heard, parking lot & road to gull pond tower
Hermit Thrush  1    Parking lot
Brown Thrasher  1    Entrance Pond
Savannah Sparrow  10
Fox Sparrow  8
Song Sparrow  10
White-throated Sparrow  15
Northern Cardinal  10
Red-winged Blackbird  25
American Goldfinch  2

Edwin B. Forsythe NWR--Lily Lake
Jan 25, 2014 1:00 PM - 1:11 PM
Protocol: Stationary
7 species
Mute Swan  2
Mallard  50
Lesser Scaup  1
Common Goldeneye  1
Common Merganser  7    
Ruddy Duck  3
Red-tailed Hawk  1