New Year's Day--They're ALL FOY!

My first bird of the year was a Carolina Wren I heard while I was in the garage, loading up the car for our trip to Cape May, where we went on Mike Crewe's "Kick Off Your Year List" trip. It was a large group of birders who met in the state park's parking lot--really too many, was my first reaction. It is hard to bird in a crowd--too many distractions with people calling out birds from all directions and usually in every direction someone is standing in front of you, so for the first half hour or so I was slightly disgruntled.

But it just takes me a while to get into the rhythm of the group. After checking out the Hawkwatch Pond for a while, Mike got a text of a real rarity over by one of the dune crossings, so the whole group turned on its collective heel and marched over to Whildin Avenue. We went up the path to the top of the dune, and there, sitting on a stalk of reedy grass was this beauty:

 A first year male Painted Bunting, extraordinarily rare in New Jersey (although there is another right now in Monmouth County; this saved me the trip). When I first got on the bird I was surprised by it's brilliant lime-green back and bright yellow breast. I almost thought it was an escaped parakeet. One of the reasons I wasn't particularly interested in chasing the

Painted Bunting
all photos: Shari Zirlin

Monmouth County bird was because it was a "green" bunting, probably a female or a juvenile. After seeing male Painted Buntings last month in Florida, I thought that would be a let down, but of course, I was wrong. This bird was almost jewel-like in the strong sun.

After viewing the bunting for a good while we back down the path. Then things started getting ridiculous. Not fifty feet from where the bunting had been, on the other side of the stand of pines, was a White-winged Dove, another bird from southern climes. And then, as if we were walking past some sort of ornithological display, up a couple of blocks at a private residence there was a Rufous Hummingbird waiting for us. No standing around shifting from foot to foot in the cold, just 2 minutes and boom--there it was:

Rufous Hummingbird

After watching this little guy for a while, we all trooped over to Lighthouse Pond, where, in a flock of American Wigeon there was a handsome drake Eurasian Wigeon, as well as a few drake Redheads. I go years without seeing Redheads, and now I'm seeing them regularly.

After that pretty good start we broke for lunch. An Ash-throated Flycatcher had been reported on the yellow trail in the state park; Shari & I went to look for it but had no luck, nor did anyone else. It was almost refreshing to have a dose of reality injected into the day.

We all regrouped around 2 o'clock at Two Mile Beach for some ocean scanning. Scoters, Long-tailed Ducks, Great Cormorants, Sanderlings and Dunlins were added to the list, but the real reason we were there was in the dunes: a young Snowy Owl, one of the 30 or 40 that have made themselves known in NJ this winter.

We all then drove up to Sunset Lake in Wildwood, adding Common Loon, Horned Grebe, and Buffleheads. Another short ride brought us up to the north end of Nummy Island where Mike quickly found a Common Eider drake associating with two hen King Eiders (if that makes any gender sense). We were also able to add Shari's favorite, American Oystercatcher with a count of around 50, to the list.

Last stop: Stone Harbor beach.

Our final stop was the beach at Stone Harbor on the other side of the Nummy Island bridge. A couple of Semipalmated Plovers in the pool before the ocean were a surprise, and we ended the day, as the sun was just an orange slice above the horizon, with a little flock of Snow Buntings setting down for the evening in the dunes.

For the day I had 67 species, Shari a few more that I missed and the group as a whole, I'm sure had a count approaching 80.

Two days of bad weather approaching, then this weekend we have two trips planned to Monmouth County, so I won't be able to start on my Ocean County list in earnest until sometime next week.

One other note: The Painted Bunting was my 300th New Jersey bird.

And now--the list:

Species     Location

Brant     Sunset Lake

Canada Goose     Cape May Point SP

Mute Swan     Cape May Point SP

Gadwall     Cape May Point SP

Eurasian Wigeon     Lighthouse Pond

American Wigeon     Lighthouse Pond

Mallard     Cape May Point SP

Northern Shoveler     Lighthouse Pond

Northern Pintail     Cape May Point SP

Redhead     Lighthouse Pond

Ring-necked Duck     Lighthouse Pond

Lesser Scaup     Lighthouse Pond

King Eider     Nummy Island--Free Bridge

Common Eider     Whilldin Ave. dune crossing

Surf Scoter     Two Mile Beach

Black Scoter     Two Mile Beach

Long-tailed Duck     Two Mile Beach

Bufflehead     Sunset Lake

Hooded Merganser     Cape May Point SP

Ruddy Duck     Cape May Point SP

Red-throated Loon     Two Mile Beach

Common Loon     Sunset Lake

Horned Grebe     Sunset Lake

Double-crested Cormorant     Cape May Point SP

Great Cormorant     Two Mile Beach

Great Blue Heron     Cape May Point SP

Turkey Vulture     Cape May Point SP

Northern Harrier     Cape May Point SP

Cooper's Hawk     Lighthouse Pond

Bald Eagle     Cape May Bridge over canal

Red-shouldered Hawk     Cape May Point SP

Red-tailed Hawk     Whilldin Ave. dune crossing

American Coot     Lighthouse Pond

American Oystercatcher     Nummy Island--Free Bridge

Semipalmated Plover     Stone Harbor Point

Ruddy Turnstone     Two Mile Beach

Sanderling     Two Mile Beach

Dunlin     Two Mile Beach

Purple Sandpiper     Two Mile Beach

Bonaparte's Gull     Two Mile Beach

Ring-billed Gull     Cape May Point SP

Herring Gull     Lighthouse Pond

Great Black-backed Gull     Nummy Island--Free Bridge

Rock Pigeon     Nummy Island--Free Bridge

White-winged Dove     Whilldin Ave. dune crossing

Mourning Dove     Cape May Pt College Streets

Snowy Owl     Two Mile Beach

Rufous Hummingbird     Cape May Pt Coral & Cambridge

Downy Woodpecker     Cape May Point SP

Blue Jay     Lighthouse Pond

American Crow     Cape May Point SP

Carolina Chickadee     Whilldin Ave. dune crossing

Red-breasted Nuthatch     Cape May Pt College Streets

Carolina Wren     Whilldin Ave. dune crossing

American Robin     Cape May Pt College Streets

Gray Catbird     Cape May Point SP

Northern Mockingbird     Cape May Pt College Streets

European Starling     Cape May Point SP

Cedar Waxwing     Cape May Pt College Streets

Snow Bunting     Stone Harbor Point

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Cape May Point SP

Dark-eyed Junco     Cape May Pt College Streets

Northern Cardinal     Cape May Pt College Streets

Painted Bunting     Whilldin Ave. dune crossing

Boat-tailed Grackle     Nummy Island--Free Bridge

House Finch     Cape May Pt College Streets

House Sparrow     Whilldin Ave. dune crossing