LBI & The Bridge to Nowhere 2/2--Harlequin Duck, Short-eared Owl

Harlequin Duck
Photos: Shari Zirlin

Last week's cancelled trip to Barnegat Light SP on Long Beach Island was made up today under much better conditions than we could have expected last week. Relatively warm for a winter day and smooth water in the inlet made for excellent birding.

The big draw during the cold months at Barnegat Light is the flock of Harlequin Ducks that can be found off the jetty. The park is one of the best places on the east coast to find these beauties, as well as just about the southernmost point of their range. Usually you have to either walk on the jetty at least halfway out, or else walk the the mile or so on the sand to find them, but today, this very cooperative male was sitting on the rocks right by the lighthouse.

The other bird to get at Barnegat is Purple Sandpiper and for those we did have to go onto the jetty. However, instead of risking life, limb, and optics rock hopping, we took the long way around, parking at the entrance to the beach on 9th Street, then walking on the sand north to the jetty. There we found the usual shorebirds for winter--the Purple Sandpipers mixed in with Dunlins, Sanderlings and Ruddy Turnstones.

Other good finds today were a scoter trifecta, the strong light making it fairly easy to find the relevant field marks on each species, as well as Great Cormorants roosting with their cousins, the double-crested variety. Rarest bird there today was a hen King Eider (isn't that an oxymoron?) that was floating off the end of the jetty. Fortunately Scott Barnes was there to confirm the i.d.; a male I'd have no problem with, but a nondescript brown duck a 100 yards out? Yeah, I need some help with that.

Long-tailed Ducks and Red-breasted Mergansers were all close in making for easy viewing and the huge number of Common Loons were close enough to watch them gulp down crabs that they brought up from the bottom.

My list from the state park:
33 species
Brant  1
Greater Scaup  5
King Eider  1    Brown duck at end of jetty. Dark bill, steeper forehead than COEI. 
Harlequin Duck  6
Surf Scoter  10
White-winged Scoter  2
Black Scoter  50
Long-tailed Duck  200

Bufflehead  1    end of jetty
Red-breasted Merganser  50

Red-throated Loon  1
Common Loon  60    
Horned Grebe  1

Double-crested Cormorant  4
Great Cormorant  1
Ruddy Turnstone  10
Sanderling  7
Dunlin  50
Purple Sandpiper  5
Ring-billed Gull  50
Herring Gull  100
Great Black-backed Gull  5
Peregrine Falcon  1
Blue Jay  1    Heard
American Crow  1    Heard
Carolina Wren  1    Heard, parking lot
Hermit Thrush  1    Parking lot
American Robin  1
European Starling  100
Yellow-rumped Warbler  2
Savannah Sparrow  2
Boat-tailed Grackle  50
House Sparrow  1
After lunch we moved over to the bayside where we added a couple of ducks like Ruddy and Pin-tailed, as well as Great Blue Heron and Northern Harrier to the day list. Officially, the trip was over at 2, but there was still a little birding left in us, so about half the group followed Lisa down to the Sunset Park in  Harvey Cedars to see if we could find the Common Goldeneyes she'd previously seen there. Answer: yes, we could, very nice scope looks at the drakes (which I hadn't seen this year, only hens) with what our friend Joan called the "nickel" spots on their faces showing very well. 

As most of the group dispersed, the talk turned to nearby Manahawkin and The Bridge to Nowhere and the possibility of finding raptors there. 7 of us made the trip over the bridge and out to the end of Stafford Avenue where there is the rotting hulk of what was once a work bridge put in by AT&T when they were stringing telephone lines back in the late 60's/early 70's. 

The first raptor we found was a Red-tailed Hawk, no big deal, though nice to add to the day list. Northern Harriers were hunting the marsh which was a good omen. Shari, peering through the scope found a big white bird perched on a post. The big white bird was a Snowy Owl (my first for Ocean County). The owl moved over to a low platform and we immediately dive-bombed by a Peregrine Falcon. The owl lifted its wings with each swoop of the falcon and seemed to dissuade its antagonist that further attacks were fruitless.

We were waiting for dusk, though we were hoping to get out of there before, since the temperature was dropping and the sun no longer provided even a pretense of warmth. As everyone stood around telling tales of past birding adventures Shari again called out that she had a bird--this one was sitting on a sign in the marsh. With the setting sun illuminating the bird we all got a great look at a Short-eared Owl, waiting to take over the night-time hunting shift from the harriers. After a few moments the owl started to glide low around the marsh, joined by a second owl. We were lucky--it was 4:30, about 45 minutes before sunset. Scott said the calm winds encouraged the early outing.  Happily they appeared just as one of our party had to leave, so she was able to get her 2nd owl for the day. 

And with that we all packed up and headed home with none of us planning to watch the Super Bowl.
List from Bridge to Nowhere:
13 species
Canada Goose  10
Mute Swan  2
American Black Duck  25
Hooded Merganser  8
Great Blue Heron  5
Northern Harrier  2
Red-tailed Hawk  1
Herring Gull  50
Snowy Owl  1    
Short-eared Owl  2
Belted Kingfisher  2
Peregrine Falcon  1    
Yellow-rumped Warbler  3