After checking the pond on Schoolhouse Road to see if our rarities, the Tundra Swan and Redhead, were present (they were), we drove down to Brig with our friend Joan for a trip or two around the impoundments. I was hoping to add a couple of birds to the year list, both of which we found fairly easily--Great Egret and Osprey. The Blue-winged Teal were a bonus. We had a false alarm before we found our first Osprey--we mistook a third year Bald Eagle for a fish hawk. After getting out of the car and into the wind (which wasn't predicted in the forecast) to scope the bird, we were disappointed when we found it to be only an eagle. Jaded we are.
About 2/3 of the way around the drive Shari looked on her iPad and saw a post on Jerseybirds about a very interesting bird at a feeder in Cape May. That's the next story (above).
Our list for our 8 mile drive (the last third of which it would have taken quite a bird to get us to stop):
35 species
Snow Goose 1000
Brant 75
Canada Goose 50
Mute Swan 1
Tundra Swan 25 All black, knobless, bills, smaller than MUSW. Continuing birds.
American Black Duck 700
Mallard 20
Blue-winged Teal 5 Marsh in front of Gull Pond Tower
Northern Shoveler 10
Northern Pintail 250
Green-winged Teal 50
Bufflehead 10
Common Merganser 1 On island, marsh in front of Gull Pond Tower
Red-breasted Merganser 2
Red-throated Loon 3
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 2
Great Egret 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 2
Northern Harrier 3
Bald Eagle 1 From south dike, sitting on pole, 3rd year bird.
Red-tailed Hawk 1 At start of drive
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Dunlin 50
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 5
Great Black-backed Gull 1
Peregrine Falcon 2
American Crow 1 Heard
Tree Swallow 6
American Robin 2
Song Sparrow 2 Visitor ctr feeder
Red-winged Blackbird 5
House Sparrow 2 visitor ctr
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