March Wrap Up

Tree Swallows huddling together against the cold, Prospertown Lake

It is a very good month when I can get two life birds without leaving the state. As I wrote earlier, one bird--the ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK--was turning into a nemesis bird, while the other--ROSS'S GOOSE--was plopped down in a field and was found while I was still in the car. There were another 14 FOY species in March, some of them expected (Great Egret, Osprey), one early (Chipping Sparrow) one in an odd location (Black-capped Chickadee), one controversial (Trumpeter Swan) and one spectacularly rare (Eurasian Tree Sparrow). The rest fell into the about time category, including the Northern Gannet I saw today at Manasquan Inlet.

After the first week of March, Pine Warbler finally fell out of the "rare" category on eBird, so I didn't feel compelled to list it every time I saw them scarfing up the peanut butter smeared on the pine cone outside my window. But then two Tundra Swans turned up on the pond on Schoolhouse Road and those are rare for the time and location, so I've been documenting them every day and then the Redhead that arrived the same day the swans did became "rare" a few days ago. I'm curious to see how long both species will stay on our little unprepossessing pond.

Redhead with Ring-necked Ducks

Tundra Swan action shot

For the month I had 114 species in 9 counties in 2 states.
Counties birded:
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Union
New York: Kings

Species                Location

Snow Goose     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

ROSS'S GOOSE     Cape May--Sea Grove Ave.

Brant     Great Bay Blvd

Canada Goose     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

Mute Swan     Bridge to Nowhere

Trumpeter Swan     Assunpink WMA

Tundra Swan     Whitesbog

Wood Duck     New Egypt fields

Gadwall     Lighthouse Pond

Eurasian Wigeon     Lighthouse Pond

American Wigeon     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

American Black Duck     Rahway River Park

Mallard     Crestwood Village

Blue-winged Teal     Brigantine

Northern Shoveler     Forsythe--Barnegat

Northern Pintail     Whitesbog

Green-winged Teal     Forsythe--Barnegat

Canvasback     Brigantine

Redhead     Assunpink WMA

Ring-necked Duck     Whitesbog

Greater Scaup     Barnegat Municipal Dock

Lesser Scaup     CMPSP Hawkwatch Platform

Surf Scoter     Manasquan Inlet

White-winged Scoter     Sunset Beach/Concrete Ship

Black Scoter     Sunset Beach/Concrete Ship

Long-tailed Duck     Manasquan Inlet

Bufflehead     Cattus Island County Park

Hooded Merganser     Crestwood Village

Common Merganser     Rahway River Park

Red-breasted Merganser     Cattus Island County Park

Ruddy Duck     Brigantine

Wild Turkey     35 Sunset Rd

Red-throated Loon     Barnegat Municipal Dock

Common Loon     Barnegat Municipal Dock

Pied-billed Grebe     GSP MM .5

Horned Grebe     Barnegat Municipal Dock

Red-necked Grebe     Manahawkin Lake

Northern Gannet     Manasquan Inlet

Double-crested Cormorant     Cape May--Lily Lake

Great Blue Heron     Crestwood Village

Great Egret     Brigantine

Black Vulture     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

Turkey Vulture     Cattus Island County Park

Osprey     Brigantine

Northern Harrier     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

Cooper's Hawk     Cape May

Bald Eagle     Great Bay Blvd

Red-shouldered Hawk     Bridge to Nowhere

Red-tailed Hawk     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

American Coot     Brigantine

American Oystercatcher     Great Bay Blvd

Black-bellied Plover     Villas--Miami Ave. beach

Killdeer     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

Greater Yellowlegs     Brigantine

Willet     Villas--Miami Ave. beach

Sanderling     Villas--Miami Ave. beach

Dunlin     Villas--Miami Ave. beach

Purple Sandpiper     Manasquan Inlet

American Woodcock     Whitesbog

Bonaparte's Gull     Sunset Beach/Concrete Ship

Ring-billed Gull     Crestwood Village

Herring Gull     Cattus Island County Park

Great Black-backed Gull     Manahawkin Lake

Rock Pigeon     New Egypt fields

Mourning Dove     Cattus Island County Park

Snowy Owl     Bridge to Nowhere

Belted Kingfisher     Parker Run Dock St.

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

Downy Woodpecker     Cattus Island County Park

Hairy Woodpecker     Assunpink WMA

Northern Flicker     Whitesbog

Peregrine Falcon     Brigantine

Monk Parakeet     Carteret--Washington Avenue

Eastern Phoebe     Great Bay Blvd

Blue Jay     Cattus Island County Park

American Crow     Cattus Island County Park

Fish Crow     Pandora Diner parking lot

Common Raven     Whitesbog

Tree Swallow     Whitesbog

Carolina Chickadee     35 Sunset Rd

Black-capped Chickadee     Cape May Pt College Streets

Tufted Titmouse     Cattus Island County Park

White-breasted Nuthatch     Cattus Island County Park

Brown Creeper     Crestwood Village

Carolina Wren     Crestwood Village

Golden-crowned Kinglet     Whitesbog

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Bluebird     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

Hermit Thrush     Cape May Pt SP

American Robin     Cattus Island County Park

Gray Catbird     Cape May Pt SP

Northern Mockingbird     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

European Starling     New Egypt fields

Pine Warbler     35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-rumped Warbler     35 Sunset Rd

American Tree Sparrow     Colliers Mills WMA

Chipping Sparrow     Crestwood Village

Fox Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd

Song Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd

Swamp Sparrow     Cattus Island County Park

White-throated Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd

White-crowned Sparrow     Assunpink WMA

Dark-eyed Junco     35 Sunset Rd

Northern Cardinal     Cattus Island County Park

Red-winged Blackbird     Cattus Island County Park

Rusty Blackbird     Prospect Park

Common Grackle     Mercer Sod Farm IBA

Boat-tailed Grackle     Great Bay Blvd

Brown-headed Cowbird     Whitesbog

House Finch     35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch     35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow     Crestwood Village

Eurasian Tree Sparrow     Cape May Pt College Streets