January Wrap-up

Pine Siskin, outside Duluth
Photo: Shari Zirlin

Any month in which you can get seven life birds has to get SUCCESS rubber stamped in big letters across the calendar page. The trip to Minnesota we took mid-month accounted for all those lifers and is well-documented in previous posts. The rest of the month found us birding mostly in Ocean and Monmouth counties, where we managed to encounter a few rarities (underlined in the list below), like the Ross's Goose and Cackling Goose that were at Marshall's Pond on New Year's Day, as unprepossessing a spot as you can imagine--a retention pond on the side of a shopping center in front of Marshall's Department Store, though it has attracted rarities before--Pink-footed Goose a couple of years ago.

Because it was colder in New Jersey for most of the month than it was while we were in Duluth, I did a lot of backyard birding. We have two birds considered winter rarities turning up at our feeders regularly--a Chipping Sparrow and a Pine Warbler. We also had our first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the year during the recent snow. In all, we tallied 24 different species in the backyard (or overhead in the case of geese, gulls, and vultures), enough variety to keep me constantly checking what's going on outside.

Big misses this month were King Eider (try again tomorrow at Barnegat Light) and American Oystercatcher (they stick around we just haven't been where they are). In all I had 127 species this month beating last year's January total by 14 species--all of which could be attributed to Minnesota.

The complete month list:
Counties birded:
New Jersey: Atlantic, Burlington, Cape May, Monmouth, Ocean
New York: New York
Minnesota: Lake, St. Louis
Wisconsin: Douglas

Species               First Sighting

Snow Goose     Harry Wright Lake

Ross's Goose     Marshall's Pond

Brant     Sandy Hook

Cackling Goose     Marshall's Pond

Canada Goose     Crestwood Village

Mute Swan     Sandy Hook

Trumpeter Swan     Assunpink WMA

Tundra Swan     Cape May Point SP

Gadwall     Marshall's Pond

American Wigeon     Cape May Point SP

American Black Duck     Sandy Hook

Mallard     Lake Takanassee

Northern Shoveler     Cape May Point SP

Northern Pintail     Cape May Point SP

Green-winged Teal     Marshall's Pond

Canvasback     Riverfront Landing

Redhead     Cape May Meadows

Ring-necked Duck     Cape May Point SP

Greater Scaup     Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Lesser Scaup     Riverfront Landing

Common Eider     Sunset Beach

Harlequin Duck     Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Surf Scoter     Monmouth Beach

Black Scoter     Sandy Hook

Long-tailed Duck     Sandy Hook

Bufflehead     Cape May Point SP

Common Goldeneye     Duluth--Canal Park

Hooded Merganser     Lake Takanassee

Common Merganser     Manasquan Reservoir IBA

Red-breasted Merganser     Sandy Hook

Ruddy Duck     Cape May Point SP

Ruffed Grouse     Highway 7, St Louis County

Red-throated Loon     Sandy Hook

Common Loon     Sandy Hook

Pied-billed Grebe     Lake Takanassee

Horned Grebe     Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Red-necked Grebe     Sandy Hook

Northern Gannet     Sandy Hook

Double-crested Cormorant     Lake Takanassee

Great Cormorant     Sandy Hook

Great Blue Heron     Crestwood Village

Great Egret     Lake of the Lilies

Black-crowned Night-Heron     Forsythe--Brigantine Unit

Black Vulture     Dover Road, Berkeley

Turkey Vulture     Sandy Hook

Osprey     Coral & Yale, Cape May

Northern Harrier     Forsythe--Brigantine Unit

Sharp-shinned Hawk     Marshall's Pond

Cooper's Hawk     Cape May Point SP

Bald Eagle     Sandy Hook

Red-tailed Hawk     Sandy Hook

Rough-legged Hawk     Sax-Zim Bog

American Coot     Lake Takanassee

Black-bellied Plover     Manasquan Inlet

Ruddy Turnstone     Cape May Meadows

Sanderling     Sandy Hook

Dunlin     Maclearie Park

Purple Sandpiper     Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Razorbill     Manasquan Inlet

Bonaparte's Gull     Seven Presidents Park

Ring-billed Gull     Sandy Hook

Herring Gull     Sandy Hook

THAYER'S GULL     Duluth--Canal Park

Iceland Gull     Duluth--Canal Park

Glaucous Gull     Duluth--Canal Park

Great Black-backed Gull     Sandy Hook

Rock Pigeon     GSP Exit 0

White-winged Dove     Coral & Yale, Cape May

Mourning Dove     35 Sunset Rd

Snowy Owl     Forsythe--Brigantine Unit

NORTHERN HAWK OWL     Duluth--Jean Duluth Rd

GREAT GRAY OWL     Sax-Zim Bog

Belted Kingfisher     Cape May Point SP

Red-bellied Woodpecker     Cape May Point SP

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker     35 Sunset Rd

Downy Woodpecker     35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker     Sax-Zim Bog

Northern Flicker     Assunpink WMA

Pileated Woodpecker     Old Vermillion Trail

Merlin     Great Bay Bvld WMA

Peregrine Falcon     Seven Presidents Park

Northern Shrike     Sax-Zim Bog

GRAY JAY     Sax-Zim Bog

Blue Jay     Crestwood Village

Black-billed Magpie     Sax-Zim Bog

American Crow     Sandy Hook

Common Raven     Sandy Hook

Tree Swallow     Sandy Hook

Carolina Chickadee     35 Sunset Rd

Black-capped Chickadee     Old Vermillion Trail

BOREAL CHICKADEE     Sax-Zim Bog

Tufted Titmouse     35 Sunset Rd

Red-breasted Nuthatch     Old Vermillion Trail

White-breasted Nuthatch     35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper     Manasquan Reservoir IBA

Carolina Wren     Cape May Point SP

Golden-crowned Kinglet     Double Trouble State Park

Ruby-crowned Kinglet     Cape May Point SP

Eastern Bluebird     Double Trouble State Park

Hermit Thrush     Manahawkin WMA--Beach Ave

American Robin     Cape May Point SP

Northern Mockingbird     Sandy Hook

European Starling     Cape May Point SP

Bohemian Waxwing     1740 W Knife River Rd

Snow Bunting     Highway 7, St Louis County

Pine Warbler     35 Sunset Rd

Yellow-rumped Warbler     Cape May Point SP

American Tree Sparrow     Assunpink WMA

Chipping Sparrow     35 Sunset Rd

Savannah Sparrow     Forsythe--Brigantine Unit

Song Sparrow     Assunpink WMA

White-throated Sparrow     Cape May Point SP

White-crowned Sparrow     Assunpink WMA

Dark-eyed Junco     35 Sunset Rd

Northern Cardinal     35 Sunset Rd

Red-winged Blackbird     Forsythe--Brigantine Unit

Common Grackle     Assunpink WMA

Boat-tailed Grackle     Bridge to Nowhere

PINE GROSBEAK     Sax-Zim Bog

House Finch     Sandy Hook

Purple Finch     Sax-Zim Bog

Common Redpoll     Old Vermillion Trail

HOARY REDPOLL     1740 W Knife River Rd

Pine Siskin     Old Vermillion Trail

American Goldfinch     35 Sunset Rd

Evening Grosbeak     Sax-Zim Bog

House Sparrow     Coral & Yale, Cape May