There had been some rarities reported there the last week or so, but I really didn't expect to find any. I just wanted to see if could build up the month list and see some of favorite winter waterfowl like Snow Geese (abundant), Northern Shoveler (a few at the dogleg) and American Coots (Gull Pond).
The road to the Gull Pond was very active and I happy to see a Hairy Woodpecker as well as a decent flock of Cedar Waxwings mixing in with the robins. At the tower itself I was standing with another birder when we heard a "kidik, kidik, kidik." I clapped my hands, as I've seen Scott Barnes do, and when the bird responded with more chattering, we checked off Virginia Rail for our day lists.
After one loop around the Wildlife Drive I was considering heading home. I stopped into the Visitor's Center to list the Wood Duck hen I'd seen at the Experimental Pool (birders love Wood Ducks). I said to the woman working the desk that I hadn't seen the American Avocet that had been reported there and I guessed it was gone, but she said, no, someone had had it earlier that day. American Avocet is a rare bird in New Jersey and in the winter almost unheard of, so I decided to do the loop again, stopping only for birders with scopes--you can waste a lot of time if you stop for photographers who care more about the shot than the bird. On the north dike, just before the drive goes into the upland area, there were a couple of birders with a scope. They were the first ones I'd seen in the 6 miles I'd already driven. When I got out of the car one of them told me the avocet was out. I took a quick look in their scope then set up mine. "It isn't official until I see it in my scope," I joked.
I love the way avocets look in their winter plumage--I actually prefer them in stark black & white than with the cinnamon coloring they get when they're breeding. The bird was pretty far off in the marsh, but I managed to get a photograph with my little camera, locating it by standing in front of my scope once I had the bird in it.
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| American Avocet
Not the greatest picture but good enough to be diagnostic. Blown up and grainy:
For the two trips around the dike, plus a walk on Jen's Trail, I had 45 species. Not bad, especially considering that aside from the avocet, there were absolutely no shorebirds to be found.
The list:
Snow Goose 1000
Brant 500 Canada Goose 100 Mute Swan 2 Tundra Swan 30 Wood Duck 1 Experimental Pool Gadwall 10 American Black Duck 200 Mallard 50 Northern Shoveler 10 Dogleg Northern Pintail 100 Green-winged Teal 15 Bufflehead 80 Hooded Merganser 10 Red-breasted Merganser 8 Pied-billed Grebe 3 Horned Grebe 1 Double-crested Cormorant 1 East Pool from south dike Great Blue Heron 2 Great Egret 3 Northern Harrier 1 Virginia Rail 1 Heard, Gull Pond American Coot 10 American Avocet 1 Ring-billed Gull 50 Herring Gull 100 Great Black-backed Gull 6 Belted Kingfisher 1 Heard, entrance pond Hairy Woodpecker 1 Gull Pond Road Northern Flicker 1 Gull Pond road Peregrine Falcon 1 Blue Jay 1 Heard American Crow 2 Heard Fish Crow 1 Carolina Chickadee 2 Heard Tufted Titmouse 2 Carolina Wren 1 Heard, Gull Pond Road American Robin 150 Gray Catbird 1 Heard, Jen's Trail Cedar Waxwing 15 Yellow-rumped Warbler 60 Song Sparrow 1 Red-winged Blackbird 10 House Finch 2 Gull Pond Road American Goldfinch 3 Heard |
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