New Year's Day--Canvasback, Iceland Gull, Snow Bunting

Sandy Hook, New Year's Day Kick Off the Year Field Trip

The first bird of the year was an American Goldfinch at 7:26 this morning at our thistle feeder. While packing the car I heard, a jay, a crow, and a wren.

We drove over to Jackson to meet Mike and drive up to Sandy Hook for the Kick Off the Year NJ Audubon field trip. On the way a flock of geese flew over Rt 70 and at the Lakewood Wawa we had a Red-tailed Hawk in a tree. That's my Ocean County list for year, so far.

At Sandy Hook we managed most of the expected birds you'd see on the beach and in the water, with a couple of notable species being two large flocks of frolicsome Snow Buntings and an immature Iceland Gull that very accommodatingly flew north to us at Lot C after being reported down at Lot A. Iceland Gull is one of those "white-winged gulls" that birders get excited about. I'm happy to see one (this is only my 3rd one lifetime) but I'm happier to have one pointed out to me since scanning through flocks of gulls on a cold, windy beach is not something I have the patience to do.

Before we got to Sandy Hook we had stopped in Rumson at the Oceanic Bridge to scan for ducks and found a few species, but the best bird there was our first Bald Eagle of the day. Another one, later in the day at the Hook, was seen attacking a flock of gulls on the ocean. After the trip ended around 3 o'clock, the three of us drove south to Lake Takanassee where we found a drake Canvasback, a beautiful duck. Unfortunately, both our cameras had dead batteries.

The last new bird of the first day of the new year was a Great Blue Heron on Silver Lake. We scanned a flock of geese a little farther south at Lake Como and found many of the geese were banded, meaning it was a migratory flock as opposed to the year-round "giant" sub-species we usually see. We took down the band codes of 11 of them and Shari's reporting them now. I have enough compulsive lists to report and happily leave that duty to her.

I start the year with 40 species. Not as many as I'd like but on the other hand, I might not see another Iceland Gull all year, making it my Bird A Day entry (yes, I'm doing that again--see what I mean about compulsion?).

Species     Location

Brant     Sandy Hook

Canada Goose     Rt. 70

Mute Swan     Lake Takanassee

American Wigeon     Lake Takanassee

American Black Duck     Oceanic Bridge

Mallard     Lake Takanassee

Canvasback     Lake Takanassee

Surf Scoter     Sandy Hook

White-winged Scoter     Sandy Hook

Black Scoter     Sandy Hook

Long-tailed Duck     Sandy Hook

Bufflehead     Oceanic Bridge

Common Goldeneye     Sandy Hook

Hooded Merganser     Lake Takanassee

Red-breasted Merganser     Oceanic Bridge

Ruddy Duck     Oceanic Bridge

Red-throated Loon     Sandy Hook

Common Loon     Sandy Hook

Horned Grebe     Sandy Hook

Northern Gannet     Sandy Hook

Double-crested Cormorant     Sandy Hook

Great Cormorant     Sandy Hook

Great Blue Heron     Silver Lake

Turkey Vulture     Sandy Hook

Bald Eagle     Oceanic Bridge

Red-tailed Hawk     Lakewood Wawa

American Coot     Lake Takanassee

Black-bellied Plover     Sandy Hook

Ring-billed Gull     Sandy Hook

Herring Gull     Oceanic Bridge

Iceland Gull     Sandy Hook

Great Black-backed Gull     Oceanic Bridge

Rock Pigeon     Lake Takanassee

Blue Jay     35 Sunset Rd

American Crow     35 Sunset Rd

Carolina Wren     35 Sunset Rd

European Starling     Oceanic Bridge

Snow Bunting     Sandy Hook

House Finch     Sandy Hook

American Goldfinch     35 Sunset Rd