Lily Lake 3/7--Wood Duck

And it's about time too! I feel like I've spent a month looking for Wood Ducks this year. Every place I've tried--Colliers Mills, Bunker Hill Bogs, Butterfly Bogs, Whitesbog, the exit ponds at Brig (to name just the most likely places I've searched)--I've come up empty. Today, as I was coming off my first loop around Brig, I ran into Greg who was leading a field trip for his community's nature club. He mentioned that he'd seen them over by Lily Lake (which is next to the refuge and part of Forsythe), so after my 2nd loop and still not finding them at the Gull Pond or the exit ponds, I drove over there. I stood at a corner of the lake and scanned, finding only the expected ducks. I took two more steps toward the little pond on the right that's separated by a path and BOOM! I flushed 3 squeaking Wood Ducks. Another minute and two more were on the lake and flew away into the dense thickets that line the pond. I was calling Greg to tell him I'd seen the woodies when he arrived with his group, which, of course, thanks to me, didn't get to see the ducks.

The day started off with a brief moment of panic: the Wawa on Rt 9 was closed for renovations! I have a sentimental attachment to that Wawa. When Shari & I first started going to Brig we lived in Brooklyn and didn't know a Wawa from a whoo-hoo. But after a few visits (the coffee was good and the soda was always on sale with no deposit) we started to say, "We could go to Brig this weekend--and stop at Wawa." Truth be told, it is a rather shabby store and new Wawa on the site will be welcome.

Happily, I remembered the location of the next nearest Wawa and drove over there for my coffee. Since I was now about halfway to Absecon Creek, I figured I might as well drive there and get the American Avocets for the month. These 2 birds have been there since early January and are absolutely reliable. Great looking birds and I finally relented and used them for Bird A Day. I was sort of hoping to hold off and use the species if we went to Delaware later this year, but I'm running out of winter birds to use and migration won't start for at least a few weeks.

American Avocets with Greater Yellowlegs

My two trips around the impoundments produced nothing new for the year. The number of Snow Geese there was really impressive. I would estimate 2500. I didn't bother to look for a Ross's in the marsh multitudes. Because it was so windy, land birds were at a premium today. In all, for my 3 stops, I had 45 species. They were:

Species   Location

Snow Goose   Brig

Brant   Brig

Canada Goose   Absecon Creek

Mute Swan   Brig

Wood Duck   Lily Lake

Gadwall   Brig

American Wigeon   Brig

American Black Duck   Brig

Mallard   Absecon Creek

Northern Shoveler   Brig

Northern Pintail   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Brig

Ring-necked Duck   Lily Lake

Bufflehead   Absecon Creek

Hooded Merganser   Brig

Common Merganser   Brig

Red-breasted Merganser   Brig

Double-crested Cormorant   Absecon Creek

Great Blue Heron   Brig

Turkey Vulture   Brig

Northern Harrier   Brig

Bald Eagle   Brig

Red-tailed Hawk   Lily Lake

American Avocet   Absecon Creek

Greater Yellowlegs   Absecon Creek

Ring-billed Gull   Brig

Herring Gull   Absecon Creek

Great Black-backed Gull   Absecon Creek

Rock Pigeon   Absecon Creek

Mourning Dove   Brig

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Brig

Peregrine Falcon   Brig

Blue Jay   Brig

American Crow   Brig

Fish Crow   Absecon Creek

Carolina Chickadee   Brig

Tufted Titmouse   Brig

White-breasted Nuthatch   Brig

Carolina Wren   Brig

American Robin   Brig

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Brig

Savannah Sparrow   Brig

Song Sparrow   Brig

Eastern Towhee   Brig

Red-winged Blackbird   Brig