Working on the Ocean County List

Razorbill, Manasquan Inlet

Birding along a county line can create problems for county listers, so the two best birds Mike and I saw today as we wandered around Ocean County hot spots could have been considered sketchy had we not gotten a little lucky. We started off the day at Lake of the Lilies since we wanted to put Redhead on our year list. This species, once a real "find" in the county, has become commonplace the last couple of years, but it is still a good looking bird and this quartet has been on the lake since the cold weather began. A Wood Duck has also been on the lake but we didn't find this handsome bird until we were passing by Little Silver Lake on our way to the inlet where we found a drake and a hen cozying up to each other

We were fortunate on the jetty at Manasquan Inlet that the weather was mild and the wind was nil. This allowed for easy scanning, though at first all our scoping was revealing was loons and ducks. While looking through a flock of Long-tailed Ducks over toward the north end of the inlet I saw our first Razorbill floating in the water and it wasn't in a diving mood so it stayed atop the surface for both Mike, me, and another birder to get excellent looks and mediocre photos.  After the distant sightings I had yesterday which were wholly unsatisfying, this was a very gratifying find, tainted a bit by the fact that, technically, where the bird was floating was probably Monmouth County and not Ocean. I was standing in Ocean but looking into Monmouth and when you are making a list of birds, it is not a survey of where your feet are, but rather where the birds are located. This ethical dilemma was solved when Mike found another Razorbill to the south of the jetty and definitely in Ocean County ocean.

The other birder on the jetty pointed out to us a Glaucous Gull sitting among a flock of Herring Gulls on the north jetty. On the jetty is definitely the other county. We could hope that it would fly over toward us but if it did, we didn't see it and when we looked for it before we left it was gone.

Digiscope of Glaucous Gull at the back of the sandbar,
Point Pleasant Beach

Which turned out to be fortunate for us, because at our next stop, Baltimore Ave, a little west of the inlet where there is a sandbar that gulls like to loaf on, we came across what we assumed was the same Glaucous Gull, this time firmly ensconced in Ocean County. Unhappily, the Black-headed Gull that was reported yesterday was not in evidence. Too bad--it would be a county lifer if I ever see one, as would, astoundingly, an Iceland Gull should I ever come across one in the county. But, batting .500 is never a bad thing and since we had 2 of the 4 birds we were hoping for, we headed south to Toms River.

There is one place in Toms River that is very reliable for Canvasback, another bird that is unusual anywhere else in the County and after a few minutes we were able to find a flock of 22 birds, along with a smaller number of Ring-necked Ducks. A stop at Marshall's Pond, one of those small hot spots that inexplicably draws an out sized number of rarities, didn't produce any today. At the intersection of CR 571 and Fischer Blvd we had 3 Black Vultures flying overhead while we waited at the light. We ended the morning's adventures at Cattus Island where we picked up a number of tweety birds, the most noteworthy being a couple of Red-breasted Nuthatches as the "red nut irruption" continues into the new year.

For the morning's birding we tallied 52 species, which is impressive to me, considering that yesterday's effort--albeit in gale force winds--only yielded 36. They were:

Species      First Sighting

Brant   Little Silver Lake

Canada Goose   Lake of the Lilies

Wood Duck   Little Silver Lake

Mallard   Lake of the Lilies

American Black Duck   Lake of the Lilies

Canvasback   Mathis Veteran's Memorial Park

Redhead   Lake of the Lilies

Ring-necked Duck   Mathis Veteran's Memorial Park

Black Scoter   Manasquan Inlet

Long-tailed Duck   Manasquan Inlet

Bufflehead   Lake of the Lilies

Hooded Merganser   Lake of the Lilies

Red-breasted Merganser   Point Pleasant Beach

Ruddy Duck   Lake of the Lilies

Pied-billed Grebe   Lake of the Lilies

Rock Pigeon   Little Silver Lake

Mourning Dove   Lake of the Lilies

American Coot   Lake of the Lilies

Sanderling   Manasquan Inlet

Dunlin   Manasquan Inlet

Purple Sandpiper   Manasquan Inlet

Razorbill   Manasquan Inlet

Ring-billed Gull   Lake of the Lilies

Herring Gull   Lake of the Lilies

Glaucous Gull   Manasquan Inlet

Great Black-backed Gull   Lake of the Lilies

Red-throated Loon   Manasquan Inlet

Common Loon   Manasquan Inlet

Northern Gannet   Manasquan Inlet

Double-crested Cormorant

Great Blue Heron   Lake of the Lilies

Black Vulture   Toms River

Turkey Vulture   35 Sunset Rd

Red-tailed Hawk   Point Pleasant Beach

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Marshall's Pond

Blue Jay   Lake of the Lilies

American Crow   Lake of the Lilies

Carolina Chickadee   Cattus Island County Park

Tufted Titmouse   Cattus Island County Park

Red-breasted Nuthatch   Cattus Island County Park

White-breasted Nuthatch   Cattus Island County Park

Golden-crowned Kinglet   Cattus Island County Park

American Robin   Marshall's Pond

Northern Mockingbird   Lake of the Lilies

European Starling   Lake of the Lilies

House Finch   Cattus Island County Park

American Goldfinch   Marshall’s Pond

Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd

White-throated Sparrow   Jackson

Song Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park

Red-winged Blackbird   Cattus Island County Park

Boat-tailed Grackle   Lake of the Lilies