LBI 1/7--Black Guillemot, Orange-crowned Warbler

Black Guillemot, take my word for it, Barnegat Light SP
(click to enlarge, not that it will help)

It isn't called Long Beach Island for no reason. Today, I had rare birds at both extremes of the island, 20 miles apart, which doesn't sound like a long distance until you're driving at only 40 or 45 mph, avoiding the lurking black and whites who have nothing better to do in the winter than hand out tickets. I was planning on going to the south end of the island, Holgate, to look for the Ash-throated Flycatcher that was found Sunday on the Barnegat CBC, but as I was approaching the bridge to the island I snuck a look at my texts at a red light and saw that a much more impressive bird had stayed overnight at Barnegat Light, so I headed north instead.

The rarity there was an alcid, a Black Guillemot, rarely seen in NJ and certainly not from shore very often. The last one seen at that location was 2005. I got to the walkway at the light, called my friend who said it was being seen in the inlet "200 paces" from the lighthouse. I liked the "paces" instruction, but didn't like not seeing the bird. Then another birder at the end of the walkway saw me, texted me that she had the bird and I raced up there. It was drifting along out of the inlet on the Island Beach side, hard up against the jetty. I saw it well enough in my scope, especially when it was spot-lighted for a moment by a shaft of sunlight. My photos show a mottled dot on the water. But there was no mistaking the bird for another alcid or duck. If my list ticks could be heard, this bird would have sounded like a pinball machine--year bird, county bird, state bird, country bird.  The only Black Guillemots I've seen before today were up in Canada. Up there, of course, they look completely different because it was summer and they were in breeding plumage. (You don't think I'd go birding in Canada in the winter do you?)

A pleasant surprise on my way out to the end of the walkway was coming upon 5 Harlequin Ducks very close in. Normally you have to go way out to the end of the jetty to see these ducks. They're common; they're reliable, but they're usually a long walk. Today, I got my year Harlequins naked eye and running. After I watched the guillemot drift farther out toward open water, I started back, but I couldn't resist taking pictures of the Harlequin. 
Now it was time to make the long journey south. But first I stopped off at Sunset Park in Harvey Cedars. I was curious to see if the single Horned Lark I had seen in late December was still hanging around the beat up grassy area close to the rocks. I walked and glassed, walked and glassed along the asphalt path, not finding the bird until I almost stepped on it. Not an easy bird to find so I felt like I accomplished something.

There were actually two rarities at the Holgate spot, just above the entrance to the Forsythe area, but I didn't have a lot of confidence in finding one of them. I met Steve and Al down there and they had just had the Ash-throated and were now looking for the Orange-crowned Warbler. I was scanning the pine tree where the flycatcher was last seen when, out of the corner of my eye I saw movement in some high brush to my right. There was the warbler. I called Steve over and it flew into the pine tree. Unfortunately, Al was a little too far away to get on the bird, a bummer because it would have been a lifer for him.

Meanwhile, the flycatcher was not being cooperative until finally Steve caught sight of it. I watched it jump around from one pine tree to another until it flew between two houses and out of sight. County bird for me.

Peregrine Falcon, Holgate

The temperature was in the mid-40's and there was no wind. No better time to take my semi-annual trek down the beach at Holgate. While I knew I'd see ducks, I was hoping for something like Snow Buntings or even Lapland Longspur. Ipswich Sparrow would have been nice. An odd shorebird perhaps. Nope. I walked two miles in the sand, looking at both the bay and the ocean and my "best" birds were a Peregrine Falcon perched on a dead tree and 13 , which eBird flagged as a high count. I had 3 flying over the dunes and 10 in the parking lot.

By the time I had walked on the new "Clamming Trail" and turned around the weather had changed with clouds rolling in, the temperature dropping and the wind kicking up. I walked on the hard sand down by the water but it was a long winter walk. There will have be some special bird before I go there again this winter. Next time I go will be in early September, just after the area reopens hoping to find some of the birds that breed there lingering.

So, to sum up: 3 rarities, 6 year birds, 9 county birds, 2 county lifers, 1 state lifer, 1 USA lifer and a lot of cardio.