Brig | Brigantine Island 1/11--Red-headed Woodpecker & 14 Year Birds

Red-headed Woodpecker, Brig

I took my first visit to Brig (and Atlantic County) this morning with Mike on one of his monthly NJ Audubon trips, accompanied by our friend Peggy. Since it is still early in the year, potential was great for interesting birds and we did well. The bird I was most interesting in finding I had looked for just before the end of the last year with Shari with no success. Today, after some searching, the immature Red-headed Woodpecker made an appearance on the Bristow trail just behind the parking lot. This was a county bird for me (as well, of course, a year bird), so it was gratifying to find it and "get it out of the way."

The first year bird of the day was the first bird we saw in Atlantic County (if you ignore the huge flock of blackbirds we saw on someone's lawn and the "Heinz 57 Varieties" geese we saw in Smithville) was also a year bird, 5 Wild Turkey toms on Lily Lake Road.

American Bittern, Brig

On the road to the Gull Pond we were able to tease out an immature Black-crowned Night-Heron buried deep in a tree, but the highlight of the first go-round of the Wildlife Drive was up around Marker 4. Mike saw something skulking across the road. Both his and Peggy's first (obviously absurd) impression was that of an alligator. It was an American Bittern with its neck stretched long and low, parallel to the ground, scurrying into the grass on the channel side of the drive. We hurried up to the spot where it had gone off the road since the cars behind us hadn't seen the bird. I figured, with its ability to camouflage itself that we'd never see the bird again, but the reeds weren't quite high enough for it to completely hide. Even still, it was exactly the same color as the reeds except for its yellow eye. The whole group was able to see it and get some photographs. It was a lifer for at least one of our group. I was happy since I managed to miss this bird all of last year.

American Oystercatcher, Brigantine Island

Most of the birds we saw going around the drive were waterfowl--a pretty good mix with huge numbers of Snow Geese, Brant, and American Black Ducks. After lunch Mike surprised me by suggesting we all go down to Brigantine Island, northeast of Atlantic City, about a 20 minute drive away. In winter, the south cove is often a good spot for shorebirds and while our first stop only produced a single American Oystercatcher (sorry you weren't with us, Shari), our second stop, in an empty lot between two homes, looked out on mudflats with about 100 oystercatchers & Dunlins, a couple of Black-bellied Plovers, 5 or so (Western) Willets, and best of all (for me, at least) 10 (approx) Marbled Godwits. I say "for me" because Mike also found a Whimbrel, a rarity this time of year, and while he and Peggy and a couple of others in our group got on it, I couldn't find it in his or my scope. Since I haven't descended in the madness of "month birding," ("yet," as Mike likes to say), I wasn't upset at the miss, since I'm pretty confident I'll see a Whimbrel before the year is out.

We went back to Brig for another trip around the impoundments. At the Gull Pond the night-heron had sneaked out a little farther for a better look and a Great Egret and had joined it and the Great Blue Heron that had been there in the morning. Other new birds for the day included 3 flyover Greater Yellowlegs at the Gull Pond, a Peregrine Falcon and a Sharp-shinned Hawk on the upland portion of the trail that Peggy & I got a glimpse of, but no one else was in a position to see.

For the day I finished with 56 species, including 15 year birds, bringing the early season total up 115.

Species            First Sighting

Snow Goose   Brig

Brant   Brig

Canada Goose   Brig

Mute Swan   Brig

Northern Shoveler   Brig

Gadwall   Brig

American Wigeon   Brig

Mallard   Brig

American Black Duck   Brig

Northern Pintail   Brig

Green-winged Teal   Brig

Bufflehead   Brig

Hooded Merganser   Brig

Red-breasted Merganser   Brigantine Island

Wild Turkey   Brig

Mourning Dove   Brig

American Oystercatcher   Brigantine Island

Black-bellied Plover   Brigantine Island

Marbled Godwit   Brigantine Island

Dunlin   Brigantine Island

Greater Yellowlegs   Brig

Willet   Brigantine Island

Ring-billed Gull   Brig

Herring Gull   Brig

Great Black-backed Gull   Brig

Double-crested Cormorant   Brigantine Island

American Bittern   Brig

Great Blue Heron   Brig

Great Egret   Brig

Black-crowned Night-Heron   Brig

Turkey Vulture   Brig

Northern Harrier   Brig

Sharp-shinned Hawk   Brig

Bald Eagle   Brig

Red-headed Woodpecker   Brig

Red-bellied Woodpecker   Brig

Downy Woodpecker   Brig

Northern Flicker   Brig

Peregrine Falcon   Brig

Blue Jay   Brig

American Crow   Brig

Carolina Chickadee   Brig

Golden-crowned Kinglet   Brig

Carolina Wren   Brig

American Robin   Brig

House Finch   Brig

American Goldfinch   Brig

Chipping Sparrow   Brig

Dark-eyed Junco   Brig

White-throated Sparrow   Brig

Savannah Sparrow   Brig

Song Sparrow   Brig

Eastern Towhee   Brig

Red-winged Blackbird   Brig

Yellow-rumped Warbler   Brig

Northern Cardinal   Brig