Pinelands Winter Bird Census

Mute Swans (sigh) on Union Pond

This is the sixth year of the Pinelands Winter Bird Census which Jim Schill organizes since great swaths of the Pinelands (Barrens) lie outside any Christmas Count Circles, so this is our alternative count. As usual, I started the birding early, 4:53 AM in Whitesbog Village listening for owls. For the first time I got both Great Horned Owl and Eastern Screech Owl. I have in the past heard one or the other (or neither) but never both. Two Great Horned Owls to boot. 

The funny thing about the owls is that I heard each one in the place where I would expect to hear the other. After failing in the village, I drove out onto the bogs to the double-laned road where in the past I've heard (and seen) Great Horned Owl. Before I could even play the call, I heard the screech owl. Now, since the double-laned road is the borderline between Ocean and Burlington Counties, after notching the owl for Burlington, I walked about 100 feet to the east and listed it for Ocean too. I actually have no idea which county the bird was in and since eBird's silly rules make it a survey of where your feet are, not where the bird truly is, it counts as a 2 for 1. 

Whitesbog Dawn

I drove back into the Village and in the parking lot heard the hooting of the Great Horned. I then walked back to the Lower Meadow where I have been told on good authority that screech is often heard. So, naturally, I heard another Great Horned. By this time the sky was lightening up, though it was still a half hour before dawn. I walked around the meadow which leads to the entrance road and before going out onto the bogs again, checked the feeders: The usual tweety birds. 

Driving on the bogs in the dark, I had had a bad feeling. Yesterday, when I was scouting, the water was 95% "stiff" but I did see a decent number of Tundra Swans on the Lower Bog, resting on the ice. But driving by in the dark, I didn't hear any swans and my flashlight showed only an unbroken sheet of ice. Since one of the main targets of the census is Tundra Swans and since Whitesbog has always been a prime location for the species, this wasn't a good sign. 

Out on the bogs at dawn I saw two swans with their heads tucked in on Union Pond and the bad feeling got worse because, though I didn't see them yesterday, I could tell just from the pointy tails that those were Mute Swans--scarce in the county but not what you want to see if you want to see other waterfowl. And nary a Tundra Swan on any of the bogs, nor were there any when I drove into the Ocean County side and checked out the Upper Reservoir. The first time in 6 years I've gotten skunked on the species. 

Although the sunrise was pretty, as I've often noticed, almost immediately after a picturesque dawn, the skies clouded up, a precursor to the Nor'easter that was on its way and promised to make the afternoon a snowy one. 

While the temperatures were below freezing, the lack of wind made the walking bearable, but the birds just were not in evidence. Most of the passerines I saw were in the Village. When I walked the old blueberry fields along the entrance road, I was happy to see a Northern Harrier, but the hunting hawk probably killed any chance I had of finding sparrows in what is usually a very productive area. 

I saw more waterfowl at Country Lake Estates, where the lake was 100% frozen, but along the far shore Canada Geese, Mallards, and American Black Ducks huddled, along with 5 Swan Geese which I couldn't count.  

My last stop was Whitesbog Road, a dirt road that runs from 530 to 70. By this time it was snowing, lightly at first, but by the time I approached 70 it was really swirling around. I did come across a feeding flock of chickadees with a Red-breasted Nuthatch joining them and had my only gull of a day, a flyover Herring Gull. By then I'd been at it almost 9 hours, had walked 9.9 miles and driven another 5 or so and I could tell it was going to be diminishing (or no) returns from here on in. 

I ended the day with a paltry 27 species. I guess the birds sensed the storm coming and hunkered down. Birds are smarter than we are. 

76 Canada Goose
2 Mute Swan
37 Mallard
2 American Black Duck
1 Mourning Dove
1 Herring Gull
1 Turkey Vulture
1 Northern Harrier
2 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Eastern Screech-Owl
2 Great Horned Owl
1 Red-bellied Woodpecker
2 Downy Woodpecker
4 Hairy Woodpecker
1 Blue Jay
6 American Crow
10 Carolina Chickadee
4 Tufted Titmouse
1 Golden-crowned Kinglet
2 Red-breasted Nuthatch
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
5 Carolina Wren
7 American Robin
20 Dark-eyed Junco
2 White-throated Sparrow
10 Song Sparrow
7 Northern Cardinal