BC Fairgrounds 2/28--Short-eared Owl

This weekend started with rain ending at midmorning and ended with rain beginning midmorning. In between I birded Burlco where my last stop of the two days provided the most pleasant surprise of a Short-eared Owl teed up in perfect sight. I wasn't having much luck with the rare geese reported the last couple of days--the problem with a lot of Burlco roads is no shoulders to safely park and scan--but since I was near the Fairgrounds I figured I'd look for the ever-present Rough-legged Hawk. As my car was rolling to a halt I saw a big bird perched on a post toward the back of the mowed field. Could that be the hawk, so easy? Quick bin look confirmed not. Once I got it in my scope and saw it was a shortie, I scrambled for my camera and managed one terrible shot before the owl flew back into the high grass, just as my friend Dave was pulling up. "Ooo, you just missed it." He, however, having found a Ross's Goose among the thousands of Snow Geese on Juliustown Road, took the disappointment with aplomb. 

The Fairgrounds are extremely reliable for Short-eared Owl; however, most of the time you have to be there just after dusk when they start to hunt and it's always a race to find one before the ranger comes round to shoo you out so they can lock the gates. Today was, just before the rain hit heavy, were perfect conditions for diurnal viewing: overcast and calm. They'll hunt in that weather, competing with the Northern Harriers of which I only saw two, in my short visit. Oh, and I did eventually see the Rough-legged Hawk, come out from the fields, fly over the parking lot and perch in a tree across the road. 

While they weren't year birds, the notable bird I found yesterday were 2 drake Redheads (there were actually 3 as those with more patience found a hen) at Whitesbog yesterday where I had scooted after the rain ended. While I knew they were a new species for me at Whitesbog, I wasn't sure if my parochial interest in what's rare at Whitesbog translated into county-wide interest, so after some consultation with one who knows the county way better than me, I put out an alert. Apparently it was of widespread interest, especially for those doing county big years, because within the hour the Middle Bog was surrounded by birders, scanning through the hundred or so Ring-necked Ducks. Everyone got on them. I hate to put an alert out for birds that up and fly.

They were there this morning again when I met Jim out on the bogs and we walked a good 4 or 5 miles around the bogs. So despite the warnings of the weekend being a washout, I did quite well, it being especially satisfying to find birds you're not expecting. While it is fun to go to a spot where you know a bird should be and find that bird, it is even more fun to got somewhere and find what does not often occur. It's the difference between getting a present on your birthday and getting a present on a random day in your life. 

Assunpink WMA 2/25--Ruby-crowned Kinglet

At Assunpink, in winter, there are really only 2 birding activities: Scan the lake for waterfowl, walk the roads and watch birds dive into the thickets.  When I met Mike at the lake parking lot this morning we were both surprised and disappointed to see the water still frozen. Where we live, 20 miles south, most water was thawed. We didn't think the distance was great enough to make a difference. 

Black Vulture

This left, aside from a quick scan of the extreme eastern end of the lake, which never seems to freeze, walking the road that hugs the lake shore, trying to get on sparrows and other passerines before they flew up from the road into the reeds and bushes. And we did pretty well, if you like White-throated Sparrows. We couldn't find a White-crowned Sparrow--they seem to be not at the private driveway just before the entrance to the WMA anymore--just as well, the owner is a suspicious grouch. We had only a few raptors--a beauty of a gray ghost (Northern Harrier), a Red-shouldered and a Red-tailed Hawk. Mike had an eagle before I got there. Vultures of course, both flavors. 

Walking back on the paved road we saw yet another little bird dive into yet another tangle and after extensive pishing we got a glimpse or two of a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, a year bird for the both of us.  We also, at the model airplane field parking lot, noted a Chipping Sparrow, which, amusingly, is listed as "rare" in the county this time of year. As it happens, Chipping Sparrows have been frequenting that area all winter; I first started listing them back in November. But hey, it's another check on the list. 

My list, a little shorter than Mike's, totaled 31 species:

Canada Goose  100

Mallard  1

American Black Duck  50

Ring-necked Duck  100

Hooded Merganser  10

Common Merganser  40

Mourning Dove  2

Ring-billed Gull  10

Black Vulture  1

Turkey Vulture  4

Northern Harrier  2

Red-shouldered Hawk  1

Red-tailed Hawk  1

Red-bellied Woodpecker  3

Downy Woodpecker  3

Blue Jay  1     Heard

American Crow  5

Carolina Chickadee  2

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  1

White-breasted Nuthatch  1

Carolina Wren  3

American Goldfinch  2

Chipping Sparrow  1      

Field Sparrow  1

American Tree Sparrow  3

Dark-eyed Junco  3

White-throated Sparrow  50

Song Sparrow  6

Red-winged Blackbird  300

Common Grackle  20

Northern Cardinal  5

Backyard 2/22--Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

For almost two months I've been keeping an eye out whenever I was walking in the woods--Manahawkin, Whitesbog, Colliers Mills, Assunpink, etc--but, be it ever so humble, there's no place like your own backyard to find (finally) a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. 

Our roof neighbor called to tell us there were bluebirds in the backyard which he was excited to see. Bluebirds are notable for our backyard, but not as surprising as he thinks. He associates them with summertime, so to find them in winter really lifted him up. I didn't tell him that I'd seen one yesterday sitting practically in front of his window. I thought perhaps I'd get a picture of one of the bluebirds but the really beautiful male that was sitting on a branch flew up and off. Looking up, though, what should I see but the sapsucker, poking holes in a big pitch pine. Yes! Year bird, county bird. 

Sapsuckers always bring me back to my working days when, on the phone with a vendor, chatting, "building the relationship," our talk would turn to hobbies and I would say birding (or "birdwatching" to them). More than once one of them said, "And have you seen a Yellow-bellied Sapucker?" with an emphasis on the "suck." Yes, I'd reply, and there are birds with a lot funnier names than that, now about that truckload of paper that's late to the press you lying incompetent sunuvabitch. So much for the relationship. 

I had more than 5 hours to watch backyard birds since snow, then rain brought me home early from birding a couple spots in Burlco. Fortunately, today is one of my Feederwatch days, so I'll have a good list to enter tomorrow. 18 species in our backyard. There are times I walk for miles in a WMA and don't come close to that number of species. 

They were: 

Mourning Dove  6

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  1    

Red-bellied Woodpecker  1

Downy Woodpecker  1

Carolina Chickadee  3

Tufted Titmouse  2

Red-breasted Nuthatch  1     Irruption

White-breasted Nuthatch  2

Carolina Wren  1

European Starling  2

Eastern Bluebird  3     Occasionally we get one but 3 is notable

House Finch  3

Pine Siskin  8     Irruption

American Goldfinch  2

Fox Sparrow  1     Here since the snowstorm

Dark-eyed Junco  8

White-throated Sparrow  1

Northern Cardinal  3     Sunflower chip feeders

Look closely (or click for a larger version) and you can see the bluebird perched above the suet cage dead center. 
Hard to take a photo on a rainy day through a window that hasn't been cleaned since Hector what a pup. 

Holgate 2/15--Snowy Owl (Delayed Report)

Last Monday, not being too cold and not, amazingly, raining, snowing, or sleeting, I took my winter hike along Holgate, walking, according to eBird's tracker, 1.85 miles through the sand, keeping to the upper part of the beach where I could see the bay. The tide was very high and the waves were coming right up to the edge of the dunes. I turned around where the clamming trail starts since the water had broken through to the bay side. I wasn't going to wade through a foot of seawater just to not see more birds.

I actually did as well as I could expect, though I didn't find any new shorebirds (plovers, oystercatchers, or something really odd) for the year which was what I was hoping for. I did though, see a Snowy Owl, which is why this entry is delayed a week.  Even though everyone knows they're there, I still feel uncomfortable reporting a Snowy Owl contemporaneously. A lot of photographers lurk on eBird looking for recent sightings; let them find their own birds. 

While I was walking back to the parking lot, Zirlin's 3rd Law of Birding was once more demonstrated. The Law states, that Wherever you are, you should be somewhere else. Steve texted me that he had two Pileated Woodpeckers in Plumsted which was roughly 50 miles from where I was. Pileated is "rare" in Ocean County; I have seen them in Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth, Somerset, though never in my home county. But there was no way I was going all that distance after trudging up and down Holgate. (I tried the next day for the birds--three times--and never got them. Can you say "frustration" boys and girls?)

My list for that day:

17 species

Brant  45

Canada Goose  20

American Black Duck  13

Common Eider  1     Hen

Long-tailed Duck  22

Bufflehead  3

Sanderling  65

Dunlin  111

Herring Gull  50

Great Black-backed Gull  10

Common Loon  11

Great Blue Heron  1

Snowy Owl

Northern Harrier  1

Northern Mockingbird  1

Snow Bunting  2

Northern Cardinal  1     Heard

Cloverdale Farm 2/21--Wilson's Snipe

 Usually I get my year Wilson's Snipe at Shelter Cove. But that entails simultaneously slogging through flooded soccer fields and tippy-toeing around approximately two tons of goose shit. It's...awkward. 

So, when I saw snipes reported at Cloverdale Farm, I decided to go over there this morning; at least I know what I'm stepping in when I walk around those bogs. It didn't long at all for me to flush my first snipe from the bog behind the Visitor's Center. First I flushed some Mallards in the half frozen impoundment, then a snipe came zipping out and dived into the reeds. No one seemed happy about my being there. I walked along the cross dike and sure enough, out came a snipe. Obviously, they weren't going to pose today. 

I walked around the bogs in a figure eight pattern and on another cross dike I flushed 3 more snipes. They make a funny little whinny when they first fly. 

Figuring, correctly, that I had no chance of getting a photograph of these cryptic birds, I turned my attention to a species for which Cloverdale is noted, Eastern Bluebird. With a large and well-maintained series of bluebird boxes and excellent habitat, it isn't hard to find bluebirds anywhere in the park. I heard them immediately upon exiting the car and found two in a field next to the parking. Around the visitor's center there were six, then around the old Christmas tree stand there were probably at least a half dozen. Back in the parking lot, before I left, there were again 5 or 6 flying from tree to tree. When the sunlight hits a male bluebird, the color is luminescent. It's like someone pulls a switch and the bird just glows. 

I noticed in my photograph of one of the males that it was wearing a silver band, but I can't read the band despite enlarging the photo. Besides the snipes and bluebirds, other birds I saw there that make me happy included 2 Brown Creepers and a Golden-crowned Kinglet. 

The full list: 

21 species

Mallard  18

Bufflehead  5

Mourning Dove  1

Wilson's Snipe  4    

Red-bellied Woodpecker  2

Downy Woodpecker  4

Blue Jay  3

Carolina Chickadee  12

Tufted Titmouse  8

Golden-crowned Kinglet  1     Entrance bog

Red-breasted Nuthatch  1

White-breasted Nuthatch  4

Brown Creeper  2     Parking lot & bog

Carolina Wren  1     Heard

Eastern Bluebird  20    

House Finch  3     Near feeders

American Goldfinch  20

Field Sparrow  1

Dark-eyed Junco  2

Song Sparrow  2

Northern Cardinal  3     Heard

Brick 2/10--Redhead

Used to be, 'round these parts, finding a Redhead was an event. What you'd do is go over to Toms River and sort through the Canvasbacks at Riverfront Landing or across the way at Mathis Park (the most reliable spot in Ocean County for these big ducks) and maybe you'd find one duck that in the glare and distance was most probably a Redhead. Once in a while maybe there'd be one with the scaups on Lake of the Lilies in Point Beach. It's a great looking duck and worth the search. 

Then, a few years ago, for some inexplicable reason, large rafts of Redheads appeared on upper Barnegat Bay off of Mantoloking in Brick, mixed in with the Greater Scaup. Suddenly, you went from being happy with one to getting flagged on eBird for listing 60, 100, 150 Redheads. What made this obscure part of the bay attractive to aythya no one knows. I'd guess it was just chance at first ("everybody's gotta be some place," as the philosopher Myron Cohen observed) and then they returned to the same spot as people do who really like Disney World. 

This year I've only made one trip to Lake of the Lilies and there was no Redhead there and Riverfront's Canvasbacks weren't hiding one either, so last month, after I got the car serviced in Lakewood I drove over to the same area in Brick where a large raft kept popping up on eBird. It was a snowy/sleety day and of course, I couldn't find a single Redhead. 

I don't have much occasion to be up that way and I was hesitant about making a special trip "just to get it on the list," but when I saw that Mike had 150 of them yesterday, I was tempted. I really like Redheads. As it happens, Mike & I were birding together today down in Manahawkin and on Cedar Bonnet Island; we had a pretty good day, highlighted by two Tricolored Herons that flew over us and landed in the marsh at Manahawkin. Not year birds for either of us, but still a rarity this time of year. 

After we'd finished walking around Cedar Bonnet and had logged over 4 miles for the day, the thought of all those Redheads still nagged at me. I doubted the flock would suddenly disappear and the day was clear and just above freezing so I got on the Parkway and drove the 25 miles or so up to Brick where I found the Redheads just where they should have been. No glare to deal with, just distance and overcast conditions but, without being totally anal about, I did count 80 birds mixed in with the Greater Scaup flock of about 200. Diving ducks are hard to count because at any one time a third to a half of them are under water. Anyway, "you only need one." I just wish I could have taken better pictures of this handsome bird, but distance and lighting conditions were against me with both my camera and my phone pressed against my scope's eyepiece. At least the drive was not for naught. 

Mixed flock of Redheads and scaup

Tip Seaman CP 2/4--American Pipit, Red Crossbill

Scott and Mike revived a trip that Pete Bacinski used to like to do in the winter, Ocean County Roads, which Shari & I nicknamed the "What's Up Dock" trip, since a good portion of it consists of driving through the marshes between Tuckerton and Manahawkin on Dock Street, Parker Run Dock Road, and Cedar Run Dock Road. 

After I made another fruitless stop at Holly Lake looking yet again for the Common Gallinule, I joined the group at Tip Seaman CP on Route 9, a spot that, up until it was discovered that it had, like most Ocean County parks, very clean, very large, and very warm restrooms, was seriously underbirded. 

And, while the three aformentioned roads, along with Great Bay Blvd produced a lot of birds, including a Common Redpoll at the bulwark on Great Bay Blvd, it was at Tip Seaman that I got my two year birds for the day, both unexpected species, and one, that as far as eBird is concerned, had never been noted there before. 

First, while we were checking on the duckage on Pohatcong Lake (which seems an awfully phony Native Americanism, considering the lake is a pond and the pond is nothing but a dammed up portion of a stream called Gifford's Mill Run) Scott called out Red Crossbills! Once again, I had that "you don't notice the refrigerator until it turns off" sensation, as I realized I was hearing the "kip kip" of the crossbills only after Scott pointed them out. But this time at least I got to see the 3 of them flying off, finch-like across the water, silhouetted by a gray cloud. The crossbills appeared right after a small flock of Horned Larks flew over us. It's been a good year for larks in Ocean County, they seem to be appearing in all parts of it. It was also the first sighting of larks at Tip Seaman. 

Then, to complete the magic of the spot where we were standing, a flock of 8 American Pipits were discovered feeding on the lawn twenty feet from us. Pipits are notorious for being flyover, so to see a small feeding flock, for a long time, watching them walk and bob their tails like Palm Warblers, was a real treat. And, naturally, none of us was carrying a camera! Pipits, it turns out, had also never been listed in eBird memory at that particular spot. 

Most of the rest of the day was finding the expected waterfowl and a few raptors along. Because of the wind, not many passerines were to be found. The redpoll was a nice find but only gave brief looks. Some highlights were Common Goldeneye, a lone Northern Pintail on Holly Lake (for me), great rafts of Greater Scaup, and a couple of sightings of Red-shouldered Hawk on the Dock Roads. The only shorebird was a Greater Yellowlegs. Sparrows were sparse; we had Song, Savannah, White-throated, and American Tree, but only a few or two of each. 

For the day I listed 52 species. 

Species             Location
Brant   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Canada Goose   Tip Seaman County Park
Mute Swan   Holly Lake
Gadwall   Holly Lake
Mallard   Holly Lake
American Black Duck   Holly Lake
Northern Pintail   Holly Lake
Ring-necked Duck   Holly Lake
Greater Scaup   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Lesser Scaup   Tip Seaman County Park
Long-tailed Duck   West Creek Dock Rd
Bufflehead   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Common Goldeneye   Tip Seaman County Park
Hooded Merganser   Holly Lake
Red-breasted Merganser   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Ring-billed Gull   Holly Lake
Herring Gull   Holly Lake
Great Black-backed Gull   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Common Loon   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Double-crested Cormorant   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Great Blue Heron   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Black Vulture   West Creek Dock Rd
Turkey Vulture   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Northern Harrier   West Creek Dock Rd
Bald Eagle   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Red-shouldered Hawk   Parker Run Dock St.
Red-tailed Hawk   Tip Seaman County Park
Belted Kingfisher   West Creek Dock Rd
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Parker Run Dock St.
Merlin   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Blue Jay   Parker Run Dock St.
American Crow   Tip Seaman County Park
Carolina Chickadee   West Creek Dock Rd
Horned Lark   Tip Seaman County Park
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Tip Seaman County Park
White-breasted Nuthatch   Tip Seaman County Park
Carolina Wren   West Creek Dock Rd
European Starling   Cedar Run Dock Rd
Northern Mockingbird   Parker Run Dock St.
Hermit Thrush   Parker Run Dock St.
House Sparrow   Parker Run Dock St.
American Pipit   Tip Seaman County Park
House Finch   Parker Run Dock St.
Common Redpoll   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Red Crossbill   Tip Seaman County Park
American Tree Sparrow   Cedar Run Dock Rd
White-throated Sparrow   Tip Seaman County Park
Savannah Sparrow   Tip Seaman County Park
Song Sparrow   Great Bay Blvd WMA
Red-winged Blackbird   Tip Seaman County Park
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Blvd WMA

Shelter Cove Park | Cattus Island CP 2/3--Virginia Rail, Killdeer

Killdeer

For years, Killdeer was a bird I would pick up casually, early in the year. I would simply stop off at the Wawa on Route 70 in Lakewood and there'd they be, in the undeveloped field next to the parking lot. When we did the World Series of Birding in Ocean County, that's where we stop to pick up Killdeer...and lunch. 

But fields don't stay undeveloped too long in Lakewood and now there is a self-storage facility going up where Killdeer once roamed. So this morning, wanting to get out after being cooped up in the house during a two day snowstorm and wanting something new, I hied myself to Shelter Cove where Killdeer had been reported on the playing fields. I found them right away on the snow-covered fields and could have just left, but I wanted pictures for this entry so I walked out toward them. Mistake. The fields were a layer cake of wet--a thin coating of snow  atop a thin layer of ice atop two inches of water, making for cold, hard going as I tromped out toward them getting just close enough for the zoom on the camera without spooking them, too much. It seemed odd to see shorebirds on snow. I remembered as I walking in the parking lot that the first place in the county that I saw Killdeer was on the median at the entrance. Funny how those memories stick with you.

Savannah Sparrow

Not much else was on the slushy acres; some geese and a couple of Ruddy Ducks in the bay. In the parking lot, just as I was about to leave, I came upon a small flock of Savannah Sparrows. The other interesting birds that had been there during the storm--pipit and Horned Larks--were not in evidence, though I heard the larks, in big numbers, turned up after I left. 

My next stop was a few minutes north at Cattus Island CP where most of the action for most of my visit was at the feeders. Very little to be seen along the mostly snow-covered paths. When I'd come to a bare spot in the path it would feel weird to be walking on solid ground--and quiet too. With each step breaking through ice I wasn't going to sneak up on any birds when I sounded like I was walking on Rice Krispies. Even the bay was frozen to a large extent with only a few Buffleheads and a Red-breasted Merganser in the open water. 

But, coming back, I had just started walking on the boardwalk that goes through the marsh to the parking lot when I flushed a bird from beneath the boards. It flew up and quickly disappeared in the reeds, but in the few seconds it was in flight I recognized it as a Virginia Rail--rare in winter and hard to find anytime and mostly heard. This isn't the first time Virginia Rails have been in that marsh and I've flushed them in another part of the park too, but to get one in the dead of winter was a thrill. That is why I go out birding. I only need one cool bird for the day to be a success. 

My last two stops were searches for waterfowl. Marshall's Pond (mostly frozen) had a drake and a hen wigeon along with Ring-necked Ducks among its hundred geese and Riverfront Landing had lots of ruddies and Mallards, along with a some Lesser Scaup and, what I really came to find, 3 Canvasbacks that I had to find just the right angle to see as they floated around the piers and boats of the marina. 

A good day. Two days of counting juncos in the backyard can get old fast. 

January Summary--A Long Month

Cooper's Hawk, backyard

It's been a long month. Winter weariness has inflicted itself on me since the really cold weather set in. I thought the real birding year would start on the 21st, after I could stop being distracted by the imminent demise of the republic (now, I just worry that I'll out live the eventual, inevitable collapse of the country), but I still found it hard to motivate myself to take long walks along windswept beaches or through freezing fields looking for birds because, I kept telling myself, "they're just birds." Never a good sign when you find yourself stepping outside your obsession. 

I suppose that any month I get a life bird, and one I assumed I'd never see because I don't do pelagics can't be considered a bust, but I think part of my dissatisfaction is that I didn't really find any cool birds on my own. Happy to get the rarities, but not happy to chase them. And especially not happy to chase them when the chase is unsuccessful and there seemed to be a lot of those this month...I won't go into a litany of failure but on more than a few days, frustration reigned. 

I hit most (all?) of my favorite hotspots this month. Sandy Hook started the year with a goodly number of birds, Island Beach yielded the Common Redpoll and later in the month the coveted DOVEKIE, 3 trips to Brig finally produced the American White Pelican (which went into the "How can you miss it?" category), and of course there was always Whitesbog, where I find the most pleasure birding. 

For the month I found 132 species. That's probably just about half the number of birds I'll see all year, at least in New Jersey and I don't have any plans to leave the state yet non-vaccinated in a pandemic. 

Species First Sighting
Snow Goose   Brig
Brant   Sandy Hook
Cackling Goose   Meadowedge Park
Canada Goose   Sandy Hook
Mute Swan   Riverfront Landing
Trumpeter Swan   Assunpink WMA
Tundra Swan  Bamber Lake
Wood Duck   Brig
Northern Shoveler   Brig
Gadwall   Mud City
Eurasian Wigeon   Silver Lake
American Wigeon   Brig
Mallard    Pond on Schoolhouse Road
American Black Duck   Sandy Hook
Northern Pintail   Brig
Green-winged Teal   Brig
Canvasback   Brig
Ring-necked Duck   Pond on Schoolhouse Road
Greater Scaup   East Bay Av
Lesser Scaup   Riverfront Landing
King Eider    Sandy Hook
Common Eider   Sandy Hook
Harlequin Duck    Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Surf Scoter   Sandy Hook
White-winged Scoter    Sandy Hook
Black Scoter    Sandy Hook
Long-tailed Duck    Sandy Hook
Bufflehead    Sandy Hook
Common Goldeneye   Sandy Hook
Hooded Merganser   Crestwood Village
Common Merganser   East Bay Av
Red-breasted Merganser   Sandy Hook
Ruddy Duck   Riverfront Landing
Wild Turkey   Pinewald Keswick Rd
Pied-billed Grebe   Lake Como
Horned Grebe   Sandy Hook
Rock Pigeon   Wawa South Toms River
Mourning Dove   Island Beach SP
American Coot    Lake Como
Ruddy Turnstone     Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Sanderling   Sandy Hook
Dunlin   Brig
Purple Sandpiper   Shark River Inlet
Long-billed Dowitcher   Brig
Greater Yellowlegs   Brig
DOVEKIE   Island Beach SP
Razorbill   Island Beach SP
Bonaparte's Gull   Sandy Hook
Black-headed Gull   Manasquan Inlet
Ring-billed Gull    Sandy Hook
Herring Gull    Sandy Hook
Lesser Black-backed Gull    Shark River Inlet
Great Black-backed Gull    Sandy Hook
Red-throated Loon   Sandy Hook
Common Loon   Sandy Hook
Great Cormorant   Barnegat Lighthouse SP
Double-crested Cormorant   Manahawkin WMA
American White Pelican    Brig
American Bittern   Island Beach SP
Great Blue Heron   Crestwood Village
Great Egret   Brig
Little Blue Heron   Island Beach SP
Tricolored Heron  Bayview Ave Marina
Black-crowned Night-Heron   Bayview Ave Park
Black Vulture   New Egypt
Turkey Vulture   Sandy Hook
Northern Harrier   Sandy Hook
Sharp-shinned Hawk   Bayview Ave Park
Cooper's Hawk   Sandy Hook
Bald Eagle   35 Sunset Rd
Red-shouldered Hawk    Sandy Hook
Red-tailed Hawk    Holly Lake
Rough-legged Hawk BC Fairgrounds

Eastern Screech Owl  Whitesbog
Great Horned Owl   35 Sunset Rd
Belted Kingfisher   Crestwood Village
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Sandy Hook
Downy Woodpecker   Sandy Hook
Hairy Woodpecker   Etra Lake Park
Pileated Woodpecker   Etra Lake Park
Northern Flicker   Etra Lake Park
American Kestrel   BC Fairgrounds
Merlin    Tip Seaman County Park
Peregrine Falcon    Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Northern Shrike    Franklin Parker Preserve
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   35 Sunset Rd
Fish Crow   Etra Lake Park
Common Raven     Sandy Hook
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse     35 Sunset Rd
Horned Lark      Sandy Hook
Golden-crowned Kinglet      Levi’s Rd
Red-breasted Nuthatch      Ocean Acres Park
White-breasted Nuthatch      Pond on Schoolhouse Road
Brown Creeper      35 Sunset Rd
Winter Wren      Brig
Carolina Wren     Sandy Hook
European Starling      35 Sunset Rd
Gray Catbird     Sandy Hook
Northern Mockingbird     Sandy Hook
Eastern Bluebird      Levi’s Rd
Hermit Thrush      Whitesbog
American Robin      Sandy Hook
Cedar Waxwing      Brig
House Sparrow      Riverfront Landing
House Finch      Shelter Cove Park
Purple Finch     Brig
Common Redpoll      Island Beach SP
Pine Siskin      35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch      Assunpink WMA
Snow Bunting      Sandy Hook
Chipping Sparrow      Colliers Mills WMA
Field Sparrow      Sandy Hook
American Tree Sparrow      Sandy Hook
Fox Sparrow      Manahawkin WMA
Dark-eyed Junco      35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow     Sandy Hook
Savannah Sparrow      Bridge to Nowhere
Song Sparrow      Sandy Hook
Swamp Sparrow      Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Towhee      Colliers Mills WMA
Eastern Meadowlark      BC Fairgrounds
Red-winged Blackbird      Mud City
Brown-headed Cowbird      New Egypt
Rusty Blackbird      New Egypt
Common Grackle      Levi’s Rd
Boat-tailed Grackle      Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Orange-crowned Warbler      Sandy Hook
Pine Warbler      Franklin Parker Preserve
Yellow-rumped Warbler    Sandy Hook
Northern Cardinal      35 Sunset Rd

Wild Turkeys, Berkeley Township Police HQ