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