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