February Summary--10 Year Birds

Snow Geese, Pineland Preservation Alliance

The only good thing to say about February, my least favorite month (or is that November?) is that it's only 28 days long (this year). Quite a few of days were spent cooped up in the house due to snow, rain, or the dreaded wintry mix. A lot of those days were spent stomping through crusty snow and gingerly walking on ice. I only fell once. Use to be, if I fell, I was more worried about the optics I was carrying. Now I think that replacing a camera is lot easier than replacing a hip.  

Somehow, in the limited amount of time I had to bird, I managed to add 10 year birds to the list--some favorites, like Redhead and sapsucker, and a some hard ones, like Virginia Rail and Snowy Owl. Notice I don't call them "rare." They really aren't, they're just difficult to find, you either need luck, like with the rail, or the willingness to trudge a few miles searching dunes for the Snowy. 

Snow Bunting, Pinelands Preservation Alliance

I passed up the opportunity to pad the list with feeder birds around the state; I have become less interested in the "Hey kids, collect them all" aspect of birding than I used to be. Experience has taught me that it isn't much fun for me to stand around a stranger's feeder waiting for a bird to turn up, where I may be with other birders I may or may not like, especially when one of the spots (I'm told) required an appointment to view the feeder. I'm having a hard enough time getting an appointment for a vaccine, damned if I'll make one to see a bird. 

Within the three counties I birded in February--Burlington, Monmouth, & Ocean--I managed 107 species, markedly down from the previous year's pre-pandemic 126. The comparisons for March might be interesting. The list in February was:

Species              First Sighting
Snow Goose   New Egypt
Brant   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Canada Goose   Shelter Cove Park
Mute Swan   Marshall's Pond
Tundra Swan   Whitesbog
Wood Duck   Whitesbog
Gadwall   Holly Lake
American Wigeon   Marshall's Pond
Mallard   Marshall's Pond
American Black Duck   Riverfront Landing
Northern Pintail   Holly Lake
Green-winged Teal   Manahawkin WMA
Canvasback   Riverfront Landing
Redhead  Brick
Ring-necked Duck   Marshall's Pond
Greater Scaup   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Lesser Scaup   Riverfront Landing
Common Eider   Holgate
White-winged Scoter   Sandy Hook
Black Scoter   Sandy Hook
Long-tailed Duck   West Creek Dock Rd.
Bufflehead   Cattus Island County Park
Common Goldeneye   Tip Seaman CP
Hooded Merganser   Holly Lake
Common Merganser   Pemberton Lake WMA
Red-breasted Merganser   Cattus Island County Park
Ruddy Duck   Shelter Cove Park
Pied-billed Grebe   Manahawkin Lake
Rock Pigeon   Wawa South Toms River
Mourning Dove   35 Sunset Rd
Virginia Rail   Cattus Island County Park
Killdeer   Shelter Cove Park
Sanderling   Holgate
Dunlin   Holgate
Wilson's Snipe   Cloverdale Farm
Greater Yellowlegs   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Ring-billed Gull   Riverfront Landing
Herring Gull   35 Sunset Rd
Great Black-backed Gull   Cattus Island County Park
Common Loon   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Double-crested Cormorant   Riverfront Landing
Great Blue Heron   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Tricolored Heron   Manahawkin WMA
Black Vulture  West Creek Dock Rd.
Turkey Vulture   Cattus Island County Park
Northern Harrier  West Creek Dock Rd.
Cooper's Hawk   Birmingham Rd
Bald Eagle   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Red-shouldered Hawk  Parker Run Dock St.
Red-tailed Hawk   Tip Seaman CP
Rough-legged Hawk   BC Fairgrounds
Snowy Owl   Holgate
Short-eared Owl   BC Fairgrounds
Belted Kingfisher  West Creek Dock Rd.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   35 Sunset Rd
Red-bellied Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Downy Woodpecker   35 Sunset Rd
Hairy Woodpecker   Assunpink WMA
Northern Flicker   Assunpink WMA
American Kestrel   New Egypt
Merlin   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Peregrine Falcon   Manahawkin WMA
Blue Jay   35 Sunset Rd
American Crow   Tip Seaman CP
Fish Crow   Plumsted Recreation Park
Common Raven   New Egypt
Carolina Chickadee   35 Sunset Rd
Tufted Titmouse   35 Sunset Rd
Horned Lark   Tip Seaman CP
Golden-crowned Kinglet   Tip Seaman CP
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   Assunpink WMA
Red-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
White-breasted Nuthatch   35 Sunset Rd
Brown Creeper   35 Sunset Rd
Carolina Wren   35 Sunset Rd
European Starling   35 Sunset Rd
Gray Catbird   Assunpink WMA
Northern Mockingbird   Riverfront Landing
Eastern Bluebird   Plumsted Recreation Park
Hermit Thrush  Parker Run Dock St.
American Robin   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
House Sparrow   Shelter Cove Park
American Pipit   Tip Seaman CP
House Finch   35 Sunset Rd
Common Redpoll   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Red Crossbill   Tip Seaman CP
Pine Siskin   35 Sunset Rd
American Goldfinch   35 Sunset Rd
Snow Bunting   Birmingham Rd
Chipping Sparrow   Colliers Mills WMA
Field Sparrow   Assunpink WMA
American Tree Sparrow   Cedar Run Dock Rd.
Fox Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park
Dark-eyed Junco   35 Sunset Rd
White-throated Sparrow   35 Sunset Rd
Savannah Sparrow   Shelter Cove Park
Song Sparrow   Cattus Island County Park
Swamp Sparrow   Cedar Bonnet Island
Eastern Meadowlark   Ephraim P. Emson Preserve
Red-winged Blackbird   Cattus Island County Park
Brown-headed Cowbird   New Egypt
Rusty Blackbird   Whitesbog
Common Grackle   Assunpink WMA
Boat-tailed Grackle   Great Bay Bvld. WMA
Pine Warbler   35 Sunset Rd
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Cedar Bonnet Island
Northern Cardinal   35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper, Backyard