Pedricktown Marsh 3/6--Sandhill Crane, Osprey

Last stop was the best stop and it wasn't even a place I expected to be. 

Just before the world closed down last year, I was planning on going on Scott's annual Salem County trip, but with Shari working and my car in a precarious state of incipient collapse, I skipped it and regretted it. Of course, I would have regretted it more if I had had to call AAA from Featherbed Lane outside the lovely-named town of Pilesgrove.  Salem County is a haul from here and I don't know it well, so it isn't a place I just run down to for its potential goodies. This year, we went, wearing our pandemic masks, hoping for some of the Salem Counties specialties. 

Of which we got zero. No Cattle Egret, no Yellow-headed Blackbird, no Ross's Goose, no...we did get a Rough-legged Hawk at Featherbed, a year bird for Shari, but everything else was just good solid birding. You like big flocks of Snow Geese? They're all over but they moved around so much (hunters) that we (read: Scott) couldn't scan them for Ross's. Eagles were at nearly every stop. We saw our first one while standing in the parking lot of the Woodstown Wawa while waiting for everyone to gather. Ducks, plenty of ducks, diving and dabbling. 

After Featherbed Lane, I figured the trip was done, but Scott suggested one more stop, north, to Pedricktown Marsh which is on the border of Gloucester and Salem Counties. He said it was the last chance to get one of the area rarities. The marsh was at low tide and looked pretty empty except for some ducks and geese, but as we started to walk out onto the causeway, Scott pointed up and flying right above us was our FOY Osprey. March 6 is pretty early for an Osprey. Not the earliest I've seen one, since I remember a demented bird that overwintered in Cape May a few years ago that I saw on January 1st, but normally it would be at least a couple of weeks before I'd be on the lookout for one. I certainly didn't expect to record my first one in Gloucester County which I haven't visited for 6 years. 

Then, as we were about to leave, Barb, who was assisting Scott on the trip, said, "One more scan" of the marsh and after a moment called out, "What's that flying? The cranes!" 

And there they were, two Sandhill Cranes, a species I have been chasing around, with no luck all year in 3 counties around here. And, unlike most of the time when a rarity is spotted, they were flying toward us, not away. They flew right over the road, going north, affording excellent views. What an excellent way to cap off a long day of birding in what seems like another state (Northern North Delaware?) to me. 

My list for the day: 

Species                First Sighting

Snow Goose   Compromise Rd.

Canada Goose   Wawa Woodstown

Mute Swan   Salem River WMA

Tundra Swan   Salem River WMA

Wood Duck   Salem River WMA

Northern Shoveler   Salem River WMA

Gadwall   Salem River WMA

American Wigeon   Salem River WMA

Mallard   Seabrook Rd

American Black Duck   Salem River WMA

Northern Pintail   Salem River WMA

Green-winged Teal   Mannington Marsh

Ring-necked Duck   Salem River WMA

Bufflehead   Salem River WMA

Hooded Merganser   Salem River WMA

Rock Pigeon   Sharptown-Auburn Rd

Mourning Dove   Salem River WMA

Sandhill Crane   Pedricktown Marsh

Killdeer   Compromise Rd.

Herring Gull   Salem River WMA

Great Blue Heron   Mannington Marsh

Black Vulture   Salem River WMA

Turkey Vulture   Compromise Rd.

Osprey   Pedricktown Marsh

Northern Harrier   Compromise Rd.

Bald Eagle   Wawa Woodstown

Red-tailed Hawk   Wawa Woodstown

Rough-legged Hawk   Featherbed Lane WMA

Belted Kingfisher   Pedricktown Marsh

Merlin   Mannington Marsh

Blue Jay   Salem River WMA

American Crow   Featherbed Lane WMA

Fish Crow   Wawa Woodstown

Carolina Wren   Salem River WMA

European Starling   Compromise Rd.

American Robin   Compromise Rd.

Song Sparrow   Seabrook Rd

Red-winged Blackbird   Wawa Woodstown

Common Grackle   Wawa Woodstown