January Review--127 Species

Harlequin Duck, Barnegat Light

It's the same every January: A blank list begs to be filled in and there are a lot of stops to make. Go to Assunpink for Trumpeter SwansR Stop at Shark River for Eurasian WigeonR Hit Holgate for Snowy OwlR Obscure street in Mantoloking for RedheadsR Barnegat Light for Harlequin Ducks, Purple SandpiperR Black-crowned Night-Heron rookery on LBIR BC Fairgrounds for the annual Rough-legged HawkRAnd please don't let there be a rarity on a really cold day.

The highlight of the month has to be the Pileated Woodpecker in New Egypt. I was near there today and toyed with the idea of going back for another look but dissuaded myself when I realized I'd be plunging through a foot of snow.

The last day of the month started out well with a Great Horned Owl waking me up. My first thought was Mourning Doves, but doves don't HOOT at 6:23 AM. Then, as I said, I drove out to New Egypt, figuring the road would be clear of snow and if I was lucky, cattle. If you don't count the starlings, the first bird I saw there was a Red-shouldered Hawk perched in a tree. A few walks up and down the edge of the fields across from the "pasture" produced a few sparrows, one of which was species #127 for the month, a White-crowned Sparrow. New Egypt is usually reliable for WCSP but this year it took a few trips for one to pop out.

Now it gets harder. If I find the same number of birds as I did last year, then I've already seen 44% of my list. Since I don't plan any big travels, that percentage is not going to change drastically. Well then, what about the pure pleasure of birding, instead of the obsession with finding something new? That doesn't kick in until the weather warms up and I can enjoy taking a long stroll through pleasant woods and fields. Tomorrow is February, my least favorite month along with November. It is cold and icy and windy and when I am walking around in those conditions an inner voice tells me that the entire forward thrust of human civilization was to get indoors.

My list and locations for the month.

Species              First Sighting

Snow Goose  Pemberton Lake WMA

Brant  East Bay Av

Canada Goose Whitesbog

Mute Swan  Bridge to Nowhere

Trumpeter Swan  Stone Tavern Lake

Tundra Swan Whitesbog

Wood Duck  Bridge to Nowhere

Northern Shoveler  Lake of the Lilies

Gadwall  Ocean Acres Pond

Eurasian Wigeon  MacLearie Park

American Wigeon  MacLearie Park

Mallard  Bridge to Nowhere

American Black Duck  Bridge to Nowhere

Northern Pintail  Bridge to Nowhere

Green-winged Teal  Ocean Acres Pond

Canvasback  Riverfront Landing

Redhead  Mantoloking

Ring-necked Duck  Manahawkin Lake

Greater Scaup  East Bay Av

Lesser Scaup  Riverfront Landing

Common Eider  Island Beach SP

Harlequin Duck  Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Surf Scoter  Holgate

White-winged Scoter Island Beach SP

Black Scoter  Holgate

Long-tailed Duck  Island Beach SP

Bufflehead  Bridge to Nowhere

Common Goldeneye Graveling Point

Hooded Merganser  Whitesbog

Common Merganser  Lake of the Lilies

Red-breasted Merganser  East Bay Av

Ruddy Duck  Assunpink WMA

Pied-billed Grebe  Manahawkin Lake

Horned Grebe Graveling Point

Rock Pigeon  Manahawkin Lake

Mourning Dove  35 Sunset Rd

Virginia Rail  Bridge to Nowhere

American Coot  Holly Lake

Black-bellied Plover  Island Beach SP

Killdeer  Deer Head Lake

Ruddy Turnstone  Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Sanderling  Island Beach SP

Dunlin  Island Beach SP

Purple Sandpiper  Barnegat Lighthouse SP

Long-billed Dowitcher  Deer Head Lake

Wilson's Snipe  Cattus Island County Park

Greater Yellowlegs  Bridge to Nowhere

Razorbill  Island Beach SP

Ring-billed Gull  Manahawkin Lake

Herring Gull  Bridge to Nowhere

Great Black-backed Gull  Bridge to Nowhere

Red-throated Loon Graveling Point

Common Loon  Island Beach SP

Northern Gannet  Island Beach SP

Great Cormorant  Island Beach SP

Double-crested Cormorant  East Bay Av

Great Blue Heron  Beach Av

Great Egret  Great Bay Blvd

Tricolored Heron  Island Beach SP

Black-crowned Night-Heron  Bayview Av Park

Black Vulture  Manahawkin

Turkey Vulture  Bridge to Nowhere

Northern Harrier  Bridge to Nowhere

Sharp-shinned Hawk  Cattus Island County Park

Cooper's Hawk  Plumsted Recreation Park

Bald Eagle  Beach Av

Red-shouldered Hawk  New Egypt

Red-tailed Hawk  Bridge to Nowhere

Rough-legged Hawk  BC Fairgrounds

Great Horned Owl  Beach Av

Snowy Owl  Holgate

Belted Kingfisher  Whitesbog

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker  Bridge to Nowhere

Red-bellied Woodpecker  Manahawkin WMA

Downy Woodpecker  35 Sunset Rd

Hairy Woodpecker  35 Sunset Rd

Pileated Woodpecker  UTT New Egypt

Northern Flicker  Manahawkin WMA

Peregrine Falcon  Bridge to Nowhere

Blue-headed Vireo  Whitesbog

Northern Shrike  Franklin Parker Preserve

Blue Jay  35 Sunset Rd

American Crow Whitesbog

Fish Crow  High Bar

Common Raven  Stafford Forge WMA

Carolina Chickadee  35 Sunset Rd

Tufted Titmouse  35 Sunset Rd

Horned Lark  Jackson Liberty HS

Tree Swallow  Island Beach SP

Ruby-crowned Kinglet  Cattus Island County Park

Golden-crowned Kinglet  Whitesbog

Red-breasted Nuthatch  Bamber Lake

White-breasted Nuthatch  35 Sunset Rd

Brown Creeper  Crestwood Village

Winter Wren  Assunpink WMA

Carolina Wren  Beach Av

European Starling  East Bay Av

Gray Catbird  Manahawkin WMA

Brown Thrasher  New Egypt

Northern Mockingbird  35 Sunset Rd

Eastern Bluebird  Manahawkin WMA

Hermit Thrush Whitesbog

American Robin  Beach Av

Cedar Waxwing  35 Sunset Rd

House Sparrow  Stafford

House Finch  35 Sunset Rd

American Goldfinch  35 Sunset Rd

Lapland Longspur  Holgate

Snow Bunting  Island Beach SP

Chipping Sparrow  Colliers Mills WMA

Field Sparrow  Colliers Mills WMA

American Tree Sparrow  Whitesbog

Fox Sparrow  Manahawkin WMA

Dark-eyed Junco  35 Sunset Rd

White-crowned Sparrow  New Egypt

White-throated Sparrow  35 Sunset Rd

Savannah Sparrow  New Egypt

Song Sparrow  Whitesbog

Swamp Sparrow  Beach Av

Eastern Meadowlark  Colliers Mills WMA

Red-winged Blackbird  Bridge to Nowhere

Brown-headed Cowbird  New Egypt

Rusty Blackbird  New Egypt

Common Grackle  Assunpink WMA

Boat-tailed Grackle  Bridge to Nowhere

Yellow-rumped Warbler  Bridge to Nowhere

Northern Cardinal  Manahawkin WMA

Island Beach SP 1/28--White-winged Scoter, Razorbill, Tricolored Heron

Razorbill on the beach shortly before its demise.

I wanted to get some birding in before the dreaded BOMBOGENESIS hit the county (why does a Richie Valens song keep running through my head?), and Island Beach seemed the place where the most interesting birds were turning up. Steve had texted me the other day that at Spizzle Creek there were 3 out of season egret/herons, so I started there. On the left fork, I bumped into some North Jersey birders I know who also had the same idea, but they hadn't seen the birds. Still, I continued on, just to see what turned up, which, aside from a couple of distant Peregrine Falcons on the Sedge Island hacking tower, wasn't much. That cost me because when I caught up with those guys at the blind I heard the sad refrain, "Oh, you just missed them," them being a Snowy Egret and an immature Little Blue Heron. I wasn't exactly devastated. I am going to see a Snowy Egret and a Little Blue Heron this year. After a while of standing around, telling Snowy Owl stories, the third bird, a Tricolored Heron, made an appearance, flying toward us then dumping down and disappearing in the marsh. Okay, one out of three.

I then proceeded to work my way north up the park, walking the various short trails that lead to the bay and ocean. The predominant bird of the day was robin. Everywhere I went hundreds were flying overhead, landing in the trees, resting in the bushes. I decided to list them at 150 at each stop, since there were more than 100 and probably not 200 that I was seeing. By late morning I was up at A6 where a boardwalk takes you out the beach. Nothing much there except for a lot of loons, Long-tailed Ducks, and a raft of Black Scoters. But my luck changed when who should drive up the beach but Steve. 

He said he had seen a Razorbill on the beach up where he entered and, if I was interested, he'd drive me back up to see it. I was in his vehicle like a shot, and we drove north, past the swimming beaches to just south of the "Dune Buggy" (what a misnomer) entrance, where the alcid was resting, we thought, on the beach. I hadn't brought my camera, but the bird allowed me to get close enough to use my phone to get some photos. It is exceedingly rare to see a Razorbill out of water unless you're at Machias Seal Island in the Bay of Fundy where they nest, but the bird was preening and didn't look in distress. Yet, how would we know? It's not like they howl in pain and anguish. Steve had let a few people know the location of the bird and within an hour, when we were down at the inlet, he'd received a text that someone else had found the bird but...it looked like a gull was attacking it. A little while after that another birder found the site and a dead  Razorbill with a gaping gull bite in its neck. I guess it never really had a chance. Grisly as this sounds, had we been a little late getting back to that spot, I wouldn't have been able to count the dead bird. Alive and wild are the rules. 

On our way back down to the inlet Steve caught sight of a couple of ducks flying north that were not Long-tails; instead, they turned out to be my coveted White-winged Scoters, so for the 2nd time Steve got me that duck on Island Beach.

Down at the inlet we found the expected birds: eiders, Brant, loons, Long-tails, Red-breasted Mergansers and the one oddity, in a pool at the very back of inlet, a hen Common Merganser. Common Merganser is occasionally reported at Barnegat Inlet but they are mostly misidentifications. However, this really was a Common and new patch bird for me at IBSP. 

Tomorrow the day looks like it will be backyard birding for me. Today's list of 33 species is appended below.

Brant
Canada Goose
Mute Swan
Mallard
Common Eider
White-winged Scoter
Black Scoter
Long-tailed Duck
Bufflehead
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser
Sanderling
Razorbill
Herring Gull
Great Black-backed Gull
Red-throated Loon
Common Loon
Great Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Northern Harrier
Peregrine Falcon
American Crow
Carolina Wren
Gray Catbird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
House Finch
White-throated Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Yellow-rumped Warbler 

Whitesbog 1/26--Blue-headed Vireo

I went to Whitesbog to do some scouting for Sunday's Pinelands Winter Bird Survey, though conditions then are forecast to be quite different than today's, which were clear and seasonably cold. Sunday could be biting cold with wind chills below zero and there is the possibility of a foot of snow on the ground. 

Or not. 

While my area extends way beyond Whitesbog, it is there that I try for 3 species--two owls and of course, the Tundra Swans. It is not looking good for any of them. Since the beginning of the year, I have been there a number of times pre-dawn and tried all my owl spots for both screech and Great Horned and have been returned with the sounds of silence. I can't imagine that both species up and left of a sudden. As to the Tundra Swans, the flock of 23, relatively small in itself, has diminished to almost nothing over the past month. It used to be not unusual to get 40, 50, even 80 swans on Union Pond and the adjacent bogs; in the days before my time, my informant tells me that he had counts in the hundreds. And it didn't matter if the water was stiff, as most of it was today. When the sun rose, there were no swans on any of the bodies of water mentioned. I walked back to ditch meadow and found none there. Finally, I walked all the way back to the pond off the landing strip and found a grand total of 4 swimming in some open water. On my way out, there were two on Union Pond, along with 2 Hooded Mergansers and 3 American Black Ducks. I don't know if those two came over from the other pond and didn't feel like driving back there to investigate, so possibly 6 swans is, for Whitesbog, a pathetic count. 

Two Tundra Swans with drake Hooded Merganser, Union Pond

But it was not all gloom today. After a long walk on the Burlco side, where I even filled up the feeders in the village hoping to attract some tweety birds for Sunday, I started another list on the Ocean County side of the line. Walking up the road I came across a huge flock of juncos, as well as a few Eastern Bluebirds and, always a favorite, a Brown Creeper. Recently, a lot of the brush alongside of the road has been cut down, giving a better view into the vegetation where the juncos flew into as I approached. Then I heard a strange buzzy call that was completely unfamiliar to me. Immediately a little bird popped out into a small tree. My first reaction was kinglet, but it was a smidge and a half too big for that. Then I saw, in rapid order, white spectacles, a blue-gray head, and wing-bars. An impression of yellow wash on the flanks. A very out of season Blue-headed Vireo it was. I saw it 3 times for a couple seconds apiece and heard it again, but once it flew back toward one of the overgrown bogs it was lost to me. It would be a great bird for the survey. I'm hoping it will pop up again on Sunday. I'm also hoping I'm not standing in a foot of snow with a frost-bitten nose while I look at it. 

Holgate 1/25--Snowy Owl

Digiscope

I made my semi-annual schlep to Holgate this morning. I had a few target birds in mind, foremost the Eared Grebe that has been sighted there the last couple of days. If that was the only bird of potential interest there I wouldn't have bothered to make the drive because I think that looking for a small bird in the vast ocean is a low percentage play. And I was right on that count, since I didn't see that species. I was, I later found out, looking in the wrong vastness. I concentrated my search on the 1/2 mile south of the parking lot, where it had been seen, but today, because birds have wings and, in this case, can also swim, the grebe was seen north of the parking lot. 

First sighting

However, in the winter, if you walk far enough on Holgate, you will eventually come across a Snowy Owl. Today it took 1.4 miles before one, sitting on a Forsythe boundary sign, popped into my binocular view. I took one photo before it took off and I figured that was it, but a quick, shrug your shoulders scan, turned it up on a nearby dune. So, I was able to take the best digiscope photo I've ever made and didn't have any guilt about getting too close to the bird. 

I like Holgate on a weekday when the photographers are thin on the ground but there were a couple there. One came up behind me as I was walking away, and I saw him taking pictures from a decent distance. However, when I said I'd gotten a good digiscope of the owl it turned out that he was unaware of it--what he was shooting I don't know, but one he saw the bird he decided to stay and wait for it to fly. Good luck with that. My experience is that they don't fly unless there's food to be had. Why an owl in flight is so coveted is an enduring mystery to me. I'd rather admire it stationery. 

Another photographer came up to me as I was heading back. He'd seen me scoping the bird from the parking lot! That is a hell of a lens. He told me that he seen a big flock of Snow Buntings which I'd completely missed. Within that flock, said he, was a longspur. I skirted the dunes and after a walk of about a half mile I saw some movement in the grass and found about a dozen buntings. Then the flock arose from the grass, and I saw that there were 3X as many as I thought. In my head I could hear Scott saying, "Look for the brown one, look for the brown one!" And there was one Lapland Longspur in the flock, which flew overhead then north toward the entrance. I walked the Do Not Enter line but couldn't refind the flock. I can understand one bird hiding in dune grass; I can't understand how an entire flock can disappear into the grass and sand. The grass just isn't that dense. 

Seeing the longspur was the bonus bird of the day and actually one that is a lot harder, at least for me, to come across than the owl. Finding a Snowy Owl just requires steps; finding a longspur requires that its lifeline vector intersects with mine. 

I did something today that I can only recall doing one other time: drove the length of Long Beach Island, from Holgate to Barnegat Light (with a detour to High Bar) and a more enervating driving is hard to imagine, 20 miles of strict adherence to the speed limits (which change every few blocks, it seems) hoping that you don't attract the attention of cop with a speed gun. However, I did add a few year birds--Fish Crows at High Bar while at Holgate I got 2 of the 3 scoter species. I have a feeling that is going to be another year where White-winged Scoter becomes a hard one for me to find. A few years ago, it wasn't until December that I saw them in the county, and then only because Steve took pity on me and drove me up to where a small raft of them was right offshore. 

Colliers Mills | Jackson Liberty HS 1/23--Horned Lark, Eastern Meadowlark

Horned Lark, Jackson Liberty HS

Not rare, but hard to find in these parts. Two totally different species both called "larks." 

On very cold mornings it is my inclination to stay away from the ocean and head inland and it has been very cold of late. I thought I'd check a few spots at Colliers Mills for Red-headed Woodpecker, though I wouldn't admit that to a dog walker when he asked what I was looking for. I just tell people "Anything I can find," which is close to the truth. Looking for a specific bird sets up a success/fail situation and it is no fun to fail, while a long walk can always be judged a success. 

So, I failed with the woodpecker, but walking along Success Road (really), the morning turned out fine. The last few years I have occasionally found Eastern Meadowlarks in the fields along Success and today was another when one flew out of the high grass and flew to the other side of the road. At the same time, as I was getting on the bird with its yellow chest, I heard, at 9:24 AM no less, a Great Horned Owl, hooting in the woods to the north. Not a half hour before I had skirted those woods, one of the hangouts for RHWO, and had no sign of the owl, but I think the 2 Red-tail Hawks swooping and screaming over the treetops may have got its dander up. Quite a visual and aural few minutes. 

Having had luck with one "lark" I thought I'd try for a true one. For reasons mysterious, every winter the Jackson Liberty HS soccer fields hosts a flock of Horned Larks. The only other place I can think of where you can see a lot of Horned Larks is the Lakehurst Naval Base and that's restricted. Speaking of restrictions, it is only feasible to check out the larks on weekends when school is not in session; anyone with binos during the week is sure to attract the attention of the Jackson Police. 

About halfway along "Pride Way" and about halfway toward the back of the fields I found a flock of the larks, perhaps 20 in all. Since my camera broke, I have been using Shari's Nikon D90, a behemoth which I don't handle well, and which does not have the digital zoom on which I have become reliant, so despite a 300MM lens, I can't be Phil D. Frame with it. I like getting pictures of the occasional bird, especially the rare and/or infrequent ones. I just don't like

• Carrying a camera
• Learning a camera
• Using a camera. 

All of which goes to explain the mediocre (at best) quality of the photos in most of these blog entries. 

At least I broke the streak of lousy looks at target birds which continued yesterday when I made a trip up to Mantoloking to find a flock of Redheads, which I found, and which immediately took to the air when a boat noisily ran them off. Who the hell is boating in 15 degree weather!

My somewhat interesting list for Colliers Mills. The "sparrow spot" is at the beginning of Success Road where the fields start.

24 species
Great Blue Heron 1 Stream between CM Lk & Turnmill
Turkey Vulture 2
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Great Horned Owl 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 4
Downy Woodpecker 2
Blue Jay 5
Carolina Chickadee 1 Heard
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 5 Heard
Winter Wren 1 Heard
Carolina Wren 2 Heard
European Starling 10
Northern Mockingbird 1 Heard
Eastern Bluebird 2
Hermit Thrush 1 Heard North end of CM Lake
American Robin 3
Chipping Sparrow 5  Sparrow spot
Field Sparrow 1     Sparrow spot
Dark-eyed Junco 15
White-throated Sparrow 6
Savannah Sparrow 4 Success Road
Song Sparrow 5
Eastern Meadowlark 1

In flight

New Egypt 1/19--Pileated Woodpecker

I'll have to find a new nemesis bird for Ocean County, because this morning, after innumerable trips to the environs of New Egypt over the last couple of years, I finally tracked down a Pileated Woodpecker. I'd already gone to the Plumsted Recreational Park (New Egypt is part of Plumsted) a few times this year where the woodpeckers had been seen in the past, but this year I noticed that one birder was posting them as being in "North New Egypt." 

A little investigation with Google Street View showed that his location was actually on the Ocean County extension of the Union Transportation Trail which follows a power line cut laid down on the old right of way of the milk train that used to run from New Egypt to Cream Ridge. I took a chance and parked in a lot behind an Ace Hardware store, next to some charity bins. I didn't see any signs that said, "No Parking." This section, like the section a little farther north, is not finished with gravel like the Monmouth County section, but rather is just a mowed strip between bushes and tangles on one side and woods on the other. After passing through a short alley of abandoned truck trailers, I started up the trail, where a gigantic flock of Common Grackles were kretzing in the treetops. A little farther on a flock of White-throated Sparrows scared up from the bushes, and then I saw a big woodpecker fly across the trail, landing somewhere in the woods. I was pretty certain that was my bird, but the first two woodpeckers on tree trunks that I glassed were just a Red-bellied Woodpecker and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. But then, raising my binoculars to the height of the flight, there atop the bare tree was the huge black and white woodpecker with a red crest. Success at last! I moved up, hoping to get a better angle on the bird and maybe even a photo op, but, as so often happens, changing position lost me the bird. Still, I saw it, big as life. 

Pileated Woodpecker is rarely rare in NJ counties, but here in Ocean only the northern part of the county has suitable habitat. I guess they don't like pines. I've seen them all around Ocean: Burlco, Mercer, Monmouth, Middlesex, up norther in Warren & Somerset, down south in Cape May, but finding one here was starting to seem like my life's work. Lucky is that birder who made a video of one in his backyard in New Egypt. 

The rest of the morning was spent walking around Colliers Mills, which was full of sparrows and not much else. No good pictures today except for these two birds I can't count. I'm wondering what kind of pet an ostrich makes and why you'd want two.

Across from Colliers Mills on Hawkin Road. 

At the Water Hole this Morning

Photos: Shari Zirlin

 

Backyard 1/15--Cedar Waxwing

I was on the road at dawn on the way to New Egypt, but Rt 539 was closed, as it often is, probably another crash. Since there is no practical way of getting to New Egypt other than by 539, I turned around and went to my comfort zone of Whitesbog. With the temperature at 14 and a feels like at 0, I walked my four miles, but birds were at a premium. The most entertainment I got was stopping to watch a Downy Woodpecker chisel away at little tree bordering the Upper Reservoir. It was low on the trunk and the wood chips were flying. Every now and again I'd see something amber at the tip of its beak, whether they were insect eggs or sap I don't know, but it was amazing to see how fast one can strip away the bark. And how little food it gets for its efforts. 

Cedar Waxwing, Hermit Thrush
photo: Shari Zirlin

It hadn't warmed up much by the time I got back to the car, so I just went home. And saw a lot more birds at our heated bird bath than I did walking around the bogs and reservoirs. Shari told me that all morning the bath was busy and the first birds I saw on the rim were three Eastern Bluebirds. We see bluebirds sometimes in the dead trees near the house, but we can't recall ever having them come to the water. Then, a few minutes later, our FOY Cedar Waxwing came to the bath, chasing away a couple of finches. Again, waxwing is an occasional backyard bird, usually in the spring when there is fruit on the weeping cherry next door. Never seen one drinking water. 

And later Shari called me to come right away to the kitchen window, she saw the back of a thrush and wanted to know what it was. It flew off but I went outside and found a Hermit Thrush in the white pine. Hermit Thrush is a very infrequent visitor to our yard. Looking up my records, I see that this only the 5th one we've had and the first in almost 7 years. Shari was sitting at the storm door taking photos of the birds at the bath with her phone. Pretty good shots too considering that they're taken through glass with a phone. I heard her yelp and exclaim, "I got them," and there, in her photo was both the waxwing and the thrush on the rim. I guess we were the only open water source around today, because all the birds were fighting for a spot, doves, chickadees, titmice, robins, finches, yellow-rumps, even starlings and House Sparrows which are not very common in our backyard. I only wish today were a FeederWatch day; what a list I would have had!

Riverfront Landing 1/14--Canvasback

Canvasbacks & Ruddy Ducks

Well, now it's getting to be a joke. I swung by Riverfront Landing this afternoon on my way home, hoping to finally see the Canvasbacks that historically frequent that wide part of the mighty Toms River. Other birders have been reporting them from across the way in Mathis Park, but I know, from years past, that they like to hang around the marina near Riverfront, slipping in between the docks and piers. Rumor has it that they like that spot because the marina owner feeds them. 

Anyway, I missed them yesterday from both parks, but today, I found them right away, just a little bit up the block on Water Street. And of course, the looks were lousy with tremendous sun glare couple with my inability to get closer because I'd have to trespass on a private parking lot to do so, which I know the owners frown upon. Plus, those big ducks had their heads tucked in. So, I got them on the list, but once again, circumstances were against me. Oh, where is that perfect winter light where the birds stand out brilliantly and where is that perfect viewing spot where you can get close enough to see the birds in detail instead of just "knowing" those are the birds because you've studied the pamphlet Ducks At A Distance? 

Cropped

Franklin Parker Preserve 1/13--Northern Shrike

That little gray & white pimple at the top of the tree is the Northern Shrike

The Year of Lousy Looks continues. This time, laziness was a factor. No matter where I stood as I circled the old cranberry bog where the long-staying and presumably returning Northern Shrike has been for the last couple of months, the shrike was always too far away to get a good look at it with binoculars. Had I lugged my scope out there I probably would have been able to see it more clearly. But that's a long haul on a cold morning. Fortunately, after I spotted a gray and white bird perched on a dead tree in the middle of the bog, it turned its head a few times letting me see its black mask, so I was able to rule out mockingbird. But again, had this been a life bird, it would have been a disappointing sighting. As it was, I was pleased that I found it on my own. Last time, 3 circuits of the bog were fruitless until a friend walked out there with me and spotted it right away. 

There were two species that actually were more interesting to me this morning than the shrike; one was the adult Bald Eagle with a ton of sticks in its talons, indicating a nearby nest and the other were the two Wilson's Snipes that flushed out of the frozen bog as I made my way around. Non-shore shorebirds are always a treat. 

Of course, lousy looks are better than no looks, which is how the rest of my day went. After lunch I had decided to go over to Toms River to see if I could spot the Canvasbacks there but just as I got in the car I received a text that a Common Gallinule had been spotted in Holly Lake in Tuckerton, so I drove down there first. 45 minutes later I was looking at a single American Coot diving beneath a dock, the only open water on the pond. I'm sure the gallinule was somewhere in the vicinity, hard up against the shore where I couldn't get an angle on it. A wise birder once told me you should stay in a place at least as long as it took you get there, but after 45 minutes I still only had the coot along with ducks, swans, and gulls...and a muskrat. 

So, back to plan A, a drive up to Toms River but by the time I got there, what with the fishermen on a sandy spit and paddleboarder making his way around the ice floes, the ducks on the water didn't seem happy and none of the unhappy ducks were Canvasbacks. Had you traced my path at both Mathis and Riverfront you would have thought I was executing a problem in trigonometry as I set up the scope at various points in both places. Big birds, hard to miss, but I missed them. Wonder where they went? 

BC Fairgrounds 1/11--Rough-legged Hawk

This seems to be the Year of Lousy Looks. The Trumpeter Swans at Stone Tavern Lake were far off in a corner, The Eurasian Wigeon was a prime example of Ducks at a Distance, and yesterday's Long-billed Dowitchers made a determined effort not to be on the side of the lake where I was. Today's Rough-legged Hawk at the BC Fairgrounds extended the pattern.  

The old sod farm grounds beyond the Fairgrounds parking lot is an historical location for Rough-legged Hawk. (Aside: not "traditional." Birds have histories, they don't have traditions). It where Shari and I got our life Rough-legged and every year since then I think I have returned to find one in the winter. 

Today was bitterly cold, but I walked the Ocean County side of Whitesbog despite the frigid temperatures. I didn't have much to show for my efforts, so I decided to see if I could find the hawk at the Fairgrounds, with the luck from inside my warm car. 

Northern Harrier, digiscoped

The first bird I saw was a beautiful Gray Ghost Northern Harrier sweeping low along the grass. A couple of others were sitting at the back edge of the field and I found another perched up on a tree closer to 206. A couple of Bald Eagles were playing/fighting with each, one an adult, one immature, and an unidentified falcon was getting into the act too. But the dark morph Rough-legged wasn't apparent. 

A photographer told me he'd seen it on the left side of the pond roosting in a tree. It was only about 500 feet away from where I'd parked so I walked over there. He drove and by the time I was halfway there he told me it had flown. Then he told me about how he'd photographed it yesterday and that it was around, I just had to "put in the time." Oh, thanks loads for the advice, why didn't you tell me you saw it earlier when you saw my scope? 

The wind was whipping in the open lot and I wasn't feeling happy. I saw another birder back by the 206 side; I had notion of who it was and when I got closer it turned out I did know him. Of course, he was looking for the Rough-legged too. Maybe his eyes weren't tearing as much from the wind as much as mine were, but he spotted a hawk in a far-off tree but once we got it in the scope it turned out to be just a Red-Tailed Hawk. I could tell from the belly band. Then he saw another hawk fly into the tree next to the Red-tail's, at about the same level. I couldn't spot it at first until it moved out of the denser branches. Putting the scope on it proved it to be our target, with just enough field marks to make the case, but if this had been a life bird I would have to think carefully about counting it. As it is, it is just another bird on the list. As Mike sometimes says, "It isn't amazing that we can identify birds from so far away now," I always reply, "Yes, but it isn't any fun." 

Deer Head Lake 1/10--Long-billed Dowitcher

The pleasures and frustrations of chasing all in one moment. This morning I finally got around to going to Deer Head Lake in Lacey, where since late December a quartet of Long-billed Dowitchers have been feeding on the mud flats (the lake is drawn down in winter).  LB Dowitchers are always a good bird in NJ and especially in Ocean County. And winter dowitchers eliminates the angst over whether they're the Short-billed on Long-billed species. Short-bills just aren't around after summer. 

Usually, I bird from the west side of the lake where there's a big culvert platform to stand on, but today, driving there I noticed an opening on the east side of the lake and saw a big flock of geese there, so I parked, found a path, and set up the scope on the edge of the mud. Immediately I found a couple of Killdeer (new for the year) and then was slightly surprised to see a Greater Yellowlegs fly by. Promising. I scanned the flats near me, then started on the flats across the lake. More Killdeer, and lots of Green-winged Teal and Hooded Mergansers mixed in with the geese, but no target species. From my angle I was blocked from the northwest part of the lake, so I packed up the scope and drove the 3/4 of a mile to the other side. There I set up again and scanned. More yellowlegs flew in from who knows where and the flock was up to 8. I shifted my perspective and looked more northerly, but still no dowitchers. After another look through the exposed stumps and shallow puddles I was ready to give up. It was cold. I had the scope on my shoulder when I saw some movement on a little island. I said to myself, "One more look," and I was trying to remember if "One more look" ever worked when I saw three shorebirds fly to my right with big white streaks up their backs. So apparently "One more look" does work. (If you find what you're looking for it will be in the last place you looked.) 

The birds landed right on the edge of the shore moving in and out between the much larger geese. And where were they? Right where I had been, on the east side of the lake. So, no possibility of getting photos. I thought about driving back to the east side, but I could already see the dowitchers getting up and flying off as I approached so I didn't let a win turn into a loss. Looking through the subsequent eBird reports for the day, only the trio has been reported. Where did #4 go? 

Deer Head Lake is one of those spots that is under-birded. A few years ago, I went there for the first time only because a birder I know who works nearby would find good birds on her lunch hour. Almost the first bird I saw that day was a Ross's Goose! Cackling Goose has been there a few times if one is inclined to sort through the hundreds of geese that frequent the lake. And now the dowitchers. Fortunately, a few good birders live nearby and give it regular coverage. 

Eastern Bluebird, Dark-eyed Junco, Meadowedge Park

I'd started the day at Bamber Lake (another under-birded spot) and came away with my first Red-breasted Nuthatch of the year. After Deer Head, I drove over to Bay Parkway in Waretown then down to Barnegat. Meadowedge Park didn't have anything unusual, but it did have some pretty bluebirds. I made my last stop Cloverdale Farm; again, nothing exciting. All that wandering around produced 38 species for the day, with the dowitchers and nuthatch being the highlights.

Northern Mockingbird, Cloverdale Park

Paean to the Brown Creeper

I saw my first Brown Creepers of the year yesterday, one at the pond on Schoolhouse Rd, the other poking at the bark of a skinny pitch pine in our backyard. Then again today, inspecting the nooks and crannies of the dead oak that serves as our feeder station. I love the Brown Creeper; it might be my favorite winter bird. First of all, it's always a treat to just find one. Not that they're rare, they're just really hard to see being the color of bark and moving fast to another tree just at the moment you've spotted one peripherally. Me getting a photo of one is a miracle. Only recently have I been made aware of its thin, high-pitched call. Doesn't matter really to me; it would have to be on my shoulder before I'd hear it. 

Secondly, they're unique in North America, the only representative of the creeper family Certhiidae. 

And finally, watching them forage for food intrigues me. I know all winter birds are amazing survivalists, but the chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, sparrows, all subsist mostly on seeds (which we put out in abundance). Even the woodpeckers glom onto the suet and peanuts to supplement their diet.  The creeper is an insectivore. It never eats seeds and never comes to the feeder. I always wondered, on a day like today, well below freezing, what insects is it getting? A modicum of research showed me that my notion of what the bird was feeding on was just slightly off. 

In the winter, it isn't insects per se that the creeper is searching for when it sticks it long decurved bill beneath a bit of raised bark. It is insect eggs and pupae that it is trying to find. What a life! What a job! Compare the chickadee, which has to eat constantly, but has 5 lbs of seed hanging from a tree right in front of it. Even in the woods the seeds of plants and grasses are dispersed everywhere. The creeper, though, has to methodically climb a tree, picking out an egg here, a chrysalis there, then fly to the bottom of the next tree and start all over again. Prospecting for the tiniest packages of calories. 

One of the saddest birding sights I ever saw was a few years ago on Great Bay Blvd. It was mid-October and big push of birds were migrating through. Suddenly, on the road, was a Brown Creeper, apparently so exhausted that it couldn't make it to the stand of cedars 25 feet away. It is the only time I have ever seen a creeper on the ground. 

But aside from that incident, all the other 200 times (according to eBird) that I've seen the creeper has brought a smile to my face. 

Assunpink | Maclearie Park 1/4--Trumpeter Swan, Eurasian Wigeon

Trumpeter Swans, Stone Tavern Lake

After a day stuck inside (Gee, snow in January, who'd a thunk it?) it felt good, though cold, to walk around Assunpink this morning. I sandwiched the walk between two rarity hunts that are almost gimmes. I first stopped at Stone Tavern Lake (where I was surprised & pleased to see the once rutted road is now paved) to look for the Trumpeter Swans which returned for the 8th year in a row (I think) last fall. They were pretty far away. Stone Tavern seems really small until you're looking for a specific bird--then the distance problem kicks in. But I found them quickly with my binoculars and scoped them easily enough. The picture I took won't win any awards but I need something to decorate the blog. 

Common Grackle, Assunpink

I walked around the southern edge of Assunpink Lake, where I added Ruddy Duck, Winter Wren and Common Grackle to the burgeoning year list. The icterids were in full force today. I estimated close to 1500 Red-winged Blackbirds and easily a 1000 grackles. Surprisingly few waterfowl species though were on the lake. Aside from the Ruddies, I found only a few Buffleheads, a big flock of Ring-necked Ducks, and a small gaggle of geese. Maybe the snow, which came up from the south, actually pushed the geese and ducks farther north. The lake wasn't frozen except along the shallow edges. 

After my walk I got the car on I-195 east, a straight shot to Belmar's Maclearie Park on the Shark River where, if you position yourself just right, and shade your eye while looking into the scope, and find the flock of American Wigeons (new for the year) that are swimming near the little beach, you can see, with difficulty, the Eurasian Wigeon drake, another bird, presumably the same one, that has been returning to that spot for the last few years. I saw it last January, I saw it toward the end of last year, and now it's on the 2022 list. Supposedly you can see it better from the gas station on the corner but I don't like birding from private land and from what I could see, the angle wouldn't have been good anyway since the wigeon was just on the edge of the water. So, that species is on the list, but I can't say I got the field guide looks at it. 

By then it was a little past lunch time and I forgot to bring lunch so I did the easiest thing and went home. 

Barnegat CBC 1/2--Virginia Rail

Green-winged Teal, Gadwall, Hooded Merganser, Ocean Acres Pond

Mike & I once again participated in the Barnegat CBC, birding the Manahawkin section, which seems to have been handed down to us from a long line of great birders; we used to do it with Pete Bacinski, and yesterday we were still able to point out a tree where Pete had found a flock of Purple Finches, and we laughed about how he would have been in a furor at a car zipping up and down Stafford Avenue (The Bridge to Nowhere) for no goddam reason at all. 

Because of the Gordon Lightfoot conditions (early morning rain) we started later than usual figuring there was no sense owling, so it was a nice surprise when we got to the end of the Beach Avenue at 6:30 to hear 3 Great Horned Owls calling back and forth; perhaps a duetting pair and an interloper? We listened to screech owls but they were not whinnying. 

We ran our usual route: from Beach we went over to Stafford which runs between the Forsythe property of The Bridge to Nowhere and the Manahawkin WMA. Placing birds can be a real nuisance. If one really wanted to be accurate you'd have a lot of birds in both spots as they fly over the road. Interesting birds there were Greater Yellowlegs, Northern Pintail, Northern Harrier, a distant Peregrine Falcon on the hacking tower, and couple of Redtail Hawks. 

Ring-billed Gull, Manahawkin Lake

From there we went to parking lot off Hilliard and walked the Manahawkin WMA trail for a while, picking up the expected tweety birds. While a flock of robins is not particularly interesting to us, it is just one more brick in the wall of data of 80+ years of counting birds in that area of NJ. Manahawkin lake was our next stop where we ran into another participant. He did our work for us, pointing out the two somewhat unusual birds: a Pied-bill Grebe and a Ring-necked Duck. It was there that we saw our first pigeons of the year (yay) and also, loafing on the beach, the first readily identifiable Ring-billed Gulls, which, of the big three (Herring and Great Black-backed being the other two), is my favorite as it seems prettier and gentler than the other two brutes. Of course, if one saw a bag of French fries in your hand it would turn into a monster. 

After a Wawa stop (House Sparrow), we drove around the Southern Regional School District area (for want of a better name) where again, we picked up a lot of common birds to add to the list including Black Vulture. No rare geese in the field where Pete and Mike once found a Cackling Goose. 

Our section includes a little slice just west of the Parkway. There is a little pond just off 72 that often productive and yesterday was one of those days. We had Gadwalls and Green-winged Teals (the latter listed on eBird as "infrequent") along with the usual ducks.

A quick lunch, then it was back to Beach Avenue to walk the old AT&T property which is restricted access but we had permission for the CBC. Nothing of real note there among the Song Sparrows and Yellow-rumped Warblers except for a couple of American Tree Sparrows. We had heard one at Manahawkin, but these were the first we'd seen. Two adult Bald Eagles were roosting in trees at the edge of the marsh and we added one more Northern Harrier. 

Our final stop was back at Stafford Avenue where we again ran into the other birder covering the area. At the end of the road we finally got our Boat-tailed Grackles for the day and year. From his vantage point he could see the eagles we'd listed over on Beach. The last bird of our day was arguably the best; certainly the only somewhat rare one for the day and we owe to our buddy who told us where to listen for Virginia Rail. We got it just after dodging the speeding maniac who would have had Pete cursing. 

For the day we added 61 species and 1681 individuals to the database. 

Species      First Sighting
Brant   East Bay Av
Canada Goose   Bridge to Nowhere
Mute Swan   Bridge to Nowhere
Wood Duck   Bridge to Nowhere
Gadwall   Ocean Acres Pond
Mallard   Bridge to Nowhere
American Black Duck   Bridge to Nowhere
Northern Pintail   Bridge to Nowhere
Green-winged Teal   Ocean Acres Pond
Ring-necked Duck   Manahawkin Lake
Greater Scaup   East Bay Av
Bufflehead   Bridge to Nowhere
Hooded Merganser   Bridge to Nowhere
Red-breasted Merganser   East Bay Av
Pied-billed Grebe   Manahawkin Lake
Rock Pigeon   Manahawkin Lake
Mourning Dove   Manahawkin WMA
Virginia Rail   Bridge to Nowhere
Greater Yellowlegs   Bridge to Nowhere
Ring-billed Gull   Manahawkin Lake
Herring Gull   Bridge to Nowhere
Great Black-backed Gull   Bridge to Nowhere
Double-crested Cormorant   East Bay Av
Great Blue Heron   Beach Av
Black Vulture   Southern Regional HS
Turkey Vulture   Bridge to Nowhere
Northern Harrier   Bridge to Nowhere
Bald Eagle   Beach Av
Red-tailed Hawk   Bridge to Nowhere
Great Horned Owl   Beach Av
Belted Kingfisher   Bridge to Nowhere
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker   Bridge to Nowhere
Red-bellied Woodpecker   Manahawkin WMA
Downy Woodpecker   Bridge to Nowhere
Northern Flicker   Manahawkin WMA
Peregrine Falcon   Bridge to Nowhere
Blue Jay   Manahawkin Lake
Carolina Chickadee   Manahawkin WMA
Tufted Titmouse   Beach Av
Golden-crowned Kinglet    Popper St
White-breasted Nuthatch   Popper St
Carolina Wren   Beach Av
European Starling   East Bay Av
Gray Catbird   Manahawkin WMA
Northern Mockingbird   MATES
Eastern Bluebird   Manahawkin WMA
Hermit Thrush   Bridge to Nowhere
American Robin   Beach Av
House Sparrow   Hilliard & Route 9
House Finch   Manahawkin WMA
American Goldfinch   Bridge to Nowhere
American Tree Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA
Fox Sparrow   Manahawkin WMA
Dark-eyed Junco   Beach Av
White-throated Sparrow   Beach Av
Song Sparrow   Bridge to Nowhere
Swamp Sparrow   Beach Av
Red-winged Blackbird   Bridge to Nowhere
Boat-tailed Grackle   Bridge to Nowhere
Yellow-rumped Warbler   Bridge to Nowhere
Northern Cardinal   Manahawkin WMA