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.